PGA Tour: Return to Hawaii 5-9: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Justin Thomas came to Waialae CC last year looking for his 3rd Tour win of the season, but his first career win in a "full-field" event, having scored his three previous victories in limited field tournaments, in Korea and Kapalua.
A first-round of 59, followed by three more mid-60's efforts saw him in with a 27-under par runaway from a pretty sporty leaderboard, as the six golfers following in his distance were Rose, Spieth, Kisner, Lovemark, ZJohnson & Woodland. Not bad. Perhaps he cooled off a little as spring turned into summer, but late-season wins at the PGA Championship and Dell Play-off event saw him stamp his authority on the 2016/17 season.
Future Number One? Still not quite convinced!

2).Thomas was not much more than a spectator in defence of his Kapalua title last week, as the field was trounced by World Number One, Dustin Johnson. No doubt this season will continue the debate about #1, if there really is any; sure Thomas would say there is, Spieth too. Not sure when the three will tee it up together next, Riviera possibly, and we'll hopefully have some clue by then as to whether the likes of Day and McIlroy have recaptured the competitive spirit which seemed to leave them last year.

3).I wonder how the Major venues this year will favour the top golfers: Augusta obviously, then Shinnecock, Carnoustie and Bellerive, courses that, for the most part, the under-30 set will be unfamiliar with.
Can't see either DJ or Spieth going away so anyone else will have to enjoy a career year to overtake them.

4).No news yet as to whether Waialae has done anything to 5-9 proof the course against another 50-something assault. Traditionally it's been a fairways and greens course with plenty of relatively "short" hitters amongst its champions.  

5).JJ Henry will play his 500th career Tour event this week - 2006 Ryder Cup seems a long time ago JJ. According to pgatour.com, only Stewart Cink and Charlie Howell of those under 45 have played more. And Howell has two runner-up finishes at Waialae.

6).Sony are one of the longest-running sponsors and are rewarded by the presence of Thomas & Spieth in this week's field.
But, if the field was a cricket batting line up, apart from these two "openers", you'd say there is an average "middle order" and a very long "tail". Including Luke Donald, now all the way down to 144th on the owgr's. Russell Knox has played well here but he's not done much to "trouble the scorers" recently.
If Thomas and/or Spieth are at their best, they'll probably win but both struggled at various times last week. Kevin Kisner didn't have his best week at Kapalua but has Top 5'd here the past two years and should be available somewhere between 20/1 & 25's and I fancy him each way. My one-and-done! For whatever good that does me.

Kwini... Tom Doak has been brought in to spif up Waialae a bit... I believe they're completed work on 6-7 holes with 3-4 more to go. No way they're gonna ever make it a tough course for these guys again, but it probably won't be the complete cupcake it was last year. Look especially at the 17th new redan green complex  this year.

Also picking up from the prior thread... Colonial and especially Dallas have been great charity $ generators. Houston used to be, but lost so much support in abandoning the Woodlands, it's never recovered the same level of charitable outcome.  And yes it would be a shame to lose any of the Texas events, but with 5 in Texas now, not sure all can have a secure future. My guess is Houston, assuming it survives the new schedule will be falling from probably the 2nd best field Texas event to 5th in the pecking order.  And a good chance the Nelson moves to #2, at worst #3 in the next few years...  As of the last few years I'd have had it... Austin (WGC), Houston, Colonial, Nelson, Valero.  In two years I'd expect more like Austin then Colonial, Dallas and Valero all pretty close... With Houston a straggling 5th.

PS... But as far a champion charity contributor... That goes to Valero Texas open in spades. Most charity outcome on tour for years now, the Nelson, 2,3 or 4 range on overall giving... Colonial, Houston and Austin well behind those two... More middle of the pack.

robopz wrote:

PS... But as far a champion charity contributor... That goes to Valero Texas open in spades. Most charity outcome on tour for years now, the Nelson, 2,3 or 4 range on overall giving... Colonial, Houston and Austin well behind those two... More middle of the pack.

Valero's amazing! Don't know why either; but it means I buy their gas if available! When I lived in Dallas, in Preston Trail days, the media publicity they received was extraordinary. Not sure if the Salesmanship Club still has its oar in their water but the Pro Am day was almost as big as the main event. Everyone from Landry on down.

The form of Russell Knox plummeted as if he did actually get picked for the RC.

McLaren wrote:The form of Russell Knox plummeted as if he did actually get picked for the RC.

If he's going to get his mojo back, this is one of the courses that he needs to play well on, Luke Donald too.

McLaren wrote:The form of Russell Knox plummeted as if he did actually get picked for the RC.

I think players like Knox and Laird are just the type of players who have a couple of years in the limelight but can't maintain that standard, probably about 90% of pro's fall into that bracket.

Kwini... Big key for Valero is the way they engage the entire golfing community (other facilities and players) in the San Antonio area, not just the tournament attendees/sponsors.

Just one example is the Monday after the big tourney concludes they have big charity tournaments on about a dozen area courses... And all of them are packed...

super_realist wrote:

McLaren wrote:The form of Russell Knox plummeted as if he did actually get picked for the RC.

I think players like Knox and Laird are just the type of players who have a couple of years in the limelight but can't maintain that standard, probably about 90% of pro's fall into that bracket.

Agree Super

kwinigolfer wrote:

McLaren wrote:The form of Russell Knox plummeted as if he did actually get picked for the RC.

If he's going to get his mojo back, this is one of the courses that he needs to play well on, Luke Donald too.

So, stands to reason that early in their round they're tied for last.

Wouldn’t disagree with the idea that Knox and Laird are both solid tour pros grinding out respectable careers as opposed to OWGR top 50 regulars. But they’re complete opposites in playing styles.

NedB-H wrote:Wouldn’t disagree with the idea that Knox and Laird are both solid tour pros grinding out respectable careers as opposed to OWGR top 50 regulars. But they’re complete opposites in playing styles.

Surely a bit early to classify Knox in this way? The last few months have been the first real blip on a career that's been pretty much on upward trajectory for the past few years.
Not much point in speculating on Laird's recent motivation but certainly he appears to be balancing family and career - fine line as a bad year could see him disappear pronto.

I'd be more concerned with the likes of Donald & McDowell who seem to have lost their competitive drive. Can't blame them, but once lost it's difficult to recapture. We'll see.

web.com season gets underway Saturday (thru Tuesday), in the Bahamas.
The usual sprinkling of old lags with some variety of PGA Tour "status" play; the best known Europeans in the field are Brian Davis and Gonzalo F'dez.

Encouraging medical bulletin on Jarrod Lyle:

https://www.pgatour.com/news/2018/01/12/jarrod-lyle-positive-news-cancer-fight.html


Not a great field for next week, but Jon Rahm will be in the house, along with Phil Mickelson and a variety of US pros who will be looking to recapture their glory days, Reed, Walker, Bubba, Zach, Webby, Sneds, etc.
No ET tourists as far as I can see, but a few refugees from the Champions Tour.
Good news for Seamus Power as he gets into the field again after, hopefully, making the cut in Hawaii.

More Medical issues for Rory.

http://golfweek.com/2018/01/12/rory-mcilroy-details-heart-scare-from-viral-infection/

As Cilla used to warble: Anyone who had a heart . . . . . . the Erik Compton theme tune.
But Lukey had his issues a couple of months ago, and now this.
Tks for the update.

Nice round for Seamus, now to capitalise on it; that's been the hard part.

Kwini, a few weeks (months) ago you were complaining that the Tour was going with split tees and threesomes too frequently.

I said one possible reason was volunteer situation. With two somes and one tee, the tour would need the volunteers to man the parking, gates, concessions, marsshalling for an extra 4-5 hours.

Doug Ferguson made this tweet late yesterday:

https://twitter.com/dougferguson405/status/952040178914177024

I'd volunteer if they paid my fare and digs - they never asked.

My complaint is as a spectator - just want to see two complete rounds for my money . . . . . . which is why I usually just go to Thursdays & Fridays.

Steve Fatty Marino with the early lead in the Bahamas - there must be something more than meets the eye to his disappearance these past five years.

Kwini

I know Doak isn't the most popular guy on here but he has done a few interesting podcasts on the friedegg podcast show recently and the one linked below is about his work at Waialae.

http://www.friedegg.co/podcasts/waialae-sony-raynor

I think you might find some of it pretty interesting.

Mac - Also never understood why Doak gets so much heat here. His work is outstanding as far as I'm concerned.

Shotrock wrote:
Mac - Also never understood why Doak gets so much heat here. His work is outstanding as far as I'm concerned.

There's only one reason why Doak gets any heat . . . . . . . .
Sr: Did you see that DB qualified nicely for the Latino American Tour - gotta start somewhere?

Did not see that. Thanks for the heads up. Yes, gotta start somewhere and I hope it works out for the Bard.

Steve Marino was out on a Major Medical for a year or so.

A few years back, he was considered one of the best to have never won on the PGATour. $10.3 Million earnings, 169th on the career list.

My point exactly!

I've met Steve Marino a couple times. Once he was paid to talk to me (client-sponsored lunch). Another time, I was a volunteer at a tournament and tried to engage in a civil conversation with him. He was a pompous dork. I'm way beyond any celebrity worship, but common courtesy should rule the day IMO.

kwinigolfer wrote:
There's only one reason why Doak gets any heat . . . . . . . .

Out of interest what is that reason?


Did you listen to the podcast?

Flashback to the Strawbs:

Now I'm a Union man,
Amazed at what I am,
I say what I think
That the Golf Channel stinks
Yes, I'm a Union man.

Skeleton crews working the Golf Channel-produced TV coverage of the Sony Open today, as Union technicians, video & audio guys, have walked off the job in Hawaii.
Bet they still squeeze in the usual quota of adverts though.

Maybe they are all still in the air raid shelters?

Anyone know what the dispute is over? Kind of hoping for a load of comedy camera errors all evening

http://www.golfchannel.com/article/doug-ferguson/golf-channel-video-audio-union-workers-walk-out-over-labor-dispute

This is the version on the GC website . . . . . . . .

Shotrock wrote:
Mac - Also never understood why Doak gets so much heat here. His work is outstanding as far as I'm concerned.

Nothing wrong with Doak's course work SR, the problem is that he has devised a stupid way of ranking golf courses, which Mac thinks is the best thing since bread was sliced, and unless Doak says the course is good, then it can't possibly be.

Mac also plays on the fact he once read his book as evidence that he knows all about course architecture and that no one can tell him anything. So Doak is not really the problem, but rather he's a vehicle for ridiculing Mac.

If nothing else this final round has taught me I had the pronunciation of Hoge and Kizzire all wrong.

Perhaps Golf Channel should go back to the bargaining table . . . . . .

Disappointing finish from Russell Knox, effectively +3 over his final four holes, but a promising start to the year nevertheless.

Hope Hahn wins the play-off, Kizzire seems the epitome of what Shotrock describes as a pompous dork.

NedB-H wrote:If nothing else this final round has taught me I had the pronunciation of Hoge and Kizzire all wrong.

I wouldn't take an American commentators pronunciation as being correct. Have you ever heard them trying to pronounce some of the European golfers.?

Saw-ren Killeedsen. Pathetic.
Burn-aaaard Lawnnger. Hopeless.

McLaren wrote:Kwini

I know Doak isn't the most popular guy on here but he has done a few interesting podcasts on the friedegg podcast show recently and the one linked below is about his work at Waialae.

http://www.friedegg.co/podcasts/waialae-sony-raynor

I think you might find some of it pretty interesting.

OK, Finally got round to opening this.
Sorry Mac, it lasts an hour!!!!!!!!!
Haven't got that time to spend on any podcast, too much else going on. But thanks for putting it out there.

Mac will like this . . . . . .

http://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-central-blog/knox-hunting-owgr-top-50-cutoff-ryder-cup-berth

Spot on Russell, too bad it took 18 months to figure this out. Knox might be worth following in events in courses that suit him - he blew a golden opportunity to at least get a T3 in Hawaii, and should be a good each-way shout Career Buildering this week.

Not sure what tournament, but it was on the Euro Tour, the first tee announcer said

"Now on the Tee, two time Masters Champion, Long Hard Banger"

College buddy of mine lives near Kizzire at Sea Island, and he told me 5 years ago that Kizzire was winning all the money matches with all the local pros (Kuchar, Zach, Harman, Snedeker, etc) before he got his PGATour card. He is not getting more comfortable on the big stage

"Pompous Dork" Because he has an American Flag next to his name on the leaderboard?

OK, I'll take the bait.

First of all, pd was used elsewhere so just lazily re-used it.
No, not because he's American, but because he comes across as entitled and condescending, even to the American interviewers. Perhaps he's a great guy, but he just comes across as a pompous dork - hopefully he'll turn out to be nothing of the sort.
Your perception/mantra that every criticism of an American is anti-Americanism could not be further from the truth. Which is in large part why I started writing this drivel on 606 many moons ago.

GPB wrote:Not sure what tournament, but it was on the Euro Tour, the first tee announcer said

"Now on the Tee, two time Masters Champion, Long Hard Banger"...

I would have like to have heard that. Any idea on Langer's reaction?

navyblueshorts wrote:

GPB wrote:Not sure what tournament, but it was on the Euro Tour, the first tee announcer said

"Now on the Tee, two time Masters Champion, Long Hard Banger"...

I would have like to have heard that. Any idea on Langer's reaction?

Google is your friend....

Such was the case in 2003 at the TOUR Championship. Russ was Introducing German star Bernhard Langer.
It came out: "Next on the tee, Long-hard Banger!"

"Everybody broke into laughter, even Bernhard, who is known for being very quite and serious," says Russ.

'That was when ESPN carried the first two rounds of the TOUR Championship, so naturally It got replayed over and over on Sports Center."

From http://www.ehrainc.com/files/publication-folder/Terry-Russ-HGA-Article.pdf

Davie wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:

GPB wrote:Not sure what tournament, but it was on the Euro Tour, the first tee announcer said

"Now on the Tee, two time Masters Champion, Long Hard Banger"...

I would have like to have heard that. Any idea on Langer's reaction?

Google is your friend....

Such was the case in 2003 at the TOUR Championship. Russ was Introducing German star Bernhard Langer.
It came out: "Next on the tee, Long-hard Banger!"

"Everybody broke into laughter, even Bernhard, who is known for being very quite and serious," says Russ.

'That was when ESPN carried the first two rounds of the TOUR Championship, so naturally It got replayed over and over on Sports Center."

From http://www.ehrainc.com/files/publication-folder/Terry-Russ-HGA-Article.pdf

Ah! Doh! Good point. Cheers Davie. Was curious because, as they say, Bernhard always comes across as a little straight-laced. Would seem difficult not to laugh at that one.

My error, I had thought it occured in England.

Ogilvy and Blair on course architecture on tour. Would read a whole lot more of this:

http://golfweek.com/2018/01/14/lynch-pros-attuned-to-finding-course-opportunities-not-noticing-nuances/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Ned - Thanks for finding this and sharing.

Since these professionals are pretty much freaky skilled, I suspect many hazards the architect put in place (both visual and real) will never be experienced by them ... as OPPOSED to the average golfer. And I think GCA should first appeal to the masses ... and if it is also strategically sound and nuanced for the top professional that's a bonus.

I (and plenty others) think my home course (Aronimink) has wonderful strategic options, without being tricked up. As the professionals play it later this year I'll be curious to see how they play it and what hazards are simply not in play for them.

Good article Ned, it always seems to be Ogilvy that they go to!
The Tour player poll of courses published a few years ago ranked the top ten:
Augusta National, followed by:
Harbour Town, Riviera, Pebble, Colonial, Muirfield Village, Shaughnessy (which was a Canadian one-off), Aronomink, Innisbrook, Congressional.


Ogilvy could freshen up a commentary box, especially NBC's who could use a contrarian point of view from time to time.

kwinigolfer wrote:OK, I'll take the bait.

First of all, pd was used elsewhere so just lazily re-used it.
No, not because he's American, but because he comes across as entitled and condescending, even to the American interviewers. Perhaps he's a great guy, but he just comes across as a pompous dork - hopefully he'll turn out to be nothing of the sort.
Your perception/mantra that every criticism of an American is anti-Americanism could not be further from the truth. Which is in large part why I started writing this drivel on 606 many moons ago.

You could say it is confirmation bias, but whenever there is some sort of random insult or something else pejorative  towards a golfer, you always pick up on it if it's against a American, but seldom do it to a non-American.

You never complain when an international player is slow, but if it is an American (Na, Crane, Spieth) its always something to point out.

You complain when the Tour goes to split tees and three somes, but ignore it when the EuroTour goes Split tees and three somes on the same November week in South Africa.  Where there is 4-5 hours of extra daylight.

BTW, I sent in your offer to volunteer to the Tourney Director for the Sony Open.   I am sure he will budget 10K for airfare, hotel, and other per diem for you next year.

Unfortunately, I'm not in Europe, can't get to European Tour events and consequently seldom talk about them.

And I only complain as a spectator - couldn't care less about volunteers etc, not my job. (And I don't have Jack Nicklaus to bend the Drumpf's ear about my tax status either. Perhaps the Tour could pay for help, like every other sport does; no unpaid volunteers at Fratton Park; or even the Gut.)

There are far, far more US players on the PGA Tour than non-Americans . . . . . . . so hardly surprising most slow play is by them.
Think you'll find I criticise the Faldos, Harringtons and Langers (EDIT: & McDowells) of this world proportionately. PS: Na & Crane invite more criticism because they come across as such pr1cks. Spieth on the other hand seems a perfectly nice guy, Zach Johnson too, to mention another slow poke.

GPB wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:OK, I'll take the bait.

First of all, pd was used elsewhere so just lazily re-used it.
No, not because he's American, but because he comes across as entitled and condescending, even to the American interviewers. Perhaps he's a great guy, but he just comes across as a pompous dork - hopefully he'll turn out to be nothing of the sort.
Your perception/mantra that every criticism of an American is anti-Americanism could not be further from the truth. Which is in large part why I started writing this drivel on 606 many moons ago.

You could say it is confirmation bias, but whenever there is some sort of random insult or something else pejorative  towards a golfer, you always pick up on it if it's against a American, but seldom do it to a non-American.

You never complain when an international player is slow, but if it is an American (Na, Crane, Spieth) its always something to point out.

You complain when the Tour goes to split tees and three somes, but ignore it when the EuroTour goes Split tees and three somes on the same November week in South Africa.  Where there is 4-5 hours of extra daylight.

BTW, I sent in your offer to volunteer to the Tourney Director for the Sony Open.   I am sure he will budget 10K for airfare, hotel, and other per diem for you next year.

Or indeed your own confirmation bias, I've read Kwini criticise Euro players like Monty, Casey, Stenson etc for slow play and in Monty and Casey's case, being an bumhole.
Reset your trigger GPB.

I hope it is neither anti-American nor anti-European to note that none of the first six finishers in the recently completed web.com event are qualified to compete in the Ryder Cup, but all could compete for the Internationals in the Presidents Cup - unless Puerto Rican Campos has some US eligibilty.

delete, double post

Sungjae Im (from Korea) wins the webbie event.

Frankly I didn't recognize the name and I was surprised to hear that the was the highest ranked player in the field.

Ranked #152 this week, he played the Japan PGA all last year. This is his first Professional win (in an OWGR tournament), although he had several high finishes in on the J-PGA last year.

He is 19 years old, will be 20 in a couple months. This win will get him to around #115 in the OWGR. If he starts dominating the early events on the webbie Tour, he could find himself with a Masters Invite. Its unusual for a Webbie to be this highly ranked at the beginning of the year. He needs about 60-64 more OWGR points to reach the Top 50.

FTR, Chi Chi Rodriguez played on the US Ryder Cup team in 1973