PGA Tour: The Travelers - 59 Watch (or 58): Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Congratulations to Brooks Koepka. As well as rocketing up to 4th place in the world rankings, he also joins an exclusive club of US golfers with more Majors than PGA Tour tournaments, but imagine he'll only be coupled with Andy North in that club for a while. Koepka's had such a relatively unconventional rise to the top that his future looks a little unpredictable - but we DO know that he'd rather be playing baseball. (And seldom plays coastal California events as he doesn't like putting on poa annua greens, so going for his hat-trick next year might be tricky.)

2).Fantastic final round of 63 from Tommy Fleetwood, only two other rounds better than 68. Tommy's been close a few times now; not being impatient to say it would be wonderful to see him winning a WGC and/or Major.
And an important take-away for Dustin Johnson: Don't expect to win a Major (or anything else for that matter) when you take 73 putts over the weekend.
And another big winner, albeit in furtive fashion, is Tyrrell Hatton whose under-the-radar 6th place finish assures him of a trip to Pebble Beach next June. And also means he reaches the FedEx Play-Offs and keeps his Tour card for next season, provided he plays enough events - only ten played so far so he'll be one short unless he qualifies for the Ryder Cup or Dell tournament.

3).Mixed reviews for the USGA again; the players seemed to think the course set-ups for Rounds 1 & 2 were fair enough, given difficult conditions, and for Round 4 too.
But a mess for Round 3 when half the field played in almost unplayable course conditions.
The regime running the USGA seems to make an annual habit of (Shinne)c0cking up their showpiece event and they'll get another chance in 2026. Hopefully without Mike Davis at the helm.
But, before that, they have the Pebble Beach minefield to navigate next summer. High winds dominated the final round in 1992 (Tom Kite's year) and a virtually unplayable 17th green was the story when McDowell edged Havret in 2010. The 17th has been "re-done" and Pebble Beach should be a wonderful test. Fingers crossed on that.

4).Despite his dismal performance at Shinnecock, Rory still has the third best record in golf this year, as measured by owgr points anyway, and he'll get another chance to strut his stuff this week at a course you'd think was made for him, TPC River Highlands and The Travelers Championship in Hartford; 250 miles south of here and I'll be on my way soon!
The other major currency in golf in the US is FedEx points and several "notables" have yet to achieve the 400 x FedEx point threshold guaranteed to keep the player in the Top 125, assure himself of a place at the Northern Trust and keep his card for next season, like Hatton has just done.

5).This lot, including some exempt for 18/19, are off the FedEx pace:
Henley, Hoffman, Ryan Palmer, Vegas, Scott, Sneds, English (what's happened to him?), Lahiri, Garcia (Bjorn needs to give him a call), Molinari, Haas, McDowell and Lowry. And Pieters, Fisher & Kaymer (all seem to be forfeiting their cards).

6).A quick puddle-jump across Long Island Sound gets the players to Hartford (not far from New London and the Thames as it happens) and The Travelers Championship which welcomes its best field in recent history.
Among Rory's best friends looking to go low on a 6,840 yard par-70 course will be:
Thomas, Koepka, Spieth, Day, Reed, Casey, Leishman, Bubba, Simpson and BDeC.

7).Furyk famously shot a 58 two years ago and there have been a few scores of 10-under par 60 as well. Conditions, at least for Rounds 1 and 2, will be warm, dry, sunny and traditionally receptive (but small) greens.
Don't be surprised to see a 59 or better.  
I'll be looking beyond the top few players and looking for better value with Ryan Moore and Charley Hoffman . . . . . and Russell Knox who is playing much better (top 20's in 3 of his last 4 events including 12th last week and a winner here two years ago).

8).Another great sports figure of my childhood left us, Peter Thomson. Quite apart from his great Open Championship record, his golfing CV includes:
*National Opens of TEN different countries.
*Nine Senior US tournament wins in 1985.
*Presidents Cup Captain in 1998 - the only International Team victory).
*Golf writer in Melbourne for 50 years.
*Prolific course architect.
*Helped establish the Asian Tour.
*32-year President of the Aussie PGA.
Not to mention:
*Ran for Parliament.
*Chairman of a (Odyssey House) drug rehab organization.

Thomson used to say, "I played a game I loved for the sheer pleasure of it. I don't think I did a real day's work in my whole life."
An enviable epitaph.

Excellent stuff Kwini

Thomson being very humble there. His record does not speak of man who never did a real days work.

Just heard someone shout River Magoo. Any relevance or just a stupid shout to get heard on TV?

Just yanks being stupid as usual probably

Is there any similarity between the fans who have outbursts with W*U*Ms?

Terrific couple of days at The Travelers, surprised the scoring wasn't even better, but the number of 63's and 64's is a good indication that scores are out there. Best field ever there, and huge crowds also, 99.9% of them thoroughly respectful.
Not a great forecast for the weekend, unfortunately, cool & showery.

Followed Russell Knox (playing w/Spieth & Leishman) yesterday, played a wonderful round of golf; McDowell later and he missed the cut - where will his career go now? Interesting following that Spieth group - the crowds love their "Jordan".

And: Surprised/shocked to see Molinari in the Quicken Loans field next week - caught between two stools I would think, pretty much as we've been talking about for the past month or so.
Not sure why he wouldn't focus on Europe for the next month and risking losing his card - he'd have to play very poorly to miss out on Majors & WGC's etc next year, and could play out of the 126 - 150 conditional category if he absolutely had to.

Ernie Els nephew (Jovan Rebula) looks poised to win the British Amateur (or is it "THE AMATEUR" ) 5 up with 6 holes to play in the 36 hole finale.

Perhaps Molinari realizes that the Ryder Cup is really, at its core, just an exhibition. albeit a highly competitive one. On the hierarchy of priorities, he ranks a PGATour Card more highly than an appearance in the Ryder Cup. And the two are not mutually exclusive. It is noteworthy that someone ranked so highly in team Europe RC Standings is struggling to stay inside the FEX Top 125.

Don't understand why Molinari did not play this week. Travelers seems like a good course for him

GPB wrote:Ernie Els nephew (Jovan Rebula) looks poised to win the British Amateur (or is it "THE AMATEUR"   )  5 up with 6 holes to play in the 36 hole finale.

Perhaps Molinari realizes that the Ryder Cup is really, at its core, just an exhibition.  albeit a highly competitive one.  On the hierarchy of priorities, he ranks a PGATour Card more highly than an appearance in the Ryder Cup.  And the two are not mutually exclusive.  It is noteworthy that someone ranked so highly in team Europe RC Standings is struggling to stay inside the FEX Top 125.

Don't understand why Molinari did not play this week.  Travelers seems like a good course for him

Talk about feeding the Trolls.

That aside, Rebula obviously a good player.

Just being a little provocative. Only 5 or 6 posts so far this week.

I've nothing against people calling it the British Open.

Anything which sticks in the craw of the golfing establishment is fine with me.

One of the attractions of The Travelers Championship is that there's not a big shot pro who doesn't think he can have his way with the course. And they do, occasionally. But as soon as they think they can take it for granted it comes back to bite them.

It's not that it favours long hitters or short hitters, it's more that they all need to pay attention on every shot - and it's surprising how often that's difficult when you're looking for birdie on every hole, especially as missing fairways can be quite penal.
But the greens can be tricky too, Knox missing one fairway today, and two greens, but "-3 strokes gained putting" = even par. Only birdie from inside 2 feet!

Hosung Choi is in 2nd place going into the final round of the Kolon Korea Open. Top 2 spots get an exemption into the Open Championship.

Hope he gets paired with Tiger if he qualifies

https://twitter.com/GolfGuy77/status/1010392107645693952

GPB wrote:Hosung Choi is in 2nd place going into the final round of the Kolon Korea Open.  Top 2 spots get an exemption into the Open Championship.

Hope he gets paired with Tiger if he qualifies

https://twitter.com/GolfGuy77/status/1010392107645693952

Watched some of him last night - totally nuts.

Casey leading in CT; can he hold it together as he did at Innisbrook? Great leaderboard.

Were Casey to win this, he'd climb in to the qualifying four via World Points for the RC Team ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick.

The Mad Scientist will certainly be back in the US top 8 also.

58 OWGR points would put Casey ahead of Noren & Fitzpatrick in the World Points list and well inside the qualifying 8 for the Ryder Cup. 2nd place would put him ahead of Fitzpatrick

He is going to need them

Since the next three weeks are Rolex events, Casey can't earn any Ryder Cup points playing the PGATour. He is not entered in the French or Irish Open.

Stenson, currently 11th in World Points is not playing either the French or Irish Opens either. Casey and Garcia are in line to pass him this week.

Guess he feels confident that he will get a Wild Card from Bjorn.

It seems like Stenson is always in a contest with himself to see how few events he can play and still qualify for the FEX Playoffs. Now it looks like he is daring Bjorn to not pick him.

Casey's won in Scotland a couple of times; would be surprised if he didn't play Gullane. He's played Greenbrier once, but don't think he's ever played DC or JDC, so not missing anything.

As for H, that's always been his M.O., "I'll do my best on my terms, up to you if you pick me or not if I'm not successful enough otherwise".


Should be a shoot-out Sunday in Hartford. Casey's to lose, but quite likely that someone will shoot low coming out of the pack so PC likely needs a 68 or better, and he's been known to crumble from a strong position before - perhaps not this strong though?

"Top five and ties, not otherwise exempt, inside the to twenty" in both R2D points and FedEx points after this weekend's action qualify for Carnoustie.
Looks like that will include:
Bjork, Campillo, Kizzire,

And could include Otagui, Wallace, Andy Sullivan, Bjerragaard and Paisley if they finish top one or two this week. One or two others could do the trick with a "W".
Plus, possibly, Hadley & List and a possible random Hartford winner. Reavie an outside chance.

GPB wrote:Hosung Choi is in 2nd place going into the final round of the Kolon Korea Open.  Top 2 spots get an exemption into the Open Championship.

Hope he gets paired with Tiger if he qualifies

https://twitter.com/GolfGuy77/status/1010392107645693952

Came 5th, what a shame.

Matt Wallace not only wins in Germany, but qualifies for Carnoustie (along with Bjork & Campillo) bumping Otaegui. Also pretty much assures Wallace of a PGA Championship tee-time.

More Carnoustie spots to be confirmed today at The Travelers via top 20 in FedEx rankings.

Hoping for a 59 from Rory today, give Casey something to think about.

Horses for Courses:
Stewart Cink, twice a Hartford winner, is out in 29. 59 watch? Already well over two strokes gained putting plus a 60 foot chip in.

Paul being Paul again I see. Way to throw it away....

Chokerrrrrr

Difficult to think of any positives that Casey can take from that.

Third win at Hartford for Bubbs, third win of the season, and one foot in the US Ryder Cup Team room. (Which might be a good thing.)

Peter Kostis made some excuses for Paul Casey. CBS needs to admonish Kostis for that. (Kostis is Casey's swing coach)

GPB wrote:Peter Kostis made some excuses for Paul Casey.  CBS needs to admonish Kostis for that.  (Kostis is Casey's swing coach)

Perhaps Casey should admonish Kostis also.
Kind of agree - very uncomfortable listening to PK commentating on PC.

[quote="kwinigolfer"]Matt Wallace not only wins in Germany, but qualifies for Carnoustie (along with Bjork & Campillo) bumping Otaegui. Also pretty much assures Wallace of a PGA Championship tee-time.

More Carnoustie spots to be confirmed today at The Travelers via top 20 in FedEx rankings.


Confirmation that Kizzire, Hadley & List qualify for Carnoustie.

Casey looked a bit 'tired' over last round when it was there to be won .Just out of sorts and no smiles still a very decent golfer though.Just looked like someone needed to have a word to give him a lift.

dynamark wrote:Casey looked a bit 'tired' over last round when it was there to be won .Just out of sorts and no smiles still a very decent golfer though.Just looked like someone needed to have a  word to give him a lift.

His caddie is John McClaren who used to work for Luke Donald. I saw an arm around PC a couple of times but don't know what it takes to get Casey to play the golf that got him to the dance in the first place - he seems to go into an automatic defensive mode whenever in the final round lead. Strange considering he had a great MatchPlay record. Hope he qualifies for the Ryder Cup, but this could take some getting over.
He's not signed up for anything before The Open (surprised he's avoiding the Scottish). Too good a player to melt down like yesterday.

Seems to me it's quite common for a player who goes really low one day to have an average day the next (I have of course no data to back this up). It's like you use all your luck seeing everything drop for 18 holes. That said a 72 from a 62 is a big swing.

A weak field this week for the "Quicken Loans National" outside Washington, and a poor follow-up at The Greenbrier next week.
The PGA Tour's Dog Days of Summer.

Good article on the Barnrat

http://www.golf.com/tour-news/2018/06/25/thai-tanic-pga-tour-newbie-kiradech-aphibarnrat-lives-big-big-lifestyle

I didn't realise that fat knacker was only 28.
Poor guy's career will be over by 35.

GPB wrote:Good article on the Barnrat

http://www.golf.com/tour-news/2018/06/25/thai-tanic-pga-tour-newbie-kiradech-aphibarnrat-lives-big-big-lifestyle

Fun article, on course for his first President's Cup next year. (Snide reference to Poulter seems a bit unnecessary . . . . . )

PGA Tour Policy Board met yesterday and I'm told approved the 2018-19 schedule.  I didn't get any confirmation exactly what it is, but was given an indication not to expect any big surprises, whatever that means.  Supposedly the announcement it's not supposed to come till July the 10th (as per media reports), but I kinda doubt they're going to be able to keep the cat in the bag that long.

robo,
The fields at Memphis, this week and next (Greenbrier) are all quite weak, illustrating the challenge any tournament will have filling up their tee-times, whether under the existing configuration or in Detroit or Minneapolis, or anywhere. Hopefully the JDC sponsorship is secure as Deere is one of the companies getting hit hard by the trade tit-for-tats.
Looking forward to seeing what the Tour comes up with.

kwinigolfer wrote:

GPB wrote:Good article on the Barnrat

http://www.golf.com/tour-news/2018/06/25/thai-tanic-pga-tour-newbie-kiradech-aphibarnrat-lives-big-big-lifestyle

Fun article, on course for his first President's Cup next year. (Snide reference to Poulter seems a bit unnecessary . . . . . )

Great article. Thoroughly enjoyed that, thanks GP.

Gary "Pro apartheid" Player trying to give Maradona a run for most tragic ex sportsperson.

https://www.golfchannel.com/article/grill-room/watch-gary-player-tires-people-out-sit-ups/?cid=twitter-gc-a-watch-gary-player-tires-people-out-sit-ups-06252018

Utter Bell end

Greg Norman in the ESPN Body Issue comes close - almost presidential in his narcissism.

kwinigolfer wrote:Greg Norman in the ESPN Body Issue comes close - almost presidential in his narcissism.

Good point,forgot about that.

Another Tour stalwart of years gone by has signed his final scorecard: Phil Rodgers, 2nd (lost to Bob Charles in a play-off), 3rd & 4th in 60's Opens, top tens in each of the other Majors, and once Jack Nicklaus's short-game "guru".

McLaren wrote:Gary "Pro apartheid" Player trying to give Maradona a run for most tragic ex sportsperson.

Thought that was Tiger...