OWGR Week 17

Lots of Pro Tournaments from around the world.  Congratulations to all the winners

Kuchar wins Hilton Head, climbs to #5.
Westwood wins in Malaysia, climbs to #30
Congratz to the Mechanic for winning in Atlanta.    Gets no OWGR points, but proves yet again why he is the most interesting Golfer in the World.

Some minor events

JH Wang from Korea won the First ever PGAT China event at Mission Hills China.

Yusaku Miyazato won the first Japanese Tour event in Japan in 2014. That should get him well inside the top 200.

Dong Min Lee won the Korean Golf Event.

William Kroop holds off Angel Cabrera in the Latino Americas PGAT event in Argentina.

The top 100 should look like this:

1 Tiger Woods 8.663
2 Adam Scott 8.138
3 Henrik Stenson 8.009
4 Bubba Watson 7.249
5 Matt Kuchar 7.227
6 Jason Day 6.781
7 Jordan Spieth 6.076
8 Sergio Garcia 5.995
9 Phil Mickelson 5.958
10 Rory McIlroy 5.868
11 Justin Rose 5.808
12 Zach Johnson 5.571
13 Dustin Johnson 5.318
14 Graeme McDowell 4.440
15 Steve Stricker 4.425
16 Charl Schwartzel 4.361
17 Jason Dufner 4.267
18 Luke Donald 4.223
19 Jim Furyk 4.152
20 Jimmy Walker 4.126
21 Keegan Bradley 4.101
22 Ian Poulter 4.078
23 Victor Dubuisson 4.059
24 Brandt Snedeker 3.971
25 Patrick Reed 3.900
26 Jamie Donaldson 3.820
27 Thomas Bjorn 3.805
28 Hideki Matsuyama 3.792
29 Webb Simpson 3.741
30 Lee Westwood 3.709
31 Graham Delaet 3.476
32 Bill Haas 3.344
33 Miguel A Jimenez 3.222
34 Jonas Blixt 3.186
35 Hunter Mahan 3.179
36 Rickie Fowler 3.144
37 Louis Oosthuizen 3.105
38 Ryan Moore 2.974
39 Stephen Gallacher 2.877
40 Harris English 2.858
41 Matt Jones 2.644
42 Matt Every 2.642
43 Joost Luiten 2.630
44 Ernie Els 2.626
45 Russell Henley 2.609
46 Gonzalo Fdez-Castano 2.553
47 Kevin Streelman 2.498
48 Gary Woodland 2.482
49 Nick Watney 2.452
50 Billy Horschel 2.450
===== The Players Bubble Point (next week)
51 Chris Kirk 2.436
52 Francesco Molinari 2.431
53 Kevin Stadler 2.431
54 Thongchai Jaidee 2.420
55 John Senden 2.401
56 Richard Sterne 2.356
57 Ryan Palmer 2.320
58 Matteo Manassero 2.271
59 Chesson Hadley 2.256
60 George Coetzee 2.188
======US Open Bubble Point  (early June)
61 Martin Kaymer 2.183
62 Pablo Larrazabal 2.159
63 Branden Grace 2.106
64 Scott Stallings 2.105
65 Mikko Ilonen 2.087
66 Bernd Wiesberger 2.066
67 David Lynn 1.947
68 Thorbjorn Olesen 1.945
69 Boo Weekley 1.888
70 Kevin Na 1.883
71 Marc Leishman 1.865
72 Ross Fisher 1.818
73 Peter Hanson 1.803
74 Chris Stroud 1.782
75 Brooks Koepka 1.742
76 Peter Uihlein 1.736
77 Charles Howell-III 1.733
78 Kiradech Aphibarnrat 1.712
79 Ryo Ishikawa 1.699
80 Koumei Oda 1.684
81 Brendon de Jonge 1.675
82 Scott Piercy 1.670
83 Charley Hoffman 1.657
84 Will Mackenzie 1.629
85 Kim Hyung-sung 1.626
86 Jason Kokrak 1.598
87 Thomas Aiken 1.583
88 Fredrik Jacobson 1.569
89 Brett Rumford 1.568
90 K.J. Choi 1.561
91 Angel Cabrera 1.550
92 Roberto Castro 1.550
93 D.A. Points 1.530
94 Paul Casey 1.529
95 Alejandro Canizares 1.518
96 Rafael Cabrera Bello 1.516
97 Chris Wood 1.509
98 Russell Knox 1.509
99 Darren Fichardt 1.488
100 Pat Perez 1.488
101 Daniel Summerhays 1.487
102 Anirban Lahiri 1.483
103 Nicolas Colsaerts 1.472
104 Shingo Katayama 1.456

 
Lots of golfers complaining they don't get enough chances on this season's PGA Tour, but happy to see Russell Knox join Willie Mac in the Top 100: WTF grads both.

Prince Dracula has tweeted that Stenson can take over the #1 spot if wins China if the event rates 36 or better.

Just three top 30 players in China. Stenson, Poulter and Dufner.

Pretty slim pickings with less than 10 other players inside the top 100.

Molinari, Uihlein, Ilonen, Larrazabal, Canizares, RCB.

New Orleans is pretty weak too. Rose, Bradley, Rickie are some notables.

Not many "notables", that's for sure. Some more defectors this morning and I'd imagine New Orleans points earnings for the winner might be in the mid-30's. ??

Very disappointing; the Tour has rather let the New Orleans community down since Hurricane Katrina, following the lead of George W and his cronies. "You're doing a heckuva job, Brownie." Idiot.

Preliminary OWGR SoF ratings, Zurich = 38 and Volvo China = 32.

Stenson will claim #1 ranking if he wins China, and the event is rated 32. OWGR 30 will not be enough.

Defectors include Coke Rack and Snapper Hadley - don't suppose they'd make much difference, but another Top 100 withdrawal might.

Any bubble boys for the Players? Luiten seems safe; not sure about Gonzo

Molinari - but would the European-based Europeans care?
Would think Gonzo will be just about OK.

Stars would have to align mightily for Gonzo to fall out top 50 this week.

Anyone want to make some LAY bets against Tiger Woods in the US Open.

Paddypower has him at 10/1.  The inside info?  He has not filled out an application for the US Open and the deadline (for him) is Wednesday, April 23rd.


Players that are already exempt for US Open have to apply by April 23rd. AFAIK, Woods is only exempt player to not have filled out an application.

Can't risk a back.

If in doubt why not fill out the application and then withdraw later? I'm sure he can afford the $100 sign-up fee...

pedro wrote:If in doubt why not fill out the application and then withdraw later? I'm sure he can afford the $100 sign-up fee...

Well since it is $150, that might be enough to break his wallet.  

But you are correct, I am surprised he has not signed up. And to be honest, I think the application fee is refundable.

themightyone wrote:Any bubble boys for the Players? Luiten seems safe; not sure about Gonzo

kwinigolfer wrote:Molinari - but would the European-based Europeans care?

Luiten at least seems to be eager and intends to come over to play TPC Sawgrass according to Dutch golf media.

kouchi,
Yes, my point was meant to be that the likes of Luiten are already securely in, but would a Molinari do travel schedule gymnastics just to play The Players? Altho' it's true he's had success there in the past.

Here's something that doesn't happen very often:
A Monday qualifier could possibly enhance the owgr value of the New Orleans stop this week.
Brooks Koepka won the Monday qualifier and only needs to score about a 60th place finish to secure him Spec Temp Membership for the rest of the year.
Among those missing out was Robert Karlsson, but he'll hopefully get in to Quail Hollow next week.
PS: Ted Scott, Bubba's caddie, also missed out shooting a 71.

A couple months ago (Los Angeles maybe) Ryo Ishikawa was in the top 80 and wasn't in the tournament at the beginning of the week. Got in as an alternate and increased the SoF rating.

 
Didn't have to four-spot it though did he??!!

kwinigolfer wrote: 
Didn't have to four-spot it though did he??!!

No, but I believe Aphibarnrat was trying to 4-spot into the Los Angeles event.

New Orleans currently at 36 pts
Volvo China at 32.
Disappointing turn out for both, wouldn't you think?

Sorry to be thick - what does "4-spot" mean?

4-spot?

For most PGA Tour events there is an 18-hole Monday qualifying tournament at a course close to the tournament site. The top four players advance to the tournament proper.
As suggested above, the quality of the players competing is not to be sniffed at. As well as Koepka (who got in) and Karlsson (who fell short), other competitors to miss out this week included Tour winners Chris Smith, Wes Short, Cameron Beckman, Lee Janzen, Ted Purdy, Joe Ogilvie, Robert Gamez, Marc Turnesa.

It looks like the Kokrak/Hadley WDs did affect the rating of the Zurich.

The SoF is 191 and if it were 195 it would have been rated a 38.

Hadley (ranked 59th) adds 5 points and Kokrak (ranked 87th) adds 2 points.

Monday Qualifier Koepka added 3 back to the SoF total.

Zurich SoF was apparently sitting right on the minimum 38 rating Monday morning.

Stenson will claim #1 with a win. He can overtake Scott with a two way tie for second or better.

Rose can get to #7 with a Two way Tie second or better, but cannot pass #6 Jason Day. Rose reclaims a spot in the top 10 (and displaces Rory) with a 20th place or better.

Dufner & IJP (China), Keegan & Top Five (New Orleans), Doobie (Indonesia) can get as high as 14th should they win.

kwinigolfer wrote:4-spot?

For most PGA Tour events there is an 18-hole Monday qualifying tournament at a course close to the tournament site. The top four players advance to the tournament proper.
As suggested above, the quality of the players competing is not to be sniffed at. As well as Koepka (who got in) and Karlsson (who fell short), other competitors to miss out this week included Tour winners Chris Smith, Wes Short, Cameron Beckman, Lee Janzen, Ted Purdy, Joe Ogilvie, Robert Gamez, Marc Turnesa.

Thanks Kwini

There are 8 OWGR rated tournaments around the world this week which I believe is the most so far this year.

80 of the 100 players ranked from 101-200 are playing in these tournaments.

Current streaks of being ranked in the OWGR Top 10

Rory 169 weeks
Tiger 116 weeks
Adam 96 weeks
Phil 56 weeks
Henrik 31 weeks
Sergio 15 weeks
J-Day 10 weeks
Kuch 3 weeks
Bubba 2 weeks
Spieth 2 weeks

Rory is going to fall out of top 10 if Rose finishes 20th or better.

Will Tiger's streak end in the next couple of months?  (BTW, he did file an entry for the US Open before todays entry).

Assuming he does not play until the Open Championship, Tiger's OWGR average will be 6.36 going into the Open Championship, which could be out of the top 10.

In response to your post, GPB, Tiger has spoken to ESPN:

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/10829325/tiger-woods-doing-light-chipping-according-agent

I think he was trying to say that he's not going to effing Liverpool for anything and he won't risk his back at Gleneagles if it comes to that.

I'd imagine he'll tee it up at one of his comfort zone courses, Firestone or Valhalla, but if he doesn't make either of them he's going to have to play in Europe, or take a WTF rehab start, if he's going to play on the last weekend of September.

Tiger Woods to play in the WTF series.

Now that there is funny, I don't care who you are. GET'R DONE!


And BTW, I took a different "Reading Between the Lines" Class than you. It sounds like he is targeting a Royal Liverpool start to me.

Wh**res Tagged by Eldrick would suit Tiger fine I would say

So just needs an E in stead of a F

"He's getting to the point of light chipping and putting"

Too bad The Open isn't played at TOC, then he'd be just fine.

Light chipping and putting?

What would "heavy chipping and putting" be?

super_realist wrote:Light chipping and putting?

What would "heavy chipping and putting" be?

I could teach you that. You need to hit the ground hard just behind the ball, easy to do, impossible to master.

Lots of US Media buzz that Woods is targetting Hoylake for his return.
And not just from GPB.
Difficult to believe that he'd go straight to Liverpool without a "rep" or two, but you never know.
Meanwhile, there are also plenty of reports about Elin and Lindsey Vonn becoming very close mates. Doesn't say anything about playing in threesomes or foursomes, just good friends.
We'll see about that.

Quail Hollow is looking considerably weaker than previous years.  Probably OWGR 52, possibly 54

Top 30 players entered:

9 Mickelson Phil
10 McIlroy Rory
11 Rose Justin
12 Johnson Zach
19 Walker Jimmy
20 Furyk Jim
26 Donaldson Jamie
28 Matsuyama Hideki
29 Simpson Webb
30 Westwood Lee

Levy climbs to about 135 should he win Volvo China Open.  Quiros gets very close to the top 100 should he win.

Ilonen should climb into the top 50 with a solo second and a spot in in the Players should he want it. A two way tie for 2nd has a very remote chance of him getting to #50.

A win for Ilonen clinches a spot in Jacksonville and most likely Pinehurst.

Overseas players saving face for Wells Fargo then, GPB??!!

Not just the top players staying away, but it's not the deepest field you'll ever find either.
Good course though.
Glad to see Robert Karlsson in the field, but here's a puzzler:

David Lynn lost in a play-off last year, but nowhere to be seen this year. Why would that be, especially given his awful start to the season?

kwinigolfer wrote:Overseas players saving face for Wells Fargo then, GPB??!!

What would you rather do?

a. Play for a $1.5 Million purse in Singapore on the EuroT.
b. Play for a $6.9 Million purse in Charlotte, NC.
c. Play for a $1.2 Million purse in Japan

Charlotte's first place check is going to be close to the entire purse in Singapore.

No doubt!
One player I'm surprised to see stay away, apart from Lynn, is Dustin Johnson. Almost a home game for him, and 36-hole leader just four years ago - he knows he is a better bet at QH than at The Players for instance. Sometimes think reports of Dustin's IQ, and IQ, are exaggerated.
There will be tears when Tom Watson makes his RC picks.

David Lynn's twitter feed gives no indication why he is not playing.

GPB,
Will Franny get in to The Players with a Top Ten? Would think he'd need about an 8th to be sure . . . . . . . get past Horschel and Watney who played but won't score.
(Not the only ones of course; most of us know the feeling.)

Big day for Keegan Bradley tomorrow: A win would leapfrog him over Phil, Dufner and English Harris in the Ryder Cup points list; a second place finish would lift him to about 11th place, and back within shouting distance of the qualifying places.

A solo 10th place for Franny will nudge him ahead of Streelman and Woodland (&Horschel & Stadler). That should be enough to get in the Players.

Go Frankie!

Dubuisson (shoulder) and Oosthuizen (lower back, again!), top participants at Asian Tour's 2014 CIMB Niaga Indonesian Open, both had to WD after round 2. Not a good sign when two OWGR top50 players as special invitations both have to end play only halfway the tournament. Big(?) payments, small show.   
Oosthuizen seems to somewhat making a habit of spreading shadows and giving not quite proper reviews of his health status. "I am ready" he gave away just a couple of days before tee-off time in Djakarta.

GPB wrote:David Lynn's twitter feed gives no indication why he is not playing.

Could it be an early holiday time off? So he will be back before the USOpen this year.

Lynn is a long way adrift of where he needs to be to keep his card, if that's what he wants to do. Unlike last year.
Puzzling!

Finchem and Friends are asking for Frannie Phone number to give him an 11th hour invite.

Hiroyuki Fujita wins his 16th tournament in Japan, to get up to about 150th in the World. Fujita played all four majors in 2013, and missed the cut in all of them. He did the same thing in 2011.

Anirban Laniri from India wins the Asian Tour event in Indonesia and claims a spot in the top 70 and in great position to earn a invite to Mike Davis to Pinehurst #2.

Padraig Harrington is getting close to falling out of the top 200. I am projecting him 190th right now, before Zurich results.

This is what the top 100 should look like tomorrow

1 Tiger Woods 8.460
2 Adam Scott 8.183
3 Henrik Stenson 8.004
4 Bubba Watson 7.355
5 Matt Kuchar 7.140
6 Jason Day 6.696
7 Jordan Spieth 6.019
8 Sergio Garcia 5.899
9 Phil Mickelson 5.848
10 Justin Rose 5.795
11 Rory McIlroy 5.736
12 Zach Johnson 5.472
13 Dustin Johnson 5.236
14 Graeme McDowell 4.441
15 Steve Stricker 4.331
16 Charl Schwartzel 4.289
17 Luke Donald 4.216
18 Jason Dufner 4.167
19 Keegan Bradley 4.128
20 Ian Poulter 4.127
21 Jimmy Walker 4.080
22 Jim Furyk 4.078
23 Victor Dubuisson 4.014
24 Brandt Snedeker 3.877
25 Patrick Reed 3.870
26 Jamie Donaldson 3.837
27 Thomas Bjorn 3.752
28 Hideki Matsuyama 3.738
29 Webb Simpson 3.733
30 Lee Westwood 3.648
31 Graham Delaet 3.461
32 Bill Haas 3.293
33 Miguel A Jimenez 3.248
34 Jonas Blixt 3.146
35 Hunter Mahan 3.132
36 Rickie Fowler 3.089
37 Louis Oosthuizen 2.982
38 Ryan Moore 2.919
39 Stephen Gallacher 2.847
40 Harris English 2.825
41 Matt Jones 2.623
42 Matt Every 2.607
43 Joost Luiten 2.591
44 Ernie Els 2.586
45 Russell Henley 2.580
46 Francesco Molinari 2.565
47 Gonzalo Fdez-Castano 2.509
48 Thongchai Jaidee 2.459
49 Kevin Streelman 2.457
50 Gary Woodland 2.452
=========Players Bubble Point (this Week)
51 Billy Horschel 2.409
52 John Senden 2.406
53 Kevin Stadler 2.403
54 Chris Kirk 2.399
55 Nick Watney 2.392
56 Richard Sterne 2.365 => Highest Ranked Players not eligible for Players
57 Ryan Palmer 2.286
58 Matteo Manassero 2.255
59 Chesson Hadley 2.238
========= US Open Bubble Point (June 2nd and 9th)
60 George Coetzee 2.197
61 Mikko Ilonen 2.156
62 Pablo Larrazabal 2.147
63 Martin Kaymer 2.143
64 Bernd Wiesberger 2.081
65 Scott Stallings 2.068
66 Branden Grace 2.065
67 Anirban Lahiri 1.961 => Won CIMB Indonesia
68 David Lynn 1.906
69 Thorbjorn Olesen 1.902
70 Boo Weekley 1.885
71 Kevin Na 1.865
72 Peter Hanson 1.839
73 Marc Leishman 1.825
74 Kiradech Aphibarnrat 1.787
75 Ross Fisher 1.783
76 Charley Hoffman 1.773
77 Chris Stroud 1.760
78 Tommy Fleetwood 1.741
79 Brooks Koepka 1.731
80 Charles Howell-III 1.731
81 Peter Uihlein 1.709
82 Koumei Oda 1.702
83 Ryo Ishikawa 1.670
84 Scott Piercy 1.658
85 Kim Hyung-sung 1.654
86 Brendon de Jonge 1.649
87 Noh Seung-yul 1.637 => Won Zurich
88 Angel Cabrera 1.630
89 Will Mackenzie 1.620
90 Paul Casey 1.587
91 Jason Kokrak 1.582
92 Rafael Cabrera Bello 1.580
93 K.J. Choi 1.564
94 Thomas Aiken 1.560
95 Robert Garrigus 1.555
96 Fredrik Jacobson 1.544
97 Brett Rumford 1.539
98 Roberto Castro 1.510
99 Daniel Summerhays 1.505
100 D.A. Points 1.502
======
101 Alejandro Canizares 1.501
102 Shingo Katayama 1.497
103 Russell Knox 1.496

137 Alexander Levy 1.215 => Won Volvo China Open

156 Hiroyuki Fujita 1.079 => Won Tsuruya Japan

209 Andrew Putnam 0.847 => Won WNB Web-com event

~700 Ty Capps 0.150 => Won Roberto DiVicenzo Latino Americas



PS. I got Padraig Harrington ranking at 195th after Zurich

  Thanks GPB,

And Antonio Hortal looks like he's up to about 481st.

Thongchai will join Franny in receiving an invite to The Players presumably, wonder whether they'll come.
Both should now be set for Pinehurst.

I'm sure it's also a head-scratcher for the Sagarins, but it always amazes me how frequent top tenners like Hoffman & Howell have such difficulty advancing in to the top 60 or 70 despite consistent achievement. Sure their bank managers are content with their earnings but they're missing out on all the big events.

Yes, Both are under ranked if you look at their Sagarin Ranking. Hoffman is 23 and Howell is 48th.

If you play Yahoo Fantasy, Hoffman is a solid pick in C-Group.

I should have picked have picked Howell in A-Group as I was three legged all weekend. From what I saw, most people picked Smalrus, Fowler, or Top Five in A Group and all three missed the cut. (I picked Rickie and Smalrus). Man I hate to be three legged on the weekend.

GPB wrote:Yes, Both are under ranked if you look at their Sagarin Ranking.  Hoffman is 23 and Howell is 48th.

If you play Yahoo Fantasy, Hoffman is a solid pick in C-Group.

I should have picked have picked Howell in A-Group as I was three legged all weekend.  From what I saw, most people picked  Smalrus, Fowler, or Top Five in A Group and all three missed the  cut.  (I picked Rickie and Smalrus).  Man I hate to be three legged on the weekend.

Hey my old friend George. How are you? Long time no chat? I don't see you at Golf week anymore? Whats going on?