2020-2021 PGA Tour thread

[hookem48 4703]

5 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Found this quote: 

"Jordan Spieth’s schedule never had room for the PGA Tour star to squeeze in the Arnold Palmer Invitational."

I think with his commitments to play AT&T events and his better successes in California and Texas, Jordan likes to take a break during the Florida swing of the PGA Tour.

Gotta take some time off prior to "The Masters" plus Jordan hasn't played as well in Florida. 

(he has really struggled at the "THE PLAYERS Championship")

you'd think Jordan would play well in the wind on Bermuda

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

[tx 3 putt 77535]

100% Team USA needs to Tiger there for the Ryder Cup !

[Wally Fairway 5589]

52 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

100% Team USA needs to Tiger there for the Ryder Cup !

He can be an assistant coach, because he isn't playing golf by then

[pops 7007]

2 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

He can be an assistant coach, because he isn't playing golf by then

Stricker was talking about it today. Basically said there's an assistant captain spot waiting for him if he's physically able to do it. 

[LTtxfan 49373]

Earlier it was posted that Jordan just didn't put himself close enough to score.  He also barely missed some key putts during Sunday's Arnold Palmer Invitational resulting in a 75 and finishing in a 3-way the for 4th place. (Avg score for the field on Sunday was 75.5)

Putting:  "Spieth lost nearly two strokes to the field on the green on Sunday, ranking 64th of the 72 players to make the cut."

 

Jordan Spieth on his sloppy Bay Hill finish: 'I kind of want to go break something'

Quote

Jordan Spieth’s debut performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational ended with a thud – three bogeys and a three-putt par at 16 in his final four holes to shoot 3-over 75.

“I kind of want to go break something,” said Spieth, who finished tied for fourth at 6-under 282 at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando.

But in nearly the next breath, he was able to look at the bigger picture and a realization that he had recorded just three top-5 finishes in 34 months leading into the Waste Management Phoenix Open last month. Since then, Spieth has recorded three top-5 finishes in his last four starts (with the other being a T-15 at the Genesis Invitational).

“I made a step in the right direction today, regardless of the result,” Spieth said.

At some point, these moral victories will grow old. Spieth still is in the midst of piecing together a dependable golf swing. The errors off the tee, such as the smother-hooked tee shot on No. 3 on Saturday, are still costing him valuable strokes. (Despite fighting driver woes, Spieth has gone 389 holes without a double bogey or worse, his longest streak of his career on Tour.) Spieth ranked 50th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee. He lost nearly two strokes to the field off the tee on Saturday and somehow managed to shoot 68. But unless he can continue to be unconscious around and on the greens, his winless drought will continue.

Spieth made 141 feet of putts in the third round. It was a beautiful thing to see. But it also proved to be unsustainable. Nobody can be unconscious with the putter for four rounds and on Sunday he didn’t hole a putt longer than 10 feet. Spieth lost nearly two strokes to the field on the green on Sunday, ranking 64th of the 72 players to make the cut. That’s not how you end a winless streak dating to the 2017 British Open.

“I just wasn’t my day,” Spieth said. “I mean, I hit right lip, left lip, high lip, low lip. I mean it was — greens got super crusty and it was just, I mean the couple that I made I thought I missed and the ones I thought I made I missed. It was weird.”

He missed a 5-foot par putt at the third hole, but bounced back with birdies on both of the par-5s — Nos. 4 and 6 — and momentarily held a share of the lead at 9 under. He made a bogey at 8, but was still hanging around until his tough finish.

“I thought I played better today than I did any of those Sundays,” Spieth said, referring to Phoenix and Pebble Beach, where he held or shared the 54-hole lead. “At the beginning of the day if you told me I was going to be even through 10 and be in, hit driver in the middle of the fairway on 11 and on 12, I would have thought I was going to win the golf tournament.”

Spieth settled for par at both the 11th and 12th and the final dagger in his heart was taking three putts from 58 feet at the par-5 16th hole after having a wedge for his second shot. Spieth explained that the green was nearly impossible to hold.

“I ended up in a really tough spot to have to putt from along a crown,” he said.

Spieth’s final-round 75 beat the field average (75.5) on a day when only three golfers, including champion Bryson DeChambeau, broke par. Likewise, not all 68s are created equal and what Spieth did on Saturday to climb into contention was spectacular at times. He made a hole-in-one at the second hole, dropped a bunker shot at No. 7 for birdie and holed a series of big putts. It was magic, but he still needs to finish rounds and close the deal.

Spieth is getting closer thanks to an improved approach game, and the number of people who believe it’s a matter not of if he wins again, but when he gets back into the winner’s circle is growing. Most importantly, the three-time major champ’s self-confidence is growing by leaps and bounds.

“I put the ball exactly where I wanted to on just about every single shot and putt and it came out to 75 somehow,” concluded Spieth, overlooking the fact that he hit only half the fairways and greens on Sunday. “But that’s not going to happen every time, if I do, if I play the way I did today. It’s going to be really good going forward.”

 

Edited March 8, 2021 by LTtxfan

[dieucla98 2942]

Spieth is trending in a great direction, even with his driver. This time last year and he was struggling to keep tee shots on the planet. He's mostly eliminated the crazy wild miss and with his ability to scramble, that's good enough for him to win out on tour. Yeah, he hit two in the water but even on both of them, they weren't the wild OB shots we've become used to.

He's had some Sunday struggles with the flat stick. In all 4 of the events he's played since Torrey, that's been the case. He missed ~4 putts by a combined 1" yesterday. WMO, AT&T, and Genesis were similar. That's the difference. And of all things to worry about with Jordan, anything related to the flat stick really isn't one of them. It's streaky but by definition of streaky, it'll come around.

Up to #52 in the world - safely into the WGC Match Play field by a healthy margin and on the cusp of qualifying for other WGCs. 

All that being said, TPC is not the place where Jordan is going to get his win. Him making the cut at TPC will be impressive - that place disproportionately favors driving accuracy, probably more so than any venue on tour. 

[Jive Turkey 12648]

Spieth is No. 22 on the Ryder Cup standings.  only the top 6 qualify on points.  so Stricker has 6 captain's picks.

if Spieth can get into the top 15 in points, he could easily be a captain's pick.  might be too much of a reach if he's outside the top 15.  but if Spieth gets at least that high, that means he has continued to play well.  and he's got way more experience than people like Harris English and Max Homa and guys like that.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Well yeah, and they need someone to put with Captain America? Gonna be another fun time inside the USA team room.

[dieucla98 2942]

Just sit his ass until the singles match.

[pops 7007]

Tiger would say a swing change takes 12 to 18 months for it to finally take hold. Spieth isn't where he was 5 years ago (and may never be)  but he is light years better than he was 9 months ago, a year ago. He's clearly headed in the right direction.

Hopefully his head can wait for the results because once he trusts what he's doing it could be pretty fucking great again. 

 

[Revolution512 1495]

TPC will be interesting for him but he’s certainly not alone in that regard. It’s not long so he can hit less than driver a lot. 

[ztejas 43546]

22 minutes ago, Revolution512 said:

TPC will be interesting for him but he’s certainly not alone in that regard. It’s not long so he can hit less than driver a lot. 

It's 7,245. Pretty standard. 

[hookem48 4703]

Jordan has gone 389 holes without a double or worse? If that's correct he should be in the magician's hall of fame.

[bullzak 422]

No Bryson fan but it took some huge balls to go for it on 6 on top of a bunched leaderboard on Sunday. I like watching that shit. 

Spieth has turned a corner. He isnt as wild with driver, hits a lot of really sweet irons, and is starting to roll it. Burned a few edges today in really tough conditions. 

Probably only needs to be about average with driver at this point to contend. 

[smwhorn 483]

Phil falls to #101 of OWGR.

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/phil-mickelson-out-top-100-rory-mcilroy-out-top-10-world-rankings

He won 28 years ago to move into the top 100.  He dropped to 101 this week.  28 years.

[ztejas 43546]

33 minutes ago, smwhorn said:

Phil falls to #101 of OWGR.

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/phil-mickelson-out-top-100-rory-mcilroy-out-top-10-world-rankings

He won 28 years ago to move into the top 100.  He dropped to 101 this week.  28 years.

Rory outside the top 10 virtually never happens. I think he's been in the top 15 since his entry - so probably 12 years now? He's been in the top 10 all but a couple months of that.

[dieucla98 2942]

14 hours ago, ztejas said:

Rory outside the top 10 virtually never happens. I think he's been in the top 15 since his entry - so probably 12 years now? He's been in the top 10 all but a couple months of that.

Rory broke into the top 10 in early 2010. Since then, he has ranked no worse than 13 and spent only 7 weeks (including this week) outside the top 10 over that decade+ period. Pretty remarkable for a guy that supposedly can't putt.

[Revolution512 1495]

20 hours ago, ztejas said:

It's 7,245. Pretty standard. 

Yep, it’s the tour avg these days. He will be afforded the opportunity to scale back in places to hit the 10% more fairways he needs. Although, they tend to keep the rough playable there to keep the griping to a minimum. He’s still crooked off the tee but the big miss seems to have been eliminated.

[alincoln 2385]

Great to see Jordan playing well.  I was concerned we would never see it again.  Masters could be very interesting.

[ztejas 43546]

1 hour ago, Revolution512 said:

Yep, it’s the tour avg these days. He will be afforded the opportunity to scale back in places to hit the 10% more fairways he needs. Although, they tend to keep the rough playable there to keep the griping to a minimum. He’s still crooked off the tee but the big miss seems to have been eliminated.

Got it. I thought you were maybe implying it's a shorter tour stop which it isn't. You're right in that it isn't a 7500 or 7600 monster.

I still don't see him breaking through at the Players. Although it would be pretty legendary and career affirming. I do give him a good chance at Augusta. 

[Revolution512 1495]

Yeah it’s not the beast Torrey is, shorter than last week at Bay Hill but not Pebble short

[Texas St. Armadillos 1381]

Canadian Open cancelled due to COVID restrictions.  Looking for a venue for a 1-year event.

[conVINCEd 21469]

26 minutes ago, Texas St. Armadillos said:

Canadian Open cancelled due to COVID restrictions.  Looking for a venue for a 1-year event.

If they don’t want to just have an off week, they should try to find somewhere fun that ordinarily doesn’t host tournaments.  I nominate Pine Valley.  Smaller crowds means less infrastructure needed.

[4th&Five 41599]

 

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

17 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

 

What's the advantage here? Larger landing area on 9 v 18? Better approach angle?

[smwhorn 483]

https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/2021-players-championship-tee-times-pairings-complete-field-schedule-set-for-round-1-at-tpc-sawgrass/

Jordan with Patrick Reed and Rahm.

BDC/Morikawa/DJ

[ztejas 43546]

56 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

 

 

38 minutes ago, Grade of D as in David said:

What's the advantage here? Larger landing area on 9 v 18? Better approach angle?

Had to look it up. Area they are referring to circled. Makes sense when you look at it. 

[dieucla98 2942]

4 minutes ago, ztejas said:

 

Had to look it up. Area they are referring to circled. Makes sense when you look at it. 

I feel like in the best case, you may have an easier tee shot going that route but you're likely going to draw a bad lie with a forced carry of the water on your next. Unless this is all really just for fan safety, I would kind of like to see Bryson try (and fail...).

[Lurch 5931]

Yep. Virtually no risk to bomb left. Bit surprised it hasn’t been done before

[Lurch 5931]

I want to say there are shops (lemonade, hot dogs) built here for tourney week usually.

[ztejas 43546]

3 minutes ago, Lurch said:

Bit surprised it hasn’t been done before

I think if the trees weren't there it might be more viable. But that coupled with rough vs. fairway to carry the water on your 2nd probably makes it a no go.

Also - my God that's a brutal hole to the layman. You'd better hit the ball straight. Can't imagine what I'd shoot on that course but it wouldn't be pretty. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by ztejas

[TonyTexas 10534]

17 minutes ago, Lurch said:

I want to say there are shops (lemonade, hot dogs) built here for tourney week usually.

There is a big long grandstand that looks like would block your approach. But I’m sure BDC would demand some sort of relief for his benefit. 
 

[Lurch 5931]

I think if the trees weren't there it might be more viable. But that coupled with rough vs. fairway to carry the water on your 2nd probably makes it a no go.
Also - my God that's a brutal hole to the layman. You'd better hit the ball straight. Can't imagine what I'd shoot on that course but it wouldn't be pretty. 

I played it in a GCAMtour event a few years ago. It’s incredibly intimidating. Its sister course is actually more enjoyable from that perspective.

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

MCKINNEY — After a one-year hiatus, the AT&T Byron Nelson is back on the PGA Tour calendar. And fans will be able to witness it in person. Some fans, at least.

Tournament organizers announced on Tuesday that the tournament, which will make its debut at its new home at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney this May, will allow 10,000 patrons per day over the course of the four-day event.

Tournament organizers made the 10,000 person-per-day recommendation to the PGA Tour after receiving input from the City of McKinney, Collin County and health officials, combined with the recent order from Gov. Greg Abbott to loosen restrictions statewide, according to outgoing tournament chair John Jenkins. The Tour accepted the recommendation last week.

In addition to the capacity limits, all patrons must wear masks on-site, unless actively eating or drinking. Everyone will be health screened upon their arrival to the tournament. There will be 150 hand sanitation stations throughout the course.

[LTtxfan 49373]

On 3/8/2021 at 9:39 AM, dieucla98 said:

Just sit his ass until the singles match.

I guess you are referring to Patrick Reed ??

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by LTtxfan

[LTtxfan 49373]

5 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

 

 

Yeah courses gonna have to stay ahead of Bryson...

Internal OB added to THE PLAYERS' 18th hole 

PONTE VEDRA BEACH – PGA TOUR officials have added internal out-of-bounds to TPC Sawgrass’ iconic 18th hole for THE PLAYERS Championship this week.

Officials declared the left side of the lake that runs down the famous finishing hole will be declared OB after suggestions players might look to hit tee shots across the lake towards the ninth hole, before hitting back across water to the green.

Players on the ninth hole are not affected, with balls lost into the water on that hole treated as a normal hazard.

“In the interest of safety for spectators, volunteers and other personnel, The PLAYERS Championship Rules Committee has installed an internal out of bounds left of the lake for play of hole 18. Similar instances of internal out of bounds for safety purposes have occurred at The Open Championship (No. 9) in 2017, the 2021 Sony Open in Hawaii (Nos. 13, 18), and most recently, the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (No. 6),” the TOUR said via statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Bryson DeChambeau had indicated he might entertain the idea of bombing a drive or two over the lake despite not seeing a significant advantage. That choice has now been eliminated from his thinking. DeChambeau’s significant length helped him win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard last week – his eighth TOUR win.

“I'll probably give it a try, but it's most likely not going to happen. If there's stands there, there's really no reason to go for it, when I could just drive it 100 yards from the green if I get a good wind normally,” DeChambeau indicated. “It's not really that big of an advantage but taking the water out of play and having an easier second shot, it may be easier.”

PGA TOUR rules official Stephen Cox said while players actions can certainly be a driving factor in determining these sort of decisions, the main issue on this occasion was safety.

“It’s not the way the hole was designed to be played and when a player does choose that option it brings fairly significant safety concerns for us,” Cox said. “As we saw at Birkdale in 2017, players tend to take obscure lines and locations to gain a strategic advantage but if it is placing others at risk and danger the committee needs to act on it quickly.

“Just as we reintroduce fans the last thing we would want is to have someone walking back towards the tee at the ninth hole and get a ball in the face because someone hits it down there. Errant tee shots are errant tee shots but when someone deliberately takes it down there it is more of a concern for us.”

[LTtxfan 49373]

4 hours ago, smwhorn said:

https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/2021-players-championship-tee-times-pairings-complete-field-schedule-set-for-round-1-at-tpc-sawgrass/

Jordan with Patrick Reed and Rahm.

BDC/Morikawa/DJ

Hope Spieth/Reed/Rahm don't get hit by bombs from Bryson since he is in group behind them.

(Although Reed getting mad at DeChambeau could be pretty entertaining... 😋 )

[dieucla98 2942]

13 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

I guess you are referring to Patrick Reed ??

 

Yup. Definitely not Jordan.

[LTtxfan 49373]

Bohls on Spieth and upcoming WGC-Dell Match Play in Austin

On the way back. Jordan Spieth is playing light years better than he was in 2020 and since his last PGA Tour win of any kind at Royal Birkdale at the Open in 2017. But he just can’t close. He crushed it at the Bay Hill Invitational on Saturday but finished tied for fourth, five off the pace of Bryson DeChambeau. Is the mammoth DeChambeau mesmerizing or what? He’s like John Daly with a golf brain. I’m waiting for him to double-eagle a par-5 hole. For Spieth, it was his fourth consecutive top-15 finish this season, but he’s now gone 82 consecutive starts without breaking through and ranks a lowly 123rd in final-round scoring. Dustin Johnson ranks 107th in that same category but is No. 1 in the world and won the Masters in November. Justin Thomas ranks 110th, and 2021 Tour event winner Patrick Reed only 130th, so it’s hardly a sole indicator ... Rory McIlroy became the ninth. On the way back. Jordan Spieth is playing light years better than he was in 2020 and since his last PGA Tour win of any kind at Royal Birkdale at the Open in 2017. But he just can’t close. He crushed it at the Bay Hill Invitational on Saturday but finished tied for fourth, five off the pace of Bryson DeChambeau. Is the mammoth DeChambeau mesmerizing or what? He’s like John Daly with a golf brain. I’m waiting for him to double-eagle a par-5 hole. For Spieth, it was his fourth consecutive top-15 finish this season, but he’s now gone 82 consecutive starts without breaking through and ranks a lowly 123rd in final-round scoring. Dustin Johnson ranks 107th in that same category but is No. 1 in the world and won the Masters in November. Justin Thomas ranks 110th, and 2021 Tour event winner Patrick Reed only 130th, so it’s hardly a sole indicator ... Rory McIlroy became the ninth golfer ranked in the top 10 in the world to commit to the WGC-Dell Match Play in two weeks. The PGA says it has “no plans to expand capacity level or change any on-site plans” for the March 24-28 event. “We do not have any plans to modify our capacity limits based off recent news delivered by Gov. Abbott (ending the statewide mandate of masks)," said Jordan Uppleger, the Dell executive director. "We will operate at 20% of our maximum capacity (about 2,500 fans) and will require that ticketed guests wear masks or facial coverings.” … Do you ever wonder why caddies can give their golfers all the advice in the world, but if a tennis player just happens to glance wrong at his or her coach in a box seat, that sport goes crazy? 

https://amp.statesman.com/amp/6930485002?__twitter_impression=true

[LTtxfan 49373]

Announcer on Golf Channel (Aaron) says Spieth has been relying more on a squeeze fade off the tee with his driver. 

One of you golf guru's please define "squeeze fade" ?? 

 

(Found this on Hogan's Power fade...  https://treelight.com/golf/swing/why-you-want-ben-hogans-power-fade/  )

Edited March 10, 2021 by LTtxfan

[dieucla98 2942]

Think low cut (low trajectory, left to right movement). He used it a ton at the API to great success (by his driving standards at least). He loses some distance off the tee but he finally has something in his arsenal resembling a fairway finder with the metals.  

 

[LTtxfan 49373]

PLAYERS course is playing tough so far this morning...

Also 😂😂😂

 

[LTtxfan 49373]

Rory +7 on his first 9 holes* 

*Started on #10

[ztejas 43546]

Jesus Rory. Did Spieth Space Jam him or something?

There is kind of a Player's "curse". No defending champ has finished in the top 10 in 16 years now.

[conVINCEd 21469]

25 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Rory +7 on his first 9 holes* 

*Started on #10

Finau says hold my beer.

[Jive Turkey 12648]

 

[bigup2dahorns 3343]

Nice first round for Phil at -1 good for T-10 at the moment

[ztejas 43546]

I'm getting a bad feeling for some of you that Bryson is going to win this one too. 

How about Westwood shaking some rust off? 

[ztejas 43546]

On 3/10/2021 at 10:48 AM, LTtxfan said:

Bohls on Spieth and upcoming WGC-Dell Match Play in Austin

On the way back. Jordan Spieth is playing light years better than he was in 2020 and since his last PGA Tour win of any kind at Royal Birkdale at the Open in 2017. But he just can’t close. He crushed it at the Bay Hill Invitational on Saturday but finished tied for fourth, five off the pace of Bryson DeChambeau. Is the mammoth DeChambeau mesmerizing or what? He’s like John Daly with a golf brain. I’m waiting for him to double-eagle a par-5 hole. For Spieth, it was his fourth consecutive top-15 finish this season, but he’s now gone 82 consecutive starts without breaking through and ranks a lowly 123rd in final-round scoring. Dustin Johnson ranks 107th in that same category but is No. 1 in the world and won the Masters in November. Justin Thomas ranks 110th, and 2021 Tour event winner Patrick Reed only 130th, so it’s hardly a sole indicator ... Rory McIlroy became the ninth. On the way back. Jordan Spieth is playing light years better than he was in 2020 and since his last PGA Tour win of any kind at Royal Birkdale at the Open in 2017. But he just can’t close. He crushed it at the Bay Hill Invitational on Saturday but finished tied for fourth, five off the pace of Bryson DeChambeau. Is the mammoth DeChambeau mesmerizing or what? He’s like John Daly with a golf brain. I’m waiting for him to double-eagle a par-5 hole. For Spieth, it was his fourth consecutive top-15 finish this season, but he’s now gone 82 consecutive starts without breaking through and ranks a lowly 123rd in final-round scoring. Dustin Johnson ranks 107th in that same category but is No. 1 in the world and won the Masters in November. Justin Thomas ranks 110th, and 2021 Tour event winner Patrick Reed only 130th, so it’s hardly a sole indicator ... Rory McIlroy became the ninth golfer ranked in the top 10 in the world to commit to the WGC-Dell Match Play in two weeks. The PGA says it has “no plans to expand capacity level or change any on-site plans” for the March 24-28 event. “We do not have any plans to modify our capacity limits based off recent news delivered by Gov. Abbott (ending the statewide mandate of masks)," said Jordan Uppleger, the Dell executive director. "We will operate at 20% of our maximum capacity (about 2,500 fans) and will require that ticketed guests wear masks or facial coverings.” … Do you ever wonder why caddies can give their golfers all the advice in the world, but if a tennis player just happens to glance wrong at his or her coach in a box seat, that sport goes crazy? 

https://amp.statesman.com/amp/6930485002?__twitter_impression=true

TIL John Daly doesn't have a golf brain. I think we can do without Kurt on this thread.