PGA Tour: 2013/2014 Season; The Interlude: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).The prologue series of the 2013/2014 PGA Tour season is complete and the golfers are taking a break until January, except of course those travelling the World (and California & Florida) in the never-ending hunt for appearance money. Exceptions would be those playing their National Tours. Meanwhile, the field is now complete for Kapalua and the Hyundai Tournament of Champions which tees off on January 3rd, 2014.

2).The prologue's winners are an interesting mix of veterans and up-and-comers and, in the case of Jimmy Walker, both. Walker won his first event; Dustin Johnson, Ryan Moore and Webb Simpson added to their multiple wins, while ex-University of Georgia golfers Chris Kirk and Harris English underlined their youthful promise with their second win.
English in particular looks as if he has a game that won't go away anytime soon - not sure that's a good thing; there might be a personality in there somewhere but he certainly seems to keep it well hidden.

3).The pgatour.com statistical gurus looked up from their logarithm tables just long enough to project that Tour players will require 424 FedEx points to reach the Play-Offs. Of those who would normally place this as their first seasonal objective, Jason Bohn (419) is almost there already, while Brian Stuard (364) and Briny Baird (321) are at least 75% of the way there.
Plenty of others have barely made a dent and these include Westwood, Colsaerts, Gonzo, Hanson, Olesen and David Lynn.

4).When Lee Westwood posted on 606 he was always very complimentary about Robert Karlsson, and "Robbie" seems to be embarking on a Stenson-like comeback despite the disappointment of last Sunday's back nine meltdown.
He'll play the Sony Open in Hawaii but, as a PGA Tour non-member, he'll be entirely dependent upon his own play (only top ten finishes earn him a spot in the next week's field) and sponsors' exemptions to further improve his position. But he HAS earned sufficient "non-member" FedEx points (got all that?) to qualify for next year's web.com Finals. Until then, hopefully he'll play in some E.T. tournaments and will perhaps turn up on the web.com Tour.

5).Meanwhile, Russell Knox bogeyed his final two holes on Sunday to cut his earnings (points and cash) in half and so concludes a four-event stretch of top 32 finishes which are all inferior to his result in the equivalent events last year. Which sounds terrible except that, due to the vagaries of "status" on Tour and timing of these tournaments, his status (fourth among web.com graduates) is infintely improved on any he has enjoyed previously.

6).It sounds as if Snedeker's Segway mishap has damaged his knee more seriously than first reported and he's in sick bay until January at the earliest.

7).At least he's in all the 2014 Majors and he'll be joined at The Open by a number of E.T. golfers by virtue of finishing in the Top 30 of the R2D. British qualifiers include Donaldson (also qualified for 2014 WGC: Cadillac), Gallacher (also in "Cadillac"), Wood, Howell, Fleetwood and Casey.

8).While the haves of the PGA Tour are resting on, or adding to, their laurels, Rhys Davies and John Parry are trudging through the web.com Tour Q-School. Both are off to slow "Stage 2" starts and daily updates will follow, but they are really the only significant names from the European Tour in the fields - not sure if any others will be exempt in to "Final Stage", but I can't imagine they would be.
And Barry Lane, Phil Golding and Mark Mouland are contesting Champions Tour Q-School - only five (out of 75+ golfers) qualify so good luck!

9).Anyone failing these Q-Schools but wanting to play the very best courses in GB&I and the United States could do worse than retrieve their amateur status. Look at the venues for the Walker Cup:
Just since 2005 the venues have been: Chicago GC, Royal County Down, Merion, Royal Aberdeen, National Golf Links, Royal Lytham & St.Annes, Los Angeles CC, Hoylake and now Seminole GC for 2021.
Pity the Ryder Cup looks at the dollars before it considers quality of course in its venue decisions.

10).Meanwhile, there is all sorts of buzz surrounding the USGA following Golf Digest's reports that current president Glen Nager is toast after "failed attempts to bring major organizational changes to" the USGA. Quite the brouhaha apparently.
The USGA and R&A have also announced changes to the way rules infractions will be penalised, or apparently ignored. These tweaks have variously been described as the Tiger Rule or the ELJames Rule - surely, the changes invite less integrity rather than more, and the role of playing partners' "protecting the field" in flagging possible malfeasance might be compromised?
The authorities have identified a problem but seem to have applied a very ambiguous remedy.

McLaren wrote:It is very similar to the situation we have where we all remember where we were when tiger hit the fire hydrant.

 
 
Very true Mac I was just escaping out of Elin's bedroom window at the time

On the morning of the Fire Hydrant, I was on another golf board.  Someone new signed up that morning and claimed that he worked at a hospital in Orlando and reported that Tiger had been to the emergency room after in a car wreck overnight.

No one gave him or the story any credibility.

Just catching up with events at Pebble Beach this weekend, with Kevin Kisner holing a 15-foot par putt on #18 to win the Pebble Beach Invitational (open also to Champions Tour and LPGA players).

Kisner is an old junior golf rival of Dustin Johnson and he'll be on Tour in 2014 for the second time. Don't know much about him but he had one or two promising rounds in 2012 only to fall short of making the most of them at the weekend.
He's another to roll off the University of Georgia production line and I'd be surprised if he didn't turn in to a Top 125 Pro, albeit he's knocking 30 and you'd think he can only have a promising future for so long.
A good start already to 2013/2014.

I do remember where I was, but yes, of course it was a joke to compare it to monumental events like princess Diana's death or JFK getting shot.

Didn't see how Diana's death was remotely monumental. She was a nobody.

Said somebody.

Interestingly, the more one reads of JFK, the more loathsome he appears. Would he have grown up but for Dallas? Who knows. Still, I guess you had to be there...

Diana on the other hand was truly ...

navyblueshorts wrote:Interestingly, the more one reads of JFK, the more loathsome he appears.

I have to say it seems history has treated him rather more kindly than it might have done.

Did you guys like the format played at the World Cup of golf? I much preferred the previous format which included four-balls and foresomes. It felt more like a team competition.

I see Westwood and Foster are back together

Obviously not a choice to be killed but its a great way to make sure that your legacy is a little rose tinted. The reality of any politician is that they get elected on the back of a lot of good messages then as reality bites, not much of the promises happen and various sh1t hits the fan your stock goes down. JFK never got that far and could just be the poster boy for a new generation with a load of great soundbites.

Imagine if Obama had been killed two years into office. There would still be the wave of euphoria of him getting elected, Obamacare ideals, etc. and none of the reality now where he hasn't been able to perform miracles on the economy.

Glad we are back onto golf!

Good to see Billy and Lee back together. Hopefully after a year of upheaval moving to the States they can get back to the very top heights.

And as for the World Cup. Lovely course, good finish as a strokeplay tournament but the team aspect did not seem that important. Personally I preferred the previous format. It was different to other tournaments and having foursomes actually meant it was a team event.

is billy moving stateside or LW back to europe?

LW & BF seemed to be a very good combo, hope it works out back together.

World Cup. I preferrred the previous format too, something different for the spectator, more team focussed as an event. Still, pleased for Jason Day in the circumstances this year, remarkable ability to focus on golf given what had happened to his family.

McLaren wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:Interestingly, the more one reads of JFK, the more loathsome he appears.

I have to say it seems history has treated him rather more kindly than it might have done.

Try his father, total scumbag.

BlueCoverman wrote:

McLaren wrote:It is very similar to the situation we have where we all remember where we were when tiger hit the fire hydrant.

 
 
Very true Mac I was just escaping out of Elin's bedroom window at the time

That reminds me of a dream I once had that involved Elin and her twin sister....

Were they waiting for you to come round like the girls from Venezuela, whilst you were golfing with your mates Ray?