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.

OK, quiz time... we've had Chris Wood, Matteo Manassero, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, but when was the last time an amateur held a share of the lead at a major?

Is this at the end of the round or is it some random one from The Masters who was -1 after 2 holes with 4 groups on the course?

Gosh, No idea.
Must have been at The Masters I should think. 2003? Ricky Barnes??

Otherwise perhaps you'd have to go back to the Coe, Stranahan, Miller, Venturi era.

Wasn't Boby Jones wining lots of majors as an amateur in the 20's? But even if it's true, I'm not sure if that would count as the 'latest' though...

I now know the answer and wouldn't have got it in a month of Sundays - a guy always under the radar.

kwinigolfer wrote:I now know the answer and wouldn't have got it in a month of Sundays - a guy always under the radar.

Mike Reid?

POOR OPENING ROUND IN A MAJOR FROM HARRINGTON AGAIN! NOTHING A NICE THREE OR FOUR UNDER ROUND WILL PUT RIGHT TOMORROW MORNING...Sorry for the caps....The red button people said there was a rumour he had a hamstring injury which I think was very far off the mark considering he said he was 100 percent I recall in a article!

Loving this course....looking forward to the carnage though!

kwinigolfer wrote:I now know the answer and wouldn't have got it in a month of Sundays - a guy always under the radar.

Do tell... I was genuinely asking, I haven't got a clue!

I think my clue might (or might not ) have helped Smithers;
Mike Reid at the 1976 US Open at Atlanta AC, later won by Jerry Pate.

Couldn't watch a lot of the Open action this afternoon. I always like to see new names doing well, but overall looking at the LB, I'd be pretty disappointed with many of the star's performances. They better come back tomorrow and prove themselves... GMac and Kaymer amongst the most noticeable exceptions... Luke, Lee and Rory are still some of the best performers in my fantasy team, which says just about enough about my other choices...

PD - I'd say that the vast majority of the "big names" have had an OK day (some better than others). Virtually none of the real big names have ruled themselves out (c.f. the old adage of you can't win on a Thursday but you can lose)

On another subject, once again I'm disappointed with the BBC coverage (against what Sky could have provided).

Disappointing we have to wait 2 1/2 hours for the first TV pictures, and for those of us that had to work today, that the coverage ended around 8pm and we have to wait for the highlights.

Would Sky not have started coverage at 6am and be showing a highlights package much earlier in the evening for those who couldn't watch it "live"?

Davie - no Sky wouldn't have started coverage at 6am, I can't remember them ever having as much as 11 hours of coverage of any tournament. Point taken on the highlights, but I guess non-golf people would get a bit annoyed if 11 hours of airtime for daytime golf was followed by more evening golf. Still think it's a shame that they can't sell Sky a highlights package, the way cricket used to when it was still live on terrestrial. The only problem I had with the BBC coverage was concentrating too much on "names" playing badly instead of lesser-known guys going low. But Sky are even worse for that.

I guess it depends what you expect from the big names. +1s for Lee, Luke and Rory aren't disastrous, but I was expecting this to be a straight shootout between those three, so it's a bit disappointing. Most of the big guns who had blowouts are the non-Europeans, Goosen, Mahan, Kuchar, Watney, Ogilvy, Ishikawa. Quiros and Casey the notable exceptions.

I see pd mentioned Kaymer, thought the way he quietly constructed a score today was very ominous. Watch out for him on Sunday.

Viking Classic interviewer: "In a word, what WORD describes scoring conditions today"

John Mallinger: "Ballinhand".

Hmm....

Kirk's teeshot on the par 3 bounces out of the cup..."Flip off flag"


I seem to be talking to myself... too much golf today perhaps

Tempting to dismiss the leading five and suggest the real leaders are at -2. But that might be dangerous, especially if early starters have an advantage Friday morning as seemed to be suggested.

If conditions are benign all day, the cut will be at about +1 or +2, and that would demand 67 or less from Round 1's +4's and +5's, bad news for those players Ned described, all of whom played in the worst of the conditions today.

By no means my favourite player but Poulter played as well as anyone in the worst of Round 1's conditions; good for him - he really should be contending in more Majors than the fleeting cameos he's achieved so far.


Mallinger tied for the early lead, a pretty good guy from my experience but right on the cusp of losing his PGA Tour career. Incredible to see Lonard up with the lead; he's been struggling all year on the Nationwide - perhaps he just doesn't have the attention span for second division Tours?

Just about time Kirk started playing well again, Ned, been dormant for a few months!

Good work by Team Europe, Richard S.Johnson, but withdrawal by Steve Lowery after losing 2 1/2 stone in the hot, humid conditions.

kwin

bad day for the lads

cant see any of them winning it now

GJ,
You're everywhere, comments on the other thread!
Adam
Badds:

cheers mate

Something completely different.
Sort of.
Notah Begay is reporting on yahoo sports that Tiger Woods will be playing his Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge, at Turning Stone, on August 31st.

That's following Firestone and the PGA; unless he has decent results in one or both of them, or Greensboro, he will be ineligible for the FedEx Play Offs.

If Goosen's injury is serious, he'll be asking for a medical exemption because he'll have no other way to complete his season and retain his status, unless he takes a career money exemption.

Schwartzel, Levin and Mark Wilson all three under for the day, but Scott Jamieson just about to miss the weekend. Surprised after his season-long good form.

Tom Watson deserves everything he gets
And that could well mean he'll be around for the whole week.
Two aces already on this course, didn't quite expect that...

I hope he goes on a birdie streak now

and not because i had money each way at 600/1 on him as my outsider lol

No-one really stepping out at the front despite the barrage of birdies.
70+ players within 6 shots under the cut-line. Something's got to give.

This is what we have to put up with on ESPN:
"Bubba Watson has improved more in the last 18 months than anyone else in the world." Curtis Strange, July 14th 2011.

Not sure that he's familiar with Donald, Kaymer, Scwartzel, McIlroy, McDowell etc. These guys are terrible, not a single one of the so-called experts under the age of 50, most in their 60's or more.

Indeed, the cut line is quite an intreaguing thing right now...

The Americans have slowly more than balanced the LB and there are at the moment 9xUS and 8xEU in the top 19...

Tom Watson's 15th hole in one, goodness me!
(he just missed having two eagles in a row)
Good to see the other Watson playing really well after his French adventure...

C'moooon Darrrrrrrrrrrrrren!!!

Chad Campbell saying the wind is freshening, more difficult his last 7 or 8 holes. Sign of things to come or just rarified air at the top of the leaderboard?

Cut-line now firmly at +2.

Lee not looking anything like the big favorite most of us thought he'll be here... He may feel after this that illusive first major win is getting further away rather than closer... GMac is been also having a nightmare out there in those mild conditions...

Pretty ironic looking at the top of the LB as shown on the ESPN coverage and see the top two names are Bjorn and Barnes, neither of them knowing they'll be playing when the week began...

Makes a bit of a mockery of the importance of advance preparation for the Open, etc...

Time to wave Matt Kuchar goodbye, really thought he'd play well this week.

Fatty Marino also done and Jonathan Byrd needs a miracle.

Eddie Molinari another having a lousy day.

Agree pd, I thought this was a real chance for Lee Westwood, but now needs a couple of birds to be sure of playing Saturday. He must be bitterly disappointed.

Ricky Barnes spent Tuesday on the beach. With his family in California!

kwinigolfer wrote:Ricky Barnes spent Tuesday on the beach. With his family in California!

That's it... bring in alternative preparation methods: Barnes laying on the beach, Calcavecvhia was spotted downing beers in a local pub on Wednesday night, etc... Hiring a scooter for a ride in town not advisable though...

Calc starting Round 2 like he had a few bevies last night also.

My mate Snedeker can go home, not happy about that, he had a nice round going until 17 and 18.

Looks like the cut might slide to +3.

Glover saying how difficult 15 thru 18 were for him. +4's still with a chance????

No play yet in Mississippi, all Team GB inside the Nationwide cut-line except Gary Christian, currently 62nd.

Still reckon lw has an outside chance of playing Saturday. Please.

kwinigolfer wrote:
Still reckon lw has an outside chance of playing Saturday. Please.

Projected cut just about to go to +3. Could well stretch to +4 in the next few hours. Reckon Gmac is too far off but Lee could just about make it

Yup Davie, but he'll need a lot of help.

Cut has now gone to +3. I predict +4 will make it

The muppet on BBC live text reckons those at +2 still have something to worry about

The "muppet on the BBC" needs to worry about himself.
Where do they find these guys?

+4 now 86th, let's see where it might be in an hour. I'd bet in the 70-somethings.

Very frustrating supporting Lee in his ventures. Absolutely no excuse and no reason for him to miss the cut. Not with a couple of amateurs currently below par and a 61 year old Tom Watson competing on the weekend also.

And while I've temporarily (I hope) lost my sanity, might as well throw Mr. Donald under the bus, too, before he falls off a cliff. How can the top two players in the world perform so poorly in what could be a major tourney held in their backyard. Maybe it's the pressure because Peter Uihlein bogeyed the first hole of the day but has the resolve and presumedly no pressure as he's birdied four of the next six holes. Perhaps the reason I don't wager on golfing events.

'Morning venice,
How's Carmageddon?

Lots of big names going home early, no-one making a strong move off the front. How Bjorn must rue the tiddler he missed early on?

Apart from Kuchar, Karlsson also missing the cut - two really consistent golfers at Majors. Third K, Kaymer, looking awfully steady to moi.

Morning kwini,

Just wondering how the scores might be if the rough was in its usual nasty condition for The Open. These guys should consider themselves lucky but I wonder how many holes are truly risk/reward to instill some excitement. I get the feeling that these guys are trying to survive most holes and only attempt fate when the opportunity is obvious.

The Carmageddon is scheduled to begin this late afternoon and last through the weekend. There have been so many alerts for the past month in the area that I expect the traffic will be even lighter than normal. Personally, I try to confine my living to the beach side of L.A. and avoid the freeways as much as possible.

Too many missed putts so far by these elite golfers. The wind effect on the greens seems to be playing with their lines and heads.

Would have to consider the +fours to be about evens for Saturday play now.

Tom Lehman with a fine round, Nick Watney with a fine recovery.

+4 are now at T78

Even the +5s are at T99 .. the apparent failures may yet be in with a shout!

Selfishly I hope so, Davie. If not, four of my six picks might be slated for the slaughter house. Though Luke's birdie gives a slight chance.

No chance for the plus 5's Davie, McDo and Snedeker are goners!
Sad sight seeing Poulter, Donald and Fisher grouped together all at +3, even Casey ahead of them.

Latest from ESPN: Paul Azinger votes Robert Rock as having the greatest "hair in the history of golf". Not sure about that.

I wonder what the BBC commentators are saying about RStG and the course set-up?

Looks very fair to me, probably everyone's sense of humour tested this weekend if the wind really gets up, but if there's any rain you'd think that would calm the green complexes down a little to compensate.

It was actually good to get Peter Alliss's perspective - par 72 and hope to shoot a shot or two under . . . .

Looks like it's going to be a tight race for a +4 cut line. At work, so have to follow the scoring via the websites. What do the scoring conditions look like for the remaining fellows on the course?

kwini,
Dug up some rare positive info concerning a developed resort and golf course and its environmental impact from this mainstream article on a rare discovery of a toad?! (Warts and all!) Which only goes to prove that frogs love golf too!

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/after-8-decades-tiny-toad-resurfaces-in-asia/

Q."Why has it been so long since the last sighting?"
A. "Few herpetologists have worked in these remote mountains that straddle the Indonesia-Malaysia border. It’s only now that the site is accessible, thanks to a resort featuring an 18-hole golf course."

venice,
Fingers still crossed on the + fours.
Going to give it a miss for a while after Sergio finishes, clear my head - Tirico, Weiskopf and Curtis Strange will do that to you.

Then for the toad report . . . .

4 of my 6 have made the weekend and with Westwood and Donald falling by the wayside my motley crew might have beat a few those who went for the big names!