PGA Tour: Kapalua etc etc: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

Happy New Year is out the window over here as rhetoric emanating from Iowa will attest, so let's use these Notes to stop looking in the proverbial "rear-view mirror" and ahead to this week and this year:

1).A beleagured "Hyundai Tournament of Champions" gets underway this week, on FRIDAY! Only 28 of the 39 eligible players will be teeing it up but at least Freddie Jacobson, Dustin Johnson, and Brandt Snedeker will get paid (about $50K apiece) as they are no-shows for medical reasons.

2).Those not playing this week miss a golden opportunity to notch up a couple of quick starts on the PGA Tour, not important to most Americans of course but crucial to those such as Scott and Schwartzel, Rory and Rose who ply their trade on multiple Tours and could struggle to fit in the minimum 15 events. They are also missing the Plantation Course at Kapalua, a Coore/Crenshaw masterpiece which offers glorious (mostly Pacific Ocean)views from almost every hole.

3).But let's use these Notes to assess the chances of Europeans on the PGA Tour this year, as categorised by the FedEx Play-Off cut offs, top 30, 70, 100, 125 etc plus the conditional status accorded to the money list top 150. A note of caution which may be pervasive in these comments: I see this year as being a crucial one for our favourite Europeans on the PGA Tour: They're not getting any younger, only Rory McIlroy younger than Martin Laird's 29 years, most of the rest now well into their mid-thirties. And: What is the motivation for those playing both Tours? Are they committed or are they just playing follow the leader? That won't work against a re-focussed Woods and the Young Americans.

4).Top Thirty (Tour Championship):
~Donald: Luke Donald has managed his schedule superbly, but am convinced that one of the secrets to his 2011 success is the almost 3-month break he took prior to the season. I would be alarmed that he's playing in the Middle East and would suggest he'll pay for that. No Majors for Luke but can see a Players win and possibly a lesser event (Heritage?). Consistent as always.

~Westwood: Big year for Lee and I think he'll go balls out to make it the best it can be. Not sure about big wins but a boatload of top finishes in his future. US spotlight on McIlroy and the Fowler/Simpson generation of Americans will only help his low-key personality.

~Casey: Struggling with fitness until the end of the year and not fully exempt, he is nevertheless in all the Majors and WGC's and there may be a chip on his shoulder. But he needs some big finishes, preferably a win, early. WGC MatchPlay?

~Garcia: Good rebuilding year in 2011 for Sergio and still relatively under the radar. Took a nice winter break and will flourish in 2012.

~Karlsson: Now or never for the big Swede. Fit and two years of acclimation under his belt, I expect a win (Charlotte or Memphis maybe?). Very consistent in Majors.

5).BMW: 31 - 70:
~McIlroy: Rory is in for a tough year as the American press will be building up a Tiger rivalry for him. Is he mature enough to handle it? Signs not good in my eyes; he should be in Hawaii this week and his absence begs the Wozza question. Will his distractions get the better of him or will they make him stronger? Expect a win on one of the parkland courses he favours (Augusta, Memorial or Q.Hollow), but also inconsistency and missed cuts. He got knackered last time around and his recent schedule suggests he hasn't learned much. One of the best young sportsmen from the British Isles in the past sixty years, but will he have the mental fortitude to match? Jury out, but he's very young for the expectations heaped upon him. Patience!

~Poulter, McDowell: Disapppointing 2011's for both, and they'll each need a good start to get their years on track. Reports that Poults will miss time as he welcomes a baby-Gooner and he'll likely struggle to cram events in (as he did last year) as a result. Expect both to do well in Florida, but neither long/accurate enough to prosper on the courses the Tour takes in later in the year. Tears for at least one come Ryder Cup time.

~Jacobson, Rose: May have placed one or both higher but each kicks off the season on the bench, Freddie nursing ligament damage to his thumb, Justin changing nappies. My comments about Rose missing "Hawaii" were regrettably inappropriate, but the fact remains that he made a mess of his schedule when little Leo reared his head three yrs ago and getting his year off to a slow start won't suit him. No Major top tens since the 2008 PGA. Caution for Freddie Jac, as it's not clear how bad his thumb injury is. What we DO know is that thumb injuries derailed Anthony Kim's career. Memo to Fred: Get fully healthy first, then wait another month before returning.

~Laird: Underrated, understated, just as he seems to like it. Hopefuly he'll get off to a rousing start this week in Kapalua. Two wins and two play-off losses the past 2 1/2 years suggest he'll contend again in 2012, but much will depend on that long putter of his.


6).Deutsche Bank: 71 - 100:
~Davis: Time Brian Davis won, but no top fives last year and he doesn't usually get going until the "Florida Swing", even though next week's visit to Waialae CC should suit him. Possible threat at shorter courses, Harbour Town, Travelers, Colonial, Reno.

~Pettersson: Poor year after contending at Kapalua but seems to rebound just as we count him out.

7).Barclays: 101 - 125:
~Harrington, Stenson: Time for the two biggest wildcards. We all know they could turn the form book upside down at any moment. Either or both could easily bounce back to win one of the big tournaments, but they're not getting any younger and, if last year is anything to go by, neither is getting any better. Would like to see Padraig play a full California schedule, Pebble Beach and Riviera at least.

8).Conditional Status for 2013: 126 - 150:
~Blixt, Knox: The young Swede and the young Scot will both want to get off to a good start whilst their post-Nationwide status is strong. Knox made his 2011 season with a high finish in the Bay Area and hopefully he'll reprise that, whereas Blixt played well towards year's end. Definitely both ones to watch and would be no surprise to see either in the FedEx play-offs.

9).The rest: 151+:
~Chopra, Owen: Certifiable journeymen. Early tournaments will tell their tale, especially Owen who's played so well at Pebble in the past and endured that historic close shave at Bay Hill. Chopra is capable of going as low as anyone on Tour, just not for two consecutive rounds and his driver will ensure he goes back to Q-School.

~Cejka, Johnson: Limited status for both. Would think Cejka is capable of bouncing back eventually, but Richard S just doesn't hit it far enough. Would be good to see both playing some events in Europe.

~Christian: One of the oldest "rookies" on Tour for many years the quiet man from Surrey will surely enjoy the experience even if his year concludes back at Q-School. Any six-figure cheques will be a very pleasant surprise but a great sense of humour and a fun interview. TV in his future?

~Olazabal, Parnevik: Still have some status on Medical Exemptions. Wish them good health but any tournament success this side of the Champions Tour will be a very pleasant surprise.

10).Remember: There'll be a Friday start to Kapalua and a Monday finish. Set your British Isles alarm clocks for an early wake-up call to see how the hotshot Americans, Simpson, Bradley, Haas follow up their 2011 seasons, to see if Stricker is fit, whether Lucas Glover still has his beard (no top tens since his May win in Charlotte), Rory Sabbatini can win after two second place finishes or Martin Laird can belatedly celebrate Hogmanay. Happy New Year indeed.

Come on, m_jr. It's taken kwini's column's 3 years to build up karma for Lairdy. Don't throw the voodoo dust on him yet.

FIVE YEARS!!!!!
Nice birdie on 12.
And hopefully a super scramble on 13.

Yea very nice touch there, tournaments opening up quite a bit now, Stricker in another bunker.

Fine first fifteen holes for The Laird.
Now, one more under par and -14 will be very competitive going in to Monday. If that's alright with you, Martin.

That'll do.
Straight drives on 17 and 18 and we might finish with a 66. Or better if you don't mind.

Very good for Laird. Second last group on Monday and still in with a good shout.
If Stricker comes to battle with anything less than his best, we should have some entertainment.
Bring it on!

Laird doing very well, lets hope he breaks his habit from last year of scoring very well in the 3rd round and then not so in the final day. Perhaps being a Monday finish will change this...

Round 3 Scoring Average 68.31 2nd
Final Round Scoring Average 71.44 136th

Tried to watch the golf but the time difference is just too much, I must have fallen asleep before Laird got to hole 3.

Mac,
They didn't show much of Laird on the front nine as Golf Channel's obsession with Keegan Bradley continued. Not bad on the back though and he could have gone really low.

Interesting scoring-by-round stat threre from sandy_trap , but a real opportunity to put that behind him and contend this evening. Stricker looked awfully good when he finally got going late in his round . . . . . .

Coverage starts here a little earlier, at 9.00 p.m. GMT, when the final group tees off.

pgatour.com states Dustin Johnson due back for San Diego in three weeks. Seems early/premature but time will tell.

Kwini,
That is one of the many things that is annoying about PGA coverage, very jingoistic and protectionist. Even if you are in the top 3, the fact that you are a foreigner means you won't be seen quite so much as you deserve to be.

Very true super_.
It backfires on them though because the players are well aware of it, guys like Casey and Poulter and others have been quite vocal (in a twittering sort of way) about it.
But it's the Finchem ethos: We want the best players in the world to join our circus, we just don't want them to win.
I think it generates a media buzz-saw that has affected golfers in the past, Westwood most recently, and will place McIlroy under pressure this coming year. NBC/Golf Channel are particularly bad at this, with Miller's ignorance fuelling the fire and Rolfing and Dottie Pepper stoking it at every opportunity.

No way was Laird given the short shift from the TV announcers. With such a long event, everyone was covered ad nauseam.

This is some course, and just when I thought Stricker was down and out, he rebounds and takes a 5 shot lead into the final round.

But, we see what can happen out there, and while I would certainly bet on Stricker, 3 others within striking distance to be sure.

C'mon you Webb!

SR, God's on holiday, Webb's out of luck.

Sr,
As I said, coverage of Laird was OK on the back nine, but he was scarcely covered at all on Friday, then sketchily on Saturday while NBC were keeping their fingers crossed that Watney, Watson and Woodland would somehow pull their collective finger out, not to mention the struggling Keegs.

super_,
Actually god was there, he made sure Simpson's driver face got cracked, hence his shorter-than-normal driving distance on Saturday and a new stick on Sunday!

If Laird doesn't pull this off I'm hoping Stricker does the business - he's really got the field stretched so only a handful can hope to contend unless he comes unstruck.

God's not on Holiday ... He's just very tired from bailing Tim Tebow out once again. At least Tebow recognized this and gave him proper thanks.

Sounds like Webb has incurred God's wrath. Needs to pray more.

Tiger Woods confirming he'll be playing at Pebble Beach in mid February, at the AT&T National Pro-am, because:
"AT&T is a great partner to my Foundation, and I'm looking forward to playing in this event."

Of course, HSBC is also a great partner to his Foundation. I hope Augusta National is too otherwise Woods may not show up. Seems to be the primary criteria to Woods entering events these days.

Utterly pathetic or good for Tiger depending upon one's point of view I suppose.

He's basically a part time golfer these days. A bit like Lance Armstrong, only turning up for the big ones.

Kwin - Different era to be sure, but this is pretty much the same knock against Nicklaus who geared his whole schedule around winning the big ones. Tiger's done a fantastic job of managing his career thus far, I would have little reason to doubt him now. But time will tell ...

If I were tiger I would make sure I won the matchplay then totally trash Accenture in the acceptance speech.

The way they treated him was appalling and I can see why he now wishes to reward those who are worthy and showed him the respect he deserved, despite his indiscretions.

Shotrock wrote:
Kwin - Different era to be sure, but this is pretty much the same knock against Nicklaus who geared his whole schedule around winning the big ones. Tiger's done a fantastic job of managing his career thus far, I would have little reason to doubt him now. But time will tell ...

Or rather, it's been managed for him, I wouldn't trust him to be able to work out which way to sit on a toilet.

I guess I'd rather they supported his foundation than supported him.

Comparisons with Nicklaus are only valid in that, of course, he geared his schedule around the Majors. And I'd go further and say around his self-interests to some degree as well.

But Nicklaus also made an effort to play tournaments at some of the lesser venues as his way of giving back to ALL US golf fans, and not just those in South Florida and Columbus.

Woods has made no effort to play smaller tournaments; rather to the contrary, he hasn't gone back to the smaller events who offered him his initial sponsor's invites, even including Riviera who gave him his first Tour start.

I'd say he gears his schedule around his wallet first of all, next priority the Majors, then his wallet again.


Mac,
One of Accenture's problems was their "Be a Tiger" advertising campaign which was built around the image that Tiger projected.
You can understand their dismay when he's been having his way with half the waitresses in Orlando and is doing time in a Mississippi sex clinic.

Kwin - No argument from me - Tiger and Jack eerily similar in the number of tournaments they played each year, both with spectacular results.

Mac - I agree with you ... but Tiger waaay to smart to say anything to the press.

Kwini

All I can assume is that the folks at accenture were more than a little naive if they didn't think one of the worlds most famous people, who held a great deal of power, couldn't stray a little. They do after all make money advising others, so where the hell is their wisdom?

If I were a sports star now with several endorsement deals on the table and one of them was accenture I would certainly avoid them given how quick they were to dump tiger after on bump in the road. Well, several bonks in the bed....you know what I mean.

David Toms has begun his lonely march down the fairways of Kapalua. Martin Laird will be giving his (no doubt) blue shirt an airing on the first tee at 10.55 a.m., local time, 8.55 p.m. in Glasgow.

Stricker's to win or lose. Laird reckoned he'd need to shoot eight under (65) to have any chance, and that may be optimistic; TV coverage starts at 9.00 p.m. GMT and hopefully he'll receive the coverage his position warrants.


PS: Tiger's already trashed Accenture (indirectly) once, no need to do it again.
Mac, That was more than a bump in the road, more like a hundred potholes! Let's just say I disagree with you on this.

Woods smart? Seems like a bit short on grey cells to me. A smart person would never believe he could pump his way around the world and it would never leak out.
I imagine his media team are probably the smart ones keeping it quiet as long as they did and by training him in the footballer stylee to give the most boring and least revealing of interviews they've got a manchurian type of client.
he's like the brandon Fraser sports jock in bedazzled: 'well you just go out there and give 110% you know and you hope to play well and you know give 110%, ok thanks 'preciate it.'

Mac, you'd have to be as much as a simpleton as Woods to believe he'd been treated badly by any of his sponsors, unless he happened to be sponsored by a XXX film distributor. Exactly what sort of firm would want to project his lifestyle to bible bashing middle America?

Kwini

you must be very confident that you could behave if given the status, riches and fame of tiger in which case. I personally would need sponsors a little more understanding than accenture.

Mac, its business sense to dissociate yourself from someone like that. If you make an idiot of yourself why would anyone want to be associated with you? Bit like the racist statement from Diane abbot last week should have resulted in her being kicked out of the shadow cabinet. If you make a mistake, you pay the consequences.

It's hilarious that you think the loathsome Woods is the one who has been treated badly, but not unexpected.

Mac,
All I'm saying is that Woods carefully constructed (or had constructed if s_r's assessment of his IQ is accurate) this squeaky-clean image and companies built their advertising campaigns around that.

As if he'd portrayed himself as Bobby Charlton, if you like, but turned out to be no better than John Terry.

Not surprising they quickly disassociated themselves from him and his new-found image.

Mac you sound like a Liverpool fan in light of the Suarez situation defending the indefensible, but would no doubt criticise anyone else who found themselves in Woods situation.

Meanwhile, no-one making much of a move at Kapalua.
Except David Toms who is belting round as if desperately fighting off a bad bout of dysentry. Equally likely that 's trying to get to Honolulu in time to get a comfy seat for a big college football match tonight.

If anyone thinks Wood's very public and embarrassing behavior has resulted in any significant loss of income, think again. Accenture dropped him like a hot potato. Not all followed suit. Nike, being the smart company it is, rode the storm out and I'm certain is reaping the dividends.

It was never a "squeaky clean" image that vaulted Tiger in to the media attraction that he is ... it was his demolishing his competition into the ground that did it.

If you want the "gee whiz, squeaky clean golfer" there are plenty of Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson types available.

Sr,
That's not what I'm saying.
I'm saying that some companies, especially Accenture, built their Tiger advertising around his ultra-clean image. Different thing between media attraction (Bonds, Rooney, TO) and honourable corporate spokesman.

I'm not denying Tiger's golfing excellence, far from it, just the holier-than-thou image he so carefully cultivated.

Happily have never bought a Nike product and no plans to change that policy.

Was any action taken against Kevin Na yesterday? Just before I drifted off to sleep he had pretty much picked out his ball from the cup before it had hit the bottom and the Sky pundits were discussing that the ball has to be at complete rest in the bottom of the cup. As there's no cameras in the bottom of the cups I guess only Na himself would know if it was or not.

Kwin - Tiger's egregious behavior was unprecedented (at least in the golf world). Many, including myself, predicted a far bigger endorsement "fall from grace". That didn't occur. I'm still surprised at his numbers.

I never thought Accenture's media strategy with Tiger it was on a holier-than-thou platform. Use Tiger correctly and you'll try to show your product or service outperforming all others, as TW did when he was racking up all those "W's". Accenture might be thrilled they now have TW off their back. Who knows?

Which begs another question ... I wonder if there was a "morality" clause in any of those contracts? If not, I bet there is now.

Simpson, Laird and Byrd applying the pressure again! Hope we see some tight action going out. Stricker needs to respond.

Ouch Laird just misses to go within one..

Mr. Laird is pushing the pedal to the floor now. Hopefully the engine can sustain the speed.

venice1 wrote:Mr. Laird is pushing the pedal to the floor now. Hopefully the engine can sustain the speed.

But in the reverse gear sadly, 4-5 through 8 and 9 isn't ideal.

And another three putt at ten. Race run?

Same old story for the Laird in the final round. Sadly.

Hi Ned,

That was a brutal 3 hole stretch for Lairdy. Not much time left.

Luke Donald complaining about slow play on twitter and quite vocal,these are some examples:-

"Sounds like slow play is already an issue the 1st week of the @PGATOUR season and it's 2 somes. Sort it out please...."

"It's not that hard, be ready when it's your turn. Slow play is killing our sport"

"I could rant all day long, don't think anything will ever change as the slow players don't realize they are slow"

Doug Ferguson's twitter account in overdrive on the slow play issue too. Surprised, had Stricker and Byrd down as faster than the pairing they're following if I'm honest.


Laird could've walked this if his putter had worked this week. Highest birdie count in the field as it is.

Also, I've mentioned it before but can someone tell the commentators that the guy's name is Harrison Frazar, not Harrison Frasier?

Ned - Sorry Ned, that's the proper pronunciation in these United States. (I live near Frazer, PA, pronounced Frasher, PA.)

Stricker looking like the man that will be hoisting the trophy.

Weird, I just assumed they'd all watched too many Boston sitcoms, which of course is spelled that way. His is a slightly odd spelling anyway I guess...

I remember Angus Fraser (Frays-er) chugging through Test matches for England though.

Well it looks like Stricker has this, though Martin could have got in the lead around the 6th 7th but missed quite a few putts then a 3 putt at ten. Good effort since but i think the best possibly now is second.

I've missed all the action, tried to cut my finger off and they didn't have TV in the ER. Not good enough.
Pleased with Laird's effort, no disgrace if he comes up a shot or two short.

Some very low scores today - I see Keegan Bradley slow-poked his way rounf to a 65 and only advanced three places.