PGA Tour / US Open: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).First in driving distance.
First in putts per green in regulation.
Fifth in total putts.
Eighth in greens in regulation.
That's the trick Harrison Frazar pulled last week; if he can do it again he'll win the US Open. He has serious power, more than enough for Congressional, but one would expect his short game to desert him in the end.

2).These wins have hidden bennies: Apart from sponsorship bonuses and, in this case, a 2 1/2 year Tour exemption, Frazar also qualifies for Bridgestone, the PGA Championship, Kapalua and Augusta; and probably the HSBC Champions. And to think a few months ago he wrote an SI article about packing the pro game up after 13 winless years and $9M in prizemoney.

3).Roary Sabbatini's just had two weeks off, presumably at His Majesty Tim Finchem's pleasure. Now he gets to return to the scene of Bencranegate, where in 2005 he left pedestrian Ben to his own devices and desires on the 17th green while he played the 18th without him. Expect Roary to have another fortnight's holiday, win this week or lose.

4).Who's got form here? Only four players in the field have won at Congressional, all before Rees Jones redid (read lengthened) the Blue Course: Ernie Els (1997), Sergio Garcia (2005), KJ Choi (2007) and Anthony Kim (2008). Apart from Sergio, other Europeans who have decent records at Congressional include:
Freddie Jacobson, 2nd in the 2008 AT&T; Justin Rose with a couple of top thirty AT&T finishes; Luke Donald with a 13th place in 2005; and, of course, Alex Cejka with a 9th place finish in 2008.

5).Oops, last but by no means least, a certain Lee Westwood who finished T19th (with T.Woods) at the 1997 US Open here. Others from Team GB&I who made the 1997 cut were five Ryder Cuppers, Monty, DC, Sirfaldo, Coltart and Broadhurst.
AND: The son of a moustachioed itinerant goalscorer who plied his trade for, among other more distinguished teams: Bradford Park Avenue, Southport and Stockport. Now: No Googling allowed, who was the son of a strikerman who finished 24th that year????

6).Others who have at least two top tens in the five events competitors could have played include:
Furyk, with 2 x 3rds, a 5th, and a 7th.
Allenby, with a 3rd and a 6th.
Mahan, 2nd and 6th.
Snedeker, 5th and 8th.
Els and Kim, (both languishing in abysmal form).

7).Apart from the aged Fred Funk, there is no PGA Tour winner who could be described as a local. But: Mike Fluff Cowen is a member at Congressional, and a fine golfer in his own right. That may explain Furyk's terrific record here, but Jimmy's been out of sorts this year and it's difficult to believe Fluff can help him to the winners' enclosure.

8).Been having a look at Paddy Power's prices, and my five European value bets, paying each way down to 6th, are:
11/1 Westwood
60/1 Garcia
66/1 Karlsson
70/1 Rose
200/1 Noren.
My three to beat the field would be Choi, Mahan, Westwood, not necessarily in that order! Sure Donald and Stricker are among those in superb form (and Stricker also has a good record here) but this course will be unrelenting to shorter hitters unless they hit at least 75% of the fairways; it's not just the long irons into greens, it's the strength to get out of jail.

9).Before we know it, we'll be talking about Royal St.George's and the R&A mini-money-list is now led by, yup, Harrison Frazar, followed by Goydos, Jobe, CHIII and Holmes.

10).Lastly, the Nationwiders are hard at it in Kansas, Christian and Owen hopefully putting four good rounds together and Russell Knox rediscovering his form of a few weeks ago.

Anyone know what the likely OWGR projection will be for Sergio? Would be nice to see him pushing into the top 50 again.

beautiful approach from Rory again. He's been just incredible this week.

Rory knocks in the short birdie putt to go to -17. Two more holes to go...

Good point, Ned. Does anyone know where princedracula might be to answer such questions or anyone have his email to invite him over from 606?

Hopefully, if Rory can continue in such fashion over the coming years will be his impact on pace of play and having a no-nonsense quick shot routine. I don't know what the shot clock says about RMc's pace of play but if TW can be given credit for perfecting the art of deliberate pre-shot routine then it appears Rory's model is the antithesis of such.

Bitter disappointment for Sergio.
THAT WAS A BIG PUTT. Shame.

Rory's first three putt of the week. Leads by 8 going into the final hole, reckon he'll be OK...

Good to see Sergio smiling at the end though. Best we've seen from him for a long time, still got a suspicion he'll be at RSG one way or another.

Think Garrigus knew that putt was to stay T4, and in the Masters? Great reaction!

Let's have a guress at Srgio's owgr after this. I'm assuming he'll finish tied for 6th or 7th; that will get him to about 68th, that bogey'll hurt, the difference between 5th-ish and 7-ish, a lot of mini-money list dollars for The Open. BUT: He's in next year's Masters AND US Open.

Day's clutch putting has been absolutely phenomenal today, and he'll finish second on -8. Matter of time before he wins one of these?

Oops, was forgetting it's top 8 that get in Augusta not top 4. Guess Garrigus was just enjoying the moment then...

Think that's it for LW, the young guns are too strong now. Day has to go one better soon, Rory's going to figure in every major now, and then all the young asian players. Shame but I don't think Lee or even Luke will get a look in now.

Rory walking upto the 18th green, brilliant reception!

This is one of those days when you are proud to be from Northern Ireland!

Sublime putt!

There it is! Brilliant!

This is one of those days when you're proud to be from Portsmouth.

Well done Rory, FANTASTIC!

Still plenty of time for Westwood and Donald, Good Lord! Starting next month hopefully.

What can one say? He couldn't have written a better script for his first major victory.

that's a really lovely interview too

It'll be very close as to who takes the #3 ranking in the owgr between Rory and Martin Kaymer, Steve Stricker down to 5th, Phil, Kooch and Graeme McDowell increasingly close for 6, 7 and 8, Jason Day right there as well!

But WHO CARES, brilliant stuff from Rory.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Fantastic stuff for Rory. Back to back US Open Champions. Hey Dave on 3; 'we're not brazil, we're northern Ireland...'

Did anyone else catch the snide question 'will you be playing more tournaments in the US?' or am I just being paranoid.

I don't think Bob Costas asks snide questions Willy, just trying to give Rors a dig I think. Rory handled it well, but honestly there's no reason why Rors shouldn't take PGA Tour membership. He was hamstrung a bit this year with the constraint on events, he can play Kapalua and Hawaii, then add an event he fancies and he's about there.
Thing to avoid is the silly season events, Chevron, Nedbank etc. He's got enough loot, just take a break.

Hi WG,
That was Bob Costas asking that question during the post match interview. Don't know what his personal intent was but it may have been a question thrown in his ear by the powers that be. I'd give Costas the benefit of the doubt and give an eye towards the network brass.

I think the ones that should be paranoid are the PGA Tour executive committee members who seem to be stumbling all over themselves ever since the their ace in the hole fell from grace and who's game is literally collapsing at the same time the next generation of European Tour players are beginning to dominate the landscape. I look at the question as being more of a pleading or begging nature than as one that's snide. But definitely an astute observation on your part.

Great performance Rory just in another league this week....Day really becoming an amazing player too consistently up in contention these days!!!

Last 4 major champs under 30!!!

I hardly recognised Rory out there this week. His putting was fantastic and his short game razor sharp. He was more or less flawless in all departments and looked in complete control of his game and mind. I think most suspected he could do something like this with a good putting week, but I am surprised he managed it only one major on from his Masters collapse. It will be interesting to see how this changes him as a player. If he can putt that well on a regular basis, the rest should pack it in... at least Tiger and Phil gave the field a chance with their wild driving.

wel done rory

jason great effort 2 2nds in his forst 4 majors top class

AKA the 2 new stars of golf

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Day's clutch putting has been absolutely phenomenal today, and he'll finish second on -8. Matter of time before he wins one of these?

lets hope so

unbelievable effort in his forst 4 majors
he has had

1 top 10

and 2 2nd places

world class

kwin

will jason play agianst before briitish open ?

Morning GJ,
The commentators said he and his wife are off on holiday to Cabo this morning, so doubt it.
Up to 9th in the owgr with just one minor win, but plenty of high placings, just what the Americans accuse the Europeans of doing. Except he's done it in America!!!!

Mornin' men!

What a fantastic performance by Rory. So soon and so sweet after The Masters too. His record in the majors, his finishes and stats, were already pretty impressive and this now goes to prove a) how good he is and b) what a quick and astute learner he is. I dont think he had as many doubters than most would have thought after The Masters but he's silenced them now anyway. Superb!

Was great to see my favourite Sergio back on a major leaderboard. That low punch shot that hit the pin on saturday was something else! I was on a stag weekend and saw that shot in the pub - musta been the only one watching as the rest of the guys wondered what was wrong when my hands shot up into the air! Rory's golf was pure exhibition stuff but I still love that kind of entertainment the likes of only Sergio can serve up. Now he needs to go and see the same Stockton that Rory did!

Day #9 in the world now. I know he plays slow (wouldnt be suprised if he wasnt fussed he had Rory waiting around on the tee given what happened at the Masters) BUT I love those dancing feet when he lines up his shots!

Only sad point of my weekend was the news that Clarence Clemons passed away. So glad I went to see The Boss and his gang last year at Hampden. Just about the best entertainment I've seen in that stadium in years...

"But maybe everything that dies someday comes back."

Hi Lairdy,
A couple of "The Big Man" notes earlier on in the thread!
Our local station played non-stop Springsteen yesterday before Rory's entertainment got going, stirring stuff.

Big 3-putts for Sergio and Davis Love on 18 yesterday, Sergio's costing him $100K+ in his quest for Open Championship exemption, DLIII's costing him an automatic qualification for Olympic Club next year.

As it is, these are the automatic invites to next year's Masters and US Open from those not otherwise exempt:
Masters and US Open: Westwood, Chappell, Garrigus, Hanson, Garcia
US Open: Day (already exempt for Augusta)

kwinigolfer wrote:Hi Lairdy,

Big 3-putts for Sergio and Davis Love on 18 yesterday, Sergio's costing him $100K+ in his quest for Open Championship exemption, DLIII's costing him an automatic qualification for Olympic Club next year.

Ouch! That's a lot of money in a mini money list! I think in some way he'd given in to the greens by then. I'm sure he was still trying but I'm not sure the same focus was applied to some of those last putts. You can tell by his smiles at the end that he knows he has a problem but it was perhaps a sign that he wont let it get him down like before. Maybe it was easy to smile about it because the leader was so far ahead? Who knows? As long as he's not singing, "Woooa, I'm on fire."

Really hope I see him linked with Stockton soon. Either that or do what he did with his long game this week - no warm up! Maybe thats the way to go!?!

The people who thought Rory would "choke" have gone awfully quiet.

Well done Rory first of many I would suggest. Augusta is tailor made for him and now he has found out the key to success in majors it's a matter of time before he goes past Nick's 6 majors and then who knows?

Really tremendous weekend for Rory. I suspect he'll have many more like it in the years to come. Like TW before him, he's got game-changing talent and I think he'll be the top ranked golfer in the world for many years.

So, the questions start ...

When will TW compete at this level again?
Have we seen the best of Phil at this level?
We've heard Westwood's commentary, but will he be the next first time major winner?

I know Rory took some heat for his "independent contractor" tweet a few months back, but I could not agree with him more in those sentiments. Have gun, will travel ... but on his terms. And good for him.

Sr,
You were right about the "great theater", but probably not quite what anyone imagined, except in their wildest dreams!

Interesting piece about Congressional by Geoff Shackleford this morning:
*Unlikely to get another US Open anytime soon, largely due to:
1).Prevailing weather conditions in Maryland that time of year, specifically humidity and difficulty in making course as firm as they prefer.
2).Tour pros jaded by playing exactly the same set-up at the AT&T.

*But: Congressional is also trying to extricate itself from its AT&T contract which has three more years to run. Complaints from members etc, sound familiar??!!

Not sure where the AT&T goes, off the schedule most likely, but also not quite sure what the climate difference is between Merion and Congressional?

Dustin Johnson signed up for Munich this week, Bubba Watson in the field for Paris in a fortnight.

I'm in the camp of "Seriously well done, Rory" but also "Let's not overhype and make ridiculously premature predictions". Let him play and we'll see what happens!

Having said that, and I know it's a bit early for this sort of discussion, the thought occurred to me that it will be great (and possibly quite intimidating for the opposition) to have consecutive US Open champions paired up again in the next Ryder Cup? "Big Mac and Little Mac ride again...!"

Kwin - Weather nearly identical between Congressional and Merion. I certainly can understand why any private club would not want a tour event year in/year out. Beats up the practice area, course looks like the carnival left town for a good month after the fact, limits member play.

I was impressed that the US officials did not try and make Congressional unplayable. I liked it!

I suspect the AT&T will move to the PGA course in DC area.

The new and improved TPC Avenel presumably?
Never anyone's favourite but some top-class winners there over the years.

Trying to keep an eye on the CNY press as Woods is still scheduled to be playing the Notah Begay event following Aronomink. You'd think Notah might get a heads-up to attract an alternate.

Kwin - Avenel it is. Maybe Joey Sindelar or Levi could round on Begay's group?

Already itching to play Thendara and Inlet first two weeks of August. All you can play after 3pm at Inlet for $25. Nice!

Well done Rory. What a way to silence the critics - including me!

A lot of folk have been waxing lyrical about his game through the green but for me, the thing I noticed most was how much better he was striking the putts which enabled him to get a decent pace on them. Dave Stockton Jr. must be doing something right.

Thought the Washington fans were brilliant particularly when taking into consideration the disappointing performances from their ain folk.

Brilliant Rory, well done. As I was one of those who suggested that you didn't have 4 great rounds in you, please accept my aplogies

I'd think we'll hear today whether or not Tiger is good to go at Aronomink; not only for this tournament but he also has an appearance scheduled in two weeks at Notah Begay's event in CNY.

I remember when people were suggesting after the Masters that McIlroy would never put 4 good rounds together. I said he didn't necesarily need to - most tournaments are won by guys who play a couple of good rounds and hold it together well in the others. Usually if someone puts in 4 genuinely good rounds, they win by an absolute mile, like Tiger at Pebble and St Andrews in 2000.

I think we've just seen another example, but it proves my point, Rory could've handed in 2 very average rounds and still won. 4 good rounds will almost always win you the tournament.

it was always about whether rory could find the mental strength. it appears he's well on the way ot controlling that now and his golf was pretty much sublime.

nb that's him now led the first 2 majors of this year for >90% of their duration! he's been threatening it for a couple of years and the evidence has been getting stronger and stronger. we've just seen a potentially generation-defining golfer find his stride in emphatic style.

remember, nay sayers, he's not a flash in the pan, not a one off freak occurence but a player with undeniable brilliance who's been looking for the final piece of the jigsaw.

now, he won't wipe the floor week after week. he won't win every major. what he will now do is be able to close out tournaments when he's playing the sort of golf that can put him in contention.

remember there are another 150-odd guys out there with the same goal and some weeks one or more of them will be on better form but we can certainly look forward to rory delivering the goods more regularly from now on.

But don't you think that's just hindsight - it felt as if Rory was playing with sensible aggression all weekend, no unnecessary risks but no spurning of "green light specials".
Think that anything else would have brought its own pressures, whether demons from within or someone catching inspiration without.

I'm still not totally convinced, certainly don't feel Rory's a shoo-in every time he tees it up. Still the same golfer who's struggled at various times to me. But obviously he liked this set-up and took maximum advantage. Great to see.

A good turnout of also rans this week, on both sides of the Atlantic; it'll be interesting to see who rebounds and those for whom this will be 36 holes (at least) too many.

Looks like we'll get to see Ryder Cup protagonists Mahan, Johnson and Harrington in one group, plus Poulter with David Toms in another. My leading candidate for running on empty by RStG is Bubba Watson, slogged thru 72 uninspired holes in Washington, defending this week, Paris next, Castle Stuart after that and running on fumes by the time he reaches Sandwich.

graeme, we posted simultaneously.
Hope you're right, and his achievements have been outstanding.

Congressional certainly wasn't a freak occurrence, but the pressures now will be enormous. For sure he'll be a threat every time he plays a Major, and right now you can't say that about anyone else.

The thing is with Rory, I've not doubt he learned A LOT from what happened at Augusta. But don't forget it's only 6 or 7 weeks ago and brilliant though he may be, there is no way he can have eradicated that flaw in his temperament in 6 weeks.

He still has 80s in him. Sure - he avoided it this week at Congressional but he is still essentially the same human being he was at ANGC

I have no doubt he'll win more Majors. I also have no doubt that he'll throw in more spectacular collapses

i honestly can't see a spectacular collapse happening again. there will be occasions when he loses a lead, when someone is just more in the zone than he is but his psychological approach has changed.

he held a similar lead at the masters and went to pieces. if he hadn't made psychological changes to how he handled the various factors surrounding a situation like that, he'd have been all over the place on sunday again.

but something has changed. sure he was striking the ball beautifully and "in the zone" but as the pressure ramped up, he rode the wave this time.

for sportsmen and women, that is something that the best learn and the nearly best struggle with. it's something i'd love to see andy murray learn for example. once learnt, it's like a little place you go to when the situation arises. it's something you need to work on to develop and the greatest proponents of it, we can all name - nicklaus, woods, federer, nadal, et al.

but i genuinely think he's found it and he's a lucky bleeder if he has!

there are so many more factors to a successful 4 rounds as we all know to a greater or lesser extent but "slowing it all down" so you're the one in control, is probably the greatest skill of all after being able to belt the little white ball.

Not so much about mental strength with Rory. No doubt his performance was stunning, but there will be some courses he can't attack and it will be interesting to see how he handles that.

As Jack Nicklaus said "The course doesn't adjust to you, you have to adjust to the course, if you don't do that your not going to win"