PGA Tour: Pebble Beach etc: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).Redemption came swiftly for Kyle Stanley in Phoenix, no real surprise and indicative of the talent the boy has.
Everyone (including many of the TV commentators who seemed to be willing Spencer Levin to fold) who doubted Spencer Levin's ability to overcome his dodgy temperament - myself not included, I thought he'd win comfortably! - was proven correct. Don't expect Levin to rebound as quickly as Stanley, despite his 14th, 46th, 4th place finishes in three previous trips to the Monterey Peninsula. Stanley just made mistakes on one hole in San Diego - Levin was never at ease throught his Phoenix finale, but he's a good player and is still worth watching.

2).A couple of nice stories passed on by the Golf Channel crew about Stanley:
~Chamblee mentioned that, last spring, he went up and down the practice range at a Tour event asking the caddies who was the real deal among the young up-and-comers. To a man they answered: "Kyle Stanley".
Don't expect Stanley to be an occasional winner like so many of the young American golfers; expect him to be a multiple winner every year for the foreseeable future.

~A friend of Phil Mickelson mentioned by phone in Phoenix that he was chatting with Kyle Stanley: "Why don't you come over?" Phil chatted with Stanley for 45 minutes and invited him for a game at his (local) club Thursday afternoon. Phil turned up with the others from his morning tournament group, Fowler and Dustin Johnson, and Phil and Rickie won an 18-hole match vs Dustin and Stanley! Mickelson is a highly sought after mentor to young golfers, Keegan Bradley and Johnson among them.

3).Another note about Phil, who has been known to be more than scathing about some course architects, especially Rees Jones. Troubled by Jones' efforts on the South Course of Torrey Pines, and determined that a similar fate should not befall the North Course, Phil has offered to upgrade the North Course pro bono, not accepting a penny in architects' fees.
I like Phil, always puts his money where his mouth is.
Unlike another golfing superstar who invariably puts his mouth where his money is.

4).450 miles up the coast from San Diego is the Monterey Peninsula, which Robert Louis Stevenson called "the greatest meeting of land and sea in the world". Even allowing for the fact there's no evidence Stevenson ever went to the Isle Of Wight, you get the picture - gorgeous!
The "AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am" is played over three courses, Pebble Beach (rated 4th best on Tour by the pros), Spyglass Hill (13th) and Monterey Peninsula (19th) with the final round contested by the top 60 and ties at Pebble; (top 70 and ties are credited with a made cut and get paid). Pebble Beach and Monterey Peninsula are the two shortest courses on Tour, and Pebble has some the smallest greens. Weather is often an issue here, but conditions this week should be cool (everything's relative) and fair.

5).Some notable players return for their PGA Tour seasonal debuts this week, Woods, Furyk and Harrington among them. Woods' appearance is notable as he has given the "AT&T" his middle finger "digitus impudicus" salute for the past decade, and attributable in equal parts to AT&T's generosity to the Tiger Woods foundation, and compensation for not playing San Diego. Anything other than a strong performance by Furyk will put him on the edge of not qualifying for the WGC MatchPlay, the field for which is finalised Feb 13th. Harrington will probably need a win.

6).Other bubble boys playing this week in danger of missing the owgr top 64(+) qualifying threshhold include:
60th: Manasssero (Dubai)
63: Na (Pebble Beach)
65: Ryan Moore (PB)
67: Luiten (Dubai)
68: Sabbatini (PB)
69: Colsaerts (Dubai)
71: Noren (Dubai)
72: Levin (PB)
74: O'Hair (PB)
75: Vijay Singh (PB)
Those sitting on the sidelines, rolling the dice, are: Chalmers (61st), Els (62nd), Allenby (64th) HowellIII (66th).

7).Two more Tour veterans reappear this week following the welcome recent returns of JB Holmes (nice to see him make the cut in Phoenix) and Oberholser (still experiencing problems with his damaged hand) and Neil Lancaster (playing again this week). Dudley Hart plays for the first time on Tour since May, 2009, and European Tour member Mike Weir competes in his first event since having to withdraw from last July's Canadian Open. No word still on Casey and Jacobson.

8).It seems Tiger Woods gets to play with his good mate Arjun Atwal this week - not sure how that gets fixed? - and is just one of a number of course specialists in the field. Among those to have at least two 1st or 2nd place finishes are: Singh with 4 (incl 1 win), Mickelson 3 (all wins), Woods 3 (2 wins incl US Open), Love 2 wins, Dustin Johnson 2 wins, Duval 3, all 2nd places, Weir 2 x 2nd places. As well as Levin, Bryce Molder, Oberholser and JB Holmes have good records here.

9).Kyle Stanley leapfrogs to the top of the list of US Ryder Cup qualifiers very early in the process. Among those way off the Ryder Cup qualifying pace are: Kuchar (34th), Woods (38th), Watney (42nd), Mahan (45th) and Furyk (67th). I expect Mahan and Watney to start climbing that qualifying list with good showings this week, Bryce Molder too.

10).European interest at Pebble includes Davis, Harrington, Laird, Poulter, Christian, Knox, Greg Owen (playing in Bill Murray's foursome), Blixt and two-holes-in-one Chopra.
Cejka and Owen have enjoyed success here in the past.
And the Champions Tour opens up in Florida this week with only one European, Bernhard Langer, in the field which once again illustrates the closed shop nature of the Champions Tour.

“Tour opens up in Florida this week with only one European, Bernhard Langer, in the field which once again illustrates the closed shop nature of the Champions Tour. “

That or the fact the generation of European golfers now of champions tour vintage did not give the PGA tour much attention in their prime. Or they are just not very good compared to those who do play on the champions tour?



Is it not a little early to be predicting such great things from Stanley, after all Keegan had similar things written about him and as far as I can tell he is at best top 30 OWGR player in the long term.




Not sure phil offering to do the north course at Torrey for free is the best outcome, does he have the first idea about designing a course? He could of course pay someone to do it for him.




Don’t know if anyone saw this news yesterday but according to a few tweeters Tiger stated in an interview that he thinks the putter should be the shortest stick in the bag and he has spoken to the R and A about it.

What exactly were Torrey Pines thinking getting one of the worlds best (and most imaginative) shotmakers to redesign their course, they would have been far better off with a Socialist Worker reading, Tommy Sheridan loving, lily livered gimp who has read Doak a few times and thinks he knows EVERYTHING about course design, yet is only a member of a local municipal and gets his golf balls from a jumble sale. I think Torrey Pines have really fouled it up this time.

Mac,
I've never said anything to extol Keegan Bradley's virtues as a top player other than the fact that he comes from Vermont.
But Kyle Stanley is the real thing and has a competitive quality that, in my judgement at any rate, most of the others in the 24 - 34 generation (none of whom have won more than FIVE Tour events) conspicuously lack.

Phil has designed a few courses already, his Whisper Rock already having hosted Tour events.

Tiger bellyaching about the belly putter? Yup, saw that. Of course, the R&A and USGA are taking notice now Tiger's come out against it. Apropos of which the new USGA President, Glen Nager, and Mike Davis have also suggested they're looking at reviewing the use of long putters.

Kwini

Didn’t mean to imply it was you that predicted Keegan’s rise, just the golfing press in general. The 24-34 group do certainly seem to have missed out on the likes of a davis love or Tom Kite type multiple winner.


As for Torrey North, does anyone know if it is in need of a redo or has anyone played it? Just because phil has offered to change it does not mean it needs changing, certainly not if the new design is no better.

Mac,
Kite and Love: One Major each!

Torrey North is scheduled to be redone whether it needs it or not - hence Phil's offer, seemingly intended to be pre-emptive! Plenty of architects he likes, just not Jones!

"Mac,
Kite and Love: One Major each!"

Surprising, thats for sure.

I wonder who has the worst tour wins to major wins ratio?

In fact lets find out by making that todays trivia question. lets hear it people.

Wasn't Tom Kite in his 40's when his only major or did I make that up, and wasn't it at Pebble Beach he won, this weeks venue.

McLaren wrote:"Mac,
Kite and Love: One Major each!"

Surprising, thats for sure.

I wonder who has the worst tour wins to major wins ratio?

In fact lets find out by making that todays trivia question. lets hear it people.

A little Wikipedia digging can find that easily enough Mac... won't give it away yet, but it's not a name I would've got! "The forgotten man of golf" according to his contemporaries...

Kwin - Very interesting comment about Kyle Stanley. The real deal? We will see.

FIGJAM Phil offering to fix the North Course? A PR stunt if ever there was one!

Ned,
Not sure who's got most wins but only one Major, but chili would have told us that Carnoustie's own Macdonald Smith had 24 Tour wins but no Majors. And he's often forgotten!

Kwini - good stuff.
I liked your comments re Phil. Appears to be a top bloke. The good Doctor Mackenzie did say that golfers should not be allowed to design golf courses - they intuitively design to their own strengths. Even with that knowledge it is true that many do fall into the trap, but I am not sure how one would define Phil's strengths?
Looks like matchplay will be top 66 places as Phil not playing and Paul Casey must be unlikely.
Belly putter will never be outlawed. I am not a fan but now too entrenched. Continue to be amazed how many young players - Americans in particular - use them. Most outrageous use is Miguel Angel Jimenez - got to be in a different "slot" for every putt!!

Hi Shotrock,
Lots of good young golfers coming out of the ACC/SEC right now, Cauley, Haas, Simpson, Kirk, Stanley, the list goes on; but I really think Stanley will be the best of them.

History will tell us some interesting stories about the personalities and character of Tiger and FIGJAM; Phil seems to be getting a lot of love right now, though seldom about his golf game. But read any reports on his Lower Course at Whisper Rock and you'll know why he feels he has the credentials to enhance/update TP North, while not changing the essence and playability of a much-loved track.

Cheers puligny,
Golfers "intuitively design to their own strengths".
Certainly true at a number of Nicklaus hands-on designs, no better example that Muirfield Village, favouring high fades on (almost?) every hole! Which doesn't detract from its excellence though.

Sounds like Phil's motivation is to retain the playability of what is, after all, a top end "muni"; something he feels was lost at TP South and Cog Hill.

kwinigolfer wrote:Ned,
Not sure who's got most wins but only one Major, but chili would have told us that Carnoustie's own Macdonald Smith had 24 Tour wins but no Majors. And he's often forgotten!

I didn't include the majorless guys Kwini, simply because they wouldn't make very good ratios! But the man in question had half as many tour wins again as Smith, and only one major...

Nice one
Would never have guessed him.
Will leave the "him" unnamed for the benefit of other punters.

Kwin - Stanley did show me a lot last week, here's hoping he can keep it up.

I've played both courses at Whisper Rock and nothing wrong with Phil's track. How much was truly Phil, certainly up for speculation. If I'm in the design business, however, I'd be groaning from here to the Mohawk Valley: A great course in "need" of work and touring professional, VERY part time design guy, will take time out of his busy schedule to bestow his efforts pro-bono. Hey, the price is right, and the name is "all that" so let's give him the job. Not on my watch!

Sr,
It could very well be Phil trying to get leverage for someone like Gil Hanse, Coore/Crenshaw or others that he approves of to get involved.
Regardless, whatever he/anyone does it can't be received worse thsan most of Rees Jones's work.

PS: I'm hoping you sign up for the fantasy game; I'm looking forward to seeing when you play your Tiger card!!!!

I will look into that, thanks for the invite ... but that's trouble with me betting. More with my heart than head!

Sr,
The only thing at stake is the Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat!

So this is the list of players sorted by pga tour wins/major wins


Lloyd Mangrum 36.00
Gene Littler 29.00
Johnny Farrell 22.00
Willie Macfarlane 21.00
Lanny Wadkins 21.00
Davis Love III 20.00
Tom Kite 19.00
Jim Ferrier 18.00
Johnny Revolta 18.00
Billy Casper 17.00
Horton Smith 16.00
Jim Furyk 16.00
Tom Weiskopf 16.00
Leo Diegel 15.00
Tommy Bolt 15.00
Fred Couples 15.00
Corey Pavin 15.00
Paul Runyan 14.50
Hal Sutton 14.00
Ken Venturi 14.00
Art Wall, Jr. 14.00
Cary Middlecoff 13.33
Henry Picard 13.00
Billy Burke 13.00
Mark Calcavecchia 13.00
David Duval 13.00
Craig Stadler 13.00
David Toms 13.00
Johnny Miller 12.50
George Archer 12.00
Paul Azinger 12.00
Tony Lema 12.00
Justin Leonard 12.00
Sam Snead 11.71
Vijay Singh 11.33
Dow Finsterwald 11.00
Al Geiberger 11.00
Vic Ghezzi 11.00
Bob Goalby 11.00
Bobby Nichols 11.00
Craig Wood 10.50
Byron Nelson 10.40
Jimmy Demaret 10.33
Greg Norman 10.00
Gay Brewer 10.00
Steve Elkington 10.00
Don January 10.00
John Mahaffey 10.00
Phil Mickelson 9.75
Ben Crenshaw 9.50
Doug Ford 9.50
Hubert Green 9.50
Arnold Palmer 8.86
Curtis Strange 8.50
Tommy Armour 8.33
Jack Burke, Jr. 8.00
Mark O'Meara 8.00
Roberto De Vicenzo 8.00
Steve Jones 8.00
Lawson Little 8.00
Tony Manero 8.00
Jerry Pate 8.00
Bob Tway 8.00
Mike Weir 8.00
Ben Hogan 7.11
Jock Hutchison 7.00
Jerry Barber 7.00
Mark Brooks 7.00
Chick Harbert 7.00
Chandler Harper 7.00
Jay Hebert 7.00
Zach Johnson 7.00
Dick Mayer 7.00
Geoff Ogilvy 7.00
Scott Simpson 7.00
Hale Irwin 6.67
Julius Boros 6.00
Ernie Els 6.00
Nick Price 6.00
Bob Charles 6.00
Stewart Cink 6.00
Ed Furgol 6.00
Lou Graham 6.00
Bill Rogers 6.00
Bob Rosburg 6.00
Jeff Sluman 6.00
Cyril Walker 6.00
Gene Sarazen 5.57
Raymond Floyd 5.50
Ralph Guldahl 5.33
Denny Shute 5.33
Jim Barnes 5.25
Tiger Woods 5.07
Olin Dutra 5.00
Dave Stockton 5.00
Fuzzy Zoeller 5.00
Bob Hamilton 5.00
Lionel Hebert 5.00
Herman Keiser 5.00
Tom Lehman 5.00
Tom Watson 4.88
Lee Trevino 4.83
Walter Hagen 4.09
Jack Nicklaus 4.06
David Graham 4.00
Lee Janzen 4.00
Bobby Locke 3.75
Payne Stewart 3.67
Retief Goosen 3.50
Larry Nelson 3.33
Sandy Lyle 3.00
José María Olazábal 3.00
Gary Player 2.67
John Daly 2.50
Seve Ballesteros 1.80
Pádraig Harrington 1.67
Nick Faldo 1.50
Bobby Jones 1.29
Peter Thomson 1.20


Not really sure what can be gleaned from it, but I did ask the question so may as well provide an answer.

Thanks mac. Never heardof Mangrum.

Woosnam must hold the ET record.

I think it's very interesting that so many of the guys who were staples on the PGA Tour in the 80's and 90's have each only chalked up one Major:
Wadkins
Love
Kite
Pavin
Azinger
Sutton
Calc
Stads
Duval
Leonard
Simpson
Looking odds against Furyk, Toms and Cink scoring any more Majors too.
A nearly generation if ever there was one.

?

I was expecting Angel Cabrera to be towards or at the bottom of such a list?

Cabrera has two majors. Not many have that.

Cabrera is not on the list as he has not won a regular PGA tour event.

Nice article here about Dana Quigley and his son who is still in a coma two months after crashing his car into a truck.
Quigley, for anyone who isn't familiar with him, is a golfing nut, an occasional Touring Pro but one who qualified for the Senior Tour and made himself a fortune. (Which presumably he'll need to pay these medical bills.)

http://www.pgatour.com/2012/tournaments/s009/02/08/dolch-column/index.html

Don't usually like this writer, would be surprised if he ever took geography at school or owns a passport, but this is a good piece.
A bit too much god in it for my taste though. I'm kind of like George Carlin on that - George doesn't pray to god, he prays to Joe Pesci, and reckons the results are the same, about 50/50! (So presumably he blames Joe Pesci now for the fact that he's dead.)

Cool and, allegedly, fine morning on the Monterey Peninsula, warming to the mid-60's today. Somewhat cooler the rest of the way, fifties over the weekend, but it should stay dry and not too blustrous.

First groups off at 8.00 a.m. Pacific time, that's 4.00 p.m. on the Isle Of Wight.

Europeans with early tee-times include Harrington (8.22) and Knox (8.33).

Lots, I mean LOTS, of media attention on Woods's performance this week - front page in my USAToday: "Tiger Tees Off - He's primed for a revival, but obstacles abound."
'Course, nothing about Syria or the Greek financial crisis.
Me? I'm rooting for Greece.

...I guess if it's called USAToday they'll always have an excuse not to write about foreign places like Greece and Syria...

Good stuff, kwini.

Didn't keep a very close eye on this the last few days, was there any W/D from the AT&T field since the begining of the week?
I have to admit, I have sinned! For the first time in years I backed the Tiger in my GC Fantasy team, not quite sure why... Otherwise, if it's not the Tiger, then it could well be the Hunter....

C'mon Podge!!!

Hi pd,
There HAVE been withdrawals, but I haven't been able to determine who they were.
I DO know Snedeker was a "commitment" but he's not playing. At least three others have hit the bricks but don't know who.

PS: Rumours aboud that Tim Clark will be back next week. Sincerely hope so.

PPS: A short list of players that are due, Hunter and Watney close to the top!

Gotta sell newspapers!

I'm rooting for Greece too ... any country that can support retirement at age 55 and such a high percentage working for the state must be on to something.

All eyes on Tiger ... not much new there.

Similarly, there seemed to be only one story on the news channels over here last night. Well, I suppose 2 inextricably linked stories - one involving an Italian, the other concerning [alleged] tax evasion.

Weir started with a birdie, there's still hope...
Podge started with a bogey (at a par 5), looks like no hope left there...

So Snedd is out?! Well then I'll have to review the points count, this could well slip below 40 pts. if it goes like that...

Great news on Tim Clark!

Yes, Sr; I'm for Greece, not necessarily the Greeks until they all get their act together!

So much for the walking wounded; both Oberholser and Weir off to a two-early-birdie start.

What is Harrigton doing... Someone with his short game ability should not be making the amount of bogeys he does on par 5's.

Can only assume his problems are not swing related but more mental and poor decisions

Yes, Fader, very typical that Harrington's first hole over here this season should be a par five bogey. Where's John Cregan??????!!

Good afternoon kwini,

Looks like the weather's going to hold up through the weekend in Pebble Beach which is good news because this tourney turns very sloppy when the rain and fog rolls in and never ceases. How about Pampling, McGirt and Mahan for the final group on Sunday. That would not make the PGA Tour gods happy. Oops... Watney jumped into the fray... they can put away the aspirin bottles. Duval's bogey / bogey start is beginning to look commonplace too often and he's a ways off from joining the Chompers Tour.

What's going on with your Les Habs?! 2 wins in a row at home but facing a resurgent Jersey team tonight just may get you guys away from the cellar. Have you been to any games this year? My Kings are 2 points out of first but barely hanging on to 7th position in the Western Conference. Just like last year, it's going to be scratch and claw to make the playoffs.

Hi venice,
What's the outlook for next week? Are you going??

See Tiger's birdied his opening two holes, surprised NPR hasn't interrupted programming with a special bulletin!

Early starters have been out for three hours now, and no-one's played more than ten holes - it's going to be a long day.

Haven't been north yet this year, doubt if I will - but will go to the first Montreal MSL footie game! Habs are toast I think, two good wins for sure, but ten points out of the play-offs, no games in hand and thoroughly etouffee!

Catchers and pitchers next week . . . .

What's going on...?
Padraig is T131 at +2, but Harrington/McManus are T7 at -6 !!
JP McManus (John Cregan's neighbour) would have a better chance to get into the Match Play at this rate...

The tiger of the woods started well, so did the ian of the poults... and DJ and VJ...and JJ and BGay...

kwinigolfer wrote:Yes, Fader, very typical that Harrington's first hole over here this season should be a par five bogey. Where's John Cregan??????!!

Where are my tablets!!!!

The sound of the vacuum sweeping through the airwaves and focusing on one group won't take long once the broadcast starts. But if TW's in the hunt early, it can only mean the champagne bottle pops will be going off in the Tour's admin offices a few days sooner.

I will be going out to the 'Riv' at least for next Friday and hopefully the Sunday showdown when Luke is battling it out with whomever. It's tough living when one's bosses are not thrilled with the game of golf as I should have all 4 days off with pay. ('They don't deserve to be bosses if they don't care for the game' should be the golden rule.)

Can't wait for the Yanks to start getting the rust out. I don't expect much from los Dodgers until the team gets sold... should be soon though. Sidenote: Magic Johnson works out at Gold's early in the morning half of the time and told a few of us on Tuesday that Frank McCourt's going to make out like a bandit when the sale finally goes down. As you know, MJ is part of one of the ownership groups who are bidding on the Dodgers. They expect one billion plus offer for the team when it's all said and done.

DJ is -6 incl. 2 eagles after only 7 holes. Good to see my friend Bae once again at the top of the LB...

John, take some more of those tablets, seems to work!

An eagle at a par 5 from Podge!!!!
When was the last time something like that happened??

5 wood on 17th at Birkdale to win The Open 2008?

Brave and lucky, shot of the year. Me, as a novice golfer when seeing it on TV - "Yeah, that was all right I suppose."

I'm sure he's had a few eagles since (and if I recall, an albatross out in the Far East?), but that's the one I'll remember [now I know golf a bit better].

Excrutiating "pace" of play, and not just for those following Padraig - Woods' tee-time was 3 1/2 hours ago; still playing his 11th hole.

Some nice play from Danny Lee, was beginning to wonder what had happened to him after such a hyped start to life for him. Am I right in thinking he was on the nationwide?


Anyone else think spyglass is a bit of an odd course in that it is essentially almost a typical tpc style course with a couple of ocean holes for people to develop some misconceptions over?

Harrington rescued his round rather nicely, in at -3. Editing here, Harrington's score adjusted to -2.
But Knox is in at -4, Greg Owen still going very strong at -5 playing his final hole.

That's right Mac, Think Lee has cards on both Tours now, doesn't he?

Why do you say that about Spyglass; certainly only a few holes by the ocean, but TPC-style? Not really.

Incidentally, Only one par 5 was among the Tour's 200 most difficult holes last year - the 14th at Pebble Beach which was 20th. Believe I'm right in saying that there have been only two eagles there in the past ten years, one of them a 100 yard shot by DA Points on his way to victory last year.

Loving the coverage this year, so many memories of December, that's exactly how it looked the whole 3 days I was there. Nice to see more of Spyglass too.

Jeezus I wouldn't like to play the other 19 holes that are tougher than PBs 14th...
where did the 8th rank? or the 6th & 16th on Spyglass?

Hi JAS, No idea about how the Spyglass holes ranked.

I know it's not what you go there for, but one of my life's best ever lunches was at the Beach and Tennis Club, alongside the PB 17th . . . . lovely place and fun watching unsuspecting golfers struggling with the Par-3!

JAS, I'll put your name in for the WGC fantasy game . . . . I'll post it next week when the provisional field is published.

Ok, maybe typical TPC is a bit harsh but it is more poppy hills than MP shore or pebble peach. Just not sure the inland holes offer much in terms of looks or more importantly strategy. The trees seem to block off a few of the options when going for the green.

What number is the longish uphill par 4 at spyglass on the back nine I think?