PGA Tour: The Florida / Mexico / Florida, Florida Swing: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).The traditional Florida / Texas countdown to Augusta will take a detour for a few years as the Tour was unable to find the sponsor necessary to share double-billing with Doral's owner and keep it on the Florida Swing schedule. It seems the WGC was, essentially, bought by Mexico. Unintended consequences, and now ironic in the extreme. (Better not go there.)

2).There was some speculation when "WGC-Mexico" was announced that the field for "Honda" would be affected, but it's still pretty strong; certainly the Mexican diversion is not the reason for Rory's absence, but the other five members of the owgr Top Six who have separated themselves from the rest are absentees, and the strength of field is the least strong it's been since Rors won in 2012.
Without Doral, the road to The Masters looks like this:
Honda, Mexico, Valspar/Innisbrook, Bay Hill, WGC-Matchplay, Houston, The Masters.

3).Good news coming from the sponsor this week is the renewal of their contract to play "The Honda Classic" at PGA National thru' 2021, which will be the 40th "renewal" of one of the Tour's longest running sponsorships.
This tournament is far better known as "the Honda" than by any other name, something the sponsor has earned, you'd think, by sticking with its South Florida commitment through thick and a lot of thin.
For me, as a European just starting to double-dip, one of its predecessors, the "Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic" is the first non-Major US event I can remember sitting down to watch, glued to the screen as Jack Nicklaus rattled off birdies on the five closing holes to squeak by a shell-shocked Grier Jones. The only Tour events Jones won after that were as a caddie for Gibby Gilbert on the Senior Tour.

4).The Honda has been as generous to non-Americans as any event on Tour, with only 3 x US wins (Mark Wilson, Michael Thompson & Russell Henley) in the past twelve runnings. Not surprising Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson are not playing this week.

5).Cunning segue to Dustin who looked a good bet going in to Riviera and certainly proved it by dominating pretty much throughout. And now he's Number One in the world and, seemingly anyway, couldn't care less; probably the best recipe for staying there for a while. He's got to be on any short list for Augusta, will probably disappear for a few weeks, then defends his title at the US Open at Wisconsin's Erin Hills, where no-one in the tournament will have competed as a Pro.
DJ deposed Jason Day who seems to feel much more competitive about earning a quick return to #1: "If I could stay there for ten years I would." Whereas DJ just wants to win and have fun, and not necessarily in that order.

6).I love watching golf at Riviera, definitely on my bucket list to watch a tournament at; and the pros seem to feel the same way despite the drenching the course took and disruption to the schedule.
Royal St.George's got more than it's share of lousy weather for the 2011 Open Championship; I love the Pete Cowen quote from a recent Golf Digest about joining Darren Clarke on the range two days before the start:
PC: "Are you all right, Darren?"
DC: "No, I'm f*cking not. I can't hit the ball. I'm wasting my time. I might as well go home."
PC: "Look, the weather is going to be terrible, and you're the best bad-weather player in the world. Why would you think you've got no chance? Let's have a look at you."
After watching Clarke hit balls briefly, Cowen gave him one thing to think about. Within two hours his demeanour had changed completely.
DC: "Watch me hit this stinger . . . . . . watch me hit this high draw."
Cowen: It was an incredible display of shot-making.
PC: "Are you OK now?"
DC: "Yeah, but I still can't f*cking putt."

7).Darren will be hoping for galeforce winds and teeming rain in 2020 then as RSG gets The Open again.
2017: Birkdale
2018: Carnoustie
2019: Portrush
2020: RSG
2021: St.Andrews presumably.

8).Happy 50th Birthday on Thursday to Steve Stricker, about the most unassuming top golfer we're likely to have watched for the past 25 years.
Stricker will go down among the very few (Verplank, Westwood, one or two others) to have suffered a Duval-like slump in form and return better than ever to tell the tale.
After struggling to earn $1M in 2003 thru 2005 combined, and having lost his Tour card, Stricker was rewarded for his loyalty to the Houston Open with a sponsor's invitation in 2006, finished 3rd, qualified for Winged Foot and followed his 6th place result there with a runner-up at TPC Avenel and went on to bank $30M the next seven seasons. Two seasons as "Comeback Player of the Year" were enough to see the award retired.

9).Let's get back in to the Honda: There's a strong European entry: Pieters, Molinari, Hatton, McDowell, Casey, Fitzpatrick, Willett, Rafa, Kjeldsen, Sergio, Knox, Kaymer . . . . and the returns of Poulter, (and Freddie Jac following his detention for suspicion of terroristic behaviour in Sweden).
Past winner Luke Donald is here, as is Padraig Harrington, twice the Honda Champion - and he's apparently satisfied with the tinkering of his swing, now debating whether or not to tinker with his body and have neck surgery. (Tip: Don't use Woods's surgeon if he applies for the job.)

10).After the classic challenge of Riviera, puligny contrasted the course with the water park golf to follow.
(And the Gil Hanse owner-inspired re-do of Doral, ripping up the Dick Wilson original which was playable whatever the weather, made it almost unplayable in strong winds, and may have been a contributory factor in taking the WGC across the border.) PGA National is the most unforgiving course for a hacker (viz me) that I've played, and I spent the last few holes wishing I was at Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach instead.
Who knows who'll win, following Adam Scott's battle with Sergio last year. Either could be a good bet, but Russell Knox has the best recent course form of any British golfer and might be worth an each way investment.

McLaren wrote:

super_realist wrote:
I've seen Pro's at St.Andrews prior to the Dunhill. Doesn't that count?

Not sure Super.  I will wait until some of the more knowledgeable posters chip in on this before altering my opinion on whether or not pro's play practice rounds at non major venues well in advance of the event.

Yeah, because loads of posters here play at tournament venues don't they Mac. If you're going to be a condescending oaf try actually making it a point in which you have a leg to stand on.

McLaren wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:six of them were robbed at gunpoint (to Walter Hall's head) a few years ago

Sounds like a bit of a one off.  Where would we travel to if we avoided all locations where a robbery had taken place?

Mac,


On the one hand I'm a bit surprised that all but Day are showing up this week.
And on the other, I agree with you; but imagine the players sought some assurances/advice over security there. Obviously not as bad as Sweden though . . . . . . .

Or Florida. Remember Tiger got walloped with a 5 iron there.

Swedish immigrant - you can't trust 'em.

McLaren wrote:
Super, I doubt any pro plays a practice round in advance at any non major venue. Ever.  They are apparently on a tight schedule as it is.

The WGC has a $10m purse, $1.6m to the winner. The top players like Rory probably wouldn't visit because they are focused on the majors, but what about the middle of the road players? For guys like Daniel Berger and Bill Haas a little extra knowledge might be worth $200k by the end of the week.

kwinigolfer wrote:Swedish immigrant - you can't trust 'em.

I've always thought this is where Steve Williams let Tiger down. If he'd been around to advise Erin on club selection, the dithering would have allowed Tiger to get away without the fire hydrant incident, everything would have remained hush hush and Tiger would still be world number 1!

raycastleunited wrote:I've always thought this is where Steve Williams let Tiger down. If he'd been around to advise Erin on club selection, the dithering would have allowed Tiger to get away without the fire hydrant incident, everything would have remained hush hush and Tiger would still be world number 1!

Some stuffin' with a long putter and they'd still be married.

kwinigolfer wrote:
Nothing to do with presidential bombast, though you're going to see more of that trotted out tonight.

Are you stocked up with popcorn and pepsi, kwin? (Should be some left from the disappointing Oscars night..)

McLaren wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:six of them were robbed at gunpoint (to Walter Hall's head) a few years ago

Sounds like a bit of a one off.  Where would we travel to if we avoided all locations where a robbery had taken place?

Not just a robbery Mac, but a robbery of PGATour Champions player during the week that there were play

Los Zetas is very real drug cartel operating in Mexico.

I am sure the Players will safe if they stay in their cocoon. Hotel and Golf course. I don't see any of them venturing out to see the local talent. And I doubt if many players bring their families.

They will do that in Los Angeles, and Miami, etc.

FYI the murder rate in Malmo, Sweden, is the same as that of Mexico City. Ok, not exactly same size cities but still.

Its been said that many (if not most) major crimes goes unreported in Mexico.

pedro wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:
Nothing to do with presidential bombast, though you're going to see more of that trotted out tonight.

Are you stocked up with popcorn and pepsi, kwin? (Should be some left from the disappointing Oscars night..)

Not like you to toss out a softball like that, pedro!

Nah, Don't use that stuff, will just nurse my Remy for as long as possible, batten down the hatches and hope ICE don't come looking for me. The State of the Union, or whatever they're calling it this year, is always an interesting evening and, I think anyway, very important; would just like the Democrats to show a united front in opposition but they're way too limp-wristed to do that. More of the same tonight, no doubt.

In Mexico (for a fishing trip) and our group was pulled over (2 vans) about 25 miles from the airport for not having our seat belts on. The officers just happened to know our flights and said that he could get us an audience with the judge, but it might take some time. So, out came the dineros and after a healthy exchange, off we went happy to leave and lots lighter.

Pedro -- I truly question the source of your stat!

We got robbed by the Mexicans aswell, there was also official involvement. John Aldridge was left on the sideline while a botched substitution took place. Jack Charlton was not at all happy. Damn Mexicans.

Malmo 2016: 12 murders, 280,000 inhab. = 4.3 (google it).
PS. Somebody was attacked with a hand grenade yesterday.
PPS. Host of the 2017 Nordea Masters. Is BillyHo going?

Mexico City 2010 = 3.7

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_cities_by_murder_rate

It might be cherry picking, but hey ho..

pedro wrote:Malmo 2016: 12 murders, 280,000 inhab. = 4.3 (google it).
PS. Somebody was attacked with a hand grenade yesterday.
PPS. Host of the 2017 Nordea Masters. Is BillyHo going?

Mexico City 2010 = 3.7

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_American_cities_by_murder_rate

It might be cherry picking, but hey ho..

If you're using wiki as your source, they reckon Malmo's pop is 342K, Metro 700K. But good point nevertheless!

Even if those figures are correct, and I doubt they are, I would feel much safer in Malmo than in Mexico city.

super_realist wrote:Even if those figures are correct, and I doubt they are, I would feel much safer in Malmo than in Mexico city.

Yes but that's a different story as I assume you are not in a gang. But Malmo also being the r*pe capital of Northern Europe I doubt your sister/girlfriend would feel the same way.

And btw, you can just google a bit to see if you can find alternative facts..

pedro wrote:

super_realist wrote:Even if those figures are correct, and I doubt they are, I would feel much safer in Malmo than in Mexico city.

Yes but that's a different story as I assume you are not in a gang. But Malmo also being the r*pe capital of Northern Europe I doubt your sister/girlfriend would feel the same way.

And btw, you can just google a bit to see if you can find alternative facts..

Malmo isn't the r-ape capital either, you've fallen for Trump/Farage rhetoric there.

Sweden records  r-ape differently than other countries. For example if a woman is r-aped by her husband 20 times, in Sweden that is 20 counts of r-ape. If that happens anywhere else, it is 1. It also encourages the reporting and takes more seriously the claims of r***. It's therefore far more difficult to make comparisons with other countries. The definition of the act is also much wider in Sweden.
So while Malmo may have the highest rates in Sweden, it by no means is the capital of r-ape in the world.

Also, in 2016 there were just 90 murders in the whole of Sweden, and 8 million people is about the same as Mexico City.
From the stats I could find Sweden has a murder rate of 1.14 (2016) and Mexico City it is 8.4 (2009)

R-ape in  Malmo has barely changed in 20 years.

Yeah, just ask Assange...