PGA Tour: We Lost the Ashes, Can We Win Phoenix?: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Can a British Golfer win the "Waste Management Phoenix Open"?
Probably not - it's been 26 years since Sandy Lyle won here, 16 years since a European won (Parnevik) and Aaron Baddeley is the only non-American to rise in Phoenix in the past ten years.

2).Back to Phoenix later but they'll have a tough act to follow after the excitement at Torrey Pines' South Course last weekend. Scott Stallings threw away winning chances last year at least twice, but won the third tournament of his young career with a brave birdie on #18 while better placed challengers fell away.
Stallings joined Dustin Johnson (8), Rory (6), Webb Simpson (4), Keegan Bradley (3) and Anthony Kim (3, remember him?) as the only under-thirties on Tour with at least three wins.

3).Mark Calcavecchia tweeted: "I've thought back on my 33-year pro career and under perfect weather like this week this course is the hardest course I've played on Tour."
Only five golfers broke 70 on Saturday, only Andres Romero (67) in with anything better than 69.
Pin positions and course conditions were easier on Sunday and you'd think our favourite Europeans might take advantage. Wouldn't you?
But only Russell Knox (70) broke par and the likes of Colsaerts, Laird, Poulter and Westwood wasted splendid opportunities to earn themselves a rich payday, plus much-needed points of the owgr and FedEx variety.
Westwood made SEVEN birdies but still stumbled in with a 74. Is Billy Foster the solution or the problem?

4).Anyway, I loved watching the pros play golf on a course where par actually meant something.
And, talking about courses, Golf Digest issued their first ever "World 100 Greatest Courses".
Top ten:
Pine Valley, Cypress Point, Augusta National, Royal County Down, Shinnecock Hills, Royal Dornoch, St.Andrews (Old), Muirfield, Royal Melbourne (West), Oakmont.

5).Extolling the virtues of golf in the North of Scotland and Northern Ireland is fashionable in the US Golfing Press right now, whether because they're tired of the Open Championship "rota", they've just discovered Mapquest or what.
But the Top ten British & Irish courses were listed as:
Royal County Down, Royal Dornoch, St.Andrews, Muirfield, Royal Portrush, Turnberry (Ailsa), Ballybunion, Carnoustie, Royal Birdale, Sunningdale (Old). Whaddya think?
PS: Hoylake doesn't make the Top 100.

6).The Weiskopf-designed TPC Scottsdale hosts the Phoenix Open as usual, complete with its famous 16th hole where there'll be more noise than at the Super Bowl. The course is being "re-done" after this year's event; whether that will favour "bombers" or "navigators" remains to be seen, but Mark Wilson (whatever's happened to him?) is the only relatively "short" hitter to win here recently.
Padraig Harrington paid his first visit last year and played really well until falling asleep on his 72nd hole and finishing 9th, his best PGA Tour finish of the year.

7).It'll be interesting to read St.Padraig's comments to the Press later today. This will be his first start of the 2013/2014 season and, without exemption in to any of the WGC's, The Masters or the US Open one wonders whether he'll play a full 15-event schedule. Or whether he'll add US tournaments at the expense of the European minimum. It's a conundrum for players departing the Top 50, and others who may be affected in a similar way include Colsaerts - who seems committed to the PGA Tour early in the year - , Peter Hanson and Olesen.

8).Other Europeans in Phoenix, in addition to Harrington, include:
Colsaerts, Brian Davis, Gonzo, Kaymer, Laird, Lynn, Pettersson, Poulter (would think he should be suited to this course) and Westwood.

9).Some Americans who we're used to seeing in Ryder/Presidents Cup combat are either really struggling this season, or have scarcely played.
Snedeker is one, currently 23rd in Ryder Cup qualifying and coming off a horrendous missed cut last week.
And Keegan Bradley is another, lots of middling finishes but languishing in 26th place. Stricker, of course is even further adrift, Bubba Watson further still.
But Hunter Mahan is another good example - he took most of the autumn off and returns to find himself in 37th place. He won here a few years ago and I'd expect him to be highly motivated, this coming month especially given his good record here, at Pebble and the MatchPlay.

10).Finally, a tip of the visor to JB Holmes. JB is not one of my fave golfers, not even in the Top 100, but anyone who's returned from a succession of injuries and health issues as he has deserves support.
As if brain surgery in 2011 wasn't enough, he followed his 2012 comeback with a broken ankle last spring while out rollerblading (real smart).
Now he's back again and finished 23rd in San Diego - he has about 20 tournaments playing under a Major Medical Extension to earn about $600K and you'd think he'll fancy a good week in Phoenix where he won in 2006 and 2008 to help him on his way. Doubtless he also has the PGA Championship at Valhalla on his mind.
He was a member of the winning Ryder Cup Team at Valhalla in 2008 and is a Kentucky boy. Good luck to him.

Ray - Back to your Pine Valley question ... Two greens at #8 because both are small and one would probably not hold up. Two at #9 and I don't know why, but will inquire.

Ol Bubba in the mix!

Bubba looked very good, only missed one green and putted well. No top tens tho' since he threw away The Travelers last June so he needs to get his skates on.
And YE Yang's PGA Tour career will be on life support if he doesn't finish in the top 125 for FedEx Play-Off action.
So great incentive for both to make the most of their excellent starts.

Promising from Laird & Westwood, ho-hum from Poulter, poor from Davis & Lynn and very poor from Harrington.

Thanks for the notes Kwini,

I thought I'd be quite interested in the US golf this week but I'd rather catch up on events in Dubai when I get the chance. Plus I'm not expecting much from Mickelson. I'd rather he'd skipped this and rested for Riveria. TPC Scottsdale seems pretty bland apart from the last 4 holes.

Sometimes the bottom of the leaderboard is more interesting than the top after round 1.... Palmer, BVP, Allenby, Gonzo, Stanley and Glover all with horrid first rounds. Would probably include Merrick in there too. Anyway, all fairly big names, miles away from the cut line.

Watched quite a bit last night. Impressed with English and Bubba is terrific. Not sure I like watching Bubba - everything just too different perhaps?
Lucky to have played TPC Scottsdale, but far from being a favourite in the area. Interesting to see what Weiskopf's redesign will produce.

pgatour.com suggesting Westwood just 4-putted from 8ft.
"Strokes gained putting" after 4 holes: -4.15.

So that's why he moved to Florida.

Pathetic really.

Now I deliberately didn't mention him having watched a stuttering but sometimes promising performance last night!
Watching Ernie (Dubai) with short putter finding every possible way of not getting ball in hole!

Looks like Harrington has 3-putted 18 and out of the weekend action.
And Westwood currently sits alongside Harrington with a "strokes gained putting" of -5.74. Incredible. Sometimes it looks like he's just not trying. He played with Snedeker who hacked it around the desert until he reached the green where he was +4.76 strokes gained.

Move back to Worksop, Lee, this is not working out. Not so far at any rate.

Maybe his putting would be even worse if he lived back to the UK? My guess -- a rough patch coupled with evil Father Time!

RC pick?

Too much bling, Sr, and not enough hard work - he's striking the ball beautifully, short game is not bad but he's becoming a head case with the putter. Four putts from 8 feet? I ask you.
The PGA Tour is an unforgiving place as I'm sure you've pointed out a gazillion times, and lw1 has no status if he can't reach the top 125 in FedEx pts.

Perhaps there'll be a 30 mph wind come through and rescue the sorry pair of them. Plus Brian Davis if he doesn't buck his ideas up.

As bad as it is from PH and Westy....What on earth has GFC been doing the last two weeks?

Colsaerts on fire. Luckily only two par 5's for him to mess up.

Pedro - Good call. Best to wait on all 18 holes per round before declaring Colsaerts on fire or otherwise. Fun tournament!

Hi benson,
Isn't Gonzo just in the middle of moving Mrs Gonzo et al in to their digs in Miami?
I followed him for most of one round last summer and he looked lost.
But I'd reserve judgement on him until The Players at least - his only Top Tens in the States have been in the MatchPlay, Bay Hill and last year's US Open at Merion.
So: The PGA Tour is a risky proposition for him - perhaps Mrs Gonzo fancies the delights (?) of South Beach?

Rubbish today from GB&I's most celebrated; no point in Harrington, Poulter and Westwood playing these events if they miss the cut. Meanwhile, the three lesser lights, Davis, Lynn and Laird played well and will hopefully make the most of their good form over the weekend.
Colsaerts continues his eccentric journey (even par still on the par-5's) and Blixt, Kaymer and Lingmerth all get paid as well.


ROBO can help me on this (please!), but heartwarming to see Chris Smith make the cut, his first for four years, and his first since his wife was killed, and his children seriously injured, in a car crash.
Smith was a decent player, won "Westchester" but has understandably fallen on hard times, playing-wise at least.
For all I know he could be a total jerk, but one has to admire his sticktoitiveness to persevere thru tragedy and Monday qualifying to contend in a PGA Tour event. Hopefully a kindly sponsor will offer him an invite.

Interesting field of decidedly mixed quality for next week's action at Pebble Beach.
Mickelson, Snedeker, Jason Day, Mahan, Furyk, Dustin and Paulina, Reed, Spieth and Watney are all committed.

Davis, Harrington, Knox, McDowell, McGinley(????), Owen lead the GB&I challenge. Jacobson the only leading Continental European.

Looks like Westwood was giving Martin Laird a putting lesson - terrible start to his round.
But Bubba leading the way - he made a horlicks of the last tournament where he was in control so the next 30 holes could be eventful.

Massive -- even record breaking crowds -- at this event. Textbook way to run a professional tournament.

Lots of red numbers out there today; if you don't go low don't expect to be playing late on Sunday. All this recent talk of Colsaerts and the ever-steady Poulter (MC) show once again how difficult it is to compete week in and week out on the big tour.

Some are finding it difficult to compete on the eversoteenyweenyTour as well . . . . . . . .

Colsaerts' problems well predicted . . . . . . .

Not the Irishman, Kwin!

When team Nike gets back to the big tour, they'll be a new lead dog ......

Could be a shoot-out in both deserts on Sunday.
Hope someone (Every? Mahan??) comes out of the pack in Phoenix, give Bubba something to think about. That's when his problems start. Could be exciting.

Nice comeback from The Laird, but a pretty horrid (thanks Peter) day for most of the Europeans.

Bubba is nervous at the best of times but he looks even more nervous than usual....it will be interesting can he finally win a tournament after the Masters, a player of his talent you would imagine it will happen sooner rather than later....however it is nearly two years on now!

GO 'Cuse! Stuff those ACC wussies!!

Lots to play for still for the Europeans on Sunday, Laird especially if he's going to take a lot of time off.
And for Colsaerts and Lynn; both need to get their season properly in to gear.
Looking forward to the action.

Looks pretty cool in the desert today. Scoring higher than in the first three rounds, don't see any repeat of Steele's Round 3 62.

David Lynn off to a nice start, only the Phoenix specialist Kevin Na better than Lynn's -2 so far.

The leaders are underway.

Anyone's tournament I'd say - unless Bubba keeps on getting lucky with his burrowing animals like yesterday in which case he'll winning going away.

Bad day for Philip Seymour Hoffman, but Pat Perez won't let that stop him.
Five birds in his first six holes.
Laird wasting his good work, the story of his season so far.

In a rare treat and as waiting for the gridiron I'm watching some of the PGA coverage. Thing is I say coverage but do they actually show any golf? It's all chat and pretty dull chat at that. Is it always this way?

Had a "discussion" with a guy at the golf club the other week about whether a golf was a sport when he tried to claim the players were fit!

I'm cheering Walrus Jnr if only to prove me right. Don't get too close to the cactus though Kevin you might pop!

Tactful cactus by the window, surveys the prairie of my room.

WTF was that all about with the cactus? Commentators said he wasn't expected to reach in to retrieve his ball for fear of injury? Doesn't he have 14 metal sticks in his bag that could have got the ball out without having his poor precious delicate little hand anywhere near the spikes?

Like I say, risk of "burstage" Davie. He certainly brings a new definition to anchoring. Well and truly wedged in the cleavage.

Looked weird to me too but sure the experts would say those cactus thingys have spikes that "jump" out when disturbed. Expect lots of chat about "jumping Chollas" during the MatchPlay.

Terrible coverage, as you say, hardly any golf, way too much drivel.

Really impressed with Matsuyama, none (apparently) of Ishikawa's bling, all business but seems to be enjoying himself too. Bet he wins this year.

Since they have the exclusive tv rights, why don't they show some golf then?

Wish they were covering the Davis Cup instead of the constant commercials.

Our golfers couldn't win in San Diego, but our tennis players sure can!
Love it!!

Extraordinary pars in the desert from Stads and Bubba.

I think DeLaet could post a number and be in with a great chance, it's almost like no one really wants to win this.

Blimey!
Player A: "After you."
Player B: "No, after you."

The parts of Players A and B are played by any number of tour pros in Phoenix

Another day of huge crowds at this event. Almost 200,000.

And, speaking of huge, will it be the portly Stadler or the huge hitting Bubba Watson? (Or our friend North of the border?)

Watson on our Ryder Cup team? -- if he keeps pouring in putts like he did on 17!

He'd be almost like the Seve for the US then. He's been all over the place but has made some putts when he needed to. If he gets this up and down that would be Seve-esque!

Unfortunately it was Bubba-esque.

Stadler's caddie is even HUGEr than he is. Always thought Craig Stadler would be a wonderful commentator, but at least he now has the thrill of playing Father/Son golf at Augusta National.

Anyone else think Bubba and caddy walked all over their line before 3rd shot at 18??

Bubba's putting under pressure (ie. 16+18) is why Europe wouldn't mind seeing him on the US team. He may pull off the odd Seve once in a while, but I've always seen him as a choker (haven't heard that word for a while?).

Weird, short ones he messed up. Long ones he drained. I think his head was messed by Ryan Moore's 360+ lip out.

Hard to control the ball out of the rough. Missed putt, sure, but Bubba should hit the fairway on 18. Bit of a gift there Kevin ... but you were in position to take advantage of it so well done.

Pretty sure that ensures Stadler a return trip to Arizona, at the Match Play.

Comedy of errors on the back nine though . . . . and now they're going to blow the course up. Comprehensive redesign for next year.

Can't wait to see what Super has got to say about the size of Kevin Stadler and his caddie... 

I've a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more (TV appearances not cubic capacity) of Kevin Stadler, one of those who have always had a "great ballstriker / iffy putter" tag.
Meanwhile, his Walrus father has confirmed that this year's Masters, playing in the same event as his boy with whom he apparently doesn't have the closest relationship, will be his last.

Father/son golf is still my favourite parenting experience so I can only imagine how the Walrus feels and how much he's looking forward to Magnolia Drive.

Strange that Kwini. I cannot play golf with my old man at all. Came to blows the last time we played, mind you I s'pose I shouldn't be knocking the crap out of the old git for laughing at one of my J. Arthurs.

Monty,
Perhaps my lad feels the same about me!
Fortunately I've seen him have a dose of the Shermans, couldn't stop hitting a house beside the green he was aiming at, regardless of which club he used. Never seen anything like it!!
Good for The Walrus and the (misnamed) Smalrus though.
(If he's the Smalrus, what the Hell should his caddie be called?)

Agree Kwin - My absolute favorite golf is with my son and I also have some very fond memories of golfing with my father (mostly Skenandoa, Thendara and down here in Philly for visits) when he was alive.

Onto Pebble!

Maybe Kwini but you sure don't come across as a violent sociopath!

Monty,
That's what he wants you to think!

Shhhhhhhhh,

As Shotrock says, "onto Pebble"; he might just as well as have said on to the sublime from the ridiculousness. California is suffering from an extended drought but Monterey has had some cool damp weather in the past week though the forecast is allegedly good for this weekend.

Big personal regret is spending time in Monterey but never playing Spyglass Hill - wish we'd see more of Spyglass during the TV coverage, it always seems a very underrated course.

Graeme McDowell leading the European challenge; how rusty will he be?

Father son golf is especially good as the father always has to pick up the tab.

Not sure father son golf was all that much fun when you were a young kid and your dad always felt the need to offer "advice", which was of course, taken very well.


When I went to pebble it was bloody freezing, and that was in June/July. Call me sad, but I found the wildlife more interesting than the golf. Wouldn't worry too much about missng spyglass kwini, the inland holes are pretty bog standard tree lined affairs. Is there not a fake pond in there as well somewhere?

Is phil playing this week or has his back got the better of him?

Phil's playing this week; I'd imagine he'll play very well - it's the last of his West Coast tournaments and he'll want to depart with a win.

Fortunately, my lad is left-handed, has a very good grip and a beautiful swing. What advice could I possibly offer?