PGA Tour: AT&T National (at Aronomink GC): Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Freddie Jacobson finally wins on the PGA Tour!
By all reports one of the most popular guys on Tour, Freddie was a deserved winner of the Travelers Championship and gave pause to those (OK, me) for whom "horses for courses" is a strong factor in choosing likely contenders. Freddie Jac had played Hartford's TPC River Highlands only twice in his career and missed the cut both times. (Runner up Ryan Moore however has played Hartford six times now with three top 4 finishes!)

2).I was lucky enough to follow Friday's play, kinda strange as one wave played 36 holes, the other just a handful. But I was able to watch a lot of two guys I'd never (Poulter) or just fleetingly (Ogilvy) followed before and both played really well tee to green, even if Ogilvy threw in an occasional wild shot as he strives to regain full fitness. Poulter, like Dustin Johnson last year, needs to pay attention to local rules posted in the locker room. "Lift, clean and place" was the order of Rounds 1,2 and 3, but NOT for Round 4. Poulter promptly picked up his perfect 300 yard drive on the first hole Sunday to earn himself a one-shot penalty and cost him $30K.

3).Freddie Jac has been a pretty good player now for a decade, and it occurs that he's on a short list of golfers in the conversation about best European not to make a Ryder Cup team since 1979: Off hand I'd offer Forsbrand, Anders Hansen, Freddie, Brian Davis and Matteo Manassero as the leading five. Any other offers?

4).And Freddie likely ensures a trip to Royal St.George's as he leads the R&A's mini-money list of PGA Tour players not otherwise exempt with just this week's AT&T National to play.

5).The AT&T National Invitational leapt on to the Tour stage five years ago amidst great fanfare and American symbolism: Fourth Of July weekend, Military recognition (now every bloody event's doing that) and Tiger, all in Washington DC, at Congressional. All benefitting Tiger Woods's Foundation of course. Fast forward to 2011 and the event completes a two-year hiatus at Donald Ross's "hidden gem", Aronomink G.C. in Philadelphia. It sounds as if Aronomink's membership will be glad to see the event return next year to Congressional where there's a contract through 2014. But, rumour has it that Congressional has also had enough of hosting the event and its future is in grave doubt, at the very least it's future in sweaty Washington on July 4th.

6).The PGA Tour in its infinite wisdom dispensed with the traditional July 4th weekend event in Chicago, the almost-century old Western Open, and for what? At the very best, an event which receives increasingly less support from the players, especially the International contingent who will be preparing for The Open in two weeks' time. And now, if the AT&T is to continue, it looks as if it will be at a different date and, most likely, venue. I suggest a straight date swap with the Canadian Open, but no idea where they might stage it.

7).Justin Rose is this week's defending Champion, the winner last year in a marvellous performance. But Justin arrives in poor form after a most promising start to his season. He's only made two cuts out of five since The Masters with no top 25's in that time, and you'd be a brave investor to expect a successful defence. A shame though that the Tour won't return to Aronomink and pgatour.com has a potted history plus a beautiful gallery of photographs of both course and clubhouse. For more, consult Mr.Shotrock!

8).Rory McIlroy continues to be the darling of the US Golf Press, not least because he's not Tiger. That part of the media loth to criticise Tiger's behaviour and driving, both on course and off it, is finding every excuse under the sun to praise Rory and draw comparison with Mr.Woods. "Unassuming and un-Tigerlike, McIlroy wins on many levels" gushes GolfWorld, who can't resist the sort of satire that they HAVE resisted for so long:
"The famously absent were famously absent, which meant Woods was probably out on the Atlantic somewhere with his inflatable boot. If all the dire predictions of his future were to be believed, you'd half expect to find him adrift in a Boston Whaler called Screwed." etc. etc. etc.

9).Champions Tour champion, Hale Irwin, has equalled Bob Charles' record of 203 career top tens and goes for #204 this week in Montreal. (I'm planning to be there but am currently suffering a minor attack of the Robert Rocks as I try to renew my passport! British Embassy readers please help!!)

10).Best news (heartwarming?) of the weekend in professional golf was Erik Compton's win in the Nationwide event in Mexico. As most of you know, 31-y-o Compton is on his third heart following a couple of transplants and he's now almost certain to take Number Three to next year's PGA Tour. Meanwhile, he is playing at the AT&T, grouped with Furyk and Mahan whose recent form just their respective tickers are not functioning too well; perhaps they'll be seeking advice?

Thanks as usual, Kwini. I've just been listening to 5Live golf, and Iain Carter is definitely reading this site - talking about Tiger's announcement that he didn't know when he'd come back, Carter said he thought we'd next see him at Akron (how long have you been saying that?), and then when someone texted in to say 'who cares about Tiger, talk about golfers who are playing well' and Matt Dawson asked him to guess where that person was from, he guessed not Norn Ireland but (presumably thinking of s_r?) St Andrews!

Nice to read again your weekly notes, kwini

I have to say I didn't pay any special attention to Jacobson until now, but after listening to the interview after his win I'm starting to like him, such a genuine guy, a breath of fresh air compared to what you normally hear at golf press conferences... Hope he reaches soon his new target of one trophy per child

And as you've mentioned Rory again, I thought this was pretty funny:

http://www.mobypicture.com/user/McIlroyRory/view/9956319/sizes/full

As he said himself in a comment, those guys really make him look like a midget!

Amazing story indeed for Compton, really happy for him!

If you're including Matteo in the best non Ryder Cuppers, surely Laird needs to be in there too? Both with 2 wins!

Hi Kwini,

Great stuff by Freddie at the weekend. Just what he deserved for his 'celebration' after his 4 putt at the US Open. Tremendous. Such humour is too thin on the ground in the pro world.

I bet Rory is glad he isn't based over in the US. Needs to stay well away from those sensationalist sycophants!

I read the fantasy tips on the pgatour.com site and liked what I read about Simpson(again) and Bill Haas(needs to revive his season). Who's all still flogging the Webb Simpson horse this week?

Lairdy wrote:I bet Rory is glad he isn't based over in the US. Needs to stay well away from those sensationalist sycophants!

As if we don't have enough sensationalist sycophants over here...

Davie wrote:

Lairdy wrote:I bet Rory is glad he isn't based over in the US. Needs to stay well away from those sensationalist sycophants!

As if we don't have enough sensationalist sycophants over here...

True haha! Do you read a lot of the US golf sites though? Their obsession with Tiger and the next 'Tiger' is x10 what our journos cover on all things Tiger.

The Kwin - Really fine write up as usual. Weather looks good for this weekend and the course and facilities are ready, that I can attest to first hand. Chatted with Mr. Simpson yesterday, and he's in today's pro-am with a friend of mine. It might be his time, but I see no clear favorite heading into the week.

Yes, Rory is all the rage it seems with the US Press. Now that he's won a major, enter the next phase of his very promising career: going in as the favorite and proving it yet again. I think he'll be up for it. The comparisons to Tiger are inevitable, but I recall reading they are both about at 100 career professional starts. At that time Tiger had 20+ wins and Rory's got 3 - so hardly the same level of accomplishment just yet.

Speaking of Mr. Woods, I'm of the opinion he should probably next tee it up at Torrey Pines in 2012. Enough with the false starts.

'Morning all,
Thanks Smithers, Yup, The Laird could be a contender too, though on reflection perhaps he and Matteo should be benched from the debate until they've a ctually not made a Team.

As for Iain Carter, back in the 606 days one of his blogs looked like it plagiarised my weekly drivel; can't remember the exact details but he used much of the same phraseology, buzz words. Hopefully that's where the similarity ends because he doesn't come across as a good writer at all!

Thought the Freddie "one trophy per child" line was pretty good, self-deprecating as well. Commentators last week described him as being the best table tennis player on Tour (Bobby Clampett always used to call him a "tennis table" expert), and the golfer with the deepest voice!

Not that struck on Webb Simpson this week, thought he had a really good chance in Hartford but made way too many mistakes. Certainly in decent form though, and Bill Haas is also a player one would expect to fare well at A'mink.

I like Geoff Ogilvy, not the sort of tournament he'd usually play in but he looked in pretty good nick last week. Also like Jeff Overton, Bo Van Pelt and Ricky Barnes, but no real strong feelings either way.

Looking forward to seeing the course again, it will probably disappear from public view after this week.

Way too many interruptions of play on this year's PGA Tour but Philadelphia looks like delivering a splendid four days of weather for the AT&T.

Mostly sunny with high temps rising from low 80's to toasty nineties by the time the weekend comes around. Perhaps a bit breezy but mainly dry.

'Morning Shotrock,
Webb Simpson seemed a really pleasant guy from the few holes I saw him play last week, lots of acknowledging the gallery and seemed in good humour despite the handicap of playing with Kevin Na. Clearly he "gets it" and looks to have a long successful career ahead of him.

(Would think the value of Rory playing mainly in Europe this year is being realised this month, plenty of time, hopefully, for him to acclimate to his new status on home turf.)

Going for Watney in Philly and for Matteo in Paris this week...
I see the groupings are out. Among the odd ones out I'm picking the 'www' one at AT&T (Woodland/Watney/Wilson) and the 'hairy' one in Paris (Jacquelin/Jimenez/Bubba)...

Kwin - You know who else was extremely gracious and very nice to my kids: Boo Weekly. Motioned to them to come under the ropes for some banter and hat signings. I'm sure he gets branded with the "hayseed, good ol' boy, local yocal", but he was very pleasant and based upon that brief encounter I'll be hoping he plays into the weekend.

If Aronimink hosts another tournament in my lifetime I'm guessing it will be a major - and hopefully not a Senior major. Good marks from the players thus far, but with Merion hosting the US Open in 2013, that may be many years off if at all.

What Aronmink has are some very complex greensites. It's the primary defense of the course without resorting to silly speeds it's what can make a birdie a rare thing on all but the two 5 pars. Note too that the only concession to today's game was a new tee box on #9 and #2 (although 2 hardly plays longer now.) The routing is brilliant (I'm really trying to be objective here!). I don't know what was in the water around Royal Dornoch, but Donald Ross made extraordinary use of the land.

Boo Weekley is one of a number of players struggling to keep his card this year. Brilliant ball-striker but that might not be enough to save him. Would think Aronomink might suit him though?

Just had a butcher's at the advance commitments for the Canadian Open the week following The Open Championship. Pretty impressive:
Donald
Kuchar
Casey
Fowler
O'Hair
Mahan
Schwartzel
Oosthuizen
Els (his blog this week states he's tweaked his back, his alibi for missing the AT&T and going to Castle Stuart after saying he'd miss the Scottish Open)
Furyk
Goosen
Tim Clark
Sneds

Looks like a chartered flight or two to Vancouver.

Hi Kwini. I would offer up Carl Petterson as one of the best europeans never to play in the ryder cup.

Faldo,
I think you might have nailed it! Can't believe I forgot him. Wonder if anyone thinks any Spanish golfers are at that level - seems to me most of the best played at one time or another?

And, of course, the Swedish Redneck himself will be defending his Canadian Open Championship!

Probably not quite on the level of Forsbrand, Pettersson or Freddie Jac, but I guess the Spaniard with the biggest RC grievance is Miguel Angel Martin, very harshly treated.

Very true Ned, good job it was Seve who made that call otherwise we'd never have heard the end of it.
For the layman all was well because it ended well. M-A M seldom heard from at the highest level since.

Good to see Barclays confirm their continued sponsorship of "The Barclays", through 2016.
pgatour.com announces the New York-area venues during this time:
2011: Plainfield CC - supposed to be a fabuloius course.
2012: Bethpage Black
2013: Liberty National - of which Tiger commented in an unprecedented piece of wit upon being informed that Tom Kite helped design it: "Must have been before he got his eyes fixed". I'm surprised they've decided to return here given the lambasting the course received a couple of years ago.
2014: Ridgewood CC - beloved of Messrs Streelman and Laird, and Kuchar of course.
2015: Plainfield CC
2016: Bethpage Black

Liberty National... is that the one that was built on old waste ground? I remember it not being popular as well. Not many courses with a view of Manhattan however, if I have the correct course that is.

Terrific entertainment there by Jo-Willy Tsonga. Hope you managed to catch some of that?!

Yup, On both counts, saw some of Djoker also.

Apparently Liberty National has undergone some course modifications, not sure of the details but we'll find out soon enough.

Thing I remember most of all from the TV coverage is the non-stop pictures of cruise liners, each one seemingly bigger than the one before. Good advertising for Carnival and Royal Caribbean I suppose, but deadly dull for those who like golf and beaches, not traveling resorts.

Plainfield is an excellent track. Another "under the radar" gem here in the Northeast. Don't pass up the chance to play it if you can. I too am surprised at the Liberty National call ... but that's still a heck of a rotation for the Barclays.

Wonderful weather for the Pro-Am today ... boring enough to some, but a great chance to watch these guys up close and see their ball striking in action. Geoff O has made it know he enjoys some of the classic layouts, so good hunch there.

Good article Kwini,
Do you think Overton and Fowler need to win this year to help them push on?
Seems like they have gone backwards.................................

Hi John,
Fowler, Overton: You'd think so, yes. Two different cases in my mind:
Fowler the whizz kid on the stratospheric trajectory slowly coming back down to earth. How good really is he? No denying what he's achieved up to now, but disappointing year so far.
Overton has just steadily improved year on year. Looking at his swing it seems very much a timing swing, as if he really needs to be in the groove to prosper. Very streaky last year, but streaky bad this year. Plenty of time left though and I have a sneaky fancy for him this week.

Bonjour, kwini. I'm a big supporter of European golf, but somehow this week I'd love to see guys like Bubba and Steele doing well and enjoying their first European experiences. Course looks great and those large water features mean plenty of double-bogey 'opportunities'. Larrazabal and Quiros already "dans l'eau" early on... but Alvaro almost saved his par when his 4th shot went over le drapeau, sur le vert and span back almost dans le trou...

Nilsson the early leader with Kaymer and Hansen still a bit shaky out there, while Eddi Molinari continues to struggle.

How do they say fairway in French? (I mean, apart from 'le fairway'...)
And what about birdie? Surely it can't be 'le petit oiseau'. Need venice's expert advise here...

Much to the consternation of l'Academie, I'm sure, but most phrases seem to be borrowed in that sort of context, so it probably is 'le fairway', 'le rough', 'un birdie' etc.

Merci SJ, you're right about l'Academie... and Jacques Chirac whould've been horrified as well.

Nilsson's lead vanished in no time and there's no sign of too much enjoyment for Steele out there, 4-over after 11... After one of my best ET fantasy team performances last week, looks like a total disaster is looming for this week...

Bonjour mes amis!
I went to see Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris last week in an effort to secure some tips for le golf, mais zoot alors, no help at all. But in the spirit of blasts from the past, picked Montgomerie et Fasth, tres mixed results so far.

Les oiseaux may be in petit supply au Aronomink aujourd'hui, mais at least the weather will be fine. Gorgeous day expected today and probably tomorrow, warming up through the weekend.

The boys in Philly get underway in about an hour.

RIP: Alan Coren.

Richard 'Vert' in a bit of a zone today. Dropped him out of my FT a long time ago. Mark Foster the only one of my wilder picks who sneaked into top 10 so far...

I'm sure I saw Richard Green around the bottom of the scoreboard last week.... good for him.

Ricky Barnes 66/1 and Hunter Mahan 20/1 carry my financial investment this week. Watney, although not far away last week, was just too short at 12s.

Off to Hamburg for a fight this wekeend, although thankfully I'm not physically involved in it, so I will be keeping my eyes on this thread via the blackberry to help keep me updated. Although Mahan and Barnes could both go out and shoot +5 today so I don't have to bother?! We'll see...

John Cregan was talking about the failures of Fowler and Overton not to have won so far this year.
Apropos this note about Young Americans, I was interested to read Jim Furyk's comment, quoted by the AP this week: (And excuse his pigeon English):
"I think if you look at the under 30's, you look at Hunter Mahan, you look at Nick Watney, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler . . . . I'll take those four. You pick four players under 30 (note, Watney is not "under 30") from any other region, I'll take my four, and I'll be quite happy with where my money goes."

Trouble is, these Young Americans are not consistent winners; 10 wins between the four of them in about 18 full years on Tour. Add other "phenoms" like Kim, O'Hair, Overton to the mix and it's easy to see why such Furyk rhetoric can only clutch at straws while the rest of the world improves.

Whichever way one looks at it, Mickelson and Woods leave behind a huge vacuum waiting for the next American star to fill their space.

Ouch prettyboy! Barnes scorecard looking 'on fire' after the 1st hole!

In contrast, Bjorn's card after his 1st round may look very gray and boring in Paris, but I'd take that any day...

I won't be seeing that tenner again!

That's an odd par score after 3 holes for Matteo: par, double-bogey, eagle! Good start for Bubba with a birdie at the 2nd hole...

I would have been stunned if Furyk said anything else. Cagey veteran like him, knows he'll be in locker rooms for years with these guys.

But Kwin your point it spot on. Big vacuum left by Mickelson and Tiger for Americans. Dustin Johnson seems to me at least to be a world beater -- but he hasn't closed the deal just yet. If Fowler didn't have the "look" he does, I don't think he would be in the discussion much at all.

Outstanding weather here in Newtown Square. Look for great golf. If someone goes very low this week, hats off from me!

tone,
Bad start but strikes me this is the sort of track that could bring out the best in Ricky Barnes - if only for 71 holes.

I see Wi Na leads the procession, not quite Li Na of course.

Hoping for another good tournament from Brian Davis . . . .

Wi did pretty well here last year. He's still a stack and tilt guy, I saw him working with Andy Plummer on the range on Monday. If anyone can give him insight to Aronimink it's Plummer. He was the club's teaching pro for many years.

Wi shall see ... (sorry could not resist) ...

It beats the heck out of me why stack and tilt gets such a bad name. It's clearly helped some guys, perhaps not others, but isn't that true with every swing "method".
Curtis Strange couldn't help himself during ESPN's Congressional coverage, criticising stack and tilt, but why? You certainly wouldn't recommend Strange's swing as a model.
Perhaps it's just the interminable ad's.

Shotrock,
I could also have added Furyk to the Phil, Tiger list; not in the same class, clearly, but has had the guts to carve out quite a career which is showing no sign of being emulated by the young ones.
'Course, it remains to be seen if the young "Internationals", Rory, Charl, Louis, Graeme McD, etc can emulate Faldo or Seve . . . .

And as if to back up your claim kwini, he fires an eagle and is -1 in total, -3 since that first hole disaster.

It's about letters and syllables (wi/na) today. Bubba with 3 birdies after 6 holes, one for each 'b' in his name.
prettyboy's tenner looks suddenly like a decent investment now...

Anyone knows how Bettencourt managed that snowman at the 1st? From the shottracker it didn't seem to be in water and there's no bunker around the green where he wasted a tonne of shots!?
Pasta won't be tasting very nice in the Molinari house tonight...

I should imagine it will still be a tenner wasted at the end of the week (again!). Although having backed Ryan Moore last week I'm due a little luck, here's hoping!

Just glad I didn't back Bettencourt... Ouch!!

pd,
Bettencourt plays so quickly sometimes that he probably doesn't know himself. But it looks like he laid up from a fairway bunker, missed the green, duffed two chips and 2-putted.

Don't know about Eddie Torino but Franny has played way too much recently - his idea of time off seems to be a missed cut. No reason to back him again until he starts showing some form. Shame.

Strange to see two guys out ahead of the field by three full strokes en Paris . . . .

Oh dear, as I said it's about letters with Bubba... Now he's got 3x B-irdies and 3x B-ogeys! Bill Haas on the move...

What the heck is going on? Have a look at the bottom of the Paris LB - 4 guys disqualified already!?! (incl. Damien McGrane) All finished their round...

Saw that pd, must be something dans l'eau . . . .

Some big numbers being chalked up at Aronomink, Club Member Sean O'Hair already propping the field up at +6. What's that all about?

Early scores suggest an over-par cut tomorrow, maybe as high as +3.

Found this... "Sweden's Rikard Karlberg and South African Jaco van Zyl were both disqualified due to a serious breach of the water hazard rules on hole 18. Each player failed to use the correct dropping area."

And I saw something similar about McGrane taking a 'wrong drop'...

kwini,
Once again lots of good insight. Are you sure you didn't work for K.A.O.S.?
D'affaires du golf à Paris is a strange one so far. I should have known by what you've been writing about for months now about Francesco. He's burnt like toast and so is my brain for making him one of my A picks. My other, Mr. A. Quiros isn't exactly setting the course on fire. On the other hand the ball striking firm of Storm, Foster, Wall, Nixon, and Lynn is becoming a threat for the top lately. Have any of these guys qualified for The Open?

pd,
My French has been reduced to a pile of rubble and my Italian rocks aren't much bigger. The only thing I know about France and golf is the word 'caddie' is derived from the word 'cadet'. The few French that I've met on the courses out here spoke English and used the typical golf jargon. Sacré bleu! (A phrase the French never use but works for the rest of us)

Too early to comment on the AT&T except for the fact that Sean O'Hair is +6 thru eight holes.

Well, at least won't have far to travel! O'Hair's played there probably 100 times, so this must be burning him up.

Kwin - You made this call early ... from the Golf Channel website ...

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Maybe it’s simply part of the post-U.S. Open hangover. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but more than one player this week has suggested the AT&T National would be better served staying at storied Aronimink Golf Club instead of Congressional, which is scheduled to host the event next year.

Both options, however, may be pipe dreams. According to numerous sources Aronimink has no interest in hosting the event beyond 2011, and AT&T likely prefers a Washington D.C., location, while Congressional may have had its fill of the event as well.

Although the event is “contractually obligated” to return to Congressional’s Blue course next season – the phrase being used in these parts – sources say it may be played elsewhere, with TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms being mentioned as the likely alternative.

Avenel hosted the former Booz Allen Classic 19 times since 1987 but was not a favorite among players. The course underwent an extensive redesign in 2009 and hosted the Senior Players Championship in 2010.

'Morning venice,
Not sure what KAOS might be, a radio station perhaps? Something to do with Get Smart?? Or a country just down the alphabet from L.A.O.S.???

But things are getting no better as Sean is well on his way to a O'Hair-cut. Pardon!

Green Storm sounds like an ecologically correct meteorological event; either that or the algae sur Lac Champlain.

More important will be events at the Stadium in approx 2 1/2 hours.