PGA Tour: Stadium Golf: Notes from the Ballwasher

1).It is not that long ago that many tournaments featured "party" holes, usually Par-3's with plenty of seating and plenty of nearby bars; the Greater Greensboro Open had one such example when the tournament was held at Forest Oaks.
The old Buick Open outside Detroit, had another, Warwick Hills' 17th which attracted John Daly for one: "This is a great tournament to play in, it's a beer drinkers' tournament."
Even "Doral" was something of a social scene until ticket prices multiplied and the (new) brand trumped the tournament and the WGC took its act to Mexico. Kinda ironic that.

2).It was never clear the extent to which the PGA Tour embraced the cocktail party atmospheres, but any negative sentiments were proved moot when the GGO was relocated and the Detroit market was abandoned.
But however the Tour viewed those venues, the Phoenix Open's Par-3 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale just grew and grew, to the stadium-come-ampitheatre it has now become. Apparently loved by most, especially the TV coverage, it is now pretty much a one-off in Tour golf and will have doubtless expanded even more this year, 20,000 rowdies there? 30,000?? The city of Phoenix's name was suggested by a 19th century English settler because it reminded him of an earlier civilization - perhaps he had the 16th in mind?

3).Like it or loathe it, it's come to be the trademark of this week's event, aptly sponsored by "Waste Management", and the crowds attending will doubtless be in the hundreds of thousands. Players will toss paraphernalia to the crowd and some may wear a shirt specially for the occasion - as Arizona native Billy Mayfair did in 2009 when the Arizona Cardinals somehow squeezed thru extreme vetting to reach the Super Bowl and laugh-a-minute Billy changed in to a Cardinals shirt for the occasion, to hoots and hollers from the "patrons".

4).The Phoenix area is also the home of Arizona State University, which has enjoyed strong golf programmes for many years, with alumni including Mickelson and Mayfair, Pat Perez and Paul Casey, Johansson and Nordqvist, plus a pair of Spaniards, Alejandro Canizares and Azahara Munoz. Oh, and Jon Rahm.

5).Rahm received an invite to the 2015 tournament, just his second Tour event, and served notice to the golfing world by finishing 5th. He followed up last year with a 3rd at Congressional and a T2 in Canada, and now it's no surprise to watch him break through with a win in San Diego.
I followed Rahm for a few holes last year and he's an imposing figure, seemingly taller than the 6 ft 2 the Tour guide lists him at, and Greg Norman-type shoulders. In his 17 Tour appearances to date, as amateur and pro, he's only missed two cuts and he could find himself the crowd favourite in his Spieth & Fowler group on Thursday and Friday.
Spieth fluked his way into a play-off on his way to winning his first Tour title, and Rahm won't hole many 60-foot, septuple breaking putts to win many titles. But he's arrived, and European Tour objective #1 must be to get him in the ET fold for future Ryder Cup Teams - about ten or eleven of them.

6).Rahm will also now, most likely, qualify for all this year's WGC's and Majors, and certainly he'll have received the BillyPayne-o-gram beckoning him to Augusta in April. Coming up fast are some deadlines for upcoming WGC's as well as The Masters:
WGC Mexico:
Feb 20th: Top Ten in R2D (Currently those in the Top Ten not already qualified are: Fleetwood, Brazel, Larrazabal, Van Zyl, Storm, Dodt, Aiken, Lagergren).
Feb 27th: Top Ten in FedEx (As of now: Perez, Steele, Hughes, Rahm, Swafford, HowellIII, Pampling, Gribble).
Feb 20 AND 27th: Top 50 in owgr:

WGC MatchPlay:
March 13th: Top 64 in owgr.

WGC Bridgestone:
Feb 19th: Winner of Dimension Data tournament on the Sunshine Tour - no idea why they receive that sweetheart deal; plus other tournament winners with stipulated strength of field.

7).Masters:
Top 50 in owgr as at March 27th
PGA Tournament winners through "Houston" on April 2nd - (haven't seen anything published on likely Houston sponsor recently . . . . . . . now that Shell is pulling out).
And, presumably, the Ishikawa invitation.

8).Lots to be playing for then.
A strong field in "Phoenix" with last year's play-off winner, Matsuyama, and Spieth leading the way.
I don't feel sorry for Rickie Fowler very often, but last year he was followed by his grandfather & father who had never seen him win. Unfortunately Rickie snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by putting balls in the water on the short Par-4 17th, once in "regulation", once in overtime. Coming in on the crest of a wave having won in Abu Dhabi, he must have felt borderline invincible. Down to earth in a hurry and his golf seemed to suffer the rest of the year. Until the Ryder Cup unfortunately.

9).Europeans in the field include Harrington, Johnston, Knox, Laird, Lowry, Molinari (hole in one on the 16th a couple of years ago), plus Jon Rahm of course. And Luke Donald with his first start of the year.
Luke has only registered 2 x Top Ten Tour finishes in the past 18 months. Doesn't this look like a sh1t or bust kind of year for him? He's not likely to be content with being an also-ran week after week - he'll be 40 this year, his family is growing up and I can't imagine him hanging about with Top 30 finishes, on a good week, for much longer. A win could revitalize him obviously, but his skill-set is becoming outdated unless he's absolutely on top of his game. Which he hasn't been for a few years.

10).Past Waste Management Champion Tiger Woods is taking his talents overseas this week, to Dubai, his choice of desert du jour.
A news release about his travels caught my eye - he flew "commercial", apparently for the first time, in his reckoning, for ten years. It's not clear what has grounded TWA, perhaps he's downsizing?
And was interested to see punters in Dubai were clamouring for his autograph; reportedly in similar numbers to a visiting Brian Lara.
Don't know if there are any stadium holes at the Dubai venue, but Woods will be playing a different type of course after Torrey Pines (which looked great), and imagine he must be formulating ideas of which courses to play this season, whether his regular schedule lends itself to his new swing, his mended(?) body. Something to look for over the coming months.

Strange to see Paul Casey skipping Phoenix.  I think that is his US Home Base and it is where he went to college.

Maybe he has some personal conflict.

Has Keith Pelley offered Rahm a EuroT membership yet?

GPB,
I can't find any record of Casey playing Phoenix in at least ten years; a couple of appearances very early in his career. Which is strange considering he fared well in the MatchPlay at Desert Mountain. Just Paul being Paul most likely - probably some history there to stick a chip on his shoulder.

Tigers appearance fee probably paid by Emirates Airlines who in turn required him to fill in for some of their banned crew...

Apparantly Rahm told the GC that the RC is now a top priority for him. So I guess that means he'll take up ET membership pretty soon.

Great stuff Kwini, I'm just gonna come right out and say it! I like the 16th and all the theatrics around it! Some say its not gentlemanly and has no place in the game, I say... shut up and have another beer. Its a one off and a bit of fun

I totally agree re Fowler last year, awful club selection on 18. That one is gonna sting for a while, he'll probably need a major to get over it! Felt deflated for him, it's also probably also where I picked up my unreasonable dislike of Matsuyama, and his pregnant pause.

Rahm, bam, thank you mam. Get him signed up Pelley!

Rahm looks a pretty exciting player, crunches it too.

pedro wrote:Apparantly Rahm told the GC that the RC is now a top priority for him. So I guess that means he'll take up ET membership pretty soon.

Unless he is given EuroT membership, he just can't "take up ET membership" on a whim. He has to earn it. I don't think Top 50 in the OWGR is a qualification.

But I wouldn't put it past Pelley to just give Rahm membership. He seems to make these kinds of decisions willy-nilly.

super_realist wrote:Rahm looks a pretty exciting player, crunches it too.

The seal of approval from S_R? Could be a first since old Tom Morris.

Clearly no BMI issues, eyes too close together, potato ancestry, bible-loving, TOC fawning tendencies then

Davie wrote:

super_realist wrote:Rahm looks a pretty exciting player, crunches it too.

The seal of approval from S_R? Could be a first since old Tom Morris.

Clearly no BMI issues, eyes too close together, potato ancestry, bible-loving, TOC fawning tendencies then

Very good Davie

I feel privileged to have witnessed it.

Why is the WMPO so popular with the pro's?
GPB mentioned that Cheng Tsung Pan, who had a top ten finish at Torrey Pines, wasn't automatically in the field because members with a higher exemption had all taken up the opportnity to play. (He's now playing) So what entices them to play this particular event more than others? Or is it common that previous top tenners don't get in? Didn't Bubba say he was only there last year because of his sponsors?

GPB wrote:

pedro wrote:Apparantly Rahm told the GC that the RC is now a top priority for him. So I guess that means he'll take up ET membership pretty soon.

Unless he is given EuroT membership, he just can't "take up ET membership" on a whim.  He has to earn it.  I don't think Top 50 in the OWGR is a qualification.

But I wouldn't put it past Pelley to just give Rahm membership.  He seems to make these kinds of decisions willy-nilly.

At worst all he has to do is enter qualifying later in the year and get through, which you can't imagine would prove difficult. He could easily play his 4 counting events between then and the RC. I think we've been through this before, only now, it's even easier for him.

Inw,
The attraction of the WMPO looks greater perhaps because there it's only a 132 player field, as opposed to 144 most weeks, 156 when two courses are involved and when there's more daylight. Plus, some of the South-East crew don't much care for the poa annua greens that the coastal California courses (TP, PB, Riviera) feature.

kwinigolfer wrote:The attraction of the WMPO looks greater perhaps because there it's only a 132 player field

Ah, didn't know that. 12 spots makes quite a difference. Thanks.

Phoenix and the LA Open are lucky to finish 36 holes on Friday afternoon, even with perfect weather. Phoenix often has frost delays which delays them even further. Low temps are forecast in the mid 40's (F) in Scottsdale. I think the course location is at a higher elevation and temps are 5-7 degrees cooler.

Los Angeles has a 144 player field but they have about 30 total minutes of extra daylight.

Last year was exceptionally cruel on Rickie Fowler. He made the aggressive but calculated decision to hit driver on 17, then hit a great shot. It was only a freak bounce that saw his ball roll over the back of the green. 9 times out of 10 that shot would have finished in the middle of the green. Then when they returned in the play off he no longer knew what to hit, and when you don't commit to the shot it never turns out well.

raycastleunited wrote:Last year was exceptionally cruel on Rickie Fowler. He made the aggressive but calculated decision to hit driver on 17, then hit a great shot. It was only a freak bounce that saw his ball roll over the back of the green. 9 times out of 10 that shot would have finished in the middle of the green. Then when they returned in the play off he no longer knew what to hit, and when you don't commit to the shot it never turns out well.

Nailed it.... that's exactly the way I saw it.

I'm never wrong wrote:Why is the WMPO so popular with the pro's?
GPB mentioned that Cheng Tsung Pan, who had a top ten finish at Torrey Pines, wasn't automatically in the field because members with a higher exemption had all taken up the opportnity to play. (He's now playing) So what entices them to play this particular event more than others? Or is it common that previous top tenners don't get in? Didn't Bubba say he was only there last year because of his sponsors?

Historically the player hospitality at the WMPO has been second to none. Not that any of them are bad any more, but WMPO is about as good as it gets. That and a lot of players enjoy the "big time sports" vibe generated by the huge crowds. And about the crowds... players seem to either love the vibe or hate it... not much in between.

As of now.... only 10 Web.com or WTF Finals players have made the field...

Gribble, Pampling and Hughes aren't actually webbies anymore as they've graduated to the winners category.

Wesley Bryan and Grayson Murray got in via leading regular season and WTF playoff money winners.

C.T. Pan, Schniederjans and J.J. Spaun got in via top-10's last week.

Brandon Hagey got in via an unrestricted Sponsors Exemption

Andrew "Beef" Johnston got in via the lone "webbie" sponsor exemption for this event (WMPO gets only 1 instead of the usual 2)

No webbies have yet made the field via regular "priority" out of the the Web.com category (other than the two money leaders not subject to reshuffle mentioned above, Bryan & Murray)

Golf dot com has some good podcasts.

Recommend listening to the Phil Mickelson podcast if you got an hour with nothing to do.

https://soundcloud.com/golf_podcast

He's won the big BIG one but he's losing little ones in a way that'll really p1ss him off.
A judge in Florida today ruled that National Golf Club Jupiter must pay $5.77M to former members for "breach of contract" by a self-styled property tycoon who bought the club, changed the rules and told 65 people that "as the owner of the club" . . . . "you're out".

Even presidents have to follow (that part of) the law. Won't do his early onset Alzheimers any good at all.


robo,
I've a suspicion that Hagy might be one of the young guns that flies under the radar but is destined for a fine career.

Also, Agree about Rickie, was actually sorry he lost.

$5.77M? For what? Mental distress? Give me a break.

Action in a couple of hours at TPC Scottsdale; should be above freezing when they come under starters orders, always a concern there, so hopefully all 132 will get round today.
For the second week running the course, a Weiskopf/Morrish original, has recently undergone a Weiskopf re-do which seemed to push scores higher last year - probably no 59 watch despite perfect scoring conditions.

Pebble Beach next week and they're getting another soaking - expect the courses there to play longer than usual.

pedro wrote:$5.77M? For what? Mental distress? Give me a break.

That's often the case, but this was apparently a refund of membership deposits. Trump bought the course and then basically told a bunch of members that they couldn't have access to the course but he was keeping their money.  So it's a refund plus interest.

It was an executive order . . . . . . .

Didn't something similar happen at Wentworth? After Reignwood China bought out the club

They had a bit of a revolt at the new owners proposal to impose a £100,000 debenture for a reduced number of 900 members. The new owners have backed down.

Plunky wrote:

pedro wrote:$5.77M? For what? Mental distress? Give me a break.

Trump bought the course and then basically told a bunch of members that they couldn't have access to the course but he was keeping their money.

So, a bit like paying your taxes...

No spectacular scoring yet after the early starters have 11+ holes under their belt. All 66 between +4 and -4, best scores being carded by those who began their rounds on #10. Not surprising with two par fives (only one on the front) and the driveable Par-4 17th.

Has coverage started yet in the US kwini?

No, Golf Channel coverage begins @ 3.00 p.m. VT time, 8.00 p.m. for Portmarnock.
With very few exceptions coverage possibilities in GB&I start at the same time as ours; perhaps earlier on occasion.

Decent start for Shane, not so good for Lukey.

Cheers Kwini, looks a bit rusty from Luke alright still early doors, although a lot of players look at or under par already.

Hideki's surely got a shot at number 1 by the end of the season on this form?

He wasn't great last week SirB, being the defending champion this week he's got very fresh memories of this course. Fowler still within striking distance, could be a bit of payback on the cards.

John Peterson just one stroke behind Hideki - he's a certifiable nut case but has bags of talent. Coming back from missing most of a season due to injury; about time he established himself on Tour.

Miserable 18th's for Shane & Luke.

Yeah, not an ideal way to play 18.
You would have to think this feature group will light it up at some point..

Watching from the sofa this year - had a great time visiting last year. A very well organised tournament, greens tip top and the 16th - Rubbish beer but highly amusing on so many levels.

Casey is an odd one - you would think he would want to pay it back as local resident, crikey he could walk to the course from his house. But as Kwini suggested - maybe not his way. Shame.

Hopefully the big lads will go well - Shane & Beef. If all else fails there is a Cheesecake Factory on the Scottsdale Rd, they can console themselves with,! Luke already slipping to the back of the pack.

Be_the_ball wrote:
You would have to think this feature group will light it up at some point..

With the exception of Phil, not the golf I was expecting from that group. Pretty scrappy from JT and Hadwin.

I remember your review last year Snap, it sounded like fun. Must be nice to play golf in short sleeves in early February, hope you got a game in!

I don't think theres a cheesecake factory on the planet that could handle both Shane & Beef at the same time. Carnage!

Good to hear from you Snap,

Looking at the arse end of the "leaderboard", Matt Every is tailed off last; sooner or later a story will emerge about him, and it might not be family reading. He reminds me of Marc Warren in terms of largely unfulfilled promise, and some vague physical resemblance.

Thats at least the second time you've said that kwini, the worst thing I can find on him is he named his kid after Oasis' Liam Gallagher. What do you know kwini?

He had a Tour suspension a few years ago for a strange marijuana incident - but his form since he first scored a win, and then another win, has defined "erratic", pretty tough for instance to be 2 strokes adrift, +7 after 13 holes. Something's up. Perhaps he'll straighten up when his exemptions expire, but he's only made two cuts (none after April) since a T24 here last year and missed 3 months in the summer, often the length of a Tour suspension.
I dunno . . . . .

Hmmm, the mind boggles make it all the way to the PGA Tour the feck it up with that kind of carry on. Talent is wasted on some people.

Be_the_ball wrote:
I don't think theres a cheesecake factory on the planet that could handle both Shane & Beef at the same time. Carnage!

Dunno if it's the accent but Lowry reportedly thought he heard Beef say the course was surrounded by dessert. Man..

Difficult to comprehend they couldn't finish tonight.
But Matt Every did, four under par over his last four holes.

Excellent conditions forecast again for Friday.

kwinigolfer wrote:Difficult to comprehend they couldn't finish tonight.
But Matt Every did, four under par over his last four holes.

Excellent conditions forecast again for Friday.

They couldn't finish in Dubai either, and Dubai has 20 minutes more daylight (time between sunrise and sunset) this time of year than Phoenix.

Both fields had 132 players (before Perez WDed)

Scummer Woods withdraws with yet another "bad back"

At least he has a "W(D)" to his name now.

Super

I didn't get a chance to see any of his round but from the chat on social media it seemed his swing was about at the worst it has ever been.

I didn't see it either Mac, but sounded like he was as stiff as a board, mechanical and no flow whatsoever.

I watched some clips of him swinging online, and it looks like a club golfer, obviously all that matters is impact position (see Furyk) but he doesn't look like a top golfer any more.

Could be over, hopefully.

There are lowlights of his round on the ET and GC websites. He looks like a pensioner grinding it in the annual Rotary croquet championship, both when he swings and walks. He could hardly climb out of the bunkers.