PGATour Running Commentary January 2022

Happy New Year.  After a nearly a year and half, its time for a new thread.

39 ofthe 40 Players eligible to play Sentry ToC are playing.  Only one missing is Rory McIlroy.

....and the season is nearly 1/4 done already.

I'm never wrong wrote:....and the season is nearly 1/4 done already.

The NFL season is nearly over.
The NBA season is nearly half over
The NHL season is nearly half over

Baseball is the only major North American professional sport whose season does not overlap two different calendar years

Never understood why there was angst when the PGATour decided to end there season in September (then August).

John Daly went on the Full Send podcast, shortly after his and his son's win in the PNC championship. He told the hosts his ball speed was 220 mph at his peak, with a balata ball. He also said Little John carries his 2 iron over 270 yards. He also previously told Howard Stern he has a 10 inch member that is as thick as a coke can. Spoofer of the highest order!

https://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/john-daly-throws-big-hitting-barb-at-bryson-dechambeau

Cam Smith leading early at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, I really like the way this young man goes about his business.

Inco, yes I am also fond of Cam Smith. He is an unreal putter. Must be up there in SG putting and did he not manage 18 putts in a round last season?

Went skiing today in the Adirondack Mountains (-15f this morning!) so now back at base camp and ready to watch golf from beautiful Hawaii.

Can't help but really like Rahm for this event and pretty much for the rest of 2022. Bags another major and wins 2x times on this tour is my prediction.

This Kapalua course looks like every other PGATour Course.

I love to see the Humpback whales breaching the water and the pods of dolphins.

4/5 Aussies in the Top 10. Pretty good ratio. Jason Day is the 7th best Aussie according to the OWGR. Behind C, Smith, Leish, Herbert, Scott, Min Woo Lee, C, Davis, and M. Jones.

Yes, Shotrock, Rahm is looking solid to stay at the top of the OWGR. He has finished Top 10 in the last 5 majors. Tiger had a streak of 8 Top 10's in a row (and 5 in a row). Nicklaus had a streak of 9 in a row, 13 in a row, and 9 in row, all in the 1970's. He also had a streak of 5 in a row in the 1980's. He had 33 Top 15's in a row in the 1970's

Surprised Hovland wasn't more of a factor this week. Golf Channel repeated all the final rounds of the 2021 during the Holidays, and it seems every time I tuned in, Hovland was in the mix.

McLaren wrote:Inco, yes I am also fond of Cam Smith. He is an unreal putter. Must be up there in SG putting and did he not manage 18 putts in a round last season?

Yes I believe he did. Sadly I don't think he'll hold off the challenge of Rahm today though.

What do you make of John Daly's claims, do you think they're a phallusy?

Imagine finishing -33 for 72 holes and NOT winning…No I can’t either.
Kapalua never disappoints when it comes to crazy numbers.

JAS wrote:Imagine finishing -33 for 72 holes and NOT winning…No I can’t either.
Kapalua never disappoints when it comes to crazy numbers.

Yes, Crazy Low Numbers.

Lift Clean and Place first two days
Soft Golf Course
Perfect weather
No wind

Incredibly 3-wood from Hideki to beat Russell Henley in the Sony Open playoff

Seamus Power off to a solid start in 2021/2022 season. Two Top 5 finishes (RSM, Sony) and 3 other Top 15 finishes. His T3 at the Sony got him inside the OWGR Top 50 and in contention for a Masters invite if he can stay there for another ~2.5 months. He has probably clinched a spot in the Match Play.

Even Hideki couldn't miss from there. Although I believe his putting stats were pretty good this week.

Can someone Sticky this one and un-Sticky the other one so we don’t get two lots of comments on the same thing in two different places? In fact, the Sticky area really needs cleaning up as there are lots of subjects which are way out of date.

LadyPutt wrote:Can someone Sticky this one and un-Sticky the other one so we don’t get two lots of comments on the same thing in two different places? In fact, the Sticky area really needs cleaning up as there are lots of subjects which are way out of date.

Sticky areas always need cleaned up in my experience.....

LadyPutt wrote:Can someone Sticky this one and un-Sticky the other one so we don’t get two lots of comments on the same thing in two different places? In fact, the Sticky area really needs cleaning up as there are lots of subjects which are way out of date.

LadyPutt, I "reported" the post so the Mods would see it. I agree with you.

Henrik Stenson told to choose between Saudi Super League money and Ryder Cup captaincy

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2022/01/17/henrik-stenson-faces-ultimatum-must-choose-saudi-riches-ryder/

It’s complicated not only by the huge amounts on offer.This [captaincy] could be his one and only chance with so many big Europe figures about to come into the picture for future matches.

But then, it’s far from guaranteed he will get it this time anyway, with Luke obviously having a strong shout and the case for Karlsson seemingly strengthening by the day.

SAFFER James Hart du Preez is playing the AMEX this week. He is 6'10" (208 cm) tall and has a swing speed of 145 mph.

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/golfer-610-kyle-berkshire-swing-speed-and-hes-playing-american-express

GPB wrote:

LadyPutt wrote:Can someone Sticky this one and un-Sticky the other one so we don’t get two lots of comments on the same thing in two different places? In fact, the Sticky area really needs cleaning up as there are lots of subjects which are way out of date.

LadyPutt, I "reported" the post so the Mods would see it.  I agree with you.

I asked for this 9 MONTHS ago on the "new mod" thread. Got fobbed off then

Hi all - I've made this a sticky and tidied up the stickie section generally. Apologies for the lack of love on the Golf section lately - it used to have regular moderators but they've long moved on by the look of things.

On that note would anybody be interested in the role so we have a regular poster here who could sort out these type of forum management requests?

RDW wrote:On that note would anybody be interested in the role so we have a regular poster here who could sort out these type of forum management requests?

Isn't Good Golly I'm Olly the mod for this board? I asked him if he could tidy up the stickies, but he said he couldn't - maybe he didn't have the functionality assigned?

GPB wrote:Henrik Stenson told to choose between Saudi Super League money and Ryder Cup captaincy

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2022/01/17/henrik-stenson-faces-ultimatum-must-choose-saudi-riches-ryder/

It’s complicated not only by the huge amounts on offer.This [captaincy] could be his one and only chance with so many big Europe figures about to come into the picture for future matches.

But then, it’s far from guaranteed he will get it this time anyway, with Luke obviously having a strong shout and the case for Karlsson seemingly strengthening by the day.

Seems a much harsher penalty than having to play Pebble beach. But probably deserved.

GPB wrote:SAFFER James Hart du Preez is playing the AMEX this week.  He is 6'10" (208 cm) tall and has a swing speed of 145 mph.

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/golfer-610-kyle-berkshire-swing-speed-and-hes-playing-american-express

"last season led the Sunshine Tour in driving distance at an average clip of 373.07 yards"


It will be hilarious seeing Bryson try to match that.



Although

"Du Preez, though, isn’t remotely close to the top 10 in the world – or the top 1,000 for that matter. Despite his size and length (and his athleticism; he played cricket and water polo in high school), du Preez is ranked No. 1,319 in the world. Since turning pro in 2018, he has posted only four worldwide top-10s, all on the Sunshine Tour"


Despite his length he is obviously lacking in several other departments.

Hope he qualifies for The Open.

Super

You are probably as likely to shoot 59 at the TOC as the worlds 1319. Regardless of how far he hits the ball.

Du Preez hit the ball 406 yards on the 9th hole yesterday. Pity it wasn't on the 9th fairway. He was still around 150 yards away from the hole on a par 4 457 yard hole.

McLaren wrote:Super

You are probably as likely to shoot 59 at the TOC as the worlds 1319. Regardless of how far he hits the ball.

My best is only 65 Mac. Point is this guy could get away with murder at TOC if hes capable of hitting it that far

I'm never wrong wrote:Du Preez hit the ball 406 yards on the 9th hole yesterday. Pity it wasn't on the 9th fairway. He was still around 150 yards away from the hole on a par 4 457 yard hole.

I haven't done much trigonmetry in the last 35 years, but my calculations are that he missed the center of the fairway by 132 yards.

Not looking good for GPB 's claim that Hovland wont be number one.

-4 on the last 3 holes in regulation play, plus a birdie on the first play-off hole is number one credentials. There can be no question of that.

super_realist wrote:Not looking good for GPB 's claim that Hovland wont be number one.

Again, never said that. Your reading comprehension treads on the grade 2 level.

I was posing a question on who will be the next #1 player in the OWGR who hasn't been #1 before. What I did opine that I didn't think it would be a European player. I thought the player with the best chance was DeChambeau.

Watching Zalatoris over short putts must be some form of torture for his coaching team/family - looks like he has the total yips with his stroke on anything in that 2-4 foot range, which is weird because his long range putting is generally decent!

If he can nail that, he should pickup a few PGA tour wins this year, his ball striking is right up there with the best

Exclusive: Saudi Arabia offers Ian Poulter £22m to ditch Ryder Cup and join rebel golf tour

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2022/02/01/saudi-arabia-offers-ian-poulter-22m-ditch-ryder-cup-join-rebel/

Provocative headline. I am not a subscriber so I don't what is in the rest of the article.

GPB wrote:Exclusive: Saudi Arabia offers Ian Poulter £22m to ditch Ryder Cup and join rebel golf tour

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2022/02/01/saudi-arabia-offers-ian-poulter-22m-ditch-ryder-cup-join-rebel/

Provocative headline.  I am not a subscriber so I don't what is in the rest of the article.

Not a lot of other substance in the article beyond some guff from the Saudis new mouthpiece Greg Norman
Poulter and Stenson both offered this now, with the proviso taking it means they’re banned for life (I don’t know how “legal” that is) from the PGA Tour and Ryder Cup

Some in there about the amount “setting his family up for life” - as if £60m net worth isn’t enough for that already?!?

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Poulter and Stenson both offered this now, with the proviso taking it means they’re banned for life (I don’t know how “legal” that is) from the PGA Tour and Ryder Cup

I agree with you about the legality of a proposed ban, being as the players are often described as "independant contractors". They might have a case for restraint of trade if anyone gets banned from a tour. Re the Ryder Cup, I would think now that Poulter would have to rely on one more pick, and if so, might not be chosen to play or be captain. They can just say he wasn't suitable etc. But if he PLAYED his way in, then....

I think the Suadi thing tagging onto the Asian tour poses an issue for the ET or PGAT in terms of how hard they can be on players who play in the Saudi events. The Saudi events have been legitimized from an OWGR perspective via the Asian tour status. And how hard can one OWGR tour go on another? I get there is no real higher governing body (eg like Fifa) that could arbitrate on the matter but if the tours start banning each others players the game could implode pretty quickly.

As long as players abide by current PGAT rules for playing other tours what can the PGAT really do?

When it comes to more ceremonial acknowledgements like RC captaincy, RC pick or admittance to the hall of fame a player can probably be overlooked with no real legal consequences. I would however be interested to know what would happen, if like INW mentions, a major Saudi offender plays their way onto the team?

Another thing to note might be how the players will view the PGAT or ET getting in the way of their earning potential. How many, and how hacked off do the the players have to get before there is enough of a consensus among them that the PGAT almost has to "allow" them to play something like the Saudi tour?

And this is before we consider where the premier golf league fits into it all. (Although they are apparently working with the PGAT )

The thing that seems sure to break is the calendar. Hard to see how the PGAT, ET, Saudi, PGL etc all fit into one schedule.

Do we have any idea yet of which players will be-heading to play on the Saudi tour?

Lee Westwood said he signed an NDA with them. Not sure if that means he has signed up or was ok with signing an NDA about the negations he had.

If I were to take a guess I would say he has signed up. Why else would he care about protecting the interests of the Norman league?

incontinentia wrote:Do we have any idea yet of which players will be-heading to play on the Saudi tour?

I tried today to Google the Super League in the hope of finding an entry list or somewhere to find where the leaderboard will be shown, but nothing. Not sure if a search on the Asian Tour will show it. I know Freesport is showing two hours of live coverage each day but no idea if it’s the back 9 or who they’ll be showing.

I found tee times Here

Details of how to view it Here

But no details of who has actually signed up to play the tour regularly as opposed to this one tournament.

McLaren wrote:I think the Suadi thing tagging onto the Asian tour poses an issue for the ET or PGAT in terms of how hard they can be on players who play in the Saudi events. The Saudi events have been legitimized from an OWGR perspective via the Asian tour status. And how hard can one OWGR tour go on another? I get there is no real higher governing body (eg like Fifa) that could arbitrate on the matter but if the tours start banning each others players the game could implode pretty quickly.

As long as players abide by current PGAT rules for playing other tours what can the PGAT really do?

When it comes to more ceremonial acknowledgements like RC captaincy, RC pick or admittance to the hall of fame a player can probably be overlooked with no real legal consequences. I would however be interested to know what would happen, if like INW mentions, a major Saudi offender plays their way onto the team?

Another thing to note might be how the players will view the PGAT or ET getting in the way of their earning potential. How many, and how hacked off do the the players have to get before there is enough of a consensus among them that the PGAT almost has to "allow" them to play something like the Saudi tour?

And this is before we consider where the premier golf league fits into it all. (Although they are apparently working with the PGAT )

The thing that seems sure to break is the calendar. Hard to see how the PGAT, ET, Saudi, PGL etc all fit into one schedule.

From listening to No Laying Up, it definitely seems like the Premier Golf League (PGL) is trying to lobby and align with the PGA Tour - and have little interest in being their "own" tour at the moment.

Saudis seem an entirely different matter, albeit the names being banded about at the moment as being offered cash (Westwood, Poulter, Stenson)...the PGA Tour isn't going to give two hoots really if they have to banish them. It's more if they lure a Spieth/Morikawa/DJ/Thomas/McIlroy to play exclusively on their tour when things might "hit the fan".
I'd suggest that they seem to be targetting these older guys though suggests they've gained little traction with the current top order...would anyone really watch it if it was just a bunch of golfers who are basically over the hill looking for a final pay day?

I'm never wrong wrote:I found tee times Here

Details of how to view it Here

But no details of who has actually signed up to play the tour regularly as opposed to this one tournament.

I found it, too, on flashscore.co.uk Thanks anyway. As you say, no indication as to who has signed up permanently. Sad to see some names in there.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:
I'd suggest that they seem to be targetting these older guys though suggests they've gained little traction with the current top order...would anyone really watch it if it was just a bunch of golfers who are basically over the hill looking for a final pay day?

Have we got this all wrong. Is the champions tour that needs to worry about the Saudis?

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

McLaren wrote:I think the Suadi thing tagging onto the Asian tour poses an issue for the ET or PGAT in terms of how hard they can be on players who play in the Saudi events. The Saudi events have been legitimized from an OWGR perspective via the Asian tour status. And how hard can one OWGR tour go on another? I get there is no real higher governing body (eg like Fifa) that could arbitrate on the matter but if the tours start banning each others players the game could implode pretty quickly.

As long as players abide by current PGAT rules for playing other tours what can the PGAT really do?

When it comes to more ceremonial acknowledgements like RC captaincy, RC pick or admittance to the hall of fame a player can probably be overlooked with no real legal consequences. I would however be interested to know what would happen, if like INW mentions, a major Saudi offender plays their way onto the team?

Another thing to note might be how the players will view the PGAT or ET getting in the way of their earning potential. How many, and how hacked off do the the players have to get before there is enough of a consensus among them that the PGAT almost has to "allow" them to play something like the Saudi tour?

And this is before we consider where the premier golf league fits into it all. (Although they are apparently working with the PGAT )

The thing that seems sure to break is the calendar. Hard to see how the PGAT, ET, Saudi, PGL etc all fit into one schedule.

From listening to No Laying Up, it definitely seems like the Premier Golf League (PGL) is trying to lobby and align with the PGA Tour - and have little interest in being their "own" tour at the moment.

Saudis seem an entirely different matter, albeit the names being banded about at the moment as being offered cash (Westwood, Poulter, Stenson)...the PGA Tour isn't going to give two hoots really if they have to banish them. It's more if they lure a Spieth/Morikawa/DJ/Thomas/McIlroy to play exclusively on their tour when things might "hit the fan".
I'd suggest that they seem to be targetting these older guys though suggests they've gained little traction with the current top order...would anyone really watch it if it was just a bunch of golfers who are basically over the hill looking for a final pay day?

https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/dechambeau-offered-dollar135-million-to-be-face-of-saudi-league?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow

Ok maybe I was incredibly wrong, this name would begin to make things "hit the fan" at PGA Tour headquarters.

With that sort of money getting thrown around someone big will jump ship. And BDC seems as good candidate as any.


The thing that I keep thinking about is how all these tours achieve the one thing that us, the viewers, don't need. And that is the top players spread among even more events. Ideally we want more weeks of the year with top fields, not the top players split among 4 leagues every week.

BDC hasn’t started too well in his quest to be the “face” of this Super League. He’s WDd after his first round +3 citing a wrist injury and refused to speak to the media again. Maybe Greg will be having a word.

Seamus Power has really blossomed on the PGA Tour.

incontinentia wrote:Seamus Power has really blossomed on the PGA Tour.

Looks like I've cursed him, he's been going backwards since saturday

incontinentia wrote:

incontinentia wrote:Seamus Power has really blossomed on the PGA Tour.

Looks like I've cursed him, he's been going backwards since saturday

T9th it is solid tournament for him though, he should go up a few spots in the OWGR.

Harold Varner got the win in the "Bonesaw" Invitational which oddly nearly secures him a spot in the OWGR Top 50 (for now) and a probably Masters invite, if he can have some solid tournaments in the next 7 weeks. He and Power will be virtually tied in the OWGR after this week.