PGA Tour: Pilgrims' Play-Off Progress: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).All sorts of superlatives describing Rory McIlroy's win at the Deutsche Bank, the most telling being the observations that Rors didn't exactly have his "A Game", echoing the young Eldrick's frequently voiced lament in victory. Only 23 and, following last week's note, just Garcia, Faldo, Ballesteros and Olazabal among Europeans have more wins in America than Rory's five.

2).Just a two-day gap between tournaments this week, which makes little or no sense when players travel to a course, Pete Dye's Crooked Stick outside Indianapolis, that none of them have played in professional competition. One could be excused for thinking Dye is the official architect of the PGA Tour given the number of Dye lay-outs on this year's calendar (only a month removed from Kiawah after all, and three in five weeks earlier in the year).

3).This is the site of John Daly's grip-it-and-rip-it win at the 1991 PGA Championship but only Billy Mayfair and Davis Love of this year's FedEx Play-Off contestants teed it up that week, and their challenge ended two weeks ago at Bethpage. Jeff Overton and Bo Van Pelt are the only Indiana Boys looking to be groovin' on Indiana nights (and days) this week and your guess is as good as mine as to who might be successful.

4).So let's have a quick review of the Europeans in this year's Play-Offs. Cejka, Chopra, Karlsson and Knox didn't make it and are preparing to fight for their Tour lives in the Fall Series.

5).Gary Christian, Jacobson and Stenson fell at the first (Bethpage) hurdle and Owen, Brian Davis and the desperately unlucky Jonas Blixt fell at Boston. Owen double-bogeyed his 36th hole last week to miss the cut reinforcing the feeling that he's been puching above his weight for much of the (successful for him) year, while Davis has missed 6 of his last 7 cuts and just can't break the image of "all ATM, no win" touring pro.
So then there were ten:

6).Harrington, Laird, Poulter and McDowell are struggling as the field tee off at Crooked Stick, all lying fortieth or worse and needing a big finish to reach the Top Thirty and East Lake's Tour Championship. Harrington, Laird and Poulter likely need a top five or six finish, McDowell probably a top ten. Poulter has been increasingly scornful of the courses so far, the ridiculous Saturday set-up at Bethpage and his "love affair" with TPC Boston. He seems ambivalent about this week's outcome, "Sh1t or bust next week. Go at every pin or it's 2 weeks off, Don't mind either." While McDowell has complained about increasing tiredness: "I've just been fatigued the last few weeks, I think I'm tired."
Hardly a ringing endorsement for the form of any of them and I'd be surprised if they advanced.

7).McIlroy (1st), Pettersson (11th), Garcia (15th) and Donald (17th) are assured of reaching East Lake while Justin Rose (22nd) and Westwood (23rd) have to play especially poorly not to progress. Which would be no surprise for Rose who's been in terrible form since Kiawah. Westwood continues to lead the Tour in greens in regulation, but languishes 185th in "scrambling" and 165th in "strokes gained putting". Hopefully Tony Johnstone's in town.

8).Coming in to this year's Play-Offs there was the sentiment that they'd suit the bombers and that's been largely true so far, whether by accident or design. Crooked Stick (par 72) can be stretched to 7,500 yards and length obviously played its part in Daly's win in 1991. But the US Senior Open was staged here in 2009 and Fred Funk (one of any Tour's shortest hitters) won by six shots with a 20-under performance. So who knows? Strategy or length?
Interestingly, Tiger Woods has only won on one Pete Dye design but if the "Stick" is set up to reward length and not accuracy (seemingly a Play-Off trend) then he can't be ruled out.

9).The "BMW Championship" goes to Chicago's Conway Farms next year, another new course for most of the pros (not Luke Donald though, he's a member there) and wouldn't it be nice if they had a week off to prepare? I'd say the Tour's got this year's schedule all wrong, demanding the top pros play five out of six weeks and Garcia and Dufner taking weeks off (not that the likes of Justin Rose and Bubba Watson looked too interested in Boston) suggests some of them agree. Still not sure whether Schwartzel will play Thursday or rehab his injury.

10).Mixed feelings for Hunter Mahan this week as he's joined a rogue's gallery of US golfers missing Ryder Cup qualification by one place, Estes, Tim Simpson, Flesch, Rollins and Tommy Tolles among them!
Even if qualification had been extended to the Deutsche Bank, Mahan would have finished 11th. Earlier in the season he was top and his MatchPlay defeat of Rory must surely stand for something. But Johnson and Sneds missed large chunks of the season with injuries so perhaps that factor, combined with recent results, contributed to Love's selections.
Alternatively, this would have been Mahan's fourth "Captain's Choice" in six years.
Whatever, not surprising he feels "empty" right now.

And after this coming Sunday's action, the glass will be half empty for forty golfers as the field of 70 is shrunk to 30. Though it sounds as if the respective glasses of Poulter and McDowell will be half full whatever happens.


Edit: Meant to add some interesting final positions from the 1991 PGA:
1st: Daly
5th: Steven Richardson
7th: Feherty
T16: Faldo, Lyle
23th: Ballesteros
48th: Woosnam

Guys, quit worrying about some also rans who happen to share the same nationality as you.( ) The real fun is to be had worrying about the four guys at -16. When was the last time we saw so many great players battle it out?

Heart says Phil, mind say Rory.

C'mon Phil!!

the fun is wanting LW or VS win because i have money riding on em, This is quality stuff though!!

Heart says Rory, mind says Rory.

C'mon Rory!!!

heart says lee, not gonna tell who my head says.. you can guess.

C'mon Lee!!!!!

If lee can keep hitting great iron shots then I actually like his chances as of all the guys in the lead he is the most likely to avoid the rough from the tee. Which is thick this week.

I hope more people are watching this than posting about it, as this is one of the best events of the year. All the players at the top are the type to take on a risky shot or have a rip at something, what more could you ask for on a sunday back nine?

PS. Does anyone know if lee and Rory are still mates. I remember when I used to use twitter a little more often they shared some banter, but has rory snubbing chubbing actually caused any ill feelings?

I hope they're best mates in three weeks' time.

Come on Rory!
Come on Lee!!

some quality golf here. hope these putts on last 3 holes wont cost Rory.
why does phil keep trying to hit wedges full? when he has 3/4 follow thru it always seem to go better for him.
Tiger Looming!

Too late for the most loathsome man in sport to win this. thank goodness.

rory has become excellent from inside 3 feet. different player compared to the augusta meltdown couple of years back

What do you mean inside three feet? Every pro on the planet should hole 19/20 three footers.

Super

Maybe rory used to only make 18/20 three footers?

Nobody since Doug sanders has lost a championship for being poor inside three feet. He must mean something like 20 feet.

i mean 3 feet. he used to miss a couple from around 3 feet every tournament. and that sunday in augusta he missed about 7!

hend, are you sure they were as short as three feet?

Making a statement every week, emphatically Number One.

Well done Rory. Hope he gets it all out of his system before the RC, however ..

Forget his 20 under -- he could have made it 22 under if he needed to, IMO.

A fine finish for a host of others. Thought Westwood might win, but he's never been a closer in bigger tournaments.

Hendo, anyone can have a bad day on the greens. I don't think McIlroy was inherently bad at three foot putts and felt it was something he needed to consciously work on.

They are meat and drink for all pro's, but doesn't stop the odd round where you miss a handful. I doubt you could recall more than a couple of rounds of his (or any other pro's) where he was guilty of lots of 3 foot misses.


Anyway, the ghastly hateful Woods didn't win. So

I'm becoming impressed by McIlroy's ability to grind out scores and if needed, win ugly (or maybe just average rather than ugly). That was something he didn't really have in the past- it was all duck or no dinner. Also, having watched the 3rd round, it was clear he was out of sync and not really in control, and his ability to sort that out quickly and play a very controlled next round will stand him in good stead.

He's now said he feels more British than Irish.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-2200702/Rory-McIlroy-represent-Great-Britain-Ireland-2016-Olympics.html

Ooo - controversial...

Probably sick of being called a tatty muncher

Soon he might go the way of Feherty and become the US military's recruiting officer.

lorus59 wrote:Soon he might go the way of Feherty and become the US military's recruiting officer.

Wash your mouth out with soap for mentioning that bell-end please.