PGATour Running Commentary January 2022

First topic message reminder :

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.

Time to cancel Woods.

Rahm is just really really good. Back to #1, and I reckon he’ll stay there for a while.

But OMG, how annoying the new owgr website has become… What were they thinking? Weird colors, small fonts, loading slowly. Just plain terrible. Barely readible on a large tablet and impossible on a phone.

I love all the strokes gained data and stuff like that which show who is actually playing the best golf, which Rahm has been for a couple of years now, but he needs to step up an win a couple more majors for me to consider him a top player. That is just how golf works.

He's certainly on a roll now Mac. Looks like he's toying with the field. Clearly the man to beat at Augusta. (But, sigh, I do hope it's Rory's time this year.)

I perused "Full Swing" this weekend. Lots of repeat stuff (how cuts are made, how you qualify for majors, etc.) but pretty interesting overall. Do all these guys fly private? Perhaps the NetJet endorsement deals feed that.

Rahm looks like he's in the Anthill mob.

super_realist wrote:Rahm looks like he's in the Anthill mob.

At least he can share bra with his wife

McLaren wrote:I love all the strokes gained data and stuff like that which show who is actually playing the best golf, which Rahm has been for a couple of years now, but he needs to step up an win a couple more majors for me to consider him a top player. That is just how golf works.

True but with Rahm you feel like its inevitable he'll win more majors. Out of all the players he seems least likely to wilt under pressure.

Saw a stat yesterday that was quite amazing. It is only February and Rahm is already -93 for his 2023 golf.

Something about Rahm though that I just can't warm to.

Well, that was a heck of a golf tournament in Florida. I really thought Rory would have made that putt on 18, but Spieth was the one who missed so many makable putts. Hats off to Kitayama.

I hadn't realized that Hatton was so demonstrative, particularly when he is putting. That said, he does not rub me the wrong way that Bubba Watson and Spieth do.

Props to Kitayama for closing it out. That last putt was amazing! Shame Rory couldnt hole his last putt to make things a bit more interesting. Woods is not playing next week's players sadly.

That was a great Sunday night of viewing - really great work by Kitayama to steady himself after that triple bogey on 9, and then outlast that raft of great names. The birdie on 17 was two superb golf shots in a row

These "elevated" events have got off to a great start as a viewer - shame there seems to be plans to make them (in my opinion) worse next season by making them no cut, and rumours of fields of 70 players.

Tiger doesn't miss Rory's putt on the 72nd.

McLaren wrote:Tiger doesn't miss Rory's putt on the 72nd.

Truth

McLaren wrote:Tiger doesn't miss Rory's putt on the 72nd.

No, he'd have missed the cut or not have played because "he's got a sore leg"

super_realist wrote:

McLaren wrote:Tiger doesn't miss Rory's putt on the 72nd.

No, he'd have missed the cut or not have played because "he's got a sore leg"

Was it only the 8 times that The Cat won the Arnold Palmer?

super_realist wrote:

McLaren wrote:Tiger doesn't miss Rory's putt on the 72nd.

No, he'd have missed the cut or not have played because "he's got a sore leg"

No, he'd've sank the putt, won the playoff and then had a sore dong from all the celebratory indiscretions that night.

McLaren wrote:

super_realist wrote:

McLaren wrote:Tiger doesn't miss Rory's putt on the 72nd.

No, he'd have missed the cut or not have played because "he's got a sore leg"

Was it only the 8 times that The Cat won the Arnold Palmer?

Why are you bringing up a has been Mac?

Because when Rory gets himself into the position of needing to hole a putt on the 72nd he is going to be compared to Tiger and Rory has been good enough to make that a somewhat fair comparison. We have seen Tiger hole putts to win events, including on that very green. For those of us that watched golf in Tigers prime we have been trained to think the worlds best player should at least hit a putt that looks like it could have gone in from the position Rory was in.

Just a month ago Rory sank a 12 foot putt to win a tournament, so what's your point? You expect a golfer to hole every putt to win a tournament? Woods didn't. Woods has missed many a time.

On another note, we might be about to see a bit of a reveal from one of his ex doxy's.

50 year old man wins TPC

How old was Fred Funk?

Is Min Woo destined for greatness? Its been a joy watching him on the euro tour in recent times, glad that he made an impact on the big stage of the Players.

Bifurcation today?

incontinentia wrote:Is Min Woo destined for greatness? Its been a joy watching him on the euro tour in recent times, glad that he made an impact on the big stage of the Players.

I saw him at TOC and he is shall we say extremely diminutive. I haven't looked at his stats but suspect he might not have the power for a lot of courses

Not sure if this is exactly accurate, so please take with a pinch of salt. Following on from a post by Prince Dra (Nosferatu/@VC606) on Twitter, he pointed out that there are two players (J J Spaun and Nick Taylor) who are separated by 0.01 of a point in the OWGR at positions 72 and 73. Bearing in mind there are ~ 7 LIV players in the top 64, and the cut off was this week, would make it interesting if one got in and the other didn't.
My thoughts are there will be withdrawals before the date, so they will both get in.

But what about Thomas Pieters? He is in the mid 30's OWGR. Don't think he is a PGA Tour member. So will he be able to compete as LIV golfers are still able to play on the DP World Tour? That decision re DP World Tour players needs to arrive soon.

super_realist wrote:

incontinentia wrote:Is Min Woo destined for greatness? Its been a joy watching him on the euro tour in recent times, glad that he made an impact on the big stage of the Players.

I saw him at TOC and he is shall we say extremely diminutive. I haven't looked at his stats but suspect he might not have the power for a lot of courses

I'm confused, Min is a huge hitter with ball speeds in excess of 190mph. Are you talking about the physical strength for hacking out of thick rough etc?

incontinentia wrote:

super_realist wrote:

incontinentia wrote:Is Min Woo destined for greatness? Its been a joy watching him on the euro tour in recent times, glad that he made an impact on the big stage of the Players.

I saw him at TOC and he is shall we say extremely diminutive. I haven't looked at his stats but suspect he might not have the power for a lot of courses

I'm confused, Min is a huge hitter with ball speeds in excess of 190mph. Are you talking about the physical strength for hacking out of thick rough etc?

Like I said I haven't seen his stats. If he's a big hitter then great, I just thought that as he's a bit of a midget he might have been effective in a small number of tournaments and struggled elsewhere.

Happy to be corrected.

Min woo is 1.83m (6 foot). Is that a midget?

I can promise you that is incorrect Mac. I found another site that has him as 5'8. He was barely bigger than his golf bag. He is tiny. 5'7 most and if he weighs 75kg as claimed on the same site that says he's 183cm (same height as me) I'm Arnold Palmer. Min is 65 kg at most as he is skeletal

Why do you always develop a weird fascination over golfers bodies?

Also, always imagined you were a wee Scottish guy. Like 5'5 or something.

McLaren wrote:Why do you always develop a weird fascination over golfers bodies?

I was questioning whether Min could live up to his early PGA promise, and on the basis he's a waif, I wasn't sure if he could on other than a few courses. It is perfectly contextual Mac.

McLaren wrote:Bifurcation today?

Doubt it, but at least it starts a conversation. For me, rather than reining in distance per se, I'd rather they reduced the spin separation of modern Tour-level balls. Try putting a >120mph swing on a tee shot w/ <10° loft and see if they can get it in the fairway ≥300 yards out. Would still reward those that really can drive the ball well, rather than the bomb/gouge crew.

On May 16th, Walton Heath Golf Club will host the English qualification for the US Open. Been to one of these before, and if it follows the same pattern, it will be 36 holes on the day, with a set number of qualifiers. Obviously not going to see the top players who are already qualified, but can see some "names" up close as there aren't any ropes along the fairways. You could walk alongside the players if you wanted. Didn't cost anything either.

I have a close friend who lives in Dorking, and he's done this numerous times. I believe they play a "compilation" (part old and new course) 2x, but could be wrong on this. Great to see them on what I consider one of the best practice putting greens anywhere. I think Michael Campbell came through Walton Heath qualifying to win the US Open.

Shotrock wrote:I believe they play a "compilation" (part old and new course) 2x, but could be wrong on this.

You are correct. Haven't decided yet if I want to pop along.

Hey all.... just stopped in to say hello... so... HELLO!

robopz wrote:Hey all.... just stopped in to say hello... so... HELLO!

Hello

Enjoyed the Valspar ending last night - do get the feeling Tommy Fleetwood's career in the US is going to be a case of "what if" - far too talented to be in the position he was yesterday and not close that out, really poor down the stretch.

Hi Olly, I wasn't able to watch any of the Sunday at Valspar. What happened with Fleetwood, was he ever right in contention?

McLaren wrote:Hi Olly, I wasn't able to watch any of the Sunday at Valspar. What happened with Fleetwood, was he ever right in contention?

He was right there at -9 heading onto the par 5 14th hole, absolutely smoked his drive down the fairway and rightly went for the green in two. But hit his approach really in the one spot he couldn't miss, and left himself with a 30 yard bunker shot, short sided on a downslope (admittedly got a touch unlucky with the initial lie), and took two shots to get out of the sand, and ultimately made a bogey. Never really recovered from there...just felt it was right there for him if he makes birdie as he should do from that position!

114 PGA Tour starts (appreciate some of them are WGC, Majors, co-sanctioned events!) without a win...he's far too good a player to have not won a regular PGA Tour event by now for me

Pretty rare for a Pro to leave it in the sand. probably doesn't do that without the pressure of it being Sunday back nine.


There's always been a hint that Tommy isn't a natural winner.

Really gonna miss the Match Play and Austin CC. I normally get over there for at least a round or two, but not this year unfortunately. Such a great track... and awesome format. Sometimes Sundays are a little anticlimactic... but Wednesday thru Saturdays are awesome. And IMO the course is waaaay underrated.

One observation... really don't care for people breaking this out as little Ryder or Presidents Cup narratives. This week I'm 100% agnostic to nationalities. Sure I have a preference for guys with Texas connections... and 100% get anyone being a homer for their countrymen... but this ISN'T USA vs the world... it's mano y mano... thats all...

robopz wrote:Really gonna miss the Match Play and Austin CC.  I normally get over there for at least a round or two, but not this year unfortunately. Such a great track... and awesome format. Sometimes Sundays are a little anticlimactic... but Wednesday thru Saturdays are awesome.  And IMO the course is waaaay underrated.

One observation... really don't care for people breaking this out as little Ryder or Presidents Cup narratives. This week I'm 100% agnostic to nationalities. Sure I have a preference for guys with Texas connections... and 100% get anyone being a homer for their countrymen... but this ISN'T USA vs the world... it's  mano y mano... thats all...

I do enjoy the course, it suits matchplay (not sure it would be a great strokeplay venue though, it is quite easy!). Also re: Ryder Cup, not sure results in this should really have a bearing on team/captains picks...the course is so different to what they'll be playing in Italy, it's not hugely relevant.

Rory's drive on 18 yesterday was sensational, for those who didn't see - https://twitter.com/pgatour/status/1639051506979569665?s=46&t=a_jGIcK3VYcofc1g-OhyyA

robopz wrote:Really gonna miss the Match Play and Austin CC.  I normally get over there for at least a round or two, but not this year unfortunately. Such a great track... and awesome format. Sometimes Sundays are a little anticlimactic... but Wednesday thru Saturdays are awesome.  And IMO the course is waaaay underrated.

One observation... really don't care for people breaking this out as little Ryder or Presidents Cup narratives. This week I'm 100% agnostic to nationalities. Sure I have a preference for guys with Texas connections... and 100% get anyone being a homer for their countrymen... but this ISN'T USA vs the world... it's  mano y mano... thats all...

I find it a strange tournament week in that the longer it goes on the less interesting it seems to get, matchplay is a tough one to cover well on TV once there's limited games being played. I didn't even bother watching last year's final as the 2 finalists (Scheffler & Kisner) are dull as dishwater and I couldn't really care less which 1 of them won it.

The course does look fun to play and although the set-up isn't particularly difficult I reckon it could be toughened up for strokeplay if they really wanted to; tighten up the landing areas, a bit more rough in certain places, etc.

I find that with a lot of sport, for example I find the first week of tennis majors more interesting.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:
Rory's drive on 18 yesterday was sensational, for those who didn't see - https://twitter.com/pgatour/status/1639051506979569665?s=46&t=a_jGIcK3VYcofc1g-OhyyA

Rory's good, but Monty is still the greatest ever driver of the ball for me.

incontinentia wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:
Rory's drive on 18 yesterday was sensational, for those who didn't see - https://twitter.com/pgatour/status/1639051506979569665?s=46&t=a_jGIcK3VYcofc1g-OhyyA

Rory's good, but Monty is still the greatest ever driver of the ball for me.

??? Not for me, but I will give him credit for keeping it on the short stuff a lot of the time when the ball wasn't as forgiving of poor mechanics as it is now. Don't think Monty comes close to players such as Nicklaus or Norman, for example.

Re. McIlroy's drive on 18 the other day. Saw that and it really was pretty impressive. Swing looked effortless as well.

navyblueshorts wrote:

incontinentia wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:
Rory's drive on 18 yesterday was sensational, for those who didn't see - https://twitter.com/pgatour/status/1639051506979569665?s=46&t=a_jGIcK3VYcofc1g-OhyyA

Rory's good, but Monty is still the greatest ever driver of the ball for me.

??? Not for me, but I will give him credit for keeping it on the short stuff a lot of the time when the ball wasn't as forgiving of poor mechanics as it is now. Don't think Monty comes close to players such as Nicklaus or Norman, for example.

Re. McIlroy's drive on 18 the other day. Saw that and it really was pretty impressive. Swing looked effortless as well.

When you adjust for technology, a prime Monty would probably drive it 300+ in the modern era and be much straighter than McIlroy. Just my 2 cents, I'm sure most won't agree.