PGA Tour: Happy New Year - But Not New Season: Notes from the Ballwasher

First topic message reminder :

1).Yup, Only about six weeks ago that Charlie Howell won the RSM Classic in Georgia's gorgeous Golden Isles to wrap up the prologue part of the 2018/2019 PGA Tour Season. And that's about 17% of the season in the book. Or down the drain for those whose tournaments were more "fall" than autumn.

2).One imagines that Howell's win was a popular one for his fellow pros, he's certainly one of the more interesting players; can he turn that W into success (more wins anyway) more reflective of his 20th position ($37M) on the career money list? Whichever way you cut it, it's been an interesting trip from the deer-in-the-headlights ute that won the "Michelob" in Williamsburg back in 2002, when he was obliged to confess he didn't expect to celebrate by drinking the sponsor's product because he didn't drink beer - presumably he's subsequently figured out that Michelob barely qualifies.

3).Not much has happened since the "RSM", a couple of senior pros (Zach, Henrik) have changed caddies, there's a Slovakian at #27 ($31M) on that same career money list, Tiger Woods has turned 43 and the Goose is just about to see his 50th birthday; the last bloke to wear shorts whilst competing in a US Open has gone to the clubhouse in the sky and some new rules are applicable as of Jan 1st.

4).The two most notables rules tweaks are the modification to the drop rule (was from shoulder height, now knee height) and the option to leave the flag in when putting. I disagree with both, but you can only imagine that DeChambeau has been out with his setsquare and sliderule in his everlasting quest to gain a scientific edge.

5).And Rory McIlroy & Franny Molinari have been raising the spectre of dispensing with European Tour membership.

6).Regardless of the merits of their respective arguments, it can't be denied that 2019 opens with its most crowded calendar ever. Between mid-February and the LA Open @ Riviera and mid-June (US Open), the Tour doesn't go more than one week without a tournament that they have deemed even more prestigious than the usual events, EXCEPT the four weeks between Augusta and the PGA.
Those four weeks feature Hilton Head, New Orleans, Quail Hollow and the Byron Nelson, and good luck to Tournament Directors trying to attract leading pros for more than one of that lot.
And for the very excellent Travelers Championship the week following the Pebble Beach US Open. Despite The Travelers being the Players' Choice for best tournament for the past two years.

7).We'll try to continue to keep an eye on the Tour's Europeans, just as much on the journeymen as the galacticos, past (Donald, McDowell: big year for both!) and present. Only Poults, Rory, Casey, Molinari & Rahm in this week's field.

OK, Not much else to add. Happy New Year and I for one can't wait until Thursday afternoon (Klopp vs Pep, what else?), then the action from Kapalua.

Nice backdoor finishes from JT and DJ. These guys never go away do they?

robopz wrote:All the stars getting back in action...  Of course there's the chalk field this week... adding to Kwini's post earlier... here's some known field highlights for the next 4 weeks... Euros in bold...

- - - -
Week 2
Sony Open in Hawaii - Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Bryson DeChambeau, Marc Leishman, Paul Casey, Cameron Champ, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald

- - - -
Week 3
Abu Dhabi - Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrell Hatton, Henrik Stenson, Cabrera-Bello, Pepperell, Ian Poulter, Oleson

Desert Classic (Palm Springs) - Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson,  Patrick Cantlay, Alex Cejka, Bill Haas, Zach Johnson, Kisner, Kizzire, Martin Laird, Lingmerth, Seamus Power, Rory Sabbatini (Slovakian...:-)

Singapore - Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Matt Fitzpatrick, Davis Love III & IV,

- - - -
Week 4
Farmers Torrey Pines - Tiger Woods,  Jason Day, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Billy Horschel, Schauffele, Danny Willett,  Gary Woodland, Schwartzel, Cameron Champ, Russell Knox, Martin Laird, Marc Leishman, GMac, Seamus Power

Omega Dubai - Sergio Garcia, DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter, Tyrell Hatton, Olesen, Bjorn, Westwood, Jimenez, Ernie Els, Oosthuizen

- - - -
Week 5
WMPO - Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Hideki, Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Gary Woodland, Cam Smith, Brandt Snedeker

Saudi International - Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Thomas Bjorn

FWIW, You forgot Sergio Garcia playing in poker tournaments this week in the Bahamas . He busted early in a $25K buy-in yesterday and I think he will be playing in more events later this week.

Sergio Playing Poker:

https://www.pokernews.com/tours/psca/2019-pca/25k-pspc/chips.252012.htm

Is that Sandy Lyle standing behind him?

Nice article about Poulter being Poulter:

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/ian-poulter-goes-above-and-beyond-make-pga-tour-schedule-violation

At least it wasn't guests from the Waste Management!

Nice story though. Can't imagine letting golf fans into the house. Dullards the lot of us...

Very nice gesture from Poulter.

I don't agree that the ToC should count as a new event. Guaranteed Mid 5 figure paycheck, FEX Pts, and OWGR pts. Tough Life.

Sounds like Steph Curry's new event in San Francisco has been put on the back burner for now due to sponsor issues.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/golf/article/Stephen-Curry-golf-event-scrapped-PGA-Tour-13518500.php

Good chance Phil Mickelson's spot on Steph Curry's Christmas card list maybe on the back burner for a few years as a result as well...

I see that Shugo Imahira has become the latest incarnation of Ryo Ishikawa, Hello Magnolia Drive.

robo,
I didn't get the "Phil" reference . . . . . .

Re. The Poulter story. At first I thought it was pretty cool too and I would happily have taken part in the event. But on the other hand it reminded me of the medieval practice of indulgences, where people could reduce their time in purgatory by coughing up.

Honestly speaking I think it’s a bit pathetic to have a set of rules which you deliberately can fart on (which Poulter admitted he did) and still avoid being ejected from the tour by joggling a bit og bling. I wonder if the likes og Si Woo Kim could have pulled something like this off.

Bit harsh Pedro, If it had been Rev Gordon Spieth or "It was really tough out there, really tough" then I'm sure people would have been dribbling over their humanity and finally exclaiming that they developed a personality.

Poulter was thrown out of kilter, because unlike him, he unusually won a strokeplay event in America. He's always been pretty generous with his time and charities, so not like it was out of character for him.

kwinigolfer wrote:I see that Shugo Imahira has become the latest incarnation of Ryo Ishikawa, Hello Magnolia Drive.

robo,
I didn't get the "Phil" reference . . . . .  .

Didn't get that either; something to do with Workday?

navyblueshorts wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:I see that Shugo Imahira has become the latest incarnation of Ryo Ishikawa, Hello Magnolia Drive.

robo,
I didn't get the "Phil" reference . . . . .  .

Didn't get that either; something to do with Workday?

I thought Davis Love III advertised, was sponsored by, Workday

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:I see that Shugo Imahira has become the latest incarnation of Ryo Ishikawa, Hello Magnolia Drive.

robo,
I didn't get the "Phil" reference . . . . .  .

Didn't get that either; something to do with Workday?

I thought Davis Love III advertised, was sponsored by, Workday

Dunno. Whose daft work-type collared shirts was Phil using to play golf with as some product placement plug last year?

navyblueshorts wrote:

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:I see that Shugo Imahira has become the latest incarnation of Ryo Ishikawa, Hello Magnolia Drive.

robo,
I didn't get the "Phil" reference . . . . .  .

Didn't get that either; something to do with Workday?

I thought Davis Love III advertised, was sponsored by, Workday

Dunno. Whose daft work-type collared shirts was Phil using to play golf with as some product placement plug last year?

His own. I think he co-owns the company making them.

No new "Notes" this week, not really up to speed with the tournament.

But I DO know that it's going to represent an early clue as to whether Luke Donald (41 now) has any realistic chance of a comeback. Just the sort of course you'd expect him to play well on, but not with his stats over the past two years. Hopefully he's fit, has his radar tuned in and has been polishing his short game. No top 35's since Harbour Town, almost two years ago.
He's in a threesome with Jonas Blixt and Russell Knox, two others who have a game to find.

Is anyone else signed up on the season-long No Laying Up fantasy game?
Entries close tomorrow . . . . . . .

kwinigolfer wrote:robo,
I didn't get the "Phil" reference . . . . .  .

Connect the dots:

1) Lagardere
• Lagardere's golf event management is overseen by Steve Loy, Phil's manager with Phil supposedly having a piece of the action
• Lagardere pitched Stepf Curry to get the management contract for the New SF event... but didn't get it. Octagon Sports did. One of the main reasons was Curry wanted back to back scheduling with Napa and Lagardere wouldn't agree to manage under those conditions... because...  
• Safeway Open (NAPA)  is managed by Lagardere and did not want back to back scheduling of Napa and SF due to potential sponsor/fan/volunteer overlap

2) Workday
• Phil has an endorsement contract with Workday
• Workday was supposedly firm as the title sponsor for the new SF event which was supposed to be announced in December 10 when Lake Merced agreed to host and move forward with the recommenced course upgrades immediately
• Lagardere golf event management runs the Desert Classic in Palm Springs. As things were being finalized between Octagon and Lake Merced, The Week before the expected SF Event official announcement...  Desert Classic gains an agreement for a 1 year stop-gap presenting sponsor deal with Workday and renamed the event "The Desert Classic Presented by Workday
• The expected Dec 10 formal announcement of the New SF event is postponed.
• January 2019 it's reported  Curry's event won't go in 2019 as planned because of Sponsorship fallout with Workday... Denials are made that Workday falling out was the issue... but now Workday and the Desert Classic are supposedly in talks to upgrade Workday to full long term Title sponsorship of the Desert Classic

Things don't happen for no reason {{{wink-wink}}}

Blimey.
Reminds me of all the various machinations with Omega & Rolex for guys like Shark

I'm so far out of touch, I don't even know what "Workday" is. Nothing to do with government workers presumably?

Sounds as if Adam Scott could well sit out the season's remaining WGC's because of the crowded calendar, none on his schedule so far.

Don't know how many will skip all three (even Scott), but imagine there'll be a few missing one or two.

kwinigolfer wrote:Is anyone else signed up on the season-long No Laying Up fantasy game?
Entries close tomorrow . . . . . . .

Yes!

Big fan of the idea of a fantasy comp covering the less heralded events, and also forcing people into some more obscure picks. Although I can’t remember who I picked and I don’t think I can find out until the deadline closes!


Re this Poulter thing, the one part of the story I don’t get is why the Houston win wrecked his new event. What did that have to do with anything?


Solid starts for Luuuke and Knox. Less so for Jordan, No-WGCs Scott and Woodland (not sure a tight tree lined course helps him).


Been away from here for a few weeks, so Happy New Year all.

Happy New Year, Ned.

Not sure about Poults, but the win might have elevated him into Majors (obviously the Masters) and WGC's that he would otherwise have missed, and thus clogged up his schedule. Dunno, but somewhere in there he (and Spieth) made choices knowing full well the penalty.

Re the NLU fanto, you should see your team on the confirmation email, unless it's deleted. Should see your first results by Monday . . . . . I'm thinking it is designed to reward pros who play a lot!

Promising for Knox & Lukey but Spieth's putter is carrying on where it left off last year.

Re Poults: he won’t admit it but he had probably hoped to make the TC, just like Spieth. And at the same time he was trying to make the RC team on merit by playing a lot in Europe.

The excuse that he got into The US and British Opens? Well wasn’t he already all but qualified? In any case he would have moved safely into the top 50/60 even with a top 10 at houston, thereby virtually securing a spot.

Poults doesn't do anything without a reason!

Wasn't he about the first pro to suss out the ramifications and arithmetic gymnastics of the owgr's? Which kinda made his calling out (by inference) princedrac sound all a little bit hollow after the WGC MatchPlay last year.

They changed Sabbattinis flag... what better way to grow Slovakian golf than in Hawaii.

His explanation for taking Slovak citizenshiop sounds a bit dodgy to me:
https://www.golfchannel.com/news/rory-sabbatini-says-his-new-slovak-citizenship-isnt-about-2020-olympics

Methinks it has something to do with his UK passport (didn’t even know he had one?) and Brexit.

Happy birthday Poults

https://twitter.com/Darth_Monty/status/1083382874475323392?s=19

kwinigolfer wrote:Blimey.
Reminds me of all the various machinations with Omega & Rolex for guys like Shark

I'm so far out of touch, I don't even know what "Workday" is. Nothing to do with government workers presumably?

Government workers have a very short work day!

Workday is an HR management system. Companies use it to store employee details, payroll etc. It has become popular because it is cloud based.

ray,
What did Workday used to be called?


Scoring in Hawaii more than a stroke easier for the afternoon "wave" yesterday, which makes Knox and Donald look in better shape than their modest positions on the leaderboard - which means nothing unless they play well on Friday. Poor round from Casey though.

Be_the_ball wrote:Happy birthday Poults

https://twitter.com/Darth_Monty/status/1083382874475323392?s=19

For a minute I thought it was a young Rod Stewart.

pedro wrote:

Be_the_ball wrote:Happy birthday Poults

https://twitter.com/Darth_Monty/status/1083382874475323392?s=19

For a minute I thought it was a young Rod Stewart.

Poults: Just another product of the Stevenage slums . . . . . . . .

#stevenagechavs #ianandlewis

raycastleunited wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:Blimey.
Reminds me of all the various machinations with Omega & Rolex for guys like Shark

I'm so far out of touch, I don't even know what "Workday" is. Nothing to do with government workers presumably?

Government workers have a very short work day!

Workday is an HR management system. Companies use it to store employee details, payroll etc. It has become popular because it is cloud based.

companies like Workday are more than that. Employment litigation has become its own industry over here because it's so difficult for companies to keep up with the myriad of ever changing labor laws. So by outsourcing their HR, companies not only ensure they are doing things correct by the law, but they are in effect buying another layer of liability protection in that regard.

Spieth's golf game still wandering in the wilderness... Sheesh... Not even close, looks to be getting worse actually.

Russell Knox warming up in Hawaii.

He's playing next week's Desert "Classic" (which is usually a euphemism). Rose, McDowell, Laird and Power are also in the field. EDIT! Danny Willett too.

In Case You Missed It.

Webbie Tour starts Sunday in the Bahamas.

Don't see many Euro Flags. 3 English Flags, 1 German, and 1 Swedish.

I do see one former Ryder Cupper making his first Tournament start since the 2017 Canadian Open, 18 months ago. I think he entered a few tournaments last summer, but WDed before the tournament started. GO BOO!

https://www.pgatour.com/webcom/leaderboard.html

robopz wrote:Spieth's golf game still wandering in the wilderness... Sheesh... Not even close, looks to be getting worse actually.

Read also Luke Donald:

It looks like their (early / late) "wave" had tougher conditions, scoring nearly 2 1/2 strokes higher than the late/early crew.
No excuse for missed cuts, but mitigating factor!

GPB wrote:In Case You Missed It.

Webbie Tour starts Sunday in the Bahamas.

Don't see many Euro Flags.  3 English Flags, 1 German, and 1 Swedish.

I do see one former Ryder Cupper making his first Tournament start since the 2017 Canadian Open, 18 months ago.  I think he entered a few tournaments last summer, but WDed before the tournament started.  GO BOO!

https://www.pgatour.com/webcom/leaderboard.html

Had those five plus one Dane in my tally GPB, Cappelen who is a Web.com lifer. 2/3 of the Englishmen came through the PGA China Tour last year, wonder whether that’s just a fluke or a trend that will continue.

Rumours flying on twitter tonight that Kuch $1.3million win in Mexico before Christmas resulted in a grand $3000 paycheck for the local caddie he hired for the week. Hope that’s not true.

That sounds a bit far-fetched Ned.
Everything I've seen suggests he made a minimum of $130K, which would be less than the normal 15% but certainly better than $3measlyK!

There'll be a secondary cut for top 70 and ties today. Russell Knox off to a good start and should be OK, but Poults is going to need a decent round to ensure he's safe.

Kuchar's wife was an emergency caddie for Zach Johnson when Damon Green got sick on the course.

Wonder is Zach paid Sybi more than $3000?

Brandel Chamblee chimed in with a good point.

https://twitter.com/chambleebrandel/status/1084228672188407808

https://twitter.com/chambleebrandel/status/1084218628080230400

Not sure if I completely agree with the $3000 paycheck, but the 10% typical bonus arrangement is probably too generous.

FWIW, back in the mid-80's I caddied 5 holes for an LPGA rank/file player when her caddie passed out from heat stroke. I got $40. The only thing I did was carry the heavy bag (90+ degree on a hilly course in Georgia). I didn't read putts, I didn't do yardages. I was a two legged rented mule. Don't you dare call me a jack@$$.

Patton Kizzire completed the Mayakoba / Hawaii double last season - and didn't score another Tour top ten finish until last week.

Matt Kuchar is in prime position to complete the same double later today. Hope he does . . . . . . but would bet he'll return to a tournament top ten more quickly.

But: Interesting that Kuchar seems to be confirming he paid his Mayakoba caddie less than the normal 10%, though more than $3K.
He would do himself a favour by adding some verifiable specifics or this curmudgeonly tale will linger.
What a berk! Lucky he made it back across the border . . . . . . . . .

Morgan Hoffmann is also playing the Web-tour in the Bahamas. He had not played in nearly a year. Not sure if his absence was due to his Muscular Dystrophy or another issue.

He is not off to a good start.

Good win for Kooch after a shaky start.

I wonder how much his caddie was paid?

pedro wrote:Good win for Kooch after a shaky start.

I wonder how much his caddie was paid?

Can't believe Kuchar has failed to put this behind him - guilty by twitter until he does.
Interesting stats on Andrew Putnam's putting: Almost 11 strokes "gained putting" for the week, 450 feet of putts made. That's putt'n'em


Off to the desert - and Graeme McDowell has already deserted, not sure why.

HoSung Choi gets an invite to the Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Northern Ireland update:
Still no word why McDowell w/d this week - you'd've thought he'd play as many events as he could.
Rory McIlroy to play Torrey Pines - this seems to be his first visit, as a pro anyway. Wonder if he played Junior Worlds there? Not sure the courses set up particularly well for him.
DC is having a beer.

Well well well. Fat pig Shane leading in the desert. I thought he struggled in the heat hauling around his gargantuan girth.

Super

Not sure if you know but a camels hump is actually full of fat and not water.

The David Feherty piece with Tommy Fleetwood is pretty good

Looks like Nick O'Hearn giving up the states to go back to Australia... https://twitter.com/nickohern/status/1085011393059774464?s=19

robopz wrote:Looks like Nick O'Hearn giving up the states to go back to Australia... https://twitter.com/nickohern/status/1085011393059774464?s=19

I wonder what took him so long, he hasn't played a Tour-related event (possibly Monday qualies excepted) for four years, the game has passed him by. Played a little in Oz recently with minimal success.
Great timing to catch most of the Aussie Open (#1 sporting event on my sporting bucket list!).

Kwini: ICYMI, the Webbie event went with threesomes off the first tee only in the 4th round.

I can't remember the last time a PGATour or Webbie event did that for a regular event.

It has always been two-somes off one tee, or three-somes off split tees.

I think three-somes when there is more than 78 players (and enough daylight, good weather) should be the default.

Maybe there is a change in policy for 2019?