PGA Tour: The Florida/Puerto Rico Swing: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Ah, the Florida Swing, previously known as the Sam Saunders Swing as Arnie's son-in-law seemed to receive a sponsor's invite to every event for the month. The five tournaments this month are:
Honda Classic
WGC Cadillac Championship / Puerto Rico Open
Tampa Bay Championship (previously known as the Transitions - what will it be known as next year?)
Arnold Palmer Invitational

The home course advantage for the Florida gigs is not as pronounced as for the California Coastal events, but each of last year's winners live in Florida even if they don't come from there.

2).But a few notes about last week's Match Play, either the last year at Dove Mountain or the penultimate year at Dove Mountain depending upon which reliable source you choose to consult. We certainly discovered that it's a terrible venue, unplayable in the snow (which is not as rare as the Chamber of Commerce would have us believe), and the high winds of Sunday which, combined with firm greens and inaccessible pin placements made the day a war of attrition.
No denying Matt Kuchar's performance as the last man standing however - he made a point of saying he was just going to be Steady Eddie and that's exactly what he was, the smiley faced assassin banking a cool $1.5M.

3).I'm kinda taking a liking to Hunter Mahan, certainly wanted him to win the Final. Behind the poor dress sense, hideous facial fluff, gnashers that look more Sandown than Sandwich and those ghastly Golf Boys videos, he actually seems a pleasant guy. Certainly hits the ball like a dream with a beautiful swing and a vastly improved short game. He seems to have a great relationship with his caddie, John Wood, and their very matter-of-fact professionalism whenever I've followed them is an eye-opener.
But like Poulter and Jason Day in the morning, Hunner just seemed to hit the wall in the afternoon at the same time as punditry was anointing him America's best match-player. Which presumably made Davis Love IIIIIII feel especially good. That's "ironic" as Alanis might squeal.

4).What of the Foreign Legion? Pretty B- overall, I'd say, but Shane Lowry made a lot of friends - he's missed out on a sponsor's exemption for this week's "Honda", but much more good play and Tournament Directors will be falling over themselves to offer him a free pass. He won and lost with grace, then came out to follow McDowell in his afternoon match. What a guy! Good luck to him.

5).McIlroy and Woods disappointed networks and sponsors alike by failing to advance in tandem for the second time in 2013 - three 75's on Rory's CV this year, and that won't cut it and I can't imagine he'll find his game overnight in time to win this week. Feel I've said that before however.

6).Interesting stat's emerging from the U.S. National Golf Foundation with data showing a 5.7% increase in rounds played in the United States in 2012 compared to 2011. That is in the context of an overall 11% decline in rounds played over the previous decade.

7).Johnny Miller was all over Webb Simpson's case on Saturday as the newly shorn Simpson took an eternity to play the shots which ultimately defeated Gonzo. Would be good if that elevated the debate about slow play but one imagines the anchoring announcement stole the headlines and slow play proponents "considered the source".
A couple of amusing tweets from Steve Elkington extracted from an article in GolfWorld are apropos however:

"NBC golf would like to bring you uninterrupted bullsh1t for 55 min per hour with limited golf shots."
and:
"Had a kid dressed as Keegan Bradley last night at Halloween . . . . backed up and down stairs 12 times before he got his candy."

Incidentally, Keegs was bemoaning in his press conference today that "I'm being called a cheater more than ever by fans, by some writers . . . . . I'm sick of it to be honest."

8).We've been saying how crucial it is for new "graduates" to the PGA Tour to maximize their earnings in order to retain or improve position within their "status" as the year progresses. The Europeans have had mixed results as the first reshuffle was confirmed following the West Coast tournaments:
Ross Fisher - dropped 13 places from 3 to 16. As a result he was the last player to qualify for the original field at Honda.
Lingmerth - up to #2.
Karlsson - dropped 10 places to #37, failed in qualifying this week.
Henrik Norlander - moved up about ten spots, also failed to qualify this week.
When is a card a card? When it's a PGA Tour card - lots of fine print to be read.

9).Haven't seen any official records but would think that Honda, the longest running sponsorship of a PGA Tour event and in its 32nd year (just signed up for another four years), has been rewarded with the best field in the history of "The Honda Classic". Several factors contribute of course:
~The venue, PGA National, which was a typical Florida grind when I played it in the 80's distinguished only by the memory on one hole of a ball whizzing over our heads as we sauntered to our 200 yard drives. We looked round to see a cart hurtling towards us, a wide body at the wheel. "Just playing through," yelled Craig Stadler as he zoomed to his ball. But Nicklaus has tarted it up and redefined the "Bear Trap", 15, 16 and 17, since then, watery graves at every turn. Apparently in wonderful condition though. Europeans beware the grainy Bermuda greens.
~The migration of golf residences from Orlando to South Florida means that this is now a home game for many. (Next week too, of course.)
~The calendar, which means that, whilst this week may be a good chance for many Americans to take a breather, it's must-play for most overseas guys double-dipping on two Tours. Donald, Garcia, Harrington and Poulter are among the few notable European PGA Tour members not playing. Thrilled to see Casey get an invite for his first appearance in 6 months. Has he still got it? I'm hoping he has!

10).No idea of likely contenders this week - frankly a minefield of who's going to be up for it, who's just here to get in their required events. Wouldn't put it past Mr.Woods to make a statement as he came so close last year.
But one thing's for sure: Sam Saunders is playing the web.commer in Columbia so it won't be him.

Good scrambling by Lee on 7, even earned praise by the blowhards, but needs something to happen, click to move closer to Thomspon plus Thompson to come back too.

Thompson's making an ungodly length of putts . . . . . .

Looks like Gay, Howell, Merrick and Henley will gain admission into the Cadillac field.

Good jinxing Kwini

Interesting that, for the second day running, Maltbie is with Ogilvy/Westwood instead of the final group . . . . Lee could have used that putt on 8 to drop.

Thompson in close on 8, you have to think that he has this birdie putt based on how he has been putting.

Brilliant flower show ... the theme was "English Gardens".

Looks to be another All-American shoot out just like last Sunday afternoon.

Unless of course, we get some Tiger-like water balls from the leaders.

very very impressive by this thompson fella.

Nerves of steel today so far

David lynn has had to play some impressive yet possibly lucky shots to get covergae in this final round..

good to see him enjoying stuff though, one of the pack english that could start featuring

Missed the putt though unfortunately.

Little bit of an oops from Thompson on 9. Guess Westwood isn't setting it alight either as he's been off the screen's for a while.

Wheels falling off? Looks like he might have hit a line drive type shot on 10.

And it's contagious Guthrie matched it!

oglivy is looking pretty good at the moment!

that last hole is going to play a part!

These guys are playing so slowly they don't deserve the good fortune they're getting.

PGA Tour needs John Paramor-like time keeping. Pathetic pace of play.

Nice finish in store for David Lynn - very fine start to his Tour career, especially on the courses where par is a good score.

Boy they are slow and have no one to blame; this can't be helping them.

Guthrie cooked, or should I say drenched.

Time to call that man Patrick Canlay from now on... Better finish from Manuel at home in Bogota than from Camillo who could do with his brother's owgr points right now... A few owgr crums for Cejka as well, he's only collected about 15 points over the last year...

Agree, the last group at Honda have been far too slow...

There seems to be a similarity there between Thompson and Lynn, both runner up at tough setup majors last year and both doing well again at another tough event like this. They like it tough, obviously...

Nice bird for Lynn to finish with too.
Great week for him - he made the cut on the number, played yesterday with Number Two, and kept at it. Good work.

Nine Chins +4

Back to the chipping and putting drawing board for Lee.

Not getting anything out of his round today.

Its really odd, that given the time they have to practice, and the requirement for them to be good at this aspect of the game that someone like Westwood, (or any top 200 player )isn't blisteringly good at chipping.
There is really no excuse at all for him or anyone to have such poor consistency and rubbish stats for this very simple part of the game.

This kid is clutch. The so called "big names" falling by the wayside.

Super - One thing I think you can't discount is the ability to deliver under pressure.
Now, this isn't major pressure for Lee or any other top 200 player, but there certainly is pressure.

I'm not so sure. Pressure doubtless has some sort of effect on players, but I doubt it can be solely responsible for his continuously wretched short game, especially when others don't seem to suffer quite so much.

If he could chip and putt just a bit better he'd still be number 1. He should have a word and practice session with Poulter. There is a man who knows how to chip better than virutally anyone.

Thompson still keeping it together, just wish he stops -ing to the camera after every shot...

...right, that bogey should take care of that then...

I imagine a birdie on 18 would be worth about $100K to Westwood - no repeat of yesterday's water ball s'il vous plait Monsieur Lee.

Could be worth $200K now - 300 yards down the fairway is a good start.
Come on Lee!

Not what he wanted - could cost him $50K after all that.

Why the bloody hell does he always go right at the flag on those shots? They're sucker pins, he should know that.

One shot does not make a hole as LW just proved once again.

At least he won't have far to go to lick his wounds.

Seriously, what did he think would happen if he stiffed it on 18? He doesn't need the money, he can't win at that point, why even look at the flag. Follow Ogilvy and have an outside chance of eagle. Or rather an outside chance of birdie, given his putting.

Ogilvy and Thompson into the Cadillac via the owgr's?

I think you have to give Lee credit that he takes on the aggressive shots trying to win or come as close as he can. But you gotta execute, and all too often he tries the perfect shot and hits it 95%. Probably bothers his fans more than it concerns him.

Confirmation that Snedeker, as well as Peter Senior and Toru Taniguchi (and Fujita who robopz reports opted out last night) will miss the Cadillac. Otherwise Brian Gay, Michael Thompson, Ogilvy, HowellIII, Henley and Merrick are newly eligible. Think that's it.

Remember that this coming weekend will also see the Puerto Rico Open starring Shane Lowry.

kwinigolfer wrote:
Remember that this coming weekend will also see the Puerto Rico Open starring Shane Lowry.

And Paul Casey !! Who would have thought that a couple of years ago. Is he the next Nick Dougherty?

Too true, blistering - I used to think he was as likely as any of the English guys of his generation to break through. Seems now he's resorting to playing to regain his self-respect. Sad to see.
He should get in to Houston as their past Champion but after that starts on the PGA Tour are going to be few and far between unless he starts to play really well.

He still has full status in Europe for a few years though but his form is way off at the moment.

Anyway I will be around a lot more now, I've missed some proper golf debate with the old 606 demise. Your blogs are always a great read.

Thanks blistering, good to have you back. Hopefully we'll be able to respond to Casey's return to form.

So McIlroy is saying he made a mistake in walking off - perhaps good that he admits it even if blood is oozing from the obviousness (er... it's bleeding obvious is what I'm saying).

Strangely, he adds that he should be try to be more like Tiger in grinding it out etc. Hmmm. Perhaps not the best role model in the context of withdrawals mid-tournament.

Anyway, my mad theory is that the atrocious 2013 so far is a massive hustle to lengthen R Mc's odds for the Masters...

Might have a bet on Spud Face and Nine Chins missing the Augusta cut.

Not a bad shout.

I could potentially help by betting on them to win.

My recent form is excellent - both of my notional picks for the recent matchplay lost in the first round from memory.

Ya think Rory?

Tiger played with a broken leg once ... but true he was actually in contention at that tournament and not throwing up a card that looked like a Minnesota Zip Code as Mr. McIlroy was.

Super - I think they both make the cut at Augusta, anyone's guess as to how they finish however.

I don't think 9 chins will miss the cut at Augusta, bookies have him favourite to win. Mr potato head plays in peaks and troughs so he'll either miss the cut or win the tournament.

Both will make the cut for my money. both have such natural games for this course.

but i cant see them getting past LW1 this time around..

he needs to look at his long game abit as well.. tbh!

just a bit of tweaking,,

incontinentia wrote:I don't think 9 chins will miss the cut at Augusta, bookies have him favourite to win. Mr potato head plays in peaks and troughs so he'll either miss the cut or win the tournament.

Boookies place odds on someone like Nine Chins on form as much as armchair sycophancy.

incontinentia wrote:I don't think 9 chins will miss the cut at Augusta, bookies have him favourite to win. Mr potato head plays in peaks and troughs so he'll either miss the cut or win the tournament.

Seriously? Normally bookies aren't so daft...

Quite fancy Snedecker to break his Major duck myself.

ONly to cover themselves in case he does win his first major in five years. Doubt they actually genuinly think he's the favourite. Although he's won there, his game doesn't suit it, especially as his driving is so bad and his putting is not what it was.

I think a Saffa will take this, they have done well there recently.

Charl and ousty are just such top players in the big ones..

I wouldnt be suprised..

Oakey, there is great value to be had in The Masters with people around the 60-100/1 mark.

Poulter is not a silly each way bet the way he chips and putts though likely to be around 30-40/1.

Snedeker went to Uni (or college) in Georgia and has apparently played it more than anyone and I also wouldn't be surprised if Mickelson was to put in a good show.

Branden Grace as a dark horse. (presuming he's in.)

Shane lowry must be great value considering hes not qualified yet, get on it!