OWGR - Week #30

Can't remember too many weeks when the top 25 in the rankings remained unchanged from the previous week! Underlining in a way the relative 'strength' of this week's events... Having said that, the really significant movement this week has been, for a change, around the #100 cutline...

But before we talk about that, congratulations to Scott Piercy and Bernd Wiesberger, winners of the two main events of the week, the Canadian and the Austrian Open, respectively. Piercy jumps up to an amazing #58 (just entered top 100 two weeks ago), while Wiesberger moves all the way to #78. Garrigus who finished T2 in Canada is another big gainer this week, moving now also to a carreer best, at #55. But as I said, special mentions have to go to three guys who have timed their good results this week to perfection, allowing them to move inside the top 100 at the right time to ensure last minute tickets for the last major of the year...

First of all, congratulations to Brendan Jones of Oz, winner for the 2nd time on the Japanese Tour this season and moving as a result to #92. I was talking the other day about a number of 'foreigners' who are dominating the Japanese Tour at the top these days, and he's certainly one of them, replacing now Fujita at the top of that particular Order of Merit and doing very nicely indeed (earning close to 1 mil. dollars so far this year). Then we had Wiesberger, of course, winner in Austria, and tonight we can add to these two, young Bud Cauley, who finished T4 in Canada and is moving up inside the top 100 (@ #94) for the first time in his short carreer! And at the opposite pole, we have to say commiserations to the three unfortunates who have been kicked out of the top 100 at the worst time possible: Jeff Overton, Sean O'Hair and John Rollins, but I guess they only have themselves to blame for that...

Finally, well done also to young Ben Kohles from Virginia, a sensational winner (after a play-off) at his very debut on the Web.com Tour, and to Chris Paisley of England, winner of the English Challenge on the CT. They both should enjoy sizeable jumps up the rankings, somewhere around #475 and #335, respectively.

The OWGR table after Week #30 should look as follows:

1 Luke Donald
2 Tiger Woods
3 Rory McIlroy
4 Lee Westwood
5 Webb Simpson
6 Adam Scott
7 Bubba Watson
8 Jason Dufner
9 Matt Kuchar
10 Justin Rose
----------------------
11 Graeme McDowell
12 Zach Johnson
13 Hunter Mahan
14 Steve Stricker
15 Ernie Els
16 Dustin Johnson
17 Phil Mickelson
18 Martin Kaymer
19 Louis Oosthuizen
20 Rickie Fowler
21 Jason Day
22 Charl Schwartzel
23 Francesco Molinari
24 Brandt Snedeker
25 Sergio Garcia
26 Bo Van Pelt
27 Bill Haas
28 Keegan Bradley
29 Ian Poulter
30 Peter Hanson
31 Paul Lawrie
32 Nick Watney
33 Nicolas Colsaerts
34 Jim Furyk
35 John Senden
36 K.J. Choi
37 David Toms
38 Martin Laird
39 Carl Pettersson
40 Thomas Bjorn
41 Fredrik Jacobson
42 Bae Sang-Moon
43 Gonzalo Fdez-C.
44 Rafael Cabrerra-Bello
45 Mark Wilson
46 Simon Dyson
47 Alvaro Quiros
48 Geoff Ogilvy
49 Jonathan Byrd
50 Kevin Na
------------------------
51 Branden Grace
52 Aaron Baddeley
53 Anders Hansen
54 Ben Crane
55 Robert Garrigus
56 Kyle Stanley
57 Robert Karlsson
58 Scott Piercy
59 Marcel Siem
60 Alexander Noren
61 Michael Thompson
62 Padraig Harrington
63 Robert Rock
64 Jamie Donaldson
65 Greg Chalmers
66 Retief Goosen
67 John Huh
68 Ryo Ishikawa
69 Matteo Manassero
70 Miguel Jimenez
71 Rory Sabbatini
72 Johnson Wagner
73 Vijay Singh
74 Spencer Levin
75 Ryan Moore
76 Hiroyuki Fujita
77 George Coetzee
78 Bernd Wiesberger
79 Kim Kyung-Tae
80 Marcus Fraser
81 Ben Curtis
82 Mark Leishman
83 Charles Howell III
84 Ryan Palmer
85 Y.E. Yang
86 Pablo Larazabal
87 Jeev Milkha Singh
88 Toru Taniguchi
89 Ted Potter Jr.
90 Gary Woodland
91 Paul Casey
92 Brendan Jones
93 Darren Clarke
94 Bud Cauley
95 Brian Davis
96 Thorbjorn Olesen
97 D.A. Points
98 Joost Luiten
99 Charlie Wi
100 David Lynn
---------------------
101 John Rollins
102 Sean O'Hair
103 Jeff Overton
...

Lucky Lynn and Luiten!
Casey and Clarke in free-fall, Day defying gravity!

Don't feel too bad for John Rollins, he'll make the PGA Championship comfortably by virtue of his position (mid forties) on the PGA Champ Points List, O'Hair and Overton are alternates 1 and 2. (But by virtue of their points list position, nothing to do with the owgr's.)

Cheers pd

Thanks pd, although I'm disappointed there's no mention of Lowry. He moved from 144 to 119 with his T2 in Austria.

Will Tiger move back to the #1 spot next week when he wins at Firestone?

Players getting in the PGA Championship via the PGA points list (which closed out with the RBC) include... Bo Van Pelt, J. Byrd, R. Garrigus, M. Thompson, S. Levin, R. Moore, B, Curtis, C. Howell, R. Palmer, B. Cauley, B. Davis, C. Wi, J. Rollins, S. Noh, C Reavie, C. Hoffman, C. Tringale, K. Duke, M. Every, B. de Jonge, T. Gainey & P. Perez

Piercy got in via his RBC win.

This gets the field up to 143 (13 spots to fill) if all the currently eligible and listed (plus the above) were to play (http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/players/2012-pga-championship-field). The field currently represents 96 of the OWGR top-100 so there is room once again for the PGA to invite the other 4 top-100 OWGR players not already in. ( #78 Bernd Wiesberger, #92 Brendan Jones, #96 T. Olesen, #100 David Lynn)

Currently the Alternate list is (my guess is 8-10 will get in, more depending on unexpected WD's):
S. O'Hair
B. Adams
J. Walker
W. McGirt
C. Stroud
J. Kelly
D. Pride
B. Steele
K. Stadler
D. Summerhays
D. Hearn
C. Villegas

Bottom line: Barring some late WD's of VERY high ranked players... for at least the 5th straight year, the PGA Championship will once again field the toughest field as per OWGR field Rating Values. (using both world values, and sum of OWGR averages for all players)

EDIT: Now it appears as only 4 to 5 from the above alternate list will get in... The field is full to 156, but two of those spots are held for potential winners of Reno and Bridgestone. As expected Wiesberger, B Jones, Olesen and D. Lynn were invited. O'Hair and Adams have been added to the field... leaving J.Walker as first alternate at this time.

Robo: Assuming he is eligible*, does the Reno Tahoe and or Bridgestone winner get in if he hasn't already qualified?




*Scott Verplank was not eligible when he won the Western the week prior to the 1985 PGA.

GPB wrote:Robo: Assuming he is eligible*, does the Reno Tahoe and or Bridgestone winner get in if he hasn't already qualified?




*Scott Verplank was not eligible when he won the Western the week prior to the 1985 PGA.

Yes... now the criteria reads... "Winners of PGA TOUR cosponsored or approved tournaments, whose victories are considered official, since the previous year’s PGA Championship." That includes alternate events and the WGC-Bridgestone if not qualified. And by coincidence... that criteria got 2011 Reno/Tahoe winner Scott Piercy in last year.

EDIT: Of course most the Reno field isn't qualified for the PGA but most of the WGC field is... Just taking a quick look I think these are the WGC-Bridgestone players that have yet to qualify for the PGA... Allenby, O Bekker, Y Fujimoto, M Hoey, T Jaidee, T Lewis, T Muto, L Slattery, D Willett... Bernd Wiesberger is technically not invited yet as mentioned above... but at #78 he will be invited.

EDIT: As it turned out, Allenby, Hoey & Jaidee were invited... thus leaving only 6 players (Bekker, Fujimoto, Lewis, Muto, Slattery and Willett) as participants in Bridgestone not already eligible for the PGA.

What do you guys make of the modified stableford scoring system in place for the Reno Tahoe?
http://www.pgatour.com/2012/tournaments/r472/07/30/stableford-basics/index.html

incontinentia wrote:What do you guys make of the modified stableford scoring system in place for the Reno Tahoe?
http://www.pgatour.com/2012/tournaments/r472/07/30/stableford-basics/index.html

Once a year... IMO it's a good thing. Only thing I might do just once is make par, bogey or worse all worth ZERO, thus doing away with the negative points for bogey or double or worse Reason... I would truly like to see these guys go full bore, no fear... aggressive... and see what they could do.

Cheers, gents!
robopz, thanks for the PGA field review. Looks like that one almost gets clearer ahead of the Bridgestone field...

Based on the current, not confirmed, list I've seen for Firestone, it should be worth ~76 pts, same as last year... but will wait for the final call.

Considering that 76 pts will be on offer, Tiger's deal is pretty simple this week, he needs a win to move to #1, but only if Luke finishes worse than in a 2-way tie for 2nd. Rory is the only other who could get to #1 with a win, if Luke finishes worse than a 2-way tie for 11th...

inco, a very good result for Shane in Austria, his problem now is that he won't have where to play the next couple of weeks (unless he goes to Reno with Padraig) so he may slip back a bit from where he is. There's a good stretch of events on ET after the USPGA and he would have a chance then to make a more decisive push for a win and top 100, etc... although based on last year's performances, that stretch between August and September has been one of his weakest all season... we'll see how it goes...

PD... thanks for the WGC estimate and update...

I also found it interesting Padraig entered in Reno (GPB pointed it out to me)... not sure I know why he's there, unless he thinks the course or Stableford formant might favor him. Obviously this event can't help him on the Ryder Cup Euro list... an not sure 24 points is enough to make a significant jump on the RC World list. Also... he's well on pace to make his PGAT minimum events (this will be his 14th and he's in the PGA, and all but assured the first 2 rounds of the playoffs)... anyway... whatever the reason... wish him well...

robo, I believe Paddy is on record as saying he wants to play this week as he's always happier if he plays the week before a major. No exemption for Bridgestone, so Reno it was. Suspect he'll enjoy himself, it's a course deserving of far more than an alternate event, by all accounts.

NedB-H wrote:robo, I believe Paddy is on record as saying he wants to play this week as he's always happier if he plays the week before a major. No exemption for Bridgestone, so Reno it was. Suspect he'll enjoy himself, it's a course deserving of far more than an alternate event, by all accounts.

Thanks NedB.... makes sense. As far as the course... I haven't played it, but I've seen it... and it's about a 9.5 on the Wow-o-meter. I often used to play the Resort at Squaw Creek which was similar elevation... and man does the ball go.... and go.... and go..... and go.... Only thing is Paddy's gonna be hitting 9-irons about 30-40 yards further in that altitude and atmospherics... compared to the sea level and heavy air of Kiawah.

But I'll say this much... I really like what the PGAT is doing this year mixing some things up... Monday finish here... new format there... marquee groupings... Anything to help interest.

robopz wrote: Once a year... IMO it's a good thing. Only thing I might do just once is make par, bogey or worse all worth ZERO, thus doing away with the negative points for bogey or double or worse Reason... I would truly like to see these guys go full bore, no fear... aggressive... and see what they could do.

That's all fine, I guess, but as someone was pointing out recently somewhere else, the field in Reno includes no less than 39 players over 40 years old (and only 27 under 30). Not sure if guys like that will necessarily go full bore, agressive and all guns blazing... we'll see. It'll be also interesting to see at the end if this mod. stableford system will make a big difference to the final leaderboard, compared to what it would've been using the 'normal' system...

princedracula wrote: It'll be also interesting to see at the end if this mod. stableford system will make a big difference to the final leaderboard, compared to what it would've been using the 'normal' system...

I'm not sure we'll ever be able to tell. Sure we could apply a score to the pluses and minus's... but we still won't be able to know how players might have altered their strategy due to the format.

Robo

I like your idea that you get 72 shots at birdie or better, and you only get points for beating par. Although it is difficult to foresee whether risk free golf would be good viewing, as I would pretty much mean all the players had the same game plan.

So it is still possible if you're outside top 100...!

From Michael Hoey's twitter a few hours ago:

Really excited, got word yesterday that I get to play in the US PGA next week. Soooo cool!

Looks like the PGA Of America has changed its own rules!
I see O'Hair, Overton, Aiken, Allenby and Jaidee are also in. Ramsay looks the highest owgr man to miss out.

I'll be interested to read the explanation . . . . . .

According to Doug Ferguson, and borne out by the content of the provisional field, the PGA went down to #108 in the owgr's for its Championship, and #78 in its points list.
Good news for O'Hair and Overton (twice each!), but bad news for #109 Richie Ramsay and #79 Dirt McGirt respectively.
Sadly, Ramsay misses out completely, but McGirt becomes first alternate.

Not sure who is likely to drop out. Karlsson perhaps - I didn't realise he has a case of the Kevin Na's - Webb Simpson if his cricketing daughter is giving any problems?

The PGA Championship field is set with 154 named golfers, PLUS the winners this week of Bridgestone and Reno.

If one or both of those winners is already in the PGA field, the field will be completed from the list of "alternates". The leading alternates are:
1).McGirt
2).Stroud
3).Jerry Kelly
4).Pride
5).Steele
6).Stadler
7).Summerhays
8).Hearn
9).Villegas

Thanks Kwini. But aren't most Bridgestoners already qualified for the PGA?

pedro wrote:Thanks Kwini. But aren't most Bridgestoners already qualified for the PGA?

According to Robo's post above, these Bridgestoners are not yet qualified for the PGA.

Allenby, O Bekker, Y Fujimoto, M Hoey, T Jaidee, T Lewis, T Muto, L Slattery, D Willett.

I suspect that Dirt McGirt as first alternate is going to play as I don't think any of the above player will win Bridgestone.

Allenby, Hoey and Jaidee are now in the PGA Championship field as confirmed on pga.com.

Agree that Dirt McGirt is a racing cert.

Cheers GPB!

No big events in Europe this week, but just noticed that a 'new' American, 22 year old Brooks Koepka (I believe he's from Florida), is leading the Challenge Tour event in Finland this morning. I first noticed him last week when he finished 7th in the English Challenge and earned his first owgr points. His bio page just says that he MC at the US Open in June and then just three weeks ago suddenly he seems to have joined the Challenge Tour in Europe, and doing really well from start, finishing 27th in Switzerland, 20th in Acaya and then 7th last week in England, and now leading the Finsih event. Good to see...

They just put up a brief piece about him on the ET site, but does anybody know more details about this youngster, he seems to be quite promissing...

'Morning pd,
Wow! I looked at the ET link and assumed he was Finnish, a la Roope Kakko!

Successful Collegiate golfer at Florida State apparently, in the US Open as an amateur, but now playing the Challenge Tour, presumably as a pro.
Perhaps inspired by his girlfriend who's reportedly a pro footballer in Sweden?

Final count:

- Bridgestone @ 76pts
- Reno-Tahoe @ 24 pts

Furyk could climb as high as #14, RCBello as high as #23 with a win...

I figure Rory has to earn about 8 more points than Tiger to claim the #2 spot. PD, is that pretty close?

Depends obviously in what area of the LB they will finish. As they are now it's closer to 9 points... At this very moment Tiger would earn about 8.4 pts less than Rory, but would still be a fraction ahead of him...