OWGR - Week #22

Wow! That was some finish in Columbus! A fantastic win from Tiger Woods at the Memorial, and what a place to equal Jack's PGA Tour wins record. Tiger jumps up to #4 in the rankings, best ranked American once again, while the top three positions remain unchanged. And with plenty of OWGR points on offer, there are some significant moves on the upside as well for those finishing in the top 5 in Ohio: Levin to #61, Sabbatini to #67, Romero returns inside the top 100 at #97 and Daniel Summerhays climbs around 160 spots, somewhere around #230.
Congratulations also to Thongchai Jaidee from Thailand, deserving winner of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor and his first win on European soil, who will be climbing back up almost 90 spots, somewhere close to #110. Among those tied for 2nd place in Wales, Gonzo will be probably the happiest, enjoying a nice return inside the top 50, at #48. Well done also to Yoshinari Fujimoto, winner on the Japanese Tour, moving up to somewhere around #190.

Congratulations also for all the other winners this week:
- Eduardo De La Riva of Spain, winner on the CT in La Gomera, he will climb somewhere around #240 (a special mention here for the amazing performance from the 16-year old Italian Domenico Geminiani who finished in a tie for 6th place and is earning his first ever OWGR points and that should get him somwhere around #1030 in the world)
-James Hahn (first cousin of John Huh... just kidding! ) from US, winner, after a playoff, on the NW tour in North Carolina, who should jump all the way to around #340...

The OWGR table after week #22 should look like this:

1 Luke Donald
2 Rory McIlroy
3 Lee Westwood
4 Tiger Woods
5 Bubba Watson
6 Matt Kuchar
7 Justin Rose
8 Hunter Mahan
9 Jason Dufner
10 Martin Kaymer
-----------------------
11 Steve Stricker
12 Phil Mickelson
13 Webb Simpson
14 Charl Schwartzel
15 Louis Oosthuizen
16 Zach Johnson
17 Adam Scott
18 Rickie Fowler
19 Jason Day
20 Dustin Johnson
21 Graeme McDowell
22 Sergio Garcia
23 Bill Haas
24 Keegan Bradley
25 Peter Hanson
26 Brandt Snedeker
27 Ian Poulter
28 Nick Watney
29 Paul Lawrie
30 Bo Van Pelt
31 K.J. Choi
32 Martin Laird
33 Francesco Molinari
34 Thomas Bjorn
35 Nicolas Colsaerts
36 Jim Furyk
37 John Senden
38 Carl Pettersson
39 Mark Wilson
40 David Toms
41 Bae Sang-moon
42 Alvaro Quiros
43 Ernie Els
44 Jonathan Byrd
45 Aaron Baddeley
46 Simon Dyson
47 Fredrik Jacobson
48 Gonzalo Fdez-Castano
49 Robert Karlsson
50 Geoff Ogilvy
-----------------------
51 Kevin Na
52 Ben Crane
53 Anders Hansen
54 Branden Grace
55 Rafael Cabrera Bello
56 Kyle Stanley
57 K.T. Kim
58 Paul Casey
59 Robert Rock
60 Ryo Ishikawa
------------------------
61 Spencer Levin
62 Miguel A Jimenez
63 Matteo Manassero
64 Johnson Wagner
65 Greg Chalmers
66 Y.E. Yang
67 Rory Sabbatini
68 Hiroyuki Fujita
69 George Coetzee
70 Charles Howell-III
71 Retief Goosen
72 Ryan Moore
73 Gary Woodland
74 John Huh
75 Robert Garrigus
76 Darren Clarke
77 D.A. Points
78 Ben Curtis
79 Joost Luiten
80 Ryan Palmer
81 Pablo Larrazabal
82 Vijay Singh
83 Robert Allenby
84 Alexander Noren
85 Toru Taniguchi
86 Sean O'Hair
87 Michael Hoey
88 Brian Davis
89 Jeff Overton
90 Chez Reavie
91 Marcus Fraser
92 John Rollins
93 Richie Ramsay
94 Brendan Jones
95 Jaco Van Zyl
96 Padraig Harrington
97 Andres Romero
98 Stephen Gallacher
99 Bernd Wiesberger
100 David Lynn
-------------------------
101 Harrison Frazar
102 George McNeill
103 Thorbjorn Olesen
...

Quietly a really nice final round (70) and finish (T25) for Branden Grace. Moves up to #54 and absolutely safe for the U.S. Open. Not bad considering the travel over and no familiarity with a very difficult track...

anyone else notice how those pompus sky gits kept on refering to Jaidee's win on "mainland Europe"?
is Wales really on the mainland of Europe?

Thanks pd,
Tiger would be crazy to risk his divisor going any higher!
Top five this year beginning to follow a familiar path:
McIlroy
Donald
Watson
Woods
Rose

All with at least 100 more owgr points than:
Kaymer
Stricker
Simpson
Schwartzel
Scott
etc!

Just to expand on kwini’s post, here are the top 20 points earners in 2012;

1	Rory McIlroy, Nir	203.31
2	Luke Donald, Eng	191.05
3	Bubba Watson, USA	189.23
4	Tiger Woods, USA	180.82
5	Justin Rose, Eng	176.55
6	Hunter Mahan, USA	164.84
7	Jason Dufner, USA	159.09
8	Matt Kuchar, USA	158.79
9	Louis Oosthuizen, Zaf	152.3
10	Zach Johnson, USA	143.61
11	Lee Westwood, Eng	139.6
12	Rickie Fowler, USA	130.16
13	Phil Mickelson, USA	129.65
14	Paul Lawrie, Sco	124.46
15	Carl Pettersson, Swe	118.47
16	Peter Hanson, Swe	103.22
17	Nicolas Colsaerts, Bel	101.7
18	Graeme McDowell, Nir	99.23
19	Bill Haas, USA	96.11
20	Ernie Els, Zaf	94.25

I few surprises dont yo think?

Mixed bags this week, pd.
Hadn't realised that Sergio is in Sweden with Westwood and Hanson, big drop-off after those three.

Not much different in Memphis, Macs Ilroy and Dowell, 2 x Johnsons (actually three), Snedeker (if fit, don't bet on it) and Laird (only he knows why he's in Memphis after missing Memorial), before the drop-off.

And very pleased to see Sterne up in the 220's, one spot behind Tim Clark now!

PS: And, to expand on robo's and Mac's posts, good Memorial for Colsaerts also, tied with Grace. Wonder how long before he tries the PGA Tour?

Cheers, kwini, it's going to be a pretty quiet week in prospect, relatively speaking...
Preliminary count for this week:

- Memphis @ ~36-38 pts (38 last year)
- Nordea @ ~26 pts (24 last year)

Current top 8 are guarranteed to remain the same going into the US Open...
Will get back later with some details about the top 60 cutline situation,
but I see many of those not yet qualified for US Open and who could still make the top 60 this week are giving up and choosing not to play...

EDIT: OK, just read on kwini's thread about the qualifier, forgot about it, so all those people haven't given up just yet then...

When Westy skipped the '11 Players Championship, wasn't one of the excuses that he didn't have enough exemptions to play Quail Hollow the preceding week?

to reduce Jet lag and such before a big tournament.

And this week he is playing in Sweden, the week before the US Open? Thirteen months later, jet lag does not appear to be much of a problem.

Just more evidence that Chubby was pulling the strings. I just have a hard time believing anything that comes out of Camp Chubby.

Got to say I am no fan of camp chubby and was very Glad to see Rory move on. I think chubby is stuck in some some world view that the PGAT is soon to be toppled as the premier golf circuit.

GPB,

Was Westwood really saying he wouldn't have got invited to Quail Hollow as World No 1 ???

McLaren wrote:Got to say I am no fan of camp chubby and was very Glad to see Rory move on. I think chubby is stuck in some some world view that the PGAT is soon to be toppled as the premier golf circuit.

I think Chubby (and O'Grady) took their best shot at a potential stronger world tour (with the Euro Tour as the epicenter) when they had their chance. It didn't work out and now that Americans are reasserting themselves by their play and top Euro's like Westy joining the PGAT and Rory coming back in the fold... that chance is gone.

But perhaps at least some of Chubby's players felt rather violated by the process. We know it was Chubb's orchestrating Westy and Rory's absence from the PLAYERS last year, but it was Rory that took most of the heat. And as a player that see's himself as a potential international golf icon, not just a European one... Rory seen to be tweeking American's noses is not the way to endear himself. Good for Rory he pulled off the U.S. Open win... and rejoined the PGAT... making most of us forget all about that. My guess is Oosty is next to leave Camp Chubby as he seems to be following his idol's (Ernie) path, and starting the process of a primary domicile move to the U.S.

John Cregan wrote:GPB,

Was Westwood really saying he wouldn't have got invited to Quail Hollow as World No 1 ???

No Westwood would have gotten an exemption from any event in the U.S. in which he chose to play. Lee's problem was that by not fulfilling the PGAT minimum event requirement in 2006 and leaving the PGAT, he was subject to same 5-year period of 10 max exemptions that Rory was when he left. Since the 7 combined majors and WGC's count in that 10 exemption max... that gave Westy only 3 regular tour events to put on his schedule. He had already played in the Honda and Shell and he wanted to keep his Memphis spot to "play into" the U.S. Open. So even though the PGA Tour officially exempted the PLAYERS from the 10 total... (like they did for Westy on a special case basis the year before), he still couldn't have played QH without giving up Memphis. Of note... Since 2011 was the 5th year of Lee's 10 max limit, his exemption limit would have been raised to 12 this year (plus a 13th for the PLAYERS) even if he hadn't joined the PGAT. But all that became moot anyway when Lee re-joined the PGAT.

Thanks Robo.......i remember it being convoluted at the time alright!!

John Cregan wrote:Thanks Robo.......i remember it being convoluted at the time alright!!

It is a little convoluted... but rules are what they are.

But that said... Lee needs to be careful on getting his PGAT 15 minimum for this year too. Right now he's at 7 events and he's announced the U.S. Open, Open Championship, WGC Bridgestone, PGA, then 3 of the 4 Fed Ex playoff events, Duetsche Bank, BMW and Tour Championship. And I believe the WGC HSBC counts towards event minimums. Anyway, that's exactly 15 events if HSBC counts. Any hiccup and not making the Tour Championship (which is no lock at this point as he's currently #35) and he could be having an issue or having to fly back to the states for a Fall Series event.

EDIT: Rory McIlroy... he's also at 7 events right now, but he's playing Memphis and has 15 events scheduled on the PGAT through the 3rd playoff event.

Robo: didn't Westy leave the PGAT in '06 in bad standing? as in he didn't fulfill his obligation?

But when Rory left in '10, he left in good standing? as he did play his 15 tournament requirement.

Rory should have been given a benefit of a doubt over Westy.

Chubby was using Westy and Rory as a pawns to further his anti PGAT agenda.

I really hope a journalist asks Westy about why he is playing in Sweden this week that really contradict his reasons to not play the '11 Players Championship.

GPB wrote:Robo: didn't Westy leave the PGAT in '06 in bad standing? as in he didn't fulfill his obligation?

But when Rory left in '10, he left in good standing? as he did play his 15 tournament requirement.

It doesn't matter. Both became "non-members not in good standing" just by leaving the PGA Tour, and thus both were subject to the same 10 event max for the next 5 years.

And actually I give Lee a pass on not meeting his 15 minimum in 2006. The way it worked was when the idea of the FedEx Cup plan was leaking in late 2005 and the PGAT had to announce at least the idea in November of 2005. Lee immediately came out and said the he didn't know if it was going to work for him as an important portion of his Euro schedule would likely be at the same time the playoffs might occur. But not knowing the details yet, and what the scheduling of the playoff events might be, he started his 2006 PGAT season and waited. When it came out later in 2006 that the FedEx events would be 4 consecutive weeks starting 2 weeks after the PGA... Lee knew that wasn't going to work for him in 2007 so he resigned his membership right then and did not play in another regular PGAT event. (As I recall that was around September 2006?)

The way I see it, this wasn't a situation of Lee not wanting to meet his obligations, it was more that he joined the Tour in 2005 with no obligation to play in any specific event, just make his 15. But then with the advent of the FedEx Cup starting the next year, the players were in effect all but dictated that they would play the FedEx events, and those happened to conflict with other events Lee found important. No fault on anybody's part... just the reality of tough choices one dual tour player was facing at the time.

Robo:

When was there an 'obligation' to play in the FedEx playoff events? It may be encouraged or implied, but never a requirement. Tiger didn't play the Barclays in year 1. Mickelson didn't play Cog Hill in year 1. Non Injuries. Other players have skipped events (non-injury related).

I don't what the 'contract' is when a player such as Rory gets a tour card through the unofficial money list, but I do think that it is a 'lesser' offense if he fulfills his yearly obligation rather than just quits the tour like Westwood did.


Edit: I think Westy is planning to play ATT National. I think I saw on his website a few weeks ago, but it is not there now.

GPB wrote:Robo:

When was there an 'obligation' to play in the FedEx playoff events? It may be encouraged or implied, but never a requirement. Tiger didn't play the Barclays in year 1. Mickelson didn't play Cog Hill in year 1. Non Injuries. Other players have skipped events (non-injury related).

Well for all intents and purposes YES, they had to play the playoffs. Remember that the first roughly $25 million out of $35 million of the FedEx pool is from the players own retirement funds being put into the FedEx pool. So in effect the FedEx playoffs is the players playing MOSTLY for their own retirement money, with a roughly $10 million kicker thrown in. And remember ALL the payoff to all but the very top players in the FedEx goes straight in their retirement plan, NOT cash.

So one of the key reasons a Euro guy would want to play on the PGAT in the first place was to get in the retirement plan. But if he wasn't going to play in the playoffs, then he was cutting the Tour's contribution to his plan way back. His payout into the plan would be greatly reduced by all the guys passing him in the playoff.

And as far as guys skipping one of the playoff events... that's not necessarily a big deal, at least in 2007 when Tiger and Phil did it. The key to the playoffs has always been to get in great shape for the reset for the final... so if you won that you might could win the whole thing. Phil and Tiger realized that in especially that first year, it was about doing extremely well in what events you were in, not necessarily playing in all of them. But there was another element in play. Tiger and Phil were making a statement back to PGAT headquarters. They were making it clear they didn't like having 4 extra events dictated to their schedule any more than Westwood did, and that was their way of showing it.


And as for Westy not fulfilling the 15 in 2006. I would look at it entirely different if Westy didn't get his 15 in this year. But the way it was explained to me was late in 2005 Westy was very close to deciding not to keep his PGAT membership for 2006 due to the impending changes that were now almost sure to happen in 2007. But at the time the Tour did NOT know the specifics or scheduling of just how the FedEx playoffs might affect his Euro schedule, and he was supposedly convinced by Ponte Vedra to keep his membership and wait and decide when the specifics came out. When it was firmly announced in Aug/Sep (?) of 2006 exactly what the playoffs would be, Westy decided right then to forgo his membership in 2007 and then WD'd from Vegas and stayed on to the European tour full time. IF all of that is true, than I have no problem with him not getting that 15th event in. And actually at the time... the PGAT wasn't all that upset about it and neither was Lee. 10 was about the max he wanted to play anyway... (that is until 2010.... but that's a whole 'nother story :-)

robo,
Doesn't Westwood get to count the Ryder Cup as a Tour event? Or does that just apply to the Presidents Cup?

PS: robo: Didn't it all get complicated by the fact that the PGA Tour found at the end of 2010 that they'd made a mistake in not sanctioning Westwood properly when he forfeited his card earlier? Because of that, the restrictions on McIlroy, which were then belatedly applied also to Westwood, were a shock to Camp Chubby and they reacted negatively as described. I know it wasn't totally black and white, maybe not quite fifty shades of grey.
No excuse for Westwood not to play Memphis this week, insulting to FedEx really.

Withdrawals today from this week's Memphis action include Snedeker, as expected.
Also:
Cejka
Every
Pampling
Adams
Compton
Pernice

The "alternate" bottom being scraped.

"No excuse for Westwood not to play Memphis this week, insulting to FedEx really."

I dont think they sponsored the event when he won. Although I always think a player has the right to prepare for a major in the best way they see fit. It seems many like to practice in private and find a course that mimics the conditions of the upcoming major, or play more practice rounds at the major venue.

What's wrong with Westwood missing this event. That cockend Woods only plays about one in six.

kwinigolfer wrote:robo,
Doesn't Westwood get to count the Ryder Cup as a Tour event? Or does that just apply to the Presidents Cup?

PS: robo: Didn't it all get complicated by the fact that the PGA Tour found at the end of 2010 that they'd made a mistake in not sanctioning Westwood properly when he forfeited his card earlier? Because of that, the restrictions on McIlroy, which were then belatedly applied also to Westwood, were a shock to Camp Chubby and they reacted negatively as described. I know it wasn't totally black and white, maybe not quite fifty shades of grey.
No excuse for Westwood not to play Memphis this week, insulting to FedEx really.

Kwini, good point on the Ryder Cup... I don't know if the Ryder Cup for EURO or PGAT players counts towards the PGAT minimum our not... I'll check.

The 2010 situation with Westy was no mistake, or at least that's what I was told. The situation in 2010 was he was already committed to Memphis, but after missing the Players in 2009, he wanted to play it in the Players as well in 2010. The tour wanted him too, and agreed to give him special dispensation for the Players as an extra event. (a modification they granted to all players starting in 2011). And THAT's what hacked me off about Westy skipping the PLAYERS in 2011. After getting the special treatment just the year before, he in effect thumbed his nose at the PGAT big time with all the "rig-ma-row" in 2011.

And as for Memphis this week. IMO Westy has probably figured out that Memphis is just NOT a good prep for a U.S. Open... especially a west coast U.S. Open where atmospherics are so different. He'll probably get a better U.S. Open prep in Sweden then he would in Memphis. Course I'm sure a little "sugar" on the side don't hurt... But I doubt FedEx is all that "insulted" anyway... why should they be. I mean how embarrassing would it be to have the guy with that big ole UPS logo on his sleeve holding up the 2012 FedEx St. Jude trophy

Ahh, I forgot lee was playing in Sweden, still if he thinks it is better prep then I guess that is his prerogative.

FedEx has sponsored this tournament for ages.

robo,
There was definitely something awry which my recollection is that Club Chub chose to make a fuss of. Pretty sure the Tour unintentionally, purely administrative error, overlooked the fact that he'd been a member which of course meant his ration was reduced, but not as much as it should have been.
By the time they got it all figured out, LW had started to assemble his 2011 schedule which was consequently disrupted. He then opted to play another event (Honda?, Memphis?) before the Players free pass option became available.

Memphis was sponsored by Stanford (Ponzi scheme) Financial in 2007 and 2008 and Smith and Nephew (Medical Equipment Manufacturer) in 2010. The year that Westy won.

Yup, They were regarded as presenting sponsor. But, perhaps incorrectly and certainly curiously, the pgatour.com tournament record still refers to the 2010 edition as the St.Jude Classic presented by FedEx, tho' the "media guide" for Westwood says " . . . . . . presented by Smith and Nephew".

FedEx has supported it in one way or another since 1985.

kwinigolfer wrote:FedEx has sponsored this tournament for ages.

robo,
There was definitely something awry which my recollection is that Club Chub chose to make a fuss of. Pretty sure the Tour unintentionally, purely administrative error, overlooked the fact that he'd been a member which of course meant his ration was reduced, but not as much as it should have been.
By the time they got it all figured out, LW had started to assemble his 2011 schedule which was consequently disrupted. He then opted to play another event (Honda?, Memphis?) before the Players free pass option became available.

Kwini... I know that's what people thought... because that's the way Chubby framed it.... but that was untrue on both counts. Westwood was given special dispensation to include the 2010 PLAYERS as he had already scheduled Memphis in 2010 and didn't want to back out of that commitment to make the Players. The Policy Board gave approval to that special exemption and decided to take it up as potential permanent change later in the year. And they did. In their November 2010 Policy Board Meeting the Board made the change, but ONLY for those players affected by the 10 max rule. Non-members in good standing like Kaymer, who were subject to the 7 sponsor exemption 12 max rule, were not affected by this change as they could not use the Players as a 13th event.

Westwood and Rory were informed in November 2010 that they would have the extra exemption for the Players. Westwood even commented on it at the 2010 Dubai World Championship... And Westwood seemed pleased with the policy change the following week a the Dubai World Championship. While he was a bit cryptic he said of the old policy “I would then have to pick between the Players and Memphis, and I don’t think anyone would have wanted that – not the PGA Tour or the sponsors.” At that point the PGA Tour thought Westwood would be attending the Players...

Then fast forward to about February or March of 2011, and all of a sudden Chubby is throwing out the "false premise" of the PGA Tours restrictive exemption policy and calming that's why Lee wouldn't play the Players. Even most of the public here thought the announcement of the "11th" event was some quick reaction to the Westwood/McIlroy situation... When in fact the policy was well in place before the beginning of the 2011 season and Chubby, Westwood, and Rory damn sure knew about it.

What this REALLY was... was an attempted manipulation by Chubby and Westwood to try to get a public outcry to end exemption limits on the PGA Tour for top OWGR rated players all together. They talked about how unfair they were to the American public and PGAT Sponsors... of course NEVER mentioning that the Euro Tour has a VERY SIMILAR policy of their own... The bad part of it all was that IMHO, Rory was just a neophyte kid and was following what he thought was good advice and it ended up looking worse on him than Chubby or Westy... because Rory was the player people over he really wanted to see. Rory's brand was the only one being damaged over here. Like I said earlier... good thing Rory won the U.S. Open later in the year and rejoined the PGAT this year... all but forgotten now... except by Rory. IMO THAT very issue, coupled with the over-scheduling issue is why Rory dumped Chubby like yesterday's garbage. I think Rory came to feel that Chubby and Westy were wanting to forward their own agenda... to hell with how it might affect Rory.

Here's a link to a November 2010 Golfweek article that discusses some of the above... including the announcement of the Player's exemption to the 10 max limit. http://golfweek.com/news/2010/nov/23/notes-westwood-mcilroy-get-extra-tour-event/

robo,
Agree with 95% of that but there was definitely an inconsistency in Lee's events played in 2010, followed by mixed messages as the Tour realised what appears to be their slip-up.
Circumstantially, how else to explain him playing 11 times in 2010?! Ironically he w/d'd from his 11th tournament (Bridgestone) and missed the PGA completely.

And in the big scheme of things it matters not one whit!

kwinigolfer wrote:robo,
Agree with 95% of that but there was definitely an inconsistency in Lee's events played in 2010, followed by mixed messages as the Tour realised what appears to be their slip-up.
Circumstantially, how else to explain him playing 11 times in 2010?! Ironically he w/d'd from his 11th tournament (Bridgestone) and missed the PGA completely.

And in the big scheme of things it matters not one whit!

Now on that one... I can't be any help... I've not heard the potential 12th event discussed in any conversations, but you're right... it looks like it could have been 12 for Westy in 2010. There is a way a lower ranked player subject 10 max rule can get in more than 10... but it wouldn't have applied to Westwood in 2010. I'll ask next time I get the chance...

What Robo has outline is pretty much how I remember the chain of events.

IMO, Chubby has a history of advising his clients in the best interest of Chubby/ISM rather than in the best interests of his clients.

Rory was too naive to see that he was being manipulated during late last summer and early fall when Rory was on World Tour.

And I do think Oosty is next high profile player to get out from Chubby's considerable shadow.

With all the WDs, St Jude looks to be dropping down into the 34 point bracket.
That means that now the current top 9 will stay as they are until the US Open, with only Johnson&Johnson having a chance to get to #10 with a win there.

In Sweden, only Larrazabal from those not yet qualified for US Open has a slight chance to make the top 60 if he wins...

...and I see that Hoey is having a very good start in Stockholm. Someone must've told him he could still make the top 60 and get a last minute US Open ticket, but the cruel reality is that even a win will leave him just a couple of hundredths of a point short of the current #60. Unless somehow Nordea will be worth 28pts, but at the moment I can't see that happening....

More withdrawals from Memphis: Marino, Mayfair and DA Points have left the building.
Tough to keep up; Elvis now among the alternates.

Final count confirmation for this week:

- St Jude @ 34 pts
- Nordea @ 26 pts

Here's a list with those around and below the #60 cutline who still had a chance
to qualify for the US Open this week via top 60. The ones in brackets are those
who could've qualified, but chose not to compete this week, ruling themselves out...

(54 Branden Grace) - should be safe to qualify
60 Spencer Levin - he'll be very disappointed if he doesn't make it from this position
(62 Johnson Wagner)
(65 Greg Chalmers)
(66 Rory Sabbatini)
(70 Ryan Moore)
(73 John Huh)
(77 Ben Curtis)
(79 Joost Luiten)
80 Ryan Palmer
81 Pablo Larrazabal
84 Robert Allenby
86 Sean O'Hair
(88 Brian Davis)
89 Jeff Overton
93 John Rollins
(95 Andres Romero)
101 Harrison Frazar - no chance for him to make it after that 1st round yesterday...

Levin, CHIII, Overton and Allenby with the best chances based on how things went yesterday.
Ryan Palmer and all those below him in that list can only get inside top 60 with a win...

Is Garrigus not in via his good finish last year pd?

NedB-H wrote:Is Garrigus not in via his good finish last year pd?

Yep, well spotted Ned, I'll get him out of there... Thanx!

Does Charles Howell not qualify as he made last year's Tour Championship?

Yes!

Whats up with the ever popular Rory Sabbatini? You would have thought he would at least have tried of the back of a decent result.

Thanks deltoro, kwini! That's correct, got him out of there...

There's a curiosity in the tee-times for next week's Olympic Game:
Branden Grace has apparently been placed in the field in anticipation of him still being in the owgr top sixty next Monday. 54th at present and surely a lock, but strange. Perhaps he cannot be overtaken and my statistical analysis falls short of being 100% sure of that!!

I would guess someone from OWGR told the USGA that there was no possible way Grace could fall out of the top 60.

kwini, if they published that before Thursday, then that was probably a bit rushed. Now it is however clear that Grace cannot miss the top 60. There are only 6 guys who could possibly overtake him (due mainly to the low owgr points on offer this week) and he's #54 after the amortization is applied...

pd,
I think it WAS published Thursday - did they consult you??

Good that they're proactive! But his reward is a tee-time with Kevin Na, with Thomas Bjorn along as a minder.

The way things are shaping up, looks that the real threat for Levin's #60 will be Ishikawa... All the others who could possibly overtake him are not really making a serious impression so far. Ryo will have to finish top 20 to move ahead of Levin. As we know, it's not the first time when Ishikawa is on the verge of spoiling someone else's hopes to qualify for a major for which he is already qualified (or invited), so I really hope he backs off this time and lets Levin to go through...

...and just to add that YE Yang is probably the next possible 'threat' to Levin's US Open hopes. Yang would need a top 10-11 finish to move ahead of Spencer...

PD... looks like Yang and Ishikawa were most helpful to Levin today... both lost significant ground... either could still do what they need... but it's looking real longshot now.

Agreed robo, Levin is practically there, hard to see any of those guys turning things around now... For the record, CHIII needs a top 4, Garrigus a top 3 and the others further down need a win to catch Levin @ #60...

...well, all that is true, unless Allenby goes on and wins it tomorrow...
Now he seems to be Levin's enemy no. 1...

Ryan Palmer is another one who can spoil the week for both Levin and Rory with a win in Memphis