2024 PGA Tour
- Thread starter cshea
- Start date
Also, the BMW is underway at Castle Pines in Colorado. I have never heard of the course but it's at elevation which can be fun. Uphill, downhill, wind, guys have no clue how far the ball is going to go. Kinda gives me Chapultepec (probably butchered the spelling - the course in Mexico they used play a WGC event at) vibes.
Wind still whipping. They're hitting fairway woods and hybrids into par 4's that are 350. Rose Zhang is currently stuck in a pot bunker at the moment. Left the first one in, second one also bounced off the face and back at her and may have hit her.
Nelly has the lead. She won 6 times including a major prior to may but has cooled off. This would be a great capper to her season if she hangs on.
Still windy as hell as the leaders teed off, and picking up as they hit the 4th. Nelly went bogie, bogie, birdie to start, and she and Charley Hull were tied at -6 for about 10 minutes. Wind is suddenly causing some havoc out there; Hull just hit her ball into two pot bunkers on the par 5 5th, had to hit out sideways and backwards respectively. Probably looking at dropping to -4 after hitting her 5th to…many feet away.
They’ve played 10/11 holes and there’s been 3 guys with multi-shot leads. First Scott, he went +4 through 4 holes. Then Aberg who just made a double. Keegan is up 3 but has 10 feet for par. Wild swings, literally and figuratively.
Keegan’s 3-shot lead lasted 3 holes. Scott back in the lead but just pumped on OB, his second of the day.
What a great moment for Keegan. Outlasting so many others who have disappeared since the Ryder Cup
She earned the win - everyone else had little missteps (or big ones) and she was just steady, steady, steady through wind, sideways rain, and stinging cold. She drained that putt as the sun broke through for the first time all day. She played like the old, grizzled vet that she is - at all of 27 years old. The women's game is really something.
Tour Championship underway. The staggered start still looks weird but it has generally delivered a good finish. Vik ran away with it last year but the year prior Rory chased down Scottie 2 years ago (with a healthy dose if implosion from Scottie).
A 4-day Xander/Scottie duel would be cool. 3rd year in a row Scottie has started in pole position but he's yet to win it. Xander has been a horse for course at East Lake but they made a lot of changes so we'll see if that holds up.
An amusing possibility is, and a lot of things have to happen, but Ludvig could with the FedEx Cup without winning a tournament this year.
A 4-day Xander/Scottie duel would be cool. 3rd year in a row Scottie has started in pole position but he's yet to win it. Xander has been a horse for course at East Lake but they made a lot of changes so we'll see if that holds up.
An amusing possibility is, and a lot of things have to happen, but Ludvig could with the FedEx Cup without winning a tournament this year.
It's certainly one of the problems with this format. It could be a really boring weekend of golf.
It was enjoyable although a little sporadic. Garrett from Good Good was -1 through 2 holes and they showed nary a shot on the 3rd hole from him, just casually dropping he made a 9 on the 3rd (12th) hole when he was putting in. Happy for Luke Kwon, he is a golfer I check out quite a bit with his production quality and all the unique courses he plays.
Looks like a Scottie coronation round. Up 6 over Morikawa through 4. He did blow a similar lead 2 years ago though.
Lead down to 5 and Scottie just pull hooked one off 7. Got lucky it stayed in bounds but it is right next to an evergreen bush and probably doesn’t have a stance. Might yet get some drama on the back 9.
Nope. Gonna make par from here
View: https://twitter.com/kyleportercbs/status/1830314027190296937?s=46&t=23orJRFkAhpzRtm4p3-oEw
View: https://twitter.com/kyleportercbs/status/1830314027190296937?s=46&t=23orJRFkAhpzRtm4p3-oEw
Scottie just shanked a green side bunker shot. Morikawa has about 5 feet for birdie.
Edit: They are on the clock and Collin seems to be slow playing him. Not sure if that has Scottie out of sorts but the lead has gone from. 7 to 2 in 5 holes.
Edit: They are on the clock and Collin seems to be slow playing him. Not sure if that has Scottie out of sorts but the lead has gone from. 7 to 2 in 5 holes.
I’m not watching. Just checking the leaderboard.
Do the scores already reflect the free strokes given for FedEx standings? Eg the -30 scheduled is at is really -20 with the 10 added to -30.
Or is he actually -40?
I think the 10, 8, 7 etc strokes given is too much honestly.
Do the scores already reflect the free strokes given for FedEx standings? Eg the -30 scheduled is at is really -20 with the 10 added to -30.
Or is he actually -40?
I think the 10, 8, 7 etc strokes given is too much honestly.
It includes the starting -10. He’s -20 for the week. Morikawa is -21 for the week, started at -4.
Scottie caps off the most lucrative year for on course earnings in the history of the PGA tour.
Bernhard Langer (67) lost in a playoff yesterday. He was out for three months earlier in the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Not quite his old self when he returned but his last few finishes have been T5, T8, T5, and the playoff.
He's shot lower than his age 3x this year. And a bunch of 67s. The guy is a machine.
He's shot lower than his age 3x this year. And a bunch of 67s. The guy is a machine.
It's honestly inspirational, I want to be playing good golf into my 70s and he proves you can do it.
Sounds like a total failure in logistics at the Solheim Cup in VA. Fans having to wait 2-3 hours for the shuttles to take them from the parking lot to the course. Brutal.
View: https://twitter.com/lpga/status/1834583202066792569?s=61&t=Co5jCGjJleHGFUT1TGB4Qg
View: https://twitter.com/lpga/status/1834583202066792569?s=61&t=Co5jCGjJleHGFUT1TGB4Qg
The same thing happened at the Women’s US Open this year, too. My dad and I waited in a long, snaking line for almost two hours to board a shuttle, mostly due to there simply not being enough shuttles. We still got there by 10:00 and got to watch awesome golf all day. I was still irritated, but I got over it quickly. They fixed the problem by the next morning, when we waited for only 10 minutes. But if it had been the Solheim, when there are only four matches in the morning, I’d have been apoplectic. Seems the LPGA fixed it for this morning, as the first tee is rocking.
If you want to watch some excellent, fun, ego-less golf, turn the Solheim on today. It was fun as hell yesterday.
I was locked in for a good bit of the matches yesterday and most of todays singles matches at the Solheim Cup and I have to say I was on the edge of my seat as much as I have been for Ryder Cups. The atmosphere (esp in the 1st tee) was awesome but the way Europe put on a real charge today only ultimately be held off was captivating.
A few observations:
- I hate the word “sportsmanship” but I’m struggling to think of a better term for what I consistently observed. In the heat of competition, you got the feeling that they were all just rooting for good golf and really appreciated the amazing shots being hit by opponents.
- The broadcast. I can’t recall if NBC does this for the Ryder Cup but this week, they had a Sky Sports analyst as the 3rd member of the booth. She, along with her US counterpart were open in their rooting for their own side. I don’t know why it worked. Maybe because it wasn’t anything unsaid, they were rooting and it added to the emotion of the whole event.
- Europe has women golfers with ice in their veins, just like their male counterparts. Someone would be standing over a 15-20 footer to halve a hole and I just knew they were going to drain it.
- I haven’t followed women’s professional golf too closely but Charley Hull is awesome to watch. I had seen things on Twitter earlier in the week showing her engaging with fans and ripping cigarettes, etc on the course but she has serious game. She might be the first person we ever see snap a driver shaft on her neck… that’s how aggressive she swings off the tee. Oh, and she completely annihilated Nelly Korda in their match today.
All in all, a great display of golf. I’m even more pumped for the Presidents Cup next week
A few observations:
- I hate the word “sportsmanship” but I’m struggling to think of a better term for what I consistently observed. In the heat of competition, you got the feeling that they were all just rooting for good golf and really appreciated the amazing shots being hit by opponents.
- The broadcast. I can’t recall if NBC does this for the Ryder Cup but this week, they had a Sky Sports analyst as the 3rd member of the booth. She, along with her US counterpart were open in their rooting for their own side. I don’t know why it worked. Maybe because it wasn’t anything unsaid, they were rooting and it added to the emotion of the whole event.
- Europe has women golfers with ice in their veins, just like their male counterparts. Someone would be standing over a 15-20 footer to halve a hole and I just knew they were going to drain it.
- I haven’t followed women’s professional golf too closely but Charley Hull is awesome to watch. I had seen things on Twitter earlier in the week showing her engaging with fans and ripping cigarettes, etc on the course but she has serious game. She might be the first person we ever see snap a driver shaft on her neck… that’s how aggressive she swings off the tee. Oh, and she completely annihilated Nelly Korda in their match today.
All in all, a great display of golf. I’m even more pumped for the Presidents Cup next week
Reed Hughes, 71, ....not going to make the cut but not last.
https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2024/10/03/reed-hughes-sanderson-farms-championship-2024-71-years-old/
https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2024/10/03/reed-hughes-sanderson-farms-championship-2024-71-years-old/
Damn, hadn't heard this one.
https://www.si.com/golf/australian-jeffrey-guan-speaks-devastating-pro-am-accident
https://www.si.com/golf/australian-jeffrey-guan-speaks-devastating-pro-am-accident
The way they phrased the incident was he turned to the cart after hitting his shot, which makes it seem like someone hitting into them from behind as opposed to a slice or hook. If that is the case, man I would hunt down that asshole and try to make them blind in one eye with my fist. Doesn't say for sure where the ball came from, though.
I had to dig a little but it was his pro-am playing partner, from 30 yards away, due to a slice or shank:
https://www.golfaustralia.com.au/news/young-golf-star-in-specialist-care-after-freak-injury-611824
Ah thanks. Well, seems like a very unfortunate accident and the person who hit the shot was understandably traumatized. I do have to check myself time to time, to adjust my positioning based on my playing partners. And if I don't know the person's game such as walking up as a single to play a round, I stay at or behind the ball for sure. High level golfers probably have a tendency to take the accurate shot-making of their peers for granted and forget how astray amateurs' shots can go.
I avoid being anywhere in front of people when hitting and I hate when people wander in front of me, especially to the right, before I hit. Low percentage or not it's not worth the risk.
Tour pros aren't immune to topping and shanking the ball either. Here's a fun super-cut of topped and shanked tee shots by PGA Tour pros:
Pro-Ams are kind of a nightmare for the players too. There may be 1 pro to 4 amateurs of varying skill sets between scratch and never hit a ball before. The pros often do a 9 and 9 where they rotate groups after 9 holes so the ams get to play with 2 different pros. There is definitely NOT a no-drinking policy for the ams. The pros can get easily distracted for a number of reasons (waiting 20 minutes between their first and second shots, talking to the other ams, fans, media, etc.). It's honestly a testament to how careful they normally are that something like this doesn't happen more often. What a horrible thing for him.
Upcoming changes to the PGA Tour:
- Shrinking full exempt status from 125 to 100 players.
- Smaller fields. Depends on the event but it seems to be something like 15-20 less players on average.
- Fewer tour cards being given out to KFT players (though this seems necessary due to the shrinking tour and field sizes.
- Changes to pace of play penalties. It looks like they're trying to target players with high average stroke time measurements. Maybe some recognition that targeting worst offenders is the way to go.
I actually think this is worse for the Tour long term. With less opportunities you're going to see less people choose golf and competition at the lower levels will suffer. This will eventually lead to a worse product on Tour.
Not sure I get this.
The number of tour cards didn't change. Just the number that automatically keep their card. The point of that is to actually give new blood more opportunities.
Reducing the field to 144 is almost entirely about logistics. Finishing rounds 1 and 2 in the spring and fall is nearly impossible with 156.
I don't think there will be less opportunities. They are reducing fields on regular events from 156 to 144 or 132 depending on the time of year (daylight savings). As noted, not all 100 fully exempt players are going to play every week so there still will be a ton of playing opportunities for the guys outside the top 100 who still have some status. They also reduced or elimiated the Monday Q so that's a few extra spots each week for card holders. I'm sure they have the data on it but I don't think they are really getting much talent from the KFT guys who earn spots 21-30 each year. As far as the infusion of talent, they are getting more from the DP World Tour guys than the KFT.
156/144 was too much. A single weather day on Thursday/Friday leads to everyone have to stay until Saturday for the cut. It was happening far too often. I'm not sure if trimming just 12, so 4 groups, is going to change that a ton but it's a start.
The pace of play is interesting. I want them to hand out strokes but I don't think that is happening. It seems they're just going to fine the habitual offenders after the fact? I guess that works but I also want it public. Shame these guys (they won't).