2022 PGA Tour

cshea

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Bryson just landed in Pierters sprinkler head.

Edit: I guess they are changing the rule on the fly here. Bryson gets relief.
 
Rich Beem just reported on Sky Sports that they gave Pieters an incorrect ruling - the line was never meant to be drawn that way, and they'll paint the inside of the line green tonight so that this isn't an issue going forward. (He also noted that because it's match play, they can change things like this on the fly, whereas in stroke play they could not.)
 

TFP

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In the end it’s the right decision because the line shouldn’t be painted up to the edge of the sprinkler head like that.
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
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Given how tightly the Club runs things, that's a good guess. Originally, I thought that that very same control would make the Masters a perfect place for Mickelson to have a press conference, apologize publicly and privately for being a tone deaf, dumbass moron who said some incredibly stupid stuff, and then have the Club back him up when he said, "I'll answer questions about this today, but no more," knowing the press would comply because the Club has no problem kicking out non-compliant media.
Golfweek saying ANGC effectively told him not to show up: https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2022/03/23/augusta-national-officials-didnt-want-phil-mickelson-playing-masters/
 

cshea

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Paul Casey played 1 hole yesterday and conceded his match to Corey Connors. He just conceded to Alex Noren today without hitting a shot. He says back spasms, unsure what he is going to do tomorrow.

I know back spasms can appear out of the blue but this is pretty shitty, IMO. Hit 4 shots, collect a paycheck and OWGR ranking points, take the week off.
 
Paul Casey played 1 hole yesterday and conceded his match to Corey Connors. He just conceded to Alex Noren today without hitting a shot. He says back spasms, unsure what he is going to do tomorrow.

I know back spasms can appear out of the blue but this is pretty shitty, IMO. Hit 4 shots, collect a paycheck and OWGR ranking points, take the week off.
When Casey had to withdraw from his first match yesterday, that should have been the equivalent of withdrawing from the entirety of a stroke play tournament, and his place for today and tomorrow should have been given to the first alternate. (IMO, of course.) What would now be worse is him being healthy enough to play Oosthuizen tomorrow, after Connors and Noren both effectively got to take the day off.
 

Average Reds

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When Casey had to withdraw from his first match yesterday, that should have been the equivalent of withdrawing from the entirety of a stroke play tournament, and his place for today and tomorrow should have been given to the first alternate. (IMO, of course.) What would now be worse is him being healthy enough to play Oosthuizen tomorrow, after Connors and Noren both effectively got to take the day off.
DeChambeau got relief - and arguably was able to save the draw in his match - from the same place where Pieters did not yesterday. I understand the argument for it, but, like you, I thought it was farcical at the time.

The bigger issue is that if the tour is going to treat each match as an isolated event, it feels like they should let nature take its course regarding Casey. (Hopefully he concedes his third match as well.)
 

cshea

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As far as I can tell, every match today means something, with the exception of the Oosty/Casey match that Casey conceded due to injury. Individual players have been eliminated but there are no 0-2 vs 0-2 matches. At least 1 guy in each match is still alive.
 

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As far as I can tell, every match today means something, with the exception of the Oosty/Casey match that Casey conceded due to injury. Individual players have been eliminated but there are no 0-2 vs 0-2 matches. At least 1 guy in each match is still alive.
I give them a lot of credit. When they changed the structure to these pods, it really made for three fun days of compelling golf. Unfortunately, with any individual match play tournament, it gets less interesting the farther along it gets.
 

cshea

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They could end up with a great bracket. If I'm looking at the standings correctly, Bryson and Cantlay are the only top seeds that are eliminated. Of course, it kinda sucks that the best round of the tournament could be Saturday morning.
 

cshea

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Horschel and Hatton are through. DJ is cruising and through barring a meltdown. Brooks and Rahm in tight matches but guaranteed a playoff at the worst.

Kiz is a friggin machine here. -7 through 8, 4-up on JT.
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there needs to be more golf out on the course today. Two matches and a total of four golfers isn't enough. Some or all of yesterday's losers should be out here: have the R16 losers play to see who finishes T9 and who finishes T13, and have the QF losers play to see who finishes T5 and who finishes T7. That gives you six extra matches, all of which are worth valuable OWGR/FedEx Cup points and money; put the most marketable of the former and both of the latter out in the afternoon, and put the other three R16 v R16 games out in the morning, and now you've got five matches going on in both sessions, and you have plenty of golf to keep the telecast flowing (without having to miss any shots of the semifinals or final).
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
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I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there needs to be more golf out on the course today. Two matches and a total of four golfers isn't enough. Some or all of yesterday's losers should be out here: have the R16 losers play to see who finishes T9 and who finishes T13, and have the QF losers play to see who finishes T5 and who finishes T7. That gives you six extra matches, all of which are worth valuable OWGR/FedEx Cup points and money; put the most marketable of the former and both of the latter out in the afternoon, and put the other three R16 v R16 games out in the morning, and now you've got five matches going on in both sessions, and you have plenty of golf to keep the telecast flowing (without having to miss any shots of the semifinals or final).
I don't know that there's a fix for Sunday in these match play events. There aren't enough players on the course and who even cares about the 3rd place match? I would almost prefer everyone who loses from the quarterfinals on gets thrown into skins game matches or something so there's constant money on the line. The WGC events take themselves waaay too seriously to allow any fun though.

Edit: where would you bucket these events? I'm thinking 4 Majors >>>> Fedex Cup Win > Player's Championship >> Memorial/WGC Events/other top tier normal events > generic whatever tour week?
 
I don't know that there's a fix for Sunday in these match play events. There aren't enough players on the course and who even cares about the 3rd place match? I would almost prefer everyone who loses from the quarterfinals on gets thrown into skins game matches or something so there's constant money on the line. The WGC events take themselves waaay too seriously to allow any fun though.
To the bolded, the point I always make is that there are plenty of stroke play tournaments where you come down the stretch and there's realistically only two or three people (or one person) who can win, and everyone else is playing for the minor placings. But just having other golf to watch and fill the air makes it work as a televisual product. (I don't think your latter point about "taking themselves too seriously" applies here - I mean, the WGCs do take themselves too seriously, but you wouldn't have any other Tour event split off into a different format halfway through, either.)

I still find myself wishing there were a place for a medal-matchplay event on Tour, btw - keep medal play scoring, and the possibility for two-shot swings and more, but reintroduce the head-to-head element of match play. Just like the old 18-hole US Open playoff format. Among other things, this would allow for three players to face off in the same group instead of two, which would let you get through an event like this week's in fewer days without needing to play 36 holes on Saturday and Sunday to tire everyone out.
Edit: where would you bucket these events? I'm thinking 4 Majors >>>> Fedex Cup Win > Player's Championship >> Memorial/WGC Events/other top tier normal events > generic whatever tour week?
Nobody cares who wins the FedEx Cup in the grand scheme of things, do they? You get a shed load of money, but in terms of prestige the Players has to be next behind the Majors, and then the top tier events - including WGCs - are probably at least as big as the FedEx Cup, and possibly more so. (I personally value the WGC Match Play much more highly than the other WGC events, but that's probably just me.)
 

Comfortably Lomb

Koko the Monkey
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Nobody cares who wins the FedEx Cup in the grand scheme of things, do they? You get a shed load of money, but in terms of prestige the Players has to be next behind the Majors, and then the top tier events - including WGCs - are probably at least as big as the FedEx Cup, and possibly more so. (I personally value the WGC Match Play much more highly than the other WGC events, but that's probably just me.)
I feel the same way about the Players. I guess the tour tries to care about it but I don't really buy that fans do. At least not more than any other event that gets big names to show up.
 

johnmd20

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To the bolded, the point I always make is that there are plenty of stroke play tournaments where you come down the stretch and there's realistically only two or three people (or one person) who can win, and everyone else is playing for the minor placings. But just having other golf to watch and fill the air makes it work as a televisual product. (I don't think your latter point about "taking themselves too seriously" applies here - I mean, the WGCs do take themselves too seriously, but you wouldn't have any other Tour event split off into a different format halfway through, either.)
Yeah, down the stretch that can happen.

This is an entire round with only 4 golfers playing. And only 2 of them have a chance to win. It's not down the stretch, it's the entire track. And that's the problem.
 
I feel the same way about the Players. I guess the tour tries to care about it but I don't really buy that fans do. At least not more than any other event that gets big names to show up.
I do. If only because it always has an outstanding field, and it is played on a great tournament course with a fantastic, edge-of-your-seat finishing stretch. It's way below the majors, and it's not that much above the other prestige events on Tour, but it's now a clear #5 for me.
This is an entire round with only 4 golfers playing. And only 2 of them have a chance to win. It's not down the stretch, it's the entire track. And that's the problem.
There are occasionally tournaments like the Stenson/Mickelson British Open duel where there are only two golfers with a chance to win at the start of the final round. But even that final round was more watchable because there were plenty of golfers on the course to watch - not least in terms of preparing you as a viewer for where the pins are located are and how each hole is playing. So I think there is something to the idea of just having golfers on the course to watch, even if they're out of contention.

But let me ask you this: what would you think about a tournament that uses match play until you get down to the final 8, or 12, or 16 (etc.), and then changes to a one-round stroke play finish? Would that be more satisfying? I'm pretty sure it would be more televisual; in the past I've always hated the idea of spoiling the purity of match play, but I'm almost to the point now where I'd accept that bastardization for the sake of the tournament as a whole, making sure we keep the awesome first four days and trying to improve the final day.
 

johnmd20

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There are occasionally tournaments like the Stenson/Mickelson British Open duel where there are only two golfers with a chance to win at the start of the final round. But even that final round was more watchable because there were plenty of golfers on the course to watch - not least in terms of preparing you as a viewer for where the pins are located are and how each hole is playing. So I think there is something to the idea of just having golfers on the course to watch, even if they're out of contention.

But let me ask you this: what would you think about a tournament that uses match play until you get down to the final 8, or 12, or 16 (etc.), and then changes to a one-round stroke play finish? Would that be more satisfying? I'm pretty sure it would be more televisual; in the past I've always hated the idea of spoiling the purity of match play, but I'm almost to the point now where I'd accept that bastardization for the sake of the tournament as a whole, making sure we keep the awesome first four days and trying to improve the final day.
That would definitely be better.
 
It's just so weird - there is no historical parallel. He won his first PGA Tour event 43 days ago, and now he's #1. We've seen plenty of guys win their first major and then more or less disappear, and we've seen a few guys win 3+ Tour events in a year and then fail to come close to such heights in other seasons thereafter (Wayne Levi comes to mind). Scheffler has been playing outstanding golf for at least a year, but has there ever been an OWGR #1 with a lower profile?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_world_number_one_male_golfers
 

Comfortably Lomb

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He had three top 10 major finishes in 2021 and before his recent winning run he had a pile of solid to great non-winning finishes in this tour season (starting October). I agree he hasn't been getting much attention and it feels like this is a surprise but at the same time his finishes are what they are and he's been good for a year now. It's weird that he's been allowed to fly under the radar relatively speaking, usually the announcers can't help but pump the younger players who appear to be jumping to elite status.
 

cshea

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Tiger watch is on for the week. It seems there is a legitimate non-zero percent chance he actually plays the Masters next week.

View: https://twitter.com/ToddLewisGC/status/1508502027974103040?s=20&t=gO0bqM1iMQ9kAIjjd8rfyg


The rumor mill has been cranked up. There was a (now deleted) video floating around of him walking Medalist. Apparently Joey has been with him. He hasn't withdrawn yet, but in the past he's used all the runway available before making a final call so it's not totally unusual for him to do this.

The chance of him playing may be really small but he appears to be putting the effort in. I'd say even if next week is a no-go, St. Andrews has to be an almost certainty.
 

patinorange

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He had three top 10 major finishes in 2021 and before his recent winning run he had a pile of solid to great non-winning finishes in this tour season (starting October). I agree he hasn't been getting much attention and it feels like this is a surprise but at the same time his finishes are what they are and he's been good for a year now. It's weird that he's been allowed to fly under the radar relatively speaking, usually the announcers can't help but pump the younger players who appear to be jumping to elite status.
He also had a great Ryder Cup debut.
 

cshea

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I think it's kind of wild Scheffler got to #1 before Morikawa.

It was popular to say that once he won one, the floodgates would open but I didn't expect this.
 

cshea

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Tiger watch is on for the week. It seems there is a legitimate non-zero percent chance he actually plays the Masters next week.

View: https://twitter.com/ToddLewisGC/status/1508502027974103040?s=20&t=gO0bqM1iMQ9kAIjjd8rfyg


The rumor mill has been cranked up. There was a (now deleted) video floating around of him walking Medalist. Apparently Joey has been with him. He hasn't withdrawn yet, but in the past he's used all the runway available before making a final call so it's not totally unusual for him to do this.

The chance of him playing may be really small but he appears to be putting the effort in. I'd say even if next week is a no-go, St. Andrews has to be an almost certainty.
We've entered the flight tracking portion of the proceedings.

View: https://twitter.com/NoLayingUp/status/1508791232662753291?s=20&t=8bPPakKvItWqka1OWTAYXQ
 

cshea

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It still could be an extreme long shot, but he's definitely putting the work in to see if it is possible. For all we know he could walk it today and decide his body is not ready for it.
 

TFP

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He's gotta go there anyway and he can withdraw last minute risk free, so this is far from a sure. I'll still be very surprised if he actually plays before St. Andrews, but I'll admit it's got more of a chance now than I thought he did 2-3 months ago. Seems like he's putting his body through the paces to see how it holds up.

He's definitely not going to play just to play though. I'm sure he doesn't want this year to be his first missed cut ever at The Masters.
 

cshea

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Who knows how close he really is, for all we know this is a just a father/son trip to ANGC, but if playing the Masters is a legitimate possiblity, then I would think the PGA or Brookline would also be in play. We're still 3 months out from St. Andrews.

Edit: I would also think that if he is putting his body through the ringer as a test, the game must be in good enough shape. I don’t think be would do this if he didn’t think the game was there.
 
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Over Guapo Grande

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Who knows how close he really is, for all we know this is a just a father/son trip to ANGC, but if playing the Masters is a legitimate possiblity, then I would think the PGA or Brookline would also be in play. We're still 3 months out from St. Andrews.

Edit: I would also think that if he is putting his body through the ringer as a test, the game must be in good enough shape. I don’t think be would do this if he didn’t think the game was there.
And there's the rub. I was reading an article (yahoo I think?) where he admitted to playing "weekend warrior" golf. His game was holding up fine when his longest walks were from cart to green. How will it be when the legs start to tire a bit?