OWGR - Week #22

Last week we were all cheering the happy Boooos, this week we are shouting, very unhappily, the same thing to our numero uno and numero due, for their mediocre displays in Jack’s backyard…

But what a great year Matt Kuchar is having! Another fantastic, top notch win for him at the Memorial, following his WGC MP win earlier in the year, plus a string of other top finishes inbetween. And with such a collection of top results, there’s no surprise that his ranking has rocketed now to no. 4 in the world! He (and I) will be disappointed now if he doesn’t add a major to all that this year… Great runner up finish for Kevin Chappell, and a big jump up right behind the top 100 gates (at #102), and a very welcome 3rd spot for Kyle Stanley, coming right on time to push him up into the top 60 (at #59) just before the US Open deadline. Other significant movers from the Memorial field are Stallings moving back inside the top 100 (#99) and Russell Henley, who is returning inside the top 50, at #47.

Congratulations also to the flying Finn, Mikko Ilonen, who’s been in a rich vein of form recently, and his clear win at the Nordea Masters certainly didn’t come as a surprise. He is climbing with that to #69 in the rankings and remains to be seen if he decides to play now in Austria next week to try and make the US Open cut. Same story for Alex Noren, who’s moving to #64 and probably an easier prospect for Bernd Wiesberger, who stops at #61, but with the home advantage next week, I’d fancy him to make it to Merrion. Great runner up result for Jonas Blixt in front of his home fans, and moving up to #94. Matteo ran out of steam a little bit at the weekend, but his overall performance remains pretty impressive, moving up a few more places in the world rankings, now at #26…

Hideki Matsuyama’s very impressive progress in his short professional career, continued this week with yet another win on the Japanese Tour, at the Diamond Cup, which is enough to push him up to #63, becoming now the highest ranked Japanese golfer. In the 5 events he played so far as a pro he finished T10, 1st, 2nd, T2 and 1st, and his next showing will be at Merrion.

Finally, it’s very well done to all the other winners this week:

- Michael Putnam (USA) winner for the 2nd consecutive week on the Web.com Tour and moving up to around #130
- Brooks Koepka (USA), for his 2nd win on the Challenge Tour, this time by 10 shots (!) in La Gomera, and jumping to somewhere around #170
- Merrick Bremner (SAf),  winner on the Sunshine Tour and moving up near #340
- Ryan Blaum (USA), winner on the LatinoAmerica Tour, in the Dominican Republic, who climbs somewhere close to #730
- Lee Soo Min (KOR), still a teenager, and now winner on the Korean Tour, who will move up somewhere near #690

The OWGR table after week #22 should look as follows:

1 Tiger Woods
2 Rory McIlroy
3 Adam Scott
4 Matt Kuchar
5 Justin Rose
6 Brandt Snedeker
7 Luke Donald
8 Graeme McDowell
9 Louis Oosthuizen
10 Phil Mickelson
------------------------------
11 Lee Westwood
12 Steve Stricker
13 Keegan Bradley
14 Sergio Garcia
15 Charl Schwartzel
16 Ian Poulter
17 Bubba Watson
18 Webb Simpson
19 Dustin Johnson
20 Jason Dufner
21 Ernie Els
22 Hunter Mahan
23 Peter Hanson
24 Nick Watney
25 Jason Day
26 Matteo Manassero
27 Bo Van Pelt
28 Jim Furyk
29 Bill Haas
30 Zach Johnson
31 Branden Grace
32 Henrik Stenson
33 Rickie Fowler
34 Martin Kaymer
35 Thorbjorn Olesen
36 Kevin Streelman
37 Scott Piercy
38 Francesco Molinari
39 Carl Pettersson
40 Jamie Donaldson
41 Gonzalo Fdez-Castano
42 Robert Garrigus
43 Paul Lawrie
44 David Lynn
45 Michael Thompson
46 Nicolas Colsaerts
47 Russell Henley
48 Ryan Moore
49 D.A. Points
49 Tim Clark
------------------------------
51 Fredrik Jacobson
52 Thongchai Jaidee
53 Billy Horschel
54 Richard Sterne
55 Boo Weekley
56 George Coetzee
57 Martin Laird
58 Marcel Siem
59 Kyle Stanley
60 Marc Leishman
----------------------------
61 Bernd Wiesberger
62 Angel Cabrera
63 Hideki Matsuyama
64 Alexander Noren
65 Chris Wood
66 John Senden
67 Jimmy Walker
68 Charles Howell-III
69 Mikko Ilonen
70 Hiroyuki Fujita
71 Luke Guthrie
72 Marcus Fraser
73 Padraig Harrington
74 Brendon de Jonge
75 Geoff Ogilvy
76 Bae Sang-moon
77 Miguel A Jimenez
78 Stephen Gallacher
79 Brett Rumford
80 Shane Lowry
81 Chris Kirk
82 Jaco Van Zyl
83 Kiradech Aphibarnrat
84 Richie Ramsay
85 Ryan Palmer
86 Greg Chalmers
87 Thomas Bjorn
88 John Merrick
89 Scott Jamieson
90 Charlie Beljan
91 David Lingmerth
92 John Huh
93 Anders Hansen
94 Jonas Blixt
95 K.J. Choi
96 Rafael Cabrera Bello
97 Thomas Aiken
98 Darren Fichardt
99 Scott Stallings
100 Pablo Larrazabal
-----------------------------
101 David Toms
102 Kevin Chappell
103 Kim Hyung-sung
...

Thanks PD for the Wrap up.

I would have thought Schwartzel would have passed Sergio with this T8 finish.

UFR, Sergio dropped a tournament from his divisor, but I imagine the difference between 14 and 15 is very small.

Cheers GPB... That's right, difference between those is small...~0.01points.

Early count for this week (probably the weakest owgr week of the year so far).

- StJude @ ~34 points (same as last year)
- Lyoness @ 24 points (same as last year)

Top 4 are safe; with a win Sned could move as high as #5, Phil as high as #8 and Poults as high as #10.

Top 60 at the end of this week get the last tickets for Merrion, so here is how the projected top 60 cutline looks like:

....
55 Martin Laird
56 George Coetzee
57 Boo Weekly
58 Marcel Siem
59 Angel Cabrera
60 Kyle Stanley
------------------------------
61 Mark Leishman
62 Bernd Wiesberger
63 Alexander Noren
64 Hideki Matsuyama
65 Chris Wood
66 Mikko Ilonen
67 Jimmy Walker
68 John Senden
69 Luke Guthrie
70 Hiroyuki Fujita
71 Charles Howell III
72 Marcus Fraser
73 Padraig Harrington
74 Brendan de Jonge
75 Geoff Ogilvy
76 Stephen Gallacher
77 Bae Sang-Moon
78 Miguel A. Jimenez
...

The Mechanic can still make it with a win...

Does it get any lower than 32 on the pga tour?

McLaren wrote:Does it get any lower than 32 on the pga tour?

Yep... 24 is the minimum. Only time we've seen it is so far this year was Puerto Rico (alternate event to WGC Cadillac)... and I doubt we will see it again until alternate events opposite the Open and WGC Bridgestone.

PD... here's your list through 60... and their status this week. BOLD are not NOT yet qualified for the U.S. Open.

55 Martin Laird - Qualified
56 George Coetzee - Memphis - Qualified
57 Boo Weekly - Memphis - Qualified
58 Marcel Siem - Qualified
59 Angel Cabrera - Qualified
60 Kyle Stanley - Playing Columbus Qualifier
------------------------------
61 Mark Leishman - Qualified
62 Bernd Wiesberger - playing Lyoness
63 Alexander Noren
64 Hideki Matsuyama - Qualified
65 Chris Wood
66 Mikko Ilonen
67 Jimmy Walker - Memphis - Playing Columbus Qualifier
68 John Senden - Qualified
69 Luke Guthrie - Memphis - Playing Columbus Qualifier
70 Hiroyuki Fujita - Qualified
71 Charles Howell III - Memphis - Playing Columbus Qualifier
72 Marcus Fraser - Qualified
73 Padraig Harrington - Memphis - Qualified
74 Brendan de Jonge - Memphis - Playing Columbus Qualifier
75 Geoff Ogilvy - Qualified
76 Stephen Gallacher
77 Bae Sang-Moon - Playing Columbus Qualifier
78 Miguel A. Jimenez - playing Lyoness

Strange that most of the Euros that are just outside the top 60 bubble are choosing not to play this week.

I will be rooting for the Mechanic to win and play Merion. Should be a good course for him. But he did not play in the Walton Heath qualifier.

I wonder what prompted Paul Lawrie to play in the US Open this year when he skipped it last year.

GPB:
Re: Paul Lawrie.
Last year his preoccupation was Ryder Cup qualification and he thought a week's break was a good idea, especially given relative lack of success in previous US Opens.
Not many would necessarily agree, but that was his rationale. (And, remember, especially given that jet-lag was offered a week or so ago for non-appearance of Americans in Europe, there's a difference between 5 hours - inconsequential to moi, for instance, and eight hours which sets me back.)

Just surfing around the USGA website and I am astounded at the difference between the info disseminating from today's sectional locations versus the near lack of information that came from Walton Heath last week.

Josh Teater had a great first round.

Apparently PGATour rookie Scott Gardiner played with a set of borrowed clubs from the club/assistant pros and proceeded to shoot 65! His clubs were lost in transit. He plays TaylorMade, but Morning Drive said that he as using a makeshift set that included Titleist, Nike, Adams, and Callaway.

GPB wrote:Apparently PGATour rookie Scott Gardiner played with a set of borrowed clubs from the club/assistant pros and proceeded to shoot 65! His clubs were lost in transit. He plays TaylorMade, but Morning Drive said that he as using a makeshift set that included Titleist, Nike, Adams, and Callaway.

OMG... don't say that on the "other board".... half will be saying he would have shot 58 without the Nike (whatever's) in the bag... and the other half will say he shot 65 only because of the Nike (whatever)... :-)

kwinigolfer wrote:GPB:
Re: Paul Lawrie.
Last year his preoccupation was Ryder Cup qualification and he thought a week's break was a good idea, especially given relative lack of success in previous US Opens.
Not many would necessarily agree, but that was his rationale. (And, remember, especially given that jet-lag was offered a week or so ago for non-appearance of Americans in Europe, there's a difference between 5 hours - inconsequential to moi, for instance, and eight hours which sets me back.)

I'm one that didn't have a problem with Lawrie skipping the U.S. Open last year any more than I did with Kenny Perry skipping the Open Championship in 2008 with the reasoning staying home was his best chance to make Vahalla (in his home state of Kentucky) for the RC. THEIR career... THEIR priories... no problem with me. And it apparently worked out for BOTH of them.

EDIT: And that jet lag thing... yep... it's REAL. Most seem to find traveling East more difficult (me too), but it has an effect both ways on MOST people. It slays me even though I have no trouble sleeping on planes as I try to adjust schedules... but barely bothers the wifey at all, and she can't sleep on a plane... go figure.

robopz wrote:OMG... don't say that on the "other board".... half will be saying he would have shot 58 without the Nike (whatever's) in the bag... and the other half will say he shot 65 only because of the Nike (whatever)... :-)

Too late: Already an article over there. And the first wedges he had in the bag were still had square grooves, so he had replacements for the replacements.

But the groove rule is not just for wedges is it? Isn't all irons, or just irons above a specified loft?

GPB wrote:

robopz wrote:OMG... don't say that on the "other board".... half will be saying he would have shot 58 without the Nike (whatever's) in the bag... and the other half will say he shot 65 only because of the Nike (whatever)... :-)

Too late: Already an article over there. And the first wedges he had in the bag were still had square grooves, so he had replacements for the replacements.

But the groove rule is not just for wedges is it? Isn't all irons, or just irons above a specified loft?

Yeah... I saw the article... and just heard the deal about the grooves on the first set of wedges. I've certainly not read the technical spec... but my understanding has always been the new groove rule is for all clubs... not just wedges.... only difference being the different implementation times for different classes of players.

Strange to see the likes of Noren, Wood not playing this week to try and qualify, surely playing in the majors is what these players are looking for!?

The groove rule was for all irons 25 degrees or higher (5-iron). Gardiner might be in trouble if he thought the rule only applied to wedges and did not check the other clubs (if they conform)

http://www.usga.org/news.aspx?id=24795

The rules control the cross sectional area of grooves on all clubs, with the exception of drivers and putters, and limit groove edge sharpness on clubs with lofts equal to or greater than 25 degrees (generally a standard 5-iron and above).

"faldono1" told us last week that Chris Wood is having terrible back trouble, hence his withdrawal from Wentworth. Don't know about Noren, he wasn't entered and presumably declined to get in on the back of last week's top ten.
Serious case of promise so far unfulfilled . . . . .

GPB wrote:The groove rule was for all irons 25 degrees or higher (5-iron). Gardiner might be in trouble if he thought the rule only applied to wedges and did not check the other clubs (if they conform)

http://www.usga.org/news.aspx?id=24795

The rules control the cross sectional area of grooves on all clubs, with the exception of drivers and putters, and limit groove edge sharpness on clubs with lofts equal to or greater than 25 degrees (generally a standard 5-iron and above).

Ah thanks... wasn't aware of the 25 degree cutoff. Just guessing... but wouldn't it seem practical to have the same grooves through an entire set of irons (at least say 2-9 maybe excluding wedges)... or would it be beneficial to use the square grooves where they could? Not a club wonk here... so I really have no clue.

Oh, I didn't know that about Chris Wood.....Totally agree about Noren should have won more and should be in the majors year in and year out by now.

robopz wrote:Ah thanks... wasn't aware of the 25 degree cutoff. Just guessing... but wouldn't it seem practical to have the same grooves through an entire set of irons (at least say 2-9 maybe excluding wedges)... or would it be beneficial to use the square grooves where they could? Not a club wonk here... so I really have no clue.

When the Pro V1 generation of golf ball hit the market, I could no longer get my long irons airborne. With the Titleist Professional ball, my 3-iron carry about 205 yds. The Pro V1 zapped all the carry out of my ball. The only explanation I could surmise (besides my advancing age) was the Pro V1 was spinning less (and therefore less lift). I was hitting the rest of my irons about the same distance.

I replaced my 3 (and a couple years later a 4 iron) with a 7 woods and a hybrid.

Maybe square grooves on a 4 irons and stronger might help get the ball airborne.


{{shrug}} I don't know. It just a theory.

GPB wrote:When the Pro V1 generation of golf ball hit the market, I could no longer get my long irons airborne. With the Titleist Professional ball, my 3-iron carry about 205 yds. The Pro V1 zapped all the carry out of my ball. The only explanation I could surmise (besides my advancing age) was the Pro V1 was spinning less (and therefore less lift). I was hitting the rest of my irons about the same distance.

I replaced my 3 (and a couple years later a 4 iron) with a 7 woods and a hybrid.

Maybe square grooves on a 4 irons and stronger might help get the ball airborne.


{{shrug}} I don't know. It just a theory.

I don't know either. I never had the problem getting the ball up with the new ball, but 1 and 2 iron's were already gone out of my bag by 2000. At that time I was still carrying a 1 (driver), 3 (wood) and a Callaway Heaven Wood that I'd sometimes switch out with a TM 5-wood. Then 3-iron on up...

Updated list of U.S. Open Qualifiers after completion of Monday Sectionals. Status changes are underlined. Those in BOLD are NOT qualified

55 Martin Laird - Qualified
56 George Coetzee - Memphis - Qualified
57 Boo Weekly - Memphis - Qualified
58 Marcel Siem - Qualified
59 Angel Cabrera - Qualified
60 Kyle Stanley - Failed to qualify Columbus Sectional (BUBBLE BOY)
------------------------------
61 Mark Leishman - Qualified
62 Bernd Wiesberger - playing Lyoness
63 Alexander Noren
64 Hideki Matsuyama - Qualified
65 Chris Wood
66 Mikko Ilonen
67 Jimmy Walker - playing Memphis - Failed to qualify Columbus Sectional
68 John Senden - Qualified
69 Luke Guthrie - playing Memphis - QUALIFIED via Columbus Sectional
70 Hiroyuki Fujita - Qualified
71 Charles Howell III - playing Memphis - Failed to qualify Columbus Sectional
72 Marcus Fraser - Qualified
73 Padraig Harrington - playing Memphis - Qualified
74 Brendan de Jonge - playing Memphis - Failed to qualify Columbus Sectional
75 Geoff Ogilvy - Qualified
76 Stephen Gallacher
77 Bae Sang-Moon - QUALIFIED via Columbus Sectional
78 Miguel A. Jimenez - playing Lyoness

Thanks, robo, great job.

From what I gather, there are 3 others who could still qualify with a win in Memphis, but are not in that list and are not (yet) qualified:

- Ryan Palmer (understand he is still engaged in a playoff today in the Dallas Qualifier...?)
- John Merrick (needs a win in Memphis to have a chance)
- Scott Stallings (needs a win as well)

Noone else from the Lyoness field could qualify below the Mechanic...

robopz wrote:

McLaren wrote:Does it get any lower than 32 on the pga tour?

Yep... 24 is the minimum. Only time we've seen it is so far this year was Puerto Rico (alternate event to WGC Cadillac)... and I doubt we will see it again until alternate events opposite the Open and WGC Bridgestone.

I know the minimum is 24 but does a regular event ever actually go lower than 32?

Finally...!!
Zack Fischer defeated Ryan Palmer in that playoff, after no less than 12 playoff holes!!!! Palmer needs now to win in Memphis to qualify...

Some w/d's from Memphis include Charlie Wi, Brian Stuard, Jordan Spieth.
Ryuji and All Day among replacements.

Mac,
Not often, but YES!

McLaren wrote: I know the minimum is 24 but does a regular event ever actually go lower than 32?

They used to, but not sure if they will any more with the new schedule.

Last year for example Valero Texas Open was a 24 playing two weeks after the Masters, it went up a bunch this year(44) because it moved the week before the Masters. In 2014 it moves again to two weeks after the masters, so it's probably the most likely event on the 2013-2014 schedule to be a minimum 24 event (again excepting the alternate events)

It also wasn't unusual for a few of the Fall Series events to be at the 24 minimum (two at 24 and one at 26 last year). But going forward the Fall events get full FedEx allocations along with Masters invites, so most are expecting the fields to improve... quite likely above the 24 level. (Mayakoba might be a stretch though... )

OK, so here's the situation with those not yet qualified, but who still have a chance to qualify for Merrion via the top 60 OWGR this week:

Spoiler:

princedracula wrote:OK, so here's the situation with those not yet qualified, but who still have a chance to qualify for Merrion via the top 60 OWGR this week:

Thanks PD... How close to 32 is this event right now. as noted by Kwini... Charlie Wi, Stuard, Spieth, Snyder III out (replaced by Beckman, Atwal, Day and Imada) Also Vince Covello, Chip Deason, Charlie Holland and Trent Whitekiller in via 4-spot {{{Whitekiller?? I ain't touching that one with a 10 foot pole}}}. Also 2 new SE's that won't OWGR matter... Cody Gribble and Chase Seifiert

EDIT: Josh Teater out... Woody Austin in

Here's the list of players who qualified for the U.S. Open via June 3 Sectionals. (ranked by current OWGR up to 1000)

71 - Guthrie, Lukas - Quincy, Ill.
76 - Bae, Sang Moon - Republic of Korea
91 - Lingmerth, David - Sweden
106 - Teater, Josh - Lexington, Ky.
111 - Hoffman, Charley - San Diego, Calif.
134 - Baddeley, Aaron - Australia
140 - Potter Jr, Ted - Silver Springs, Fla.
143 - Spieth, Jordan - Dallas, Texas
160 - Hoffmann, Morgan - Jupiter, Fla.
180 - Karlsson, Robert - Sweden
190 - Stefani, Shawn - Baytown, Texas
196 - Hearn, David - Brantford, ON
202 - Kelly, Jerry - Madison, Wis.
216 - Stuard, Brian - Jackson, Mich.
226 - Sabbatini, Rory - South Africa
228 - Steele, Brendan - Irvine, Calif.
246 - Hicks, Justin - Wyandotte, Mich.
257 - Loar, Edward - Dallas, Texas
278 - Thompson, Nicholas - Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
345 - Langley, Scott - Manchester, Mo.
370 - Jobe, Brandt - Westlake, Texas
373 - Labelle II, Douglas - Mount Plesant, Mich.
378 - Goggin, Mathew - Australia
386 - Presnell, Alistair - Australia
392 - Knox, Russell - Scotland
482 - Herman, Jim - Palm City, Fla.
494 - Kim, Bio - Pasadena, Calif.
531 - Hadwin, Adam - Canada
543 - Kresge, Cliff - Heathrow, Fla.
550 - Weibring, Matt - Dallas, Texas
567 - Svoboda, Andrew - Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
590 - Alker, Steven - Fountain Hills, Ariz.
691 - Bettencourt, Matt - Spartanburg, S.C.
753 - Harmon, Matt - Grand Rapids, Mich.
936 - Ogilvie, Joe - Austin, Texas
1000+ - Blake, Jay Don - St George, Utah
1000+ - Brown, Brandon - Shelbyville, Ky.
1000+ - Collins, Wil - Albuquerque, N.M.
1000+ - Crick, Brandon - McCook, Neb.
1000+ - Fischer, Zack - Wake Village, Texas
1000+ - Hall, Gavin (a) - Pittsford, N.Y.
1000+ - Homa, Max - Valencia, Calif.
1000+ - Hughes, Mackenzie - Charlotte, N.C.
1000+ - Hutchison, Randall - Traverse City, Mich.
1000+ - John Hahn - Hudson, Ohio
1000+ - John Nieporte - Boca Raton, Fla.
1000+ - Kevin Phelan (a) - Republic of Ireland
1000+ - Kim, Michael (a) - Del Mar, Calif.
1000+ - McElyea, Cory - Santa Cruz, Calif.
1000+ - Murray, Grayson (a) - Raleigh, N.C.
1000+ - Nelson, Ryan - Charleston, S.C.
1000+ - Pan, Cheng-Tsung - Sammamish, Wash.
1000+ - Sisk, Geoffrey - Marshfield, Mass.
1000+ - Smith, Jesse - Dover, N.H.
1000+ - Sullivan, Ryan - Winston Salem, N.C.
1000+ - Sutherland, Kevin - Sacramento, Calif.
1000+ - Tambellini, Roger - Scottsdale, Ariz.

robo,kwini, thks for the updates.
Even after the Teater et al. WD updates, still looks to be in the middle of the 34 pts range, so it'll take a bigger fish/WD to knock it down to 32...

Some big changes at the top of the Sagarin Rankings this week:

Here is the top 100 for comparison to the OWGR.

1 Adam Scott
2 Steve Stricker
3 Tiger Woods
4 Matt Kuchar
5 Sergio Garcia
6 Rory McIlroy
7 Jason Day
8 Charl Schwartzel
9 Lee Westwood
10 Luke Donald
11 Justin Rose
12 Jim Furyk
13 Jimmy Walker
14 Brandt Snedeker
15 Billy Horschel
16 Freddie Jacobson
17 Jason Dufner
18 Bubba Watson
19 Dustin Johnson
20 Louis Oosthuizen
21 Brendon De Jonge
22 Phil Mickelson
23 Robert Garrigus
24 Nick Watney
25 Bill Haas
26 Bo Van Pelt
27 Peter Hanson
28 Keegan Bradley
29 Webb Simpson
30 Ian Poulter
31 Henrik Stenson
32 Carl Pettersson
33 Pat Perez
34 Graham DeLaet
35 Jeff Overton
36 Chris Kirk
37 Bob Estes
38 Vijay Singh
39 Hunter Mahan
40 Kevin Streelman
41 Graeme McDowell
42 Hideki Matsuyama
43 Ryan Palmer
44 Ernie Els
45 John Senden
46 Thongchai Jaidee
47 Matteo Manassero
48 Alexander Noren
49 Zach Johnson
50 Rickie Fowler
51 K.J. Choi
52 Ryan Moore
53 Jordan Spieth
54 Scott Piercy
55 Francesco Molinari
56 Harris English
57 Charles Howell III
58 Padraig Harrington
59 Russell Henley
60 Josh Teater
61 Thorbjorn Olesen
62 Greg Chalmers
63 Gonzalo Fernandez-Cast
64 Marc Leishman
65 Richard Sterne
66 Retief Goosen
67 Blake Adams
68 Seung-Yul Noh
69 Tim Clark
70 Bernd Wiesberger
71 Jamie Donaldson
72 Martin Kaymer
73 Ross Fisher
74 Nicolas Colsaerts
75 Luke Guthrie
76 David Howell
77 George Coetzee
78 Charley Hoffman
79 Lee Slattery
80 Paul Lawrie
81 John Huh
82 Anders Hansen
83 Hyung-Sung Kim
84 Henrik Norlander
85 Marcel Siem
86 John Merrick
87 Jaco Van Zyl
88 Danny Willett
89 Marcus Fraser
90 Angel Cabrera
91 George McNeill
92 Bud Cauley
93 Martin Laird
94 Stephen Gallacher
95 Gary Woodland
96 Morgan Hoffmann
97 David Lynn
98 Martin Flores
99 Tim Wilkinson
100 Richard H. Lee

GPB:
Yes, well, there are some glaring credibility issues with that aren't there? Not least Tont Vonn at #3, Jason Day at #7 and Vijay Deer Spray at #38.
Blake Adams has been out just about all year, yet he's squatting there at #67, while David Lynn is at #97, barely ahead of world-beating lefty Wilkinson.

And Lee Slattery needs to get his agent to have a butcher's at his position, just ahead of Paul Lawrie; similarly Norlander at #84, six spots ahead of Cabrera.

I look at the college football and basketball Sagarins every week during the season and shall attach even less credibility after feasting my eyes on this lot.

Two things that are different about Sagarin vs OWGR.

No Attrition in Sagarin. a result from 11 months ago has much weight as last weeks result.

And WDs do not count against you. Rory's toothache did not hurt his Sagarin ranking whatsoever.

I think there is VOODOO in Sagarin's calculations but I do think they are a better leading indicator of results than the OWGR. Robo can tell you that I am in a Yahoo fantasy game this year using Sagarin Rankings and at this point, Sagarin is leading the Spring Session, and would be leading the whole Season if it didn't miss the first two week of the year (he got a late start).

1000+ - Sutherland, Kevin - Sacramento, Calif.
I always had Sutherland in as a steady golfer flirting between PGA and Web.com. I realise he still probably does but did not realise he had fell so far in the rankings.

Some great contributions in this thread. Thanks to those who take their time to put all the information together.

Lairdy,
Sutherland's been injured most of the past 2 or 3 years, pretty much since the early spring of 2011. His only career win is the WGC-MatchPlay!
He'll be 50 years old next year and I imagine his next win will be on the Champions Tour. If he qualifies which he might have a hard time doing.
Good, consistent Tour player, especially in California - and lost in a play-off with Vijay in the Barclays a few years ago.

Echo your about content on this thread.

Yeah, I can recall you highlighting the fact he seemed to do his best bidding in Cali. I used to get him and Streelman mixed up.

What makes you optimistic about Knox at Merion? My impression of him is a solid ball striker, who should hit most fairways. I reckon the short length of the Merion course will squeeze the field a bit. 18 hole play off anyone?

It's about this time I start thinking about bets. US Open is tough to call, not because of the course but the time of the season. Saffa's early form has usually dropped off a bit, Brits and Europeans generally out of form right now.
ROW largely anonymous.
So do I just pick from a bunch of in bred bible bashing yanks? I'm not inspired.

Roger Chapman has WD from the US Open, Scott Stallings from the Memphis Qualifier replaced him.

Lairdy,
Knox has been playing quite well this year, he hits it pretty straight, distance shouldn't be an issue, and these Merion greens might be difficult to putt, but I'm thinking they'll be even more difficult to pitch and chip to.
Wouldn't put more than half a crown each way on him, say at 1,000-1!, but I'd expect him to make the cut at the very least.

Since someone mention making wagers, I was looking around paddypower dot com website.

They have some prop bets on Tianlang Guan.

Like how many majors will he win in his career.

Winning 8 majors in his career is 100/1.

Aside from the sheer lunacy of the odds, who would make a bet that you even if you win, you wouldn't be able to collect for years and years and years?

and FTR, I highly doubt that Rory will win 8 majors and paddypower has odds of 1/7 that Rory will beat Faldo's total of 6 majors. 1 to 7?

Laying 7 to 1 odds for something that you cannot collect until he officially retires?

Who makes these kind of bets?

GPB,
Remember that they may not want anyone to make that bet for McIlroy to beat Faldo's record . . . . . perhaps they're already over-exposed. (And you might be able to collect in the next couple of years!! Stupid bet at any odds on though, which is probably the idea.)

On a per tournament basis there is usually very good value to be found on these books - Boo at 28/1 looks outstanding value each way, Brian Davis not bad at 55/1.
Luke List is something like 250's and this is a home course for him - no harm in some idle speculation at low risk with prices like that.

Also: Most American "books", Dave Sheridan's prices and the like, are very unbalanced, almost as if they don't understand how to make a book.

GPB... I would agree that Sagarin rankings make for a fine "fantasy game tool" and/or maybe even a better "hot list" than the OWGR....

BUT... ANY "ranking system" that is supposed to identify the best players (especially one based on the last 12 months) that has Steve Stricker ranked ahead of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy (or even Matt Kuchar) is so totally out of WHACK... it simply can't be taken seriously.

robopz wrote:GPB... I would agree that Sagarin rankings make for a fine "fantasy game tool" and/or maybe even a better "hot list" than the OWGR....

BUT... ANY "ranking system" that is supposed to identify the best players (especially one based on the last 12 months) that has Steve Stricker ranked ahead of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy (or even Matt Kuchar) is so totally out of WHACK... it simply can't be taken seriously.

In real terms, Stephen Hawking is probably ranked ahead of McIlroy based on recent form.

OK, Jimmy Walker is out of US Open contention (looks as if he's hit the wall - take a month off Jimmy), the remainder of those detailed by pd and robo are still running, with Wiesberger, Guthrie and Howell the most likely to eliminate Kyle Stanley.

Edit: Should have added that Stephen Hawking is also now eliminated.

Guthrie needs to pick, roughly, one more shot to be in position to knock down Stanley. Of course, if that happens then he starts to further errode Wiesberger's chances as well, so BW really needs to step it up today and tomorrow...

In other news, I started to have a look at some US Open projections, and it looks like Rory is now in danger to lose his no. 2 spot as well... If Scott wins at Merrion, Rory will need to finish solo 11th or better to be sure he remains #2...

If Bernd keeps burning up the course like this, he'll put his qualification beyond doubt. Impressive so far.

The problems of no attrition in rankings. Ferrer just moved past Nadal in the ATP rankings.

Congratz to Nadal on his 8th French Open and Serena for dominating the Womens side of the draw.

GPB wrote:The problems of no attrition in rankings. Ferrer just moved past Nadal in the ATP rankings.

Congratz to Nadal on his 8th French Open and Serena for dominating the Womens side of the draw.

So I guess something similar will happen to Rory next week in Sagarin? (unless he wins again?)

kwinigolfer wrote:If Bernd keeps burning up the course like this, he'll put his qualification beyond doubt. Impressive so far.

Did that bogey on his last hole cost Bernd a spot in the top-60?