PGA Tour: Roll Over Jim Furyk . . . . : Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1). . . . . . and tell Zach Johnson the news.
The King of Rock and Roll died last weekend, so here's some fun inspired by some of his best known songs.
Furyk departed the owgr Top 50 this week, slipping from 50th to 57th. Perhaps not that surprising following Furyk's injuries which kept him out of action for eight months, plus his customary extended Christmas Holidays.
But Zach Johnson, who started the year in 38th place has slid to 50th.
Are these two notable careers grinding to a halt, or is it just a case, to paraphrase Chuck Berry:
Of golfing's version of "rockin' pneumonia", "rollin' arthritis", catching up with them?
At least Zach is in the Majors and WGC's but Furyk's not in The Open or even the Bridgestone. Perhaps they'll be motivated this week.

2).No Particular Place to Go:
Ian Poulter's plight if he doesn't cash in on his final Medical Extension starts.
He had an excellent chance with the 54-hole lead, to win in Puerto Rico last year, so this is a yuuuge opportunity for him to cash in and secure his place on Tour for the rest of the season. If not . . . . . .
And I'm not as optimistic as some who think he'll cash in on a trove of sponsor invitations. He still has "Past Champion" status though, so all wouldn't be lost.

3).Johnny (Jordan?) B. Goode:
A lot is made of a generation of golfers who left school in 2011 and are now enjoying success on Tour, led by Jordan Spieth; Justin Thomas and Smylie Kaufman are part of this group and they seem to have claimed Emiliano Grillo as well; apparently he played a number of Junior tournaments with this lot when at school in Florida. Pathetic to hear Johnny Miller to say "no-one had even heard of him" two years ago. That's what ignoring the European Tour will do for you Johnny.
"Some day (Jordan) you'll be a man, and you will be the leader of a big old band."
No doubt some leading Europeans or other "Internationals" are also of the 2011 vintage? Different band though.

4).My Ding-A-Ling:
Possibly the absolute worst song ever recorded by a credible artist, but a chance to remember Jonathan Kaye. You do, don't you?
Around the turn of the century, Jonathan Kaye was one of the most promising young golfers on Tour, a couple of good wins (Westchester & Phoenix), and had a very good chance of winning Darren Clarke's NEC Invitational (Bridgestone) Championship.
But his fame turned to notoriety when, in the words of golfchannel.com:

"A tournament official wouldn't allow him access without his identification badge, so he returned with it clipped to the zip of his (trousers)."

A lengthy suspension ensued and he also fell foul of injuries. But he won $10M in the days before FedEx swag. He hasn't made a Tour start since 2011, last cashed a web.com cheque in 2014, but played a couple of webbie's earlier this year. Still only 46, he could still make up for lost time (and money) by cashing in on the Champions Tour but good health and a positive attitude will be the least he needs to get himself up to speed. Hope he makes it, the Tour needs its characters, and he'll have a partial two-year Champions Tour exemption.

5).Sweet Little Sixteen ("Deep in the heart of Texas"):
Presumably Chuck was talking about a high school hottie, so let's leave him there - of course, he could have been dreaming about this week's MatchPlay, so let's chuck Chuck, Berry him and move on.

6).Success in the "Match Play" seems to go in cycles, the only constant for a while anyway, being T.Woods. Among those others with at least two Finals under their belts are: Toms, Love, Mahan, Ogilvy, Casey, Day and McIlroy, but none has really dominated.
So, the best has been Woods, whilst the golfer in this week's field with the worst record is Wood, Chris Wood - time to double up betting on him, he can't lose eight in a row, surely? (And even if Woody comes up empty again, he'll still earn a fraction of a world ranking point for his "efforts".)

7).The Tour has "opposite field" action this week, starting Thursday, at the Puerto Rico Open. A big chance for Poulter as mentioned before; he'll be competing against some others in the owgr Top 100, Bryan, Zanotti, Olesen, McDowell, Kirk, Danny Lee and Andrew Johnston.
Puerto Rico could well be seen as an afterthought, and the list of Champions is not Hall Of Fame material. But runners up have included very Young Guns including Jason Day, Ryo, Spieth and Grillo. And Sam Saunders.
I'll be choosing Fabian Gomez as my one-and-done this week.

8).Last year's Puerto Rico Champ was Tony Finau, but he's sitting in a comfy chair beside the first tee in Austin waiting as "first alternate" at the "WGC-Dell Match Play for Jason Day to call in sick.

9).Of those outside the Top 50 and not yet qualified for The Masters, Ross Fisher is the best placed. Eight years removed from leading, at one time or another, in every 2009 Major, Fish needs to win his group (tho' could possibly qualify with a group runner-up result). Competition in his "Group 4" be warned: Oosthuizen, Matsuyama and Furyk, who probably won't "roll over" after all.  

10).Zach Johnson may still have some life left in him yet but, if he setting his sights set on a sporting career beyond golf, it had better not be snooker. As you can see from this effort:


http://www.golfdigest.com/story/watch-zach-johnson-bank-his-bunker-shot-off-opponents-ball

Sky have just said that if there are two people in a play off, it will be match play. If there are three, it will be strokeplay.

Nice to see Sergio play a tee shot like I would. Club slipped in his hands and the ball went about 20 yards into the water.

Poulter must have been playing shots like that as well.
He and McDool almost certain to be going home. Wasted opportunity.
Good round (66) from Johnston; two more like that and he'll be in business. EDIT: Now changed to a 67 - but still good. Two more please.

I'm enjoying the play-offs!

What an idea Match Play would be . . . . . .

Come on Lee!

England 0 - 3 in the Play-Offs. Not good.

I've enjoyed watching a bit of golf lately, hadn't watched much for a year or two. But this Matchplay group format is rubbish, the only good thing about the previous format was the sudden death early rounds with lots of guys on the course, now that's gone. And you still have the tedium of the final days with not many people playing.

Ticket to Augusta for Mr.Fish?

kwinigolfer wrote:Ticket to Augusta for Mr.Fish?

Just mentioned it on Sky. They think he has it.

Hope The Fish really kicks on, always thought he could be top class.

This week however, tournament overall now a dead fish.

Strong field for Houston, including:
Rafa, Donald, DJ, Phil, Rose, Scott, Spieth, Stenson, Sully, lw1, Wiesberger.

No Casey, who secured his only Tour win here. Paul being Paul.

World class so far from DJ!

Princedrac seems to think Ross needs another win!

Horrific injury for Seamus Coleman tonight and the player who broke his leg will only get a three game ban!?

Awful Sirb, probably the most honest player on the pitch, compound fracture by the looks of it. He's a great pro, no nonsense. Ronald koeman won't be happy, and we've lost our captain for the rest of the campaign.

PD says Fisher is going to have to win tomorrow morning and get to the Quarters.

Makes sense since players just ahead of him did relatively well this week.  Zach, Haas, McGirt (edit) and Na also reached R16, and Kaymer, Westwood won two matches apiece.

And players behind might pass him, like CHIII, Tanihara, and Kjeldson.

Jeunghun Wang, ranked #45 going into this week, might lose his Masters invite.  He lost all three of his matches and should get min OWGR points.  PD says "Wait and See" and he is in definite jeopardy.

kwinigolfer wrote:Strong field for Houston, including:
Rafa, Donald, DJ, Phil, Rose, Scott, Spieth, Stenson, Sully, lw1, Wiesberger.

No Casey, who secured his only Tour win here. Paul being Paul.

Davis Love III coming off medical leave. Somehow Robert Allenby got a Sponsors Invite. Maybe they will group him with Bowditch and Every.

Allenby is a Past Champion there GPB; don't you think it's only right he should get an invite?

Shocking news about Coleman, what an unsung player he is. Love (EDIT: Not LoveIII) watching him, and sometimes those injuries' recuparation are not as ghastly as the image of the break. Let's hope that's true in this case. Koeman must be steaming. Hope he doesn't become a Dean Ashton casualty.

David Duval is also past Champion, where is his invite? Duval's resume is a lot longer than Allenby.

But maybe Duval didn't want to play?
He doesn't need it. Allenby needs every olive branch he can find.

Tell robo we miss him . . . . . . . . Trust he'll be at the SHO next week.

Has Robopz stopped posting?

Assuming there's no top ten exemption from this into Houston next week, in line with the Mexico tourney not offering any? Could see Fisher and Tanihara benefitting if there was.

Is the Augusta OWGR cutoff this Monday or next?

robo seems to be taking a sabbatical. Hope he'll be back, he offers unrivalled insight, not to mention "access" to the "Tour".

Ned,
Top 50 on Monday. I don't think a WGC Top Ten gets them in to Houston, though ironically a PR Top Ten probably does.

PS: Should be perfect weather Saturday, almost as good (a bit breezy) on Sunday.

Hey guys... I'm still alive... just been awfully busy with other things of late...

Bad week for the chalk at the Match Play... 3-4 didn't bother to show up in the first place and 11 of 16 "A players" bounced before the round of 16... One OWGR top-10 player to carry on...

Once again the Americans have done a nice job by advancing 9 to the round of 16. Let's see if they puke it up as bad as last year.

Last year 11 Americans made it through to the round of 16.. and the least # that could advance into the quarters was 4 as there were 4 American vs American matches., and 4 is all that advanced. All of those 4 got wiped out in the quarters.

This year there are only 2 American vs American matches in the round of 16... So between 2-7 Americans will advance to the next round. If things go like last year it will be only 2... and Kenya and Iceland will have as many semi-finalists as the Americans.

Jackie Pung, First Lady of Hawaiian Golf died this week at Age 95.  She won a couple LPGA tournaments but his best known for (not) winning the 1957 US Womens Open at Winged Foot.  She signed an incorrect scorecard (a correct won would have won the USWO).  She was Roberto DiVicenzo before Roberto DiVicenzo

LPGA Legend Betsy Rawls won that USWO and the $1800 First Place Check.  Winged Foot Membership passed the hat to benefit Jackie and ended up collecting $3000 for her.

For more info on Jackie Pung and her infamous gaffe:

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sports/local-sports/jackie-pung-dies-95-hawaii-s-first-lady-golf-lpga-pioneer

Hey guys, See what I mean.
Only robo can put USA in the same bracket as Kenya & Iceland (and the Isle Of Wight) and get away with it!

Are you going to the SHO next week, robo? Any news on a new sponsor??

Speaking of Allenby... Say or think what you will about him, but he's always been an excellent soldier for the Shell Houston Open. Far more personable than Appleby, and willing to cheerfully go the extra mile for the Houston Golf Association in hobnobbing with sponsors/VIP's or whatever was asked of him. My guess is he'll have a pass into Houston as long as he asks for one... and well deserved IMO.

Speaking of the SHELL Houston Open... as you are aware this is the last year in a 25-year run for Shell as Title Sponsor... OUCH. I wish I could offer some insight as to where the sponsor situation is for Houston, but my insider retired this past year so I got nothing firm. I HAVE gotten numerous "positive indicators" that the sponsor thing is "done"... but as we learned with Colonial... it ain't done as far as I'm concerned until it's officially announced. So even it it's true... I doubt that would happen before Sunday next, unless it leaks out beforehand. I still have my doubts... but we'll see.

GPB,
You'll be getting a message from McLaren about that Pung posting . . . . . . . .


Actually think the Match Play Sweet Sixteen is fairly representative, except for the demise of the Sarf Africans.

"Hobnobbing" is Robo's euphemism for free Booze. And I suspect Robert Allenby likes "Hobnobbing"

kwinigolfer wrote:GPB,
You'll be getting a message from McLaren about that Pung posting . . . . . . . .


Actually think the Match Play Sweet Sixteen is fairly representative, except for the demise of the Sarf Africans.

When I was young boy spending summers on Lake Carmi in the 1960's, my Mom had a golf instructional book, authored by Women Pros. Jackie Pung is the only pro, I specifically remember in the book.

Kwini... All things being equal, in theory roughly 25% of any regions/country's players should advance to R of 16. U.S. has overachieved that benchmark last year and this (1/3rd this year 9 out if 27). It's been past this point where the Americans generally under perform. Last year was the worst possible outcome. If we could just do what we're supposed by advancing say 4 then 2 the next two rounds, I'd be thrilled. And by the way... I dunno why country's even matter in this to me. It just doesn't matter in stroke play events as far as I'm concerned... Maybe RC carryover, I dunno.

I guess my general impression is behind America and Europe... Where is the rest of the world? Obvious an absent Day and Scott is part of it... But it's not just this week... Besides Day... Just doesn't seem to be a lot of ROW players poised to do big things anytime soon.

Did not see much of this event so far, but good to see World #1 flexing his muscles. Overall, I think match play is great for weekend warriors (such as I) and every other year exhibition events, but not so much for the touring top level professional.

robopz wrote:Kwini... All things being equal, in theory roughly 25% of any regions/country's players should advance to R of 16. U.S. has overachieved that benchmark last year and this (1/3rd this year 9 out if 27).  It's been past this point where the Americans generally under perform.  Last year was the worst possible outcome.  If we could just do what we're supposed by advancing say 4 then 2 the next two rounds, I'd be thrilled.  And by the way... I dunno why country's even matter in this to me. It just doesn't matter in stroke play events as far as I'm concerned... Maybe RC carryover, I dunno.

I guess my general impression is behind America and Europe... Where is the rest of the world? Obvious an absent Day and Scott is part of it... But it's not just this week... Besides Day... Just doesn't seem to be a lot of ROW players poised to do big things anytime soon.

Yup, I mentioned a few posts ago that the Sarf Africans are conspicuous by their absence, surprising after most got off to a strong start. But the Asian & LA contingents have largely been under-achievers in the WGC-MatchPlay, and the Aussies don't have the depth they used to have.
Europe not quite punching their weight; Kaymer in the same group as DJ doesn't help. Hopefully the competitor in ZJ will test DJ a little.

Go 'Cocks! (Hope this doesn't get censored!!)

I'd have thought Matsuyama is the other rest of the world player who is pulling up trees right now. Up to 4 in the world by your mid twenties is pretty impressive.

The last sixteen are on the move, Kevin Na in the first match which should ensure the field gets backed up behind him.
Looks like a lovely day as advertised, should be good scoring.
Agreed Digs, but Hideki's been largely awol in MatchPlay.

Confirmation that Poults, McDool and Thunderbear all missed the Puerto Rico cut - terrible result for Poults who was -5 at one stage in Round 1, played the rest of his holes in +3 to miss out by 1 stroke. Not clear when he'll play next, but time is running out for him.
Beef is still looming large and Greg Owen, Gonzo, Freddie Jac, Blixt & Cejka all play the weekend.

It seems Ross Fisher needs to win his match vs Bubba - all square after 5 holes. If he should make it to Augusta, you can follow the weather he will encounter by following this link:

https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/USGA0032:1:US

Super weekend in prospect for next week, but a bit early! Two-week forecast suggests variable weather, good chance of showers but nothing extreme. So far. Consult the European "Model" for better accuracy.

Here in the Midwest and MidSouth, we are in a bad weather pattern. Atmosphere is extremely moist and electric. Augusta is about 500 miles ESE and their weather is about a day behind us.

Augusta should be getting plenty of rain in the next 5-7 days. It should be very lush, Hopefully a big cold front comes through next weekend to clear the atmosphere in the deep South.

Would actually prefer Augusta played hard and fast, preferably with short rough.

PS: Didn't mean to ignore your LC reference, have had my share of experiences up there myself, but that's a whole other subject!

Jon Rahm's quite the golfer! But surprised Casey is struggling.

Some OWGR updates.

PD tweeted this morning that Jeunghun Wang will remain in the Top 50.  McGirt did not pass him, and if Zach and Na lose their R16 matches, they won't pass Wang either.

Fisher definitely needs to win his R16 match to get into Top 50.

Day did recieve OWGR points, and presumably FEX pts.  Stenson received Official Money, FEX pts and OWGR pts when he WD in the old format after one hole.  That was 2010.

Edit. Wes Bryan cannot crash the Top 50 with a win in Puerto Rico. Best he can do is #51.

Hey Tyrell, get to know the rules. They are your friends.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2017/03/24/tyrell-hatton-wgc-dell-match-play-missing-two-foot-putt-moment/

Sr,
The stupid, stupid thing is that the Rules Official was hurrying over to be available for consultation and Hatton, ever the impetuous one, just went ahead and tapped in. Berk.

robo foresaw the demise of the US challenge; very good to see Fish survive and secure his Billy Payne invite, but surprised to see Casey flunk out.

BIG win for Kjeldsen and he'll now be well ahead of the pace necessary to retain his card.


MDF in prospect in Puerto Rico, and that'll catch Greg Owen out unless he bucks up his ideas. Beef needs to roast his second nine.

Said Beef needed to roast his second nine and that's what he's done. In the house with a 66 and definitely in the mix for the win on Sunday. Excellent round when he needed it - and he really needs it Sunday.

Am loving the DJ/Noren match.

If I were advising Poulter, I would tell him to play Charlotte and Dallas as his two last tournaments on his Major Medical. Both tournaments have 7.5 Million Dollars purses. He needs $144K to regain his card.

Assuming he plays both those tournaments

He needs a solo* 13th place or better in one of those tournaments.

Or a solo 14th and Made Cut
or a solo 15th and a Made cut
....
or a solo 20th and solo 29th
...
or two solo 24th places

==========

It was a big mistake to play Puerto Rico, with their 3 Million dollar purse.

Still think it's tough to argue against course history. "It was a big mistake to to play Puerto Rico" so badly.

Disappointing for Team Europe today - difficult to count Rahm as a European until he actually starts playing in Europe, but hope he wins!

I think one tournament in Puerto Rico is a small sample size.

A friend of mine told me yesterday his deal with IJP fell through (not a massive deal, btw). Didn't say anything beyond that, but I wonder if all this away from competition stuff takes its toll. Who knows, but the big tour is littered with similar comeback and stall stories.

Rahm to win this? Why not. I hope World #1 wins, but I would not bet against Rahm.

Sr,
IJP is out of business, as of about a month ago. Perhaps a reason any deal might have fallen through.

If DJ wins, he's establishing a yuuuuuuge margin with second.

Get your bets on Jon Rahm for The Masters.

I already did super - got him at 28/1 .. can't see him being that long in 10 days time!

I'm hoping for a close final match. And I think DJ will need to make it close. Rahm looks outstanding.

Battle of the bowed left wrist.

Let's hope it's more exciting than the 90 minutes of tedium I just watched from Wembley.


DA Points with the Puerto Rico win, Goosen (remember Retief?) T2; two late bogeys meant Andrew Johnston slid back to T10, somewhat disappointing after he'd put himself in a decent position.

HELP: GPB, robo, Do PR Top Tens get the guys into Houston; I'm assuming they do? Which would get another start for Beef but kick a lot of guys out.