PGA Tour: Notes from the Ballwasher: PGA Championship

First topic message reminder :

1).Great Scott! If Adam Scott is as genuine (and dryly funny) a guy as he seems with his interaction with galleries following him, then his wonderful win at Firestone couldn't have happened to a better man. Pity his sherpa violated one of the cardinal rules of caddying: Turn up, Keep up, Shut up. And let that be a lesson to CBS!

2).Is that the first important golf tournament in which FIVE of the leading eight finishers were 25 years old or less? I certainly can't think of any Tour event with such great performances by the young ones. Ryo Ishikawa has now earned enough money in PGA Tour events this year to qualify for 2012 PGA Tour Membership; signs are he'll take up his option, and good for him; I'd pretty much written him off!

3).And on that subject, sort of, Tim Rosaforte (leading American Golf Writer much infatuated with himself) reported in my just-received September Golf Digest a recent radio call-in conversation in which Rory McIlroy had said he's sticking with the European Tour:
"It's tough to play both Tours. I'd like to play a little more in the States, but it's just tough with everything else that's going on around the world." He's a fickle lad, that Rory; I think we're going to have to get used to it.

4).The other side of the coin is Dustin Johnson's suggestion that he's thinking about European Tour membership as his arithmetic tells him he just has thre more events to play to qualify. Not sure he's got that quite right, but interesting nevertheless.

5).Tiger Woods played at Firestone, finished 37th looking good with some aspects of his game (decent irons, putting not too bad compared to his recent-ish efforts) but dead last in driving accuracy and close to last in sand saves (one up and down out of six). He needs to improve both if he's to make the cut at the PGA Championship, let alone contend.
Tiger probably needs to finish inside the Top 20 to qualify for the 125-strong field for the first FedEx Play-Offs event, Ernie Els too, as they've both said they won't be playing Greensboro, the final tournament for earning points towards Play-Off eligibility. (Harrington, Casey, Cabrera, Oosthuizen and others also currently outside the top 125.)

6).Fair to say, I think, that Adam Scott is now clearly the leading Australian despite Jason Day's promise. And watching Steve Elkington playing at Reno makes one think of the other Aussies. The post-Elk generation of Allenby, Appleby, Green, Hensby, O'Hern, Pampling, Senden seems to have peaked and it wouldn't be surprising if none won again on Tour.
Adam Scott and Aaron Baddeley are both having fine seasons, Jason Day seems to contend in every big tournament and Geoff Ogilvy continues to be an uber-talented wildcard. Goggin will be back on Tour next year (as in all likelihood Nathan Green is relegated to the Nationwide), Leishman plugs along but Michael Sim has disappeared. And what of any young Aussies coming up behind Jason Day? Not seen nuffink yet, guv.

7).On to Hotlanta, and the second leg of the Georgia Majors, another Bobby Jones inspired venue, Atlanta Athletic Club's Highland Course. The original design was nine holes by Robert Trent Jones and nine by Joe Finger. Then Rees Jones was called in to upgrade it. And then Rees Jones was called in to upgrade it again. "Longer is better" is the Jones mantra, so we have a par 70, 7,467 yard course with a 260 yard par three and two 500+ yard par 4's. That includes the 507 yard 18th, scene of one of the more famous lay-ups in PGA Championship history when David Toms laid up from the rough and got up and down from 120 yards to beat Phil in 2001.

8).It's going to be hot and probably steamy in Atlanta with temps around 90F and a good chance of thundershowers during the week. Bermuda greens were introduced by Jones and they're expected to be receptive to shots from the fairway, but certainly not the rough (we'll see about that). And they're advertised as fast, but not especially grainy which will be good news to those from Europe.

9).One would think guys from the south-east will prosper here, Kuchar, 2xJohnsons, Love, Simpson, Snedeker, Toms, Cink, Bubba, Haas, Glover, HowellIII etc, but it looks wide open to me. Home-course advantage will not help 1981 Champion Larry Nelson or, indeed, 1976 US Open Champion, Jerry Pate.

10).And while all this is going on, our Nationwide friends will be in Missouri, Russell Knox easing closer by the week to a 2012 Tour card.

10A).In the interests of a well-balanced sporting life, I shall be hoping to watch Andy Murray on Thursday at the Montreal Masters so will be awol for a couple of days.

10B).What's that? Murray beaten already?? He must have thought tennis was like WGC Golf where the likes of Stuart Appleby can sleepwalk to $35K just for coming last. Regardless, I'm sure Plan B will be enjoyable.

Must be one of those 'positive energy' things after the good news he's got on his son a few days ago, I couldn't see Ross with such a start in a million years... Go Ross!!!

Who said Harrington couldn't drive it straight? (well, me, for one...) Giving Tiger some driving lessons there on the 3rd hole. Mind you, even I could have done better than Tiger there...

princedracula wrote:Must be one of those 'positive energy' things after the good news he's got on his son a few days ago, I couldn't see Ross with such a start in a million years... Go Ross!!!

Who said Harrington couldn't drive it straight? (well, me, for one...) Giving Tiger some driving lessons there on the 3rd hole. Mind you, even I could have done better than Tiger there...

where you watching this pd??

Ned - on their official website you can watch live and free (and official) Tiger/Padraig/Love group!

http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2011/multimedia/video/live/golf/player.html?pga_cid=11_champ99

princedracula wrote:Ned - on their official website you can watch live and free (and official) Tiger/Padraig/Love group!

http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2011/multimedia/video/live/golf/player.html?pga_cid=11_champ99

fantastic, thanks for that!

Tiger into 16/1 now after going to -2

Amazing, Ross -4 after 5!!!! Long may it last! Certainly so far doesn't look as difficult as they made it sound in the media over the last days...

princedracula wrote:Amazing, Ross -4 after 5!!!! Long may it last! Certainly so far doesn't look as difficult as they made it sound in the media over the last days...

Not watching any live stuff at the moment saving that for this evening in the armchair. But if this type of scoring continues looks like it could be the PGA and the US Open has disappointed the organising parties of being a tough challenge

The hardest set of holes is predicted to be 15, 16, 17 and 18 - let's see how the fast starters on number 10 back fare through there.

No sign that the damage to the greens has affected play.

Mods, etc. Am puzzled by the ad for Vermont that pops up on the screen before log-in - I'm out of the country so clearly nothing personalized. Is this something we can cultivate.
(PS, Weird keyboard too, can't find my question mark!)

pgatour.com is reporting that the $35K that Fish earned for his no-show last week was donated to the Killarney hospital that treated his son. Nice work by Ross.

kwinigolfer wrote:pgatour.com is reporting that the $35K that Fish earned for his no-show last week was donated to the Killarney hospital that treated his son. Nice work by Ross.

Wonderful! Top guy! C'mon Ross!!!

kwinigolfer wrote:Mods, etc. Am puzzled by the ad for Vermont that pops up on the screen before log-in - I'm out of the country so clearly nothing personalized. Is this something we can cultivate.
(PS, Weird keyboard too, can't find my question mark!)

At risk of going off topic (though I suspect others may wonder about this too). Our site founder pays monthly to have adverts removed from the forum. Initially it wasn't that expensive to have adverts removed but the charging model the host company uses increases the costs quite dramatically the more hits we attract. Due to the amazing growth of v2 since its inception, it was suddenly costing MUCH more to remove the adverts so to cut the cost slightly it was decided not to supress the adverts for visitors - only people who are registered and logged on.

It's probably just coincidence that you are seeing Vermont adverts while you are away from home - depends how you are connecting I guess.

And just a further FYI - if anyone wants to assist in the advert removal process, there is a "contribute" link at the foot of every page. This is guaranteed to NOT line the pockets of any of the founders or admins - any "contributions" go to buying "credits" which can only be used for things like advert supression. We have made a conscious decision NOT to plug this too hard as we don't want anyone to feel pressured into donating for the forum - the ideals of it being a free forum to members right from the start have been, and will be adhered to)

Still some wayward driving, but overall Tiger's been pretty impressive so far... 3-under! Hmmm...

Davie,
Connecting via a hotel pc in Oh Canada, appreciate the explanation, had just wondered whether there was something I could cultivate for you from home.

Bogey for Ross on 16, gives Tiger a share of the lead... but not for long - splash!

kwinigolfer wrote:The hardest set of holes is predicted to be 15, 16, 17 and 18 - let's see how the fast starters on number 10 back fare through there.

Matteo just birdied 17th, C'mon Matteo!!!
Stricker and Bubba also started very well, but Ryo... +8 after 8 !!??

princedracula wrote:Still some wayward driving, but overall Tiger's been pretty impressive so far... 3-under! Hmmm...

Yeah, he is more than capable of winning this event, but he'll need to be competitive for at least 3 of the 4 rounds and preferably all 4 of them. He only managed one last week, so it is a big ask to make that jump this quickly... although it would surprise no-one if he does.

Davie wrote:...it was decided not to supress the adverts for visitors - only people who are registered and logged on.

I also saw ads (Irish adds!) a few times when I checked the site without being logged-in...

Horrible design (if any) that 15th hole... I have to admit I've never been an RTJ fan, and even less of a fan now...

Noticed that Adam Scott scored a rare birdie at pd's "Horrible design..." 15. Imagine they'll move the tee up for the last 3 rounds if the carnage continues.

What did tiger do on the 15th?

True venice, to me it's one of those holes where if you get a birdie, most people would think you've got very lucky, rather than you played it well...
Tiger's position is crumbling over the past couple of holes... (Mac - he went for a swim at the 15th)
But poor Ryo's 'progress' continues at a pace... +10 after 9!? Bubba in front!

In hindsight the 15th was always going to cause Tiger some trouble, even with a 5 wood he hasn't been that accurate since he returned from his non-injury absence.

Agree pd. The hole would be very acceptable if they whacked 100 or so yards off the distance. Except for Bubba who used it for his 4th birdie in a row.

As someone else suggested, the hot starters are now coming back to the pack a little as they progress through 15-18

Current hot starts are still to go through that stretch (though Bubba birdied 15 as venice mentioned)

Matteo got through the 15-18 stretch even par, and now he just birdied #1&2! Note that 2nd hole is a 512 yard par 4, so Matteo seems to get over the distance handicap pretty well.... C'mon Matteo!!!

what's the story with the damaged greens?

surely a bit of a no no for a major host?!

Wasn't there a mower incident on the front of 17 which caused a rather large hole to be taken out of the green.

True to form, TW and Paddy not even close!!! to hitting the fairways. Makes no sense. These 2 great golfers have seemingly wrecked their games with the constant tweaking of their swings. Makes no sense.

Woods +2 after nine, so he's not Lazarus this week then
Mac will have a black armband on tonight if this continues.

adam going well - 2

badds + 2

good luck jason

how many birdies on 15 today

I've noticed during previous majors there hasn't been much call for it - I'm guessing most of us like to sit back in an armchair to watch the golf - but don't forget if anyone is watching or following the golf later today while at a computer we always have the option of switching the chat box on for big events (it it's not on already). Let me or one of the other admins know if you'd like it on for the golf

stricks on fire

adam staying in there

Ishikawa appears to be +15 after 15 holes - WTF!!

JASON DAY RULES wrote:how many birdies on 15 today

7 Double Bogeys or worse
14 Bogeys
3 Birdies
0 Eagles
According to the pga website.

Stricker through 15-18 in 2-under and 5-under through the back 9! The one to catch at the moment. Nice start for Noren
Adam up to 3-under... Going for the double GJ!?

if adam can get in -2 or 3

its good position

cheers lairdy

adam - 2 now

I'm greatful to PGA Champ website for showing this live, but I hope tomorrow they will show another group... As much as I want to follow Padraig, this group hasn't been very exciting to watch the last couple of hours...

Stricker up to -6!! Hope Rory and Lee will give him a good chase on the LB later on...

and jason

What is up with Ishikawa??? Last week, in the mix final round for the WGC and this week +15 through 17???? Is he injured?

Matteo must be feeling pretty good, at least for a while... he's the clubhouse leader with a great 68!!

Indeed GJ, how could I forget Jason!
Actually I had a quick look earlier on sportsville's competition thread, and Jason is the clear leader among 606v2 people, with 31 votes (out of about 45-46 entries if I counted correctly). Was followed by Lee, Luke, Rory, Scott, etc. I'm sure sportsville will have the exact stats on that...

venice1 wrote:Agree pd. The hole would be very acceptable if they whacked 100 or so yards off the distance. Except for Bubba who used it for his 4th birdie in a row.

...and now he just got his 5th bogey in a row!?

princedracula wrote:

venice1 wrote:Agree pd. The hole would be very acceptable if they whacked 100 or so yards off the distance. Except for Bubba who used it for his 4th birdie in a row.

...and now he just got his 5th bogey in a row!?

Now that's what be called "streaky."
Daly and Tiger are neck and neck.
Brian Davis becomes the early leading U.K. man as Luke just dropped a shot.

Fantastic start by Noren! Let's hope he can keep his cool through those tough last 4 holes... And as cool as ever, the Mechanic is another one who has an imaculate scorecard so far today. Just hope I won't jinx them now...

princedracula wrote:Just hope I won't jinx them now...

I wonder if anyone has ever beaten tiger by 14 shots over a single round before?

Was there any 67's in the 3rd Round at Muirfield 2002?

Mav will be happy; stricker just fails to make history as he misses a 15-footer for 62 but his 63 is a tremendous start; will it be his week?

Hunter Mahan beat him by 13 in the final round of the bridgestone invitational at firestone last year (64 - 77), closest i can think of.

Just checked muirfield, there were 68's on the saturday by Steve Elkington, Justin Leonard, Justin Rose & Peter Lonard but no 67's. So the answer to your question may be no mac!