PGA Tour: Up the (Tobacco) Road to Greensboro: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).PGA Championship.
Rory McIlroy.
Simply Magnificent.

2).PGA Championship.
David Lynn.
Second?
In your first ever event in the United States?
You've got to be sh1tting me.
Invite to the 2013 Masters.
Invite to the 2013 PGA Championship.
Very good chances of earning automatic exemption to the "Opens".

3).PGA Championship.
Seven of the Top Ten are Europeans, and they'll all be back, exempt, next year.
The Top 4 and ties will be invited to the 2013 Masters. Carl Pettersson (edit: already exempt!) joins David Lynn of those not otherwise exempt who'll be receiving that envelope from Billy Payne.

4).PGA Championship.
And the Top 15 and ties will be invited to the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Those not already exempt include Lynn, Poulter, Pettersson, Adams, Donaldson, Hanson, Stricker, Curtis, Clark, Ogilvy and Scott.

5).Kiawah Island's Ocean Course.
The course received mixed receptions from players (mostly positive) and media (a lot of it negative). Most of the negatives focussed on transportation logistics and the supposed absurdity of playing a windswept oceanside course with raised greens and fairways, but few run-up options. Exhibit A; Friday.
Was it significant that only seven of the leading 17 golfers were American?
Does it speak to a lack of creativity that many have long criticised the PGA Tour players for??
However well the course stood up to a variety of conditions and wind directions, I'd be surprised to see the PGA return their Championship here anytime soon.

6).And who's this Blake Adams fellow who finished 7th?
Adams has played The Players, US Open and PGA Championship this year and contended to some extent in all three. Almost 37 and only on Tour for three years, Adams is another of the multi-sport athletes, basketball and baseball in his case, who's focussed on golf and graduated through the mini-tours to PGA Tour success. He's another of the Tour's walking wounded but has become a Tour "iron man"; no wins but a runner up to Jason Day (remember him?) at the 2010 Byron Nelson, when he screwed up the final hole worse than Day did.
Well worth bearing in mind next time the Tour stops at a course that rewards strategic play and pars.

7).Carl Pettersson has returned to his self-described "ten beers and a pint of ice cream" diet after losing a ton of weight and his golf swing a few years ago. Most significantly this week is his work as a Board Member of the Tour's Greensboro tournament, helping to ensure that one of the oldest stops on Tour has not only maintained its place on the calendar, arguably strengthened its position.
A new sponsor, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, and a new (old) course, Sedgefield Country Club, a Donald Ross original, have combined to elevate the event which now holds an interesting position with many of the field striving for FedEx participation or position.

8).Sam Snead won "Greensboro" EIGHT times, but last year's winner was a young American who'd been showing tons of promise, had been desperately unlucky not to win in New Orleans, and was a local lad to boot. Guy called Webb Simpson. He's back with an interesting field and some "interesting" tee times:
Simpson, Love, Pettersson. Local heroes.
Haas, Dufner, Snedeker. Ryder Cup player and two wannabe Captain's picks.
Appleby, Villegas, Glover. All outside the Fed Ex Play-Off places.
Schwartzel, Garcia, Watney. Disappointing seasons all.

9).European representation includes Christian, Davis, Jamie Donaldson, Knox and Greg Owen (good e.w. chance again this week?); Blixt, Chopra, Karlsson, Pettersson and Stenson; Colsaerts and Garcia (unlucky loser in a 2009 play-off here to Ryan Moore). Significant week for many of them:
Knox, Chopra, Karlsson all need big finishes to assist them in quest to retain Tour cards.
Blixt (back from a long injury absence), Christian, Garcia and Stenson will all qualify for The Barclays, but need good finishes this next fortnight to progress to the Deutsche Bank.
Colsaerts and Garcia are vying for Ryder Cup qualification.

10).In a sign of the times, Bud Cauley has just overtaken Arnold Palmer in the career earnings list;
Marc Leishman has recently passed Jack Nicklaus;
And Rory McIlroy's next top three finish will push him past Tom Watson!

I live in a similar climate as Greensboro and many local course are changing to Champions Bermuda (and its close cousin mini-verde). Bent Grass greens are highly vulnerable to the constant heat and humidity.

The Champions Bermuda takes less labor, less chemicals, less water. Whats not to like.

It is somewhat vulnerable to very cold temperatures however but my local club never covered their mini verde greens last winter.

Pettersson to -8, continuing his good form. He would be ahead of both Poulter and Kaymer in the Euro World Point Standings. ~175 points.

IMO, if Ollie wants the two best players available, he would find a way to get Pettersson on the Euro RC team.

GPB wrote:I live in a similar climate as Greensboro and many local course are changing to Champions Bermuda (and its close cousin mini-verde). Bent Grass greens are highly vulnerable to the constant heat and humidity.

The Champions Bermuda takes less labor, less chemicals, less water. Whats not to like.

It is somewhat vulnerable to very cold temperatures however but my local club never covered their mini verde greens last winter.

Pettersson to -8, continuing his good form. He would be ahead of both Poulter and Kaymer in the Euro World Point Standings. ~175 points.

IMO, if Ollie wants the two best players available, he would find a way to get Pettersson on the Euro RC team.

Not being argumentive here, is it not cut and dry hes not a member of european tour so doesnt matter either way? Plus doesnt he see himself as American?

Sand, that is why I said Ollie needs to find a way to get CP on the team.

But, agreed, Carl should have made a good faith effort to join the Euro Tour. He should have played the BMW and the Scandinavia Masters etc.

IMO, He is playing better than Sergio and Colsaerts, and definitely better than Kaymer (and probably Lawrie).

Sand wrote:

GPB wrote:I live in a similar climate as Greensboro and many local course are changing to Champions Bermuda (and its close cousin mini-verde). Bent Grass greens are highly vulnerable to the constant heat and humidity.

The Champions Bermuda takes less labor, less chemicals, less water. Whats not to like.

It is somewhat vulnerable to very cold temperatures however but my local club never covered their mini verde greens last winter.

Pettersson to -8, continuing his good form. He would be ahead of both Poulter and Kaymer in the Euro World Point Standings. ~175 points.

IMO, if Ollie wants the two best players available, he would find a way to get Pettersson on the Euro RC team.

Not being argumentive here, is it not cut and dry hes not a member of european tour so doesnt matter either way? Plus doesnt he see himself as American?

The ET thing is cut and dried at the moment, so he won't get in automatically, the question is whether JMO could bend the arm of the powers-that-be and get him dispensation as a pick.
Think the "seeing himself as American" thing gets blown out of proportion on here. The point he was making when he took citizenship was that he'd lived in NC since he was 16 so felt at home there, but I'm pretty sure he's also given interviews about still being in touch with his Swedishness too. And his twitter is @Petterswede, not Petteramerican

Is David Lynn playing this event? I see Donaldson said he was able to play after finishing top 10, Lynn would have the same option? Shame if he decided against it.

David Lynn definitely NOT in this week's Greensboro field.

Scoring early on this afternoon much, much lower than this morning . . . .

Sergio, Karlsson off to good starts.

Meanwhile in England...

The Ladies British Masters in Buckinghamshire started today, being the new flagship event on the LET. Unfortunately won't be able to attend as I originally planned (nor the Senior Masters at Woburn in a few weeks). "Should-Be-Dame" Laura Davies is tied for the lead after round 1, which is nice to see. Looks like a big field for a LET tournament, although most of the names are unfamiliar to me.

Another nice day in prospect in Greensboro, though the wind could be a little more of a factor than Thursday.

Scoring conditions ripe for more low scores however, and expect golfers with south-east connections (like Pettersson, Mathis and Clark for instance) to continue to flourish.

Cut likely to be -2, and a lot of guys missing that will be taking busman's holidays on the web.com (or in Europe for the lucky ones) or shutting it down altogether until October. Big day for Russell Knox.

Paul Casey off to a good start this morning, following yesterday's two-under-par 68.

Is it possible that he's reached the bottom and might be on the threshold of a bounce-back?
Let's hope so.
Sergio also going nicely. Karlsson not so good, so maybe J-M O will be able to announce VC #4 a week early?

Bill Haas is trying to elevate his status on DLIII list. Two consecutive eagles on #14, #15. Minus 5 for the day.

Wasted week for Karlsson, hopefully he'll recapture his form in Europe because the PGA Tour experiment has come a few years too late judging by this year's form.
Too bad, as good as anyone before he suffered that very bizarre eye injury, etc, etc.

Lumpy on a roll (sure he'd prefer to be eating it); 76 (six over) for Round 1, -8 after 16 holes in Round 2.
One of the Tour's reportedly really good guys, hope he doesn't c0ck it all up in his final two holes.

Lumpy shoots 61, and not in the top 30.

Somewhere, someone named Olazabal is pleased to see Sergio's sixty three.
I'll be even happier to see him clock up two more.

Go serg!! Great round.

Looks like a superb return to form by Tim Clark after such a long injury break, very impressive so far... Sergio doing the business for himself and for Ollie, hoping that Colsaerts will put on a good show as well today and at the weekend (good birdie start!)...

Casey making a cut?!
Didn't check this, but has Karlsson any chance to continue to play on the PGA Tour next year?

... ah, I forgot, what happened with Stenson? Something long lasting, i.e. will he be ok for Barclays (if he makes it)...?

princedracula wrote:
Didn't check this, but has Karlsson any chance to continue to play on the PGA Tour next year?

Three chances:

1. Wins a fall Series event
2. Plays himself into a top 125 (related to #1)
3. Goes through Q-school

He is 158th in the money list and missing the cut this week.

Karlsson needs to get 150th or better to have have conditional status. I wonder if he is regretting his move to the US. Charlotte area, I think?

Interesting decision by Jason Dufner not to play the Barclays.
Can't blame him, and can't blame anyone else who has fierce loyalty to Greensboro for determining that seven weeks out of eight is too much.
Still no word as to why Stenson folded his tent.

Looks like Pettersson might have exceeded his ten beers and a pint of ice cream diet as he struggles early (compared to Thursday anyway).

No Dufner next week ? Rats -- I was looking forward to seeing that pre-shot waggle in person !

What days are you going Plunky?
Am sure you'll find plenty of other waggles to admire . . . .

We hope to go tuesday, saturday and sunday. We went to one practice day of the US open when it was at Bethpage but we worked a 6 hr shift in a hospitality tent and were too tired to really enjoy the golf afterwards. Looking forward to just wandering around this time. We did follow DC, LW, Rory, and Adam Scott for a while which was fun. Most of the players were pretty relaxed and in good humour the first practice day, posing for pictures, signing autographs etc so there was a good atmosphere. Never been to a PGA tournament day before, so really excited !

Sure you'll have a great time Plunky,
If you get there early Saturday and Sunday, you'll be (almost) sure to pick up some attractive pairs (if you'll excuse the expression) and still have time to follow leaders (or close to the leaders) in the p.m.
Enjoy (or if you're in Endicott, NY, this weekend at the Champo's event: Enjoie)!

Stenson WD because of illness. He is safe for next week.

Disappointed Dufner is not playing next week.

Really not sure why he decided to play this week, with Wyndham sandwiched between BS/PGA and the Playoffs.

I can understand wanting the week off.

If he finishes T2 or better this week, his tee time would have been with Rory/Tiger.

IIRC, last year or two years ago, the PGAT did not move everyone up a slot. If the #10 player did not play, #11 and #12 played in a two-some.

It is pretty silly not to move everyone up a slot, but I think it was done that way.

Good to see what must be two future RC contenders in cauley and english playing well at the moment.

"Bad stomach" for Stenson, consequently a w/d.
Hope he has the stomach for Bethpage Black next week.

Looks like quite a band of storms moving through. Could be a short burst of heavy rain, but hopefully they'll mostly finish tonight.

GPB:
Re: Dufner: I checked the Auburn football schedule in case they had a premature game, but no!

Is it my perception or has it there been a weather delay just about every week this summer on the PGAT?

Play suspended for the day on the Champions Tour also, Smithers; perhaps confirming your suspicions?!

My own golf has certainly suffered a few rain delays this summer. Bloody global warming.

What can you do, eh? Apart from take climate change seriously, of course, but that's never going to happen in the good ol' US of A.

Kwini, No CFB games this early, but it was good thought.

Auburn is my 2nd favorite CFB team, next to my alma mater, Ga Tech. I like the Gators, too!

Colsaerts is having a solid 2nd Round. -4 with 5 holes to play. Would like to see him and Sergio displace Kaymer and Poulter in the standings.

That might open the door for Ollie to pick Paddy. (and Poulter).

Does anyone know what the lowest ranked player in the qualification rankings to get a pick is?

Smithers,
The daft thing is that most of the States worst affected by weather extremes are represented by Republican Senators who, by and large, are dead against legislation designed to control emissions, investments in renewable energy, etc, etc.


GPB: You're rivals with the Gamecocks then, enthusiastically followed by this particular Green Mountain home!

Resumption of play due at 6.30 p.m., Greensboro time.

Early days, but if Colsaerts and/or Donaldson were to finish in the Top Ten this week, I'm assuming they'd qualify for Las Vegas in distant October.

Kwini: USC-East is not really a rival of Ga Tech, we haven't played each other in 20 yrs in football.

No, rival of Auburn though, my son went over there for a game a couple of years ago.

Woodland joins those out of the Play-Offs, following his first round 66 but his second round fiasco of a 74.
What a difference a year makes.

kwinigolfer wrote:Early days, but if Colsaerts and/or Donaldson were to finish in the Top Ten this week, I'm assuming they'd qualify for Las Vegas in distant October.

Yes... according to pgatour.com anyway, I think that was where I read that exact assertion!

Trouble is, whether for them or O'Grady I don't know, that's the same week as the Alfie Dunhill.

Dismal run for Ishikawa continues. Missed cut.

kwinigolfer wrote:Dismal run for Ishikawa continues. Missed cut.

Ryo just completed his 18th event on tour this year, mostly through Sponsors invites and has earned $727K. Right now, that is enough to be 106th on the money list. (108th if you include Lynn and Hanson)

I don't think it will be enough to get him into the top 125 by the time the season ends. Probably 3 or 4 players will pass him this week, and a few more next week.

I wonder if he will try to get more sponsors invites for the Fall Series events to make sure he gets his card. IMO, he is not ready for prime time.

Checking his two year OWGR resume, he could drop like a rock in his next two tournaments as he will be dropping two relatively good results from Spring 2011. And he is entered in the Japan Tour's tournament next week. He plays about every week.

Another nice morning in Greensboro and par should receive another battering.

Lots to play for for GB survivors:
Casey: (54th): Respectability.

Christian: (47th): Currently 113th in FedEx Points, looking to improve his position as he aspires to move on from The Barclays next week to the Boston-area Deutsche Bank. Still needs $200K-ish to secure his card.

Knox: (35th): Unless he enjoys a podium finish tomorrow, he'll have five weeks off. Realistic target for now through the Fall Series is top 150 and exemption in to Stage 3 Q-School, not to mention some status on Tour for 2013.

Donaldson: (14th): As high a finish as possible as he strives for the opportunity to take Membership for 2013. Top Ten finish this week gives him a spot in Las Vegas should he want it.


Meanwhile, Sergio is playing with his mate Tim Clark - never sure whether that's a good thing, but good luck to him regardless.

Kwini

You say know will have five weeks off, but I was wondering if there would be any worth in him playing a few web.com events if that is even possible? He would at least have the chance to get some OWGR points and keep a good competitive edge come the fall series.

Mac,
That's a good point; he's already played a couple of web.commers this year with $21K in the bank towards the Top 25.
Mallinger went that route last year and earned his PGA Tour card, Gronberg has done much the same thing in the past.
Change of scenery might help Knox, he's obviously playing well.

Roller coaster start for Casey;
Birdie
Double
Birdie
Triple
And now he's got a penalty stroke on the 5th. Unravelling.

False dawn those two rounds for Casey, still has a long long way to get back anywhere near where he was, he is slowly heading for a decline similar to Duval, Cambo etc.

Yup, just five holes down and he's just got a quad to go with the double and triple. And those two birds of course. Incredible to think that just two years ago he was in the frame to win the FedEx jackpot.

I hope he's been nice to the people he met on the way up; he'll need them now he's down (if not exactly on his uppers).

I am not a fan but it is still sad to see a career in this much decline to be honest, it will be very hard for him if this continues for much longer to get back amongst the elite of the game.

El Pato is having the round of the morning. Minus 5 after 10 holes.