PGA Tour: BMW Championship: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).No golf last weekend to review so let's all jump in to our courtesy Beemers and drive to Cog Hill #4, "Dubsdread", in Chicago for the 2011 BMW Championship, Round 3 of the FedEx Cup Play Offs. Cog Hill is a Dick Wilson / Joe Finger design, built in 1964, but re-done (some say vandalised) a couple of years ago by Rees Jones in a way that would make Dick Wilson drink himself to death. What, he's already done that once? OK, but let's see what one-time Cog Hill winner (at the old, and much mourned Western Open) Steve Stricker has to say:

2).Stricker is quoted in last week's GolfWorld as follows: "The players just don't like it. They liked it before to some extent, (but) the re-do is just not good, sorry to say . . . I can't imagine a 10-, 12-, 14-handicapper trying to play that place." Certainly rules me out in that case. On top of all that, last summer's weather left Cog Hill in pretty bad shape for the BMW, so much so that the PGA Tour has still to commit to return.

3).Next year's BMW will be played at Crooked Stick, site of John Daly's PGA Championship, and will go in 2014 to Denver's Cherry Hills. Normally the 2013 event would return to Cog Hill or St.Louis's Bellerive (where Villegas won the 2008 edition) but no venue has yet been confirmed.

4).While on the subject of course conditioning, several classic courses are suffering from extreme conditions, Winged Foot, Oakmont among them. Most significant in the short term, Medinah, site of next year's Ryder Cup, had 11 greens rebuilt and regrassed two years ago. This year they are reported to be "severely stressed" and approach areas and fairways are also suffering or dead. Of course, Medinah claim it will be "alright on the night" but Ryder Cup followers and players should beware. Watch this space.

5).Ryder Cup "World points" will be on offer this week with Luke Donald leading the chase after Messrs Bjorn and Dyson have leapt to the top of the European Points list. Very early days but the US Points list is led by the following:
Keegan Bradley, Dufner, Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Stricker, Palmer, Toms, Van Pelt.

6).Fred Couples' and Greg Norman's Presidents Cup Teams' top ten automatic qualifiers will be determined this week.
Most of the usual suspects are already in, but the US Team has Mahan, Furyk and Toms grouped closely together in 8th, 9th, and 10th place, with Snedeker and Bill Haas breathing down their necks. A dozen others could scrape in but would have to finish in the first two or three places this week. Players who Ryder Cupped at Celtic Manor who would need a Captain's Choice as things currently stand are: Cink, Fowler, Zach Johnson, Overton and, oh yes, Woods who holds 29th position but has been guaranteed a pick by Fred.

Greg Norman has nine almost dead certs, but Melbourne boys Ogilvy, Baddeley and Allenby, plus Vijay and Roary Sabbatini will be battling for one automatic place in Chicago. If they all stink up the Cog Hill joint, Oosthuizen could fill the last place but I'm betting one of the above actually comes to play this week. Captain's picks will be made in two weeks' time.

7).That Tiger Woods fellow will be playing in California, at the Fry's.com in early October, either as a sop to Freddie, or because "I always enjoy competing in my home state, and this tournament fits my schedule perfectly". In other words, Elin has the kids for the week, and when the Tour is in Palm Springs, Pebble Beach and Los Angeles I'm off making the big bucks elsewhere.

8).Back to the Beemer. Seventy players tee it up on Thursday morning, thirty progress to the Tour Championship in Atlanta. According to pgatour.com, 21 players already are assured of an East Lake tee time. Among those still on the hook are last year's winner Furyk, PGA Tour great hope for the future Rickie Fowler, Baddeley, Schwartzel, Villegas, Els and seven Europeans hoping to join Chicago resident St.Luke. These, with the projected necessary finishes for qualification, are:
Jacobson; 62nd
Laird: 14th
Rose: 12th
Davis: 12th
Karlsson: 7th
Pettersson: 4th
Garcia: 4th.

9).Before the cynics say it's just money they're playing for, the benefits for reaching the Tour Championship may include, depending upon entry criteria, admission to WGC Cadillac, and some Majors, not to mention all the PGA Tour "Invitationals".

10).Meanwhile, the Champions Tour is back in business just where you'd expect, Korea, and the Nationwide resumes in Boise, Idaho, popular hiding place for "white surpremacists". Gary Christian and Russell Knox will be looking to consolidate their money list position as they prepare for the PGA Tour, while Greg Owen is also playing, but he's in "reverse" as his compatriots move to "fast forward". Ooh, and John Daly's there too.

Two Camilos!

One Nationwide shot covers 13 players.

Return to Senden! But would bet he'll slip back.

what happens if villegas bogeys the last? Van Pelt get back in?

Villegas missed an easy putt on the last hole. Bob Van Pelt is at #30, having finished. Villegas and Sergio are #33 and #34. Villegas needs others to mess up. Sergio has a few holes to make up.

ouch, thats a bit more than shocking from Laird. Does the man not want 10 million or something.

Sergio now 31st after Villegas bogey... One birdie needed. Cmon!!

Villegas has now dropped to #36. Sergio is at #32, Schwartzel at #31 and Van Pelt at #30.

Only the guys who are in the top three on the points list have the chance to hit 10 mill next weekend.

Gap between Rose and Senden now narrowed to 2 shots!

Rose is going backawards and fast. This tournament is game on.

If the current leaderboard holds, top 3 will be:

Simpson 5587 points
Johnson 3841
Rose 3748

Max points that could be earned next weekend = 2500

So, Simpson is the new FedEx champ even if he finishes #30 in the finale.

Sergio just took 2 in the trap... Thats him done for next week I feel.

Martin Laird may still have something up his kilt, two birdies made and two more will have him back in business.

Laird needs to pick up only one shot in the last 3 holes.

Sergio needs -3 in the last 4 holes. Not going to happen.

They are playing in rain.

Well done, Jacobson.

Leff,
Remember, it's not just what Sergio does - he could get in with one bird if the Aussies stumble. Crucial to get a four on 15 though.

According to shot tracker I think Sergio hit it out of bounds on 15. Then again shot tracker has been wrong more than once.

Nope OOB. Back to 3 under. Hes going home to spain.

Sergio dropped another shot on the 15th. Now down to 42nd position. He is done.

Laird needs a birdie on the 18th.

Nice finish sergio... 5 shots in 3 holes..

Wild tee shot by Rose on the 15th.

He is trying his best to lose. I wonder if Senden knows.

Bob Van Pelt has hung on to his #30 position for over one hour.

Laird made a 50-foot birdie on the 18th. Now bubbling at #31 position.

A moment away from the PGA tour/FedEx..

I see Lexi Thompson has now at 16 become the youngest winner on the LPGA tour by winning this week by 5 shots from her nearest challenger breaking Paula Creamers previous record of being 18years old!

Back to FedEx the way he is playing is proof Rose is not a good front runner but better coming from behind. Hope he can find a way to finish the job

Amidst all the carnage, Number One is showing why he's Number One.

Laird (31) and Schartzel (32) will miss the top-30 cut. No chance anyone above falling.

Before final round started, I would've accepted that Rose may falter and someone else may pass him in the final day. But I wouldn't've said that could be Senden...

C'mon Rosey, keep it up!!

BAAAAAANG!!!!

Nice birdie for Rose on the 17th. Two-shot lead again.

Two hours ago, Bob Van Pelt was sitting at #30.

No one below moved up!

There were suggestions on here that Chicago area has and will be a little short changed by the pga tour. Well maybe they should have turned up to watch the event they do have, where the hell are all the fans? It looks like a miserable attendance.

Hope The Laird is signed up for the Dunhill. He must be kicking himself; missed by 30 points unless Senden does something catastrophic.

Credit to Rose, the Aronomink Justin showed up, but he has that short game to thank.

Mac,
I'm sure Kev will tell you that the crowds at their traditional date were terrific. Finchem snatching disappointment from the jaws of success.

Well done, Rose. I thought he might not. Glad he did.

Big feather in Justin Rose's cap that.
Plenty of guys have won more times than he has without a single victory as prestigious as any of Rose's.
Imagine he goes close to the lead in the World ponts for Ryder Cup qualification, Lukey with more good points also.

Well done Justin. He strikes me as something of an enigma, his game can go missing for weeks, then he comes back with a win. He clearly has bottle, but you always feel there's a bad swing lurking....

I think he's probably got as good a chance as any of "our" guys to win a major, if he turns up with his "A" game that week. Interesting contrast with the stunning consistency of Lee and Luke, but (thus far) majorless. I think maybe the difference is that Justin can go really low when his game is on, whereas Lee/Luke tend to put 4 solid, but unspectacular, rounds together. Although logic would dictate that would set up nicely for a major....

Right, McLaren is right, Fred Couples WILL be sleepless in Seattle after Bill Haas's collapse today.
Brent Snedeker remains 11th in Pres Cup qualification, Bill Haas slumps from the driver seat to Ky Laffoon's back bumper as his dismal Sundayform keeps him at 12th.
But a BIG BUT: Jay Haas is Fred's Vice Captain in Melbourne. "Sorry, Jay", texted Fred, "but your boy couldn't hack it." "TeIl you what, bring him along as a travelling reserve."

Kwini I was thinking the very same about Rose;s victories so far, I wonder if he is just a player that can go low but cannot gain consistency. But then he did win an order of merit in 2007 with only one win, so must have had a lot of top 5's.

Camilo very lucky to make the Tour Championship, his scrambling this week was abysmal... luckily he made a shed load of birdies and a few guys like Sergio blew up on the back 9. I am not in the slightest bit miffed that I had Villegas e/w and the bookies only pay 5 places and he finished T6

Camilo missed out - his missed 4-footer at the last did you both in Redrage.

Leff wrote:If the current leaderboard holds, top 3 will be:

Simpson 5587 points
Johnson 3841
Rose 3748

Max points that could be earned next weekend = 2500

So, Simpson is the new FedEx champ even if he finishes #30 in the finale.

Leff the points are reset going into the finale as far as i know.

So this is where all the old 606-ers hang out been missing my golf debate.

Stellar finish in the end for Justin. I follow his game closely and really did think the final round fiasco Justin had showed up indeed. His shot selection on those par 5's was odd to say the least.

However to close it out and somehow get a 71 was superb and it was well deserved for his play in the opening 3 rounds.

A Few points though:

Still not sure about the playoffs though? JR now has the chance to win the 10m prize and the whole shebang after this result, but overall it's not been a career season? A 3rd place at Arnie's place and the rest all being top 25s? Maybe this is what the PGA want but I'm just not sure?

JRs recent career proves to me that most players cannot play both tours (Luke Donald excepted, but he is having a career season) Since he made the decision to concentrate on the PGA that is 3 wins in 2 years. Ian Poulter , Paul Casey, Gmac & all should really take note.

Finally Peter Oosterhuis was a breath of fresh air on the sky commentary this week. No offence to those State side but it is 100% better when sky put their own boys in there. Even Ewan wasn't as annoying as normal ;-) But I love Oosterhuis's commentary, I have no idea why the US networks dropped him?

Roll on Atlanta .....

blisteringblue

A share your thoughts on the play offs, any excitement about fedex positions last night felt forced from the commentators. This is because the points system is contrived and I personally know that when watching. It is almost like watching pro's play with handicaps, albeit handicaps designed to make up for early season form.

What does it say to players like Luke who put in a career best season, get to number one in OWGR and end up not in the driving seat. The play off system just does not work for golf as far as I can tell. It would only work if the top 30 were ciphered off with four events to go and the best from the best won. Like in other sports. The golf way is like allowing mid table into the play offs then giving them massive points for two games so they win overall if they fluke a win. The system sadly removes the true sporting element of the event.

That's the American way though Mac, they know how to ruin many a sport.

I tend to agree with Mac and bb (welcome, btw). It does seem skewed, and given some of the names that have missed out this week and next I was astounded to see the name of one Jimmy Walker on the leaderboard last night. Aside from sounding like some horrible hybrid Radio 2 DJ from the 60s, who is he?

When you look at the top 30 money list its not too different from the the 30 at the Tour Champ. I think, only 3 players have sneaked into the Tour Champ who are not in the top 30 in the money list. Bo Van Pelt, Geoff Olgilvy and John Senden. Those in the top 30 in money missing out on the Tour Champ are Sabbatini, Laird and Schwartzel. Makes you wonder why they've made it all so convoluted?

I thought that was Johnnie Walker, "The Admiral", Smithers?

Welcome blistering!!!!!!

Kind of agree with most of what you say about JR etc, terrific win for him no doubt. Up to this year I thought Casey had things pretty well sussed out vis-a-vis the two Tours; I'm sure that when the post mortems are written about his 2011 season there'll be some personal issue taking centre stage, plus he's had niggling injuries.

As for the TV coverage, I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, but I really like Oosterhuis and fortunately we still get him on the Golf Channel most weeks. Quite happy to call a spade a spade, "that was a HORRID shot", and far less sycophantic than most Network commentators.

One of NBC's problems covering the Play-Off ramifications is that they come across as having no grasp whatsoever of basic arithmetic and logic. If Senden had played as Senden usually does when in contention on the back nine, and slipped down the leaderboard, I don't think the commentary team would have been able to handle the fall-out ramifications.

kwinigolfer wrote:Camilo missed out - his missed 4-footer at the last did you both in Redrage.

I thought he sneaked in at 33rd, isn't it the top 35 for the tour championship?

I was thinking of Jimmy Young and Johnny Walker, Kwini.

Regarding Oosty, he got on my nerves last night with a combination of being wise after the event on putts that missed ('didn't have the smooth rhythm') and failing to be wise before the event on approach shots ('looked to get a bit steep into that one') that sometimes came up short and other times finished stiff. If I heard him say those phrases once, I heard them at least half a dozen times.

RR, no is the top 30 for the TC, used to be the top 30 on the money list that qualified is now the top 30 from the FedEx. Which I'm not a fan of and have never hidden the fact I think it's a little to contrived and obscure in how they work out the points to make it any good.

Didn't they base the original points system on something similar to that of the NASCAR championship. Just find it relatively pointless having a system whereby come the final event only one of 5 guys(no the burger chain) can win the event proper.

Would much prefer it if they simplified it and had guys fighting to get into the topr 30 to make it to the TC and then whoever wins the TC is the overall champion just like the old days instead of the bizarre points awarded

I like the sounds of that Mav, but Americans do sport their own way. They seem to like this mini season within a season. I think it lacks drama and a sense of surprise come the tour championship too.

Agree with others there's something wrong with the formula that allows Justin to be in with a good shout of $10m Fedex pot after what must be a disappointing season up to a week ago. For what it's worth I quite like the playoffs, but they still don't seem to have got the points system quite right. I think Mac's right, in order for it to work in this regard you'd need an earlier cut-off for the top 30 to then play over a number of weeks, but no doubt that wouldn't work for the networks or the sponsors.

As for next week, I'm hoping for a Luuuke or Webb win, be a fitting end to either of their seasons.