PGA Tour: Summer Doldrums Continue - John Deere / Barbasol: Notes from the Ballwasher

I WILL LEAVE IT TO GB&I POSTERS to initiate an Open Championship thread!!!!!!!
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1).The "Summer Swing" continues this week in the "Quad Cities" straddling the Mississippi in Iowa and Illinois, with the John Deere Classic. And next week in Kentucky at the "opposite field" Barbasol Championship.
This week's field is disappointingly weak, only Charlie Howell (#55) and Kyle Stanley (#56) of the owgr Top 60, the weakest strength of field I can find for this excellent "community" event, the sort that the PGA Tour was built on.
But it is extremely important for those who are there with only four weeks remaining in the PGA Tour season. Next week's Barbasol, being played opposite The Open Championship, will be similar or worse.
So, moving quickly on, here some random thoughts to chew over and keep a thread going:

2).Fantastic performances from Wolff and Morikawa at last week's 3M Open, separated in the end by a fraction of an inch. Hovland just a few strokes behind.
Each summer brings a wave of college-leavers who gather multiple invitations to Tour events. Some make their mark immediately, Woods obviously, but Ryan Moore, Justin Leonard, Phil and a handful of others, while others take a while, like Justin Thomas, Cantlay, Duval and several more.
Some make a fleeting impression, Lovemark, Gribble, Kaufman etc (Champ?) but struggle to maintain their Tour status. And that list should include last year's John Deere Classic winner, Michael Kim, who's now languishing in the FedEx Points list at #221!
And others never make a Pro mark at all.
Watch this space!

3).It's been a strange year for golfers from below the Equator, with Marc Leishman being the only winner from Australia, New Zealand, Southern Africa or South America since Jason Day's two victories in early last year.
Cameron Smith seems to have his promising streaks but, like Branden Grace, blows hot and cold. Curtis Luck is struggling, Dylan Frittelli, Grillo too. Oosthuizen and Scott make promising runs in big tournaments once in a while and Schwartzel and Villegas are on the long-term injury list.
Flashes from Justin Harding and von Rooyen but nothing more than that.
Not much "homefield advantage" in having the Presidents Cup in Melbourne, there are only 4 Aussies in the Top 29 placings as things now stand.

4).The US Presidents Cup Team looks like this: (Top 12):
Koepka, Johnson, Schauffele, Thomas, Kuchar, BDeC, Cantlay, Woodland, Fowler, Finau, Simpson, Woods.

5).Interested in how the US Ryder Cup rankings are shaping up? Here are the Top 12:
Koepka, Johnson, Woodland, Woods, Schauffele, Kuchar, Cantlay, Kisner, Reavie, Furyk, Simpson, Spieth. Others with a Paris hangover are:
Finau (13th), Fowler (14th), Thomas (17th), Bubba (20th), Phil (23rd), DeChambeau (24th), Reed (26th).

6).What's at stake for making the FedEx Play Offs, keep PGA Tour status these next few weeks?
Top 125 proceed to The Northern Trust and be assured of retaining their "playing privileges", if not otherwise exempt.
Examples of Europeans in danger here:
Blixt, Willett, Power, Laird, Kaymer, Straka, Jaeger, Noren.

7).And none of these are assured of achieving "conditional status via the 125th - 150th in FedEx Points.
They all have the safety net of the web.com / Korn Ferry Finals, but would all need to uncover form they haven't shown recently, Kaymer (who probably couldn't care less) excepted.

8).The last month of the season, then, is as follows:
July 11th - 14th: John Deere Classic (Quad Cities)
July 18th - 21st: The Open Championship
July 18th - 21st: Barbasol Championship (Kentucky)
July 25th - 28th: WGC-FedEx St.Jude (Memphis)
July 25th - 28th: Barracuda Championship (Reno)
Aug 1st - 4th: Wyndham Championship (Greensboro)

TRIVIA:
Golf Channel incorrectly stated that Bernd Wiesberger is the European with most ET wins, but without a Ryder Cup appearance. Who is the correct answer to that distinction? (McNulty doesn't count!)

Answer to your question - Ernie Els?
Surely Willett is exempt for at least another year? Or is that what you mean by "if not otherwise exempt"?

[quote="I'm never wrong"]Answer to your question - Ernie Els?
Surely Willett is exempt for at least another year? Or is that what you mean by "if not otherwise exempt"? [/quote


Inw,
No: Ernie is not European.
and
Yes: But, yes, you're right, Willett has another couple of years, my mistake.

Sorry, misunderstood question, thought you meant ET player and it was a trick question. OK I'll try Alex Cjeka

I'm never wrong wrote:Sorry, misunderstood question, thought you meant ET player and it was a trick question. OK I'll try Alex Cjeka

Not Cejka, but what an inspired guess! Not Freddie Jac either, a player with similar career path.

Gonzo?

BTW, Caution: There will outbreaks of Swamp-Butt this week at the Deere and probably at Barbasol and WGC-FEX. Very hot in the Midwest this week, and not much change in the longterm forecast. Hopefully the Miss River starts going down.

ICYMI, Kaymer is third alternate for Portrush, behind the Slovak Sabbo (Born South of the Equator) and Lefty Harman.

'Native' South Africans do have a win this year on the PGATour. Justin Rose.

Gonzo is correct, 7 wins.
I believe Anders Forsbrand would be second, with 6.

Someone figured out once that, if Europe used the US selection method for qualification, Forsbrand would have played 2 Ryder Cups!

If the European Grandfathered wins (IMO, they should) from Prior to 1971, there would be several Europeans who would be on the list ahead of Gonzo.

Flory Von Donck won a bunch of events that would be considered part of the EuroTour if it had been organized sooner.

GPB wrote:If the European Grandfathered wins (IMO, they should) from Prior to 1971, there would be several Europeans who would be on the list ahead of Gonzo.

Flory Von Donck won a bunch of events that would be considered part of the EuroTour if it  had been organized sooner.

Which is perfectly true except that he was never qualified to compete in the RC.

He didn't die until 1992.

Old Tom Morris?

GPB wrote:

ICYMI, Kaymer is third alternate for Portrush, behind the Slovak Sabbo (Born South of the Equator) and Lefty Harman.

I believe Ryan Moore has also withdrawn, not sure whether that gets Roary in or Moore's defection has already been accounted for.

GPB wrote:Gonzo?

BTW, Caution:  There will outbreaks of Swamp-Butt this week at the Deere and probably at Barbasol and WGC-FEX.  Very hot in the Midwest this week, and not much change in the longterm forecast.  Hopefully the Miss River starts going down.

ICYMI, Kaymer is third alternate for Portrush, behind the Slovak Sabbo (Born South of the Equator) and Lefty Harman.

'Native' South Africans do have a win this year on the PGATour.  Justin Rose.  :censored:

Ha ha

Happy to see Graham DeLaet in the Korn Ferry field this week, after almost two years out with similar back issues to Tiger.

One of the best guys on Tour to watch when fully fit, his "ball striking" fantastic to see.
But probably the worst chipper ever to turn Pro.

EDIT: David Duval also in the field, prepping for Portrush . . . . . . .

kwinigolfer wrote:

One of the best guys on Tour to watch when fully fit, his "ball striking" fantastic to see.
But probably the worst chipper ever to turn Pro.

Can't have been worse than Lee Westwood. Always thought Westie was probably the worst chipper of any player ever to get to the top of the game.

I get your point, but the worst world number one at chipping isn't a bad oxymoron to be.

(English language aficionados, get your teeth into that one)

Question

If you could have your swing reshaped by George Genkas or Pete Cowan, who would you choose?

McLaren wrote:

kwinigolfer wrote:

One of the best guys on Tour to watch when fully fit, his "ball striking" fantastic to see.
But probably the worst chipper ever to turn Pro.

Can't have been worse than Lee Westwood. Always thought Westie was probably the worst chipper of any player ever to get to the top of the game.

Always tended to think that assessment of Westwood is a bit harsh. I’d say you simply don’t get to W N 1 if your chipping is dodgy. Comparing to other W N 1s is harsh as that by its nature is the most rarefied of exclusive clubs. Jack wasnt exactly reknowned for his chipping either.

McLaren wrote:Question

If you could have your swing reshaped by George Genkas or Pete Cowan, who would you choose?

Who cares?

I guess I must have cared a bit to ask the question. They are just the "in" coaches of the moment.

Last week on the Challenge Tour, in the Slovakia Challenge (Where was Sabbatini?) there was a PAR 6, 783 yards. There were 6 Eagle 4's

This week, the Kornies are playing at TPC Colorado and have a par 5, 773. admittedly Course is at elevation and the total yardage is almost 8000 yards

Looks like Graham Delaet has WDed. Haven't seen any reason why.

-----------

Kevin Na has WDed from Portrush, Sabbatini is now in, Next up would be Harman, then Kaymer

GPB,
I read that Ryan Moore's wife is in the family way, due next week and that he would withdraw, but can't find confirmation of that.

PS: Great to see Slovakia represented in Portrush.

Fantastic opening round for Martin Laird

Not sure if this has been covered anywhere on here already, I’ve been offline or a few weeks. But this is an extraordinary/horrifying story from Ken Green, one of Kwini’s old favourites.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/ken-green-haunted-for-years-by-a-devastating-secret/amp?__twitter_impression=true

NedB-H wrote:Not sure if this has been covered anywhere on here already, I’ve been offline or a few weeks. But this is an extraordinary/horrifying story from Ken Green, one of Kwini’s old favourites.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/ken-green-haunted-for-years-by-a-devastating-secret/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Unimaginable and horrifying. There are sick people on this earth. Its amazing that he was able to overcome his childhood to become a World Class Golfer.

kwinigolfer wrote:GPB,
I read that Ryan Moore's wife is in the family way, due next week and that he would withdraw, but can't find confirmation of that.

PS: Great to see Slovakia represented in Portrush.

https://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/the-open-championship/field.html

Ryan Moore not listed (by he has a Claret Jug next to his name on the PGATour Leaderboard.

Neither Harman or Kaymer listed either.

4 players get an exemption tomorrow. 3 from the Scottish Open, 1 from Western Illinois.

GPB wrote:

NedB-H wrote:Not sure if this has been covered anywhere on here already, I’ve been offline or a few weeks. But this is an extraordinary/horrifying story from Ken Green, one of Kwini’s old favourites.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/ken-green-haunted-for-years-by-a-devastating-secret/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Unimaginable and horrifying.  There are sick people on this earth.  Its amazing that he was able to overcome his childhood to become a World Class Golfer.

That's a disturbing read, all credit to him for surviving it.

Be_the_ball wrote:

GPB wrote:

NedB-H wrote:Not sure if this has been covered anywhere on here already, I’ve been offline or a few weeks. But this is an extraordinary/horrifying story from Ken Green, one of Kwini’s old favourites.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/ken-green-haunted-for-years-by-a-devastating-secret/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Unimaginable and horrifying.  There are sick people on this earth.  Its amazing that he was able to overcome his childhood to become a World Class Golfer.

That's a disturbing read, all credit to him for surviving it.

That was a grim read. You have to wonder how he functions at all now. Poor guy.

Nice win from Dylan Fritelli. Has he caught the eye of Ernie Els for the Prez Cup. Ernie can't be liking the form of his players.

Didn't Fritelli inquire about being Ryder Cup eligible because he has an Italian Passport (prehaps citizenship).

Yes, I know some of you Brit bloggers don't give a RATS @$$ about the Prez Cup. Just like there is a bunch of Aussie and SAFFER golf fans don't give a RATS @$$ about the Ryder Cup.

GPB wrote:Nice win from Dylan Fritelli.  Has he caught the eye of Ernie Els for the Prez Cup.  Ernie can't be liking the form of his players.

Didn't Fritelli inquire about being Ryder Cup eligible because he has an Italian Passport (prehaps citizenship).

Yes, I know some of you Brit bloggers don't give a RATS @$$ about the Prez Cup.  Just like there is a bunch of Aussie and SAFFER golf fans don't give a RATS @$$ about the Ryder Cup.

With respect I don't think you're really comparing like with like when comparing the Prez Cup with the Ryder Cup...

With respect I don't think you're really comparing like with like when comparing the Prez Cup with the Ryder Cup...

Not sure what you are saying, especially the bolded part.

But what I am saying, is that I recognize that the Presidents Cup has a niche that European Golf fans have no interest.

Just like the Ryder Cup is of no interest to Aussie Golf Fans, and SAFFER golf fans.

GPB wrote:

With respect I don't think you're really comparing like with like when comparing the Prez Cup with the Ryder Cup...

Not sure what you are saying, especially the bolded part.

But what I am saying, is that I recognize that the Presidents Cup has a niche that European Golf fans have no interest.

Just like the Ryder Cup is of no interest to Aussie Golf Fans, and SAFFER golf fans.

Surely, pretty much every golf fan would get engaged with the Presidents Cup if it was competitive. But it's not, and some of the players, most notably Jason Day, own up to the fact that he doesn't get up for the PC:

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/jason-day-mentally-checking-out-presidents-cups-i-can-do-better

(He spends too much time talking to Tiger.)

Don't really feel as if Adam Scott has been much more of a leader; it's the South Africans who mostly come to play, which makes it strange (or cunning) that the PGA Tour stages the thing three times as often in OZ as it does in SA. And very few of the Asians (not you Shigeki) have made any contribution.
But, let's be honest, hardly anyone thought that the Ryder Cup was anything other than a quaint club matchplay event until Tony Jacklin brought it into the 20th century and galvanised the Seve/Woosie/Langer/Lyle/Faldo generation to take it seriously.
That's the challenge for the Internationals now.

GPB wrote:

With respect I don't think you're really comparing like with like when comparing the Prez Cup with the Ryder Cup...

Not sure what you are saying, especially the bolded part.

But what I am saying, is that I recognize that the Presidents Cup has a niche that European Golf fans have no interest.

Just like the Ryder Cup is of no interest to Aussie Golf Fans, and SAFFER golf fans.

The Ryder Cup is the biggest event in golf (not the most important, that'll be the majors, but definitely the biggest) with global appeal, whether you'll admit it or not. The Presidents Cup is a tinpot made up competition which most people (including those taking part) don't really care very much about, never mind what European outsiders think. Hence they are nowhere near comparable so cannot, and should not, be compared.

Maybe if the International Team were given more of a say in how their team was picked, where their "home" matches were played and how their captain was picked then it might start to have some appeal but right now it's set up by the PGA tour for the benefit of the American team so is unlikely to ever reach the global (yes global) appeal of the Ryder Cup.

ralphjohn69 wrote:

GPB wrote:

With respect I don't think you're really comparing like with like when comparing the Prez Cup with the Ryder Cup...

Not sure what you are saying, especially the bolded part.

But what I am saying, is that I recognize that the Presidents Cup has a niche that European Golf fans have no interest.

Just like the Ryder Cup is of no interest to Aussie Golf Fans, and SAFFER golf fans.

The Ryder Cup is the biggest event in golf (not the most important, that'll be the majors, but definitely the biggest) with global appeal, whether you'll admit it or not.  The Presidents Cup is a tinpot made up competition which most people (including those taking part) don't really care very much about, never mind what European outsiders think.  Hence they are nowhere near comparable so cannot, and should not, be compared.

Maybe if the International Team were given more of a say in how their team was picked, where their "home" matches were played and how their captain was picked then it might start to have some appeal but right now it's set up by the PGA tour for the benefit of the American team so is unlikely to ever reach the global (yes global) appeal of the Ryder Cup.

Unfortunately, every bit of that looks spot on, ralph.
But there is definitely some appeal for the Pres Cup in the USA, simply because winning is such a sure thing, and that's what is more important than the contest. Just ask TW.

Kinda surprised that the reduction of players making the cut will change to Top 65 and ties from Top 70 has gone through. No surprise, though, that the MDF has been ditched:

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/pga-tour-reduce-cut-line-remove-mdf-next-season

This week's Barbasol Championship has just one player (99th ranked Jhonny Vegas) among the owgr Top 100, but there'll be plenty of struggling pros still not sure of their Top 125 FedEx Point threshold, and place on next season's PGA Tour.


One can never be quite sure what point total will squeeze into the Top 125, but 400 x FedEx Points is usually about it.
Martin Laird (currently 128th) and Seamus Power (135th) are well adrift in terms of points, but are in this week's field - and hopefully next week's in Reno.
Some familiar names still needing good finishes to secure next season's "playing privileges", and who are in this week's field, include:
Nick Taylor
Matt Jones
Uihlein
Hossler (fine season a year ago, struggling this)
Bill Haas (to Justin Rose's point . . . . . . . !)
Harris English (another hot shot to have fizzled)
Schniederjans (ditto)
Smylie Kaufman (EDIT! Hadn't realised he withdrew yesterday - what a shame)
Cody Gribble

And, I wonder if the notion that "opposite field" events' fields should be shrunk from 132 to 120 was triggered by the presence this week of Allenby, Day, Brian Davis, Jonathan Kaye, Uresti etc?

Good job I highlighted the poor seasons from young Aussies and Saffers:
#Cameron Smith
#Dylan Frittelli
#Erik Van Rooyen
#Justin Harding


Meanwhile, the best round by a PGA Tourist so far today is Sweden's David Lingmerth, -9 with one hole to play at the Barbasol. But he still won't make the cut unless he eagles his Par-3 final hole, as he was dead effing last after Round 1.

Decent round from Seamus Power but he needs to put his foot down tomorrow or he won't make up any significant ground.
Martin Laird just about to get going, and he needs three more good'uns as well.

A promising 66 from Martin Laird yesterday and two more where that came from would go a long way towards retrieving his card.
79 pros made the Barbasol cut so another cut for top 70 and ties following Round 3.
For what it's worth, the golfer formerly known as Bill Haas has emerged from hibernation and is in second. Very enjoyable to follow is Billy, so hope he is starting to recover the form that has seemed to desert him.


OK, Next week:
Only a maximum field, apparently, of 64 have signed up for the Memphis WGC, with Fowler, Westwood, Molinari, Wiesberger, and Woods opting to take the week off.

There's another "opposite field" tournament, the Barracuda in Reno. Surprise entrant is Martin Kaymer after missing out on action at Portrush. Unless he finishes extremely well in Reno and/or Greensboro, it'll be a futile effort to squeeze in 15 events, as he'll come up at least one tournament short.

A very nice 63 from Martin Laird at the Barbasol, but that won't be enough to secure his card. Another good effort required next week in Reno - where he's played well in the past.

Norwegian Kristoffer Ventura is gunning for his 2nd Korn Ferry win in 4 weeks.