PGA Tour: Viking Classic: Notes from the Ballwasher

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1).Exciting climax to last week's John Deere Classic with Steve Stricker producing a flash of brilliance with his six-iron from a bunkered lie precariously below his feet, flushed over water to a spot in the fringe about 22 feet from the 18th hole. Putt holed and Stricker wins by one from Kyle Stanley. So Stricker becomes the first PGA Tour three-peater not named Woods since Stuart Appleby dominated Kapalua from 2004 to 2006.

2).Stricker's shot into 18 from a bunker over water followed by a holed putt was as memorable to me as Woods's six-iron from a fairway bunker across Glen Abbey's water resulting in eagle and a one-shot 2000 Canadian Open win over Grant Waite.

3).Kyle Stanley's challenge reminds one of the quality of players competing in the 2007 Walker Cup. McIlroy was first of the group to win a Major, but Dustin Johnson has four wins, Rhys Davies, Horsey and Parry have already won in Europe, and Fowler, Lovemark, Webb Simpson and Stanley have already finished runner-up on the PGA Tour. I'm betting Chris Kirk (still a ROTY outsider) will be the next to contend.

4).Utterly ridiculous scheduling by the PGA Tour this week, sending touring pros wishing to play the "opposite field" event, to the Viking Classic in Mississippi. Heat indexes will reach at least 100 degrees throught the event, and this small traditional "community" tournament, has an almost unbelievably poor field at a time when fringe touring pros would normally be chafing at the bit to play in late season quest of FedEx Play-off places or to earn valuable dollars in the race to reach the top 125th/150th places on the moneylist and job security for next year.
God (OK, Tim Finchem) only knows why this event was shifted from the Fall Series, but just reward is the appearance of Jesper Parnevik's caddie now up to 5th alternate. "Viking" manufacture superb grills but suffice to say their excellent product will be redundant this week, the pros grilling bacon for their butties on golf carts. The only European competing, Richard S.Johnson, tweeted that he used a dozen water bottles during his practice round, perhaps seven too few!

5).The same PGA Tour maroons have next week's tournament in British Columbia so Luke Donald and the rest will be crossing eight time zones (their choice/sponsor's demand, I know) to compete in the Candian Open. Lukey, incidentally, will likely be playing seven weeks out of nine through early September; I wonder if he'll roll the dice and skip a FedEx Play-Off tournament?

6).Others are in even more of a pickle and this broken record suggests Paul Casey is likely to fall two or three events short of the PGA Tour minimum, with Goosen and Oosthuizen, possibly even Garcia and Poulter also likely to struggle to get enough tournaments in unless they achieve some very high finishes before the Play-Offs.
Not difficult to understand the ambivalence of Kaymer, McIlroy and Westwood towards the PGA Tour given these circumstances.

7).Career planners advising on opportunities in golf might cast an eye over PGA Tour salaries. No silly, not the players who we all enjoy watching, but the ivory tower crew led by Timmy Commish. Flinchem "earned" $5.1M in 2009 according to Golf Digest, with their next five highest earners also taking more than a million in pay. Plus of course a mega pension plan.

8).Top nine finishers in the 2003 Open Championship: Curtis, Bjorn, Singh, Love, Woods, Brian Davis, Freddie Jacobson, Faldo, Kenny Perry. Garcia and Goosen leading a crowd tied for 10th.

9).No idea if there'll be anyone left standing in Mississippi on Sunday afternoon, but one interesting participant in the Viking Classic is local-ish lad Michael Thompson. This "rookie" struggled through his first five months but has finished 4th, 38th and 12th these past three weeks.

10).You wouldn't think there'd be a Nationwide event this week but strange things happen at Tour HQ and the geniuses have scheduled a tournament in Cincinnati featuring plenty of guys who would elevate the quaity of the Viking Classic field. GB&I's representation includes Christian, Knox, Owen and Richardson. Time for each of these boys to start climbing up the moneylist if they're to harbour realistic hopes of making the 2012 PGA Tour.

I see a 59 was on the cards at Viking until a bogey on his 17th hole, can't remember player an on phone will update that detail ina second

Great weekend in store....shame about Padraig....8 shots adrift yet misses the cut....grr.

Hoping DC can win if not one of the amercians.....great to see AK show some form!

Kwini,
Why no Open article??
Im really excited about DC's chances. Not expecting him to win but hopeful.
If i had to plump fpr someone now id go with Dustin Johnson...............

Shocked that +4 didn't make it. It seemed certain it would get to +4 (yes I was serious that even +5 had an outside chance)

Guess the early starters on Thurday (who had the worst conditions on Thursday) hung on in deteriorating conditions on Friday. Looks to me that all the real strength of the field was in that early/late bracket

Hi Nay Bother,
They'll be back from an extended suspension of play about now, Blake Adams bogeyed the 8th, his 17th, needs to par in for a 62, three shots better than anything else so far.
Oops, looks like action is suspended again.
Richard Johnson in at -7, probably good enough for about 25th after two rounds!

John C,
I didn't want to duplicate anyone else's efforts so kept to my side of the water. Still two days of play so plenty of chat/opinion on this thread!

Bitterly disappointed at Westwood's missed cut, not that surprised by Donald or McDo or even Poulter though all played decent golf in Round 1. But thought Lee had a great chance; he must be bitterly disappointed. Also surprised at Kuchar missing out.

Strange how so many of the veteran European Tour players have fared well, not just the obvious ones like DC but Bjorn, Jimenez, Hansen, Garcia, Gallacher, Jacquelin, Dyson, Rock etc. Great to see. I'd LOVE to see DC win this now, can't imagine a more popular win, but my head says Kaymer hasn't put a foot wrong yet and he looks awfully strong.


Nationwide update:
Owen, Christian and especially Russell Knox all going well, Richardson disappointingly missing out.

Before we know it we'll be looking West to British Columbia and Shaughnessy GC's Canadian Open.

A field of mixed quality, some highlights including:
Casey
Davis
Donald
Els
Furyk
Kuchar
Mahan
Ogilvy
Oosthuizen
Pettersson (defending champ)
Schwartzel

Lovely day at St Georges (apart from the chaotic transport arrangements and the ridiculous food and drink prices. £4.20 for a pint of John Smith's? £2.10 for a bottle of Coke? £4 for a tuna sandwich??).

I'll predict now that the winner on Sunday evening won't be under par. Today was just about as perfect as you'll get for links golf, weather-wise. Clear blue skies all the way through, yes the wind picked up a bit in the afternoon but it rarely got above "breeze" level. The northernmost stretch out around the 13th/14th/15th was a bit gusty, but you won't get too many calmer days on an exposed links course, all in all. I spent most of the day a bit bemused at why scoring was quite so high; I followed the Jimenez group for most of their back nine, and Miguel was keeping it together at around level while frankly playing pretty ordinary golf. Amazed really that no one hit a hot streak and put in at least a 65/66. So if the forecasts for much nastier weather over the weekend are right, this is anyone's Open. Though I'm sticking with last night's prediction of Kaymer.

As I said, I spent quite a while following Jimenez et al. Was very impressed with Uihlein, seemed to have a very solid all-round game and an eye for links play, with a few very nice skiddy running shots. Expect him to be contending in this Championship in a few years time. But Ogilvy just looks like he doesn't really care. Very solid off the tee, but his approaches veered from deadly to miles out, and the short game was very shabby. And yet he didn't show the slightest anger at the poor shots or happiness at the bad ones, the only time he came to life was having a lengthy chat with Uihlein while they walked done the 14th.
Spent most of the time otherwise in one of the 18th's grandstands. A good two thirds of players I saw there were coming at it from hard down the right side, the worse possible angle for a pin behind the right bunker. Can only assume the left-to-right breeze down the 18th fairway was stronger than it seemed to any of us.

Sounds like a great day, Ned. Jimenez seemed to hole some nice putts to sustain momentum in his round. Ogilvy still a puzzler, so much talent yet diminishing results. While Uihlein is a fine player in prospect who knows that, even if he never makes a pro cut, he'll still be a wealthy young man.

Not sure about 18, perhaps they knew they could flare it right with careless abandon knowing they'd get a free drop in wispy rough, in Fowler's case at least 20 yards up in a drop zone from where he visited the marquees. A bit daft by the looks of things.

Wonder if you concur with the armchair view that it looked a very fair set-up?

Yep, seems to have been two days of scrambling from Miguel Kwini... he might think people need to move on from the Seve hagiography, but he needs to stop playing like him! Had all sorts of escapes today, the birdie on 12 was outrageous, albeit belated reward for a superb tee shot on 11.

You might be on to something there with the flaring right on 18. The prime spot was centre-left without a doubt, Paul Lawrie and Ross Fisher among the best I saw. But the risk/reward was high too, Noren and Peter Hanson both had to pitch out after finding the left fairway bunker. And I walked past Ricky Barnes, as he considered his options, whilst a corporate champagne-drinker waved his ball about on the top balcony. One large, badly-placed building and one helpful dropzone later, and a drive that was headed for somewhere toward the practice range had magically wound up five yards off the fairway.

I think fair is the word. Of the holes I saw, 10 and 15 were playing very tough, but I think they do whatever the setup. The rest were tough, but the rewards were certainly there for good golf. Just seemed that no one was able to string a run together.

Further to my note yesterday that Notah Begay is expecting Tiger Woods to play in his Foundation "event" on Aug 31st, there are increasing rumours here to the effect that Eldrick will be at Firestone and the PGA Championship.
Good finishes at one or both of these events are his only probable gateway into the FedEx Play-Off pay-off.

Very difficult to get any understanding as to what's going on at RStG, cool, wet and breezy I'm guessing. Coverage here starts at noon BST, can't wait but after yesterday will probably watch with the sound off.
All the anti-American golf sentiment on here looks a touch silly now with many PGA Tour players there or thereabouts with, of course, the European Tour veterans.
If Woodland can play well in these conditions, and so far so good, one would think that other guys prepared to buckle down like Dustin Johnson and Ryan Palmer might do OK also.
Dismal starts for Choi, Casey and Rose. Where is England's challenge going to come from??!!

Action in Mississippi due to resume in an hour's time.

You've not missed much yet Kwini. Although TV coverage started at 10am here it took until almost 11:30 before we got any live golf

Earning their pay today.

kwini,
Hopefully, England's challenge will come from Robert Rock, one of my two remaining picks. My other survivor is Stenson. Not much luck there. Casey and Rose doing even worse.

I've already missed the cut in sporty's challenge.
Still a few still running with Ned's though.

Some decent scores out there though if one takes Alliss's advice and regard par as 72.

I'm 3-and-3 in the fantasy league and still clinging on in sporty's... not confident on either though! Good finish from BVP would help both.

Think a 72 will be a great score today Kwini, par may be 74+...

See venice's man Pavan is having another good week, win tomorrow and he'll be looking good for the European Tour next year. Good Italian effort from Colombo too.

Rob Hodgetts of BBC was tweeting some stupid stats earlier. He told us in one of them that Rory Sabattini was leading the GIR Stat. He then went on to tell us that he was worst on putts (Av 33) and how this was "remarkable, given that he was best in GIR"!! Sorry, but do some of these guys have a clue??

Justin Rose quoted before his round as saying he'd take "under par" today.
77 not what he had in mind. Not a good year for St.Justin.

Par is relative i suppose Justin.................if we add up all the scores at the end of today, 77 might be better than "par"!!!

Best score in the clubhouse so far is Woodland's 74 followed by KJ's 75 - so I suspect Justin's score won't look that bad at the end of the day (though conditions are perhaps improving ever so slightly)

Scarcely recognised Robert Rock wearing a chapeau(-ish).

Fowler putting a decent 9 holes together

Tom Watson doing quite well today to

Scoring average is 77 today so far

Hi NB,
Agree. The only surprising thing is that it is not a surprise that Tom Watson will have one of the top scores for the day.

If he finishes with a 72, that'll be five under Rose's "par"?

They say the average score today is ~77, so Tom Watson at 71 (if he manages to par the last) will be quite an outstanding result. There's always something to learn from the old man... I really hope Darren takes Watson's approach today, but he's experienced enough himself in these conditions so hopefully he'll hold on to the lead come Sunday...

BVP's done a great job for you, Ned!

Watson in with a 72, tied for 34th. It will be interesting to see what position he's in when the day is done.

Darren, Bjorn, Jimenez and Sergio are on my wish list of majorless guys for wining this. Darren tops it, not just because he's from around here, but to be honest for any of the other three I would be almost equally as happy to see them with the Claret Jug on Sunday...

BANG!!! Get in there Daren!!

Immelman in with a 72 as well as Watson.

There was a thread on here the other day about players not having won a Major. On a previous thread on BBC 606 I had nominated DC, still think he and Sergio are in a class of their own as the most talented player not to have won.

If Darren wins there won't be a dry eye in this house.

Rose finishes two over par with his 79.

Aaah Darren, pitty... I was prepared to say BANG BANG!
I realise I quite missed watching a good round of golf in these kind of conditions. A bit strange hearing Oosty in the interview saying that it was probably the toughest round of golf he ever played. C'mon, it's not actually that horrible out there...

That amazing friendly bounce Darren got there at the 3rd reminded me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1CKesTyTpI

BANG for Sergio as well...

pd,
A touch of the Hale Irwin's on #18 at Pebble Beach when he went on to win, ball bounced around on the rocks on the left then popped up onto the fairway. Then he hit one of the best two-irons you'll ever see to beat Jim Nelford in a play-off. About 1984-ish!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drJ0_1ya_YU

Around 0:25 Kwini!

Little Rickie is actually playing solid golf.

Just like that! Then Jim Nelford had some sort of boating accident and never did win on Tour. A sometime broadcaster on CBC etc.

Ned,
Watching Rory's ball go ob on 14 makes me wonder why they don't ob it just beyond the ditch/gully, would still be penal but would save ball's just out, make it a touch less punishing.

Darren is really playing some great golf out there. He'll be disappointinted not to be at least 6-under after the 4th...

Rory on the other hand, not looking as promissing at the moment... Fowler seems to be managing much better the proceedings today.

Two Gloves Mickelson now One Glove Phil. But Two Gloves Gainey now tied for the Mississppi lead, late in Round 2!

Darren, Darren . . . .

Rickie Fowler looking very very good.

Rafa Jacquelin nearly as good, but you wouldn't know it from ESPN's coverage.

Nice eagle for Hansen . . . .

I wonder if Rickie will get a little more respect over here after this round.

Sure, he's not won a tournament yet but I reckon it's only a matter of time.

Still hate the Ronald McDonald Sunday outfit but other than that he's great to watch

C'mon 2Gloves!!
Conditions are obviously improving a bit, half an hour ago there were only 7 left under par, now there are 11. Five Americans and 2 Danes among them... and only one UK/Irl (the 'home' of links golf and tough weather conditions)!

Top players could not have asked for weather conditions to work any better in there favour.

Now all they have to do is make best of them.

Kaymer seems to be struggling tho

kwinigolfer wrote:Darren, Darren . . . .

Rickie Fowler looking very very good.

Rafa Jacquelin nearly as good, but you wouldn't know it from ESPN's coverage.

Nice eagle for Hansen . . . .

Not just ESPN, we never saw a shot in his 71, just got a belated mention now as we watched Fowler on 18, very poor.

Great round from Fowler, but can't see him holding it together tomorrow. Surprised at Kaymer's struggles though.

A birdie fest has broken out. Impressive about Tom Watson is the physical shape and competitive spirit he's kept himself in despite the million plus miles he has under the hood.

Careful, venice, careful . . . . . .

Kaymer seems to have lost his concentration here. Where's Fanny?

Simon Dyson hanging around nicely - don't think ESPN has heard of his distinguished Uncle Tel.

Glover and Dustin Johnson both from Upstate South Carolina, not the sort of territory that would typically breed links golfers.

kwinigolfer wrote:
Glover and Dustin Johnson both from Upstate South Carolina, not the sort of territory that would typically breed links golfers.

What about Campbel from TX, Love III from NC or Lehman from Minessota...
Talking about these last two, there are now 6 over-40's among those under par.

Anthony Kim having one of his brief moments of waking up... how long will it last this time?

See Russell Knox and Greg Owen are going well in Ohio. And a mention for Andrew Gunson who won on the Gateway Tour yesterday, newly pro after finishing at UC Santa Barbara, but a native of Irvine, Ayrshire rather than Irvine, California.

Ned,
That's a new name to me; Gateway Tour is pretty good standard.

I don't think Darren Clarke can win unless he makes some decent length putts - it looked as if par was going to be a terrific Saturday score, but no longer. Being the best ball-striker is not going to get it done.

kwinigolfer wrote:I don't think Darren Clarke can win unless he makes some decent length putts...

Just like that!!!!!!!