Category: PGA Tour
Articles and links about the PGA Tour -- and, incidentally, the Nationwide, Champions Tour and European Tours.
Golf Fashions of the Early 1900s
The Zurich Classic did a neat thing this year called the 100-Year Challenge. A group of Tour players, dressed in 1912 apparel played three holes (1, 8, and 9) in an exhibition with hickory shaft clubs. The event was in honor of Zurich Insurance’s 100 years in business in the US.
I would have liked to see that.
Posted By The Original Golf Blogger
Zurich Classic Betting Odds 2012
The field at the Zurich Classic (2012) is much stronger than the previous week’s Valero Texas Open. The headliners in Luke Donald (11/1), Bubba Watson (12/1) and Keegan Bradley (18/1) include the World Number Two and a the last two Major winners. They also are not surprisingly the favorites.
The second tier also has some leg: Justin Rose and Webb Simpson (20/1), Steve Stricker and Jason Duffner (22/1), and Graeme McDowell, Carl Petterson and Nick Watney (28/1) all have winning potential. Other notables in the field are Ernie Els (35/1), and David Toms, KJ Choi and Rickie Fowler (all 50/1).
Webb Simpson might have won last year’s Zurich if not for a one stroke penalty when the ball moved at address while putting.
Luke Donald has yet to really shine this year, so I think there’s a good chance this is his week. I’d be surprised to see Bubba win so soon after the Masters, but he is the defending Champion. He evidently knows how to win on this course. Keegan Bradley has had a good year, with three top tens—that’s just one shy of his total for last year when he had his breakthrough Major year.
Interestingly, Boo Weekley is out this week on medical and has been replaced by John Daly. Boo was a sponsor’s exemption, so Daly was the tournament’s choice. Daly has been playing much better of late on the European Tour. In his last three starts there, he’s finished 37, 4 and 21.
Is Stricker done? I wonder if his age (45) hasn’t caught up with him.
The complete odds are below, courtesy of Bodvada. In addition to the odds, I’ve added the expected percentage chance to win:
Posted By The Original Golf Blogger
2012 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Tournament Notes
Dates: April 23-29, 2012
Where: TPC Louisiana, Avondale, LA
Par/Yards: 72/7,341 yards
2011 champion: Bubba Watson 2012
Purse: $6,400,000/$1,152,000
FedExCup: 500 points to the winner
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Field: 156
Twitter: @Zurich_Classic
How the Zurich Classic of New Orleans was won in 2011
Bubba Watson two-putted the second playoff hole (par-5 18th) for birdie and defeated Webb Simpson to earn his third career PGA TOUR title. Watson and Simpson, 54-hole co-leaders, both carded 3-under 69s in the final round at TPC Louisiana to finish at 15-under 273. The playoff was the 11th in tournament history, the last coming in 2005 when Tim Petrovic defeated James Driscoll.
More on Bubba Watson
A glance at the field
Miscellaneous Zurich Classic of New Orleans Notes
Posted By The Original Golf Blogger
Zurich Classic Past Winners and History
Professional golf has been played off and on in the Crescent City since 1922. In that year, Gene Sarazen won the inaugural Southern Spring Open, which had a purse of $1,000. The tournament took a hiatus from 1923 to 1937 and then returned in 1938 as the Crescent City Open. The next year, it became the New Orleans Open, and stayed that way until 1948. There was another pause from 1949 to 1957, when it returned as the Greater New Orleans Open Invitational. It’s been played every year since.
The original location for the tournament was New Orleans City Park. From 1963 to 1988, it was played at Lakewood Country Club, and then English Turn Golf & Country Club from 1989 to 2004. In 2005, it moved to the TPC Louisiana, but then had to return for a year to English Turn because of the damage from hurricane Katrina; 2,000 trees were destroyed in the storm. It came back to the TPC Louisiana in 2007.
Nine players have two wins each at the Zurich Classic:
Henry Picard: 1939, 1941
Byron Nelson: 1945, 1946
Bo Wininger: 1962, 1963
Frank Beard: 1966, 1971
Billy Casper: 1958, 1975
Tom Watson: 1980, 1981
Chip Beck: 1988, 1992
Ben Crenshaw: 1987, 1994
Carlos Franco: 1999, 2000
Interesting facts:
Only one Louisiana native, David Toms, has won Louisiana’s professional golf tournament.
Nineteen of the tournaments winners are in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Posted By The Original Golf Blogger
It’s Not Your Course
There are times, when after a particular taxing round, I simply come to the conclusion that there’s nothing wrong with my game, it just wasn’t my day. I’ve also run into a course or two like that. Some tracks just seem to have my number.
At this point, I think Kevin Na has come to that conclusion about the TPC San Antonio, where the Valero Texas Open is staged.
Last year, Na famously scored a 16 on a single hole after putting a ball into the underbrush and then failing to extricate himself. Although he finished the round valiantly, carding an 80 overall, the thought had to haunt him. On Thursday a year later, Na finished with a 79 and withdrew from the tournament.
I haven’t been able to discover what injury Na suffered (to his pride at a minimum), but I think it safe to say that the course was a pain in his neck.
Posted By The Original Golf Blogger
Valero Texas Open Notes 2012
2012 Valero Texas Open Notes
Dates: April 16-22, 2012
Where: TPC San Antonio (AT&T Oaks Course)
Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,522 yards
Field: 156
2011 Champion: Brendan Steele
Purse: $6,200,000/$1,116,000
FedEx Cup Points: 500 points to the winner
Website: valerotexasopen.org
Facebook: valerotxopen
Twitter: @valerotxopen
A look back at the 2011 Valero Texas Open
Brendan Steele converted an up and down from behind the green of the 72nd hole to earn the 28-year-old his first victory on the PGA TOUR making him the third rookie to win on TOUR in 2011. Steele completed his final round with 12 straight pars to shoot a 1-under 71 and finish one shot ahead of Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman.
A glance at the field
Seven major championship winners are in the field this week for the Valero Texas Open. Rich Beem (2002 PGA Championship), Ben Curtis (2003 The Open Championship), David Duval (2001 The Open Championship), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004 U.S. Open), Lee Janzen (1993, 1998 U.S. Open), Justin Leonard (1997 The Open Championship) and Shaun Micheel (2003 PGA Championship).
61 TOUR winners accounting for 150 wins led by 12-time winner Justin Leonard and 9¬time winner Stuart Appleby.
Six of the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings through the RBC Heritage, includes Johnson Wagner (No.4), John Huh (No. 19), Matt Kuchar (No.21), Kevin Na (No.22), Robert Garrigus (No. 24) and Sang-Moon Bae (No. 25).
World No. 14 Matt Kuchar, No. 16 Jason Day and No. 27 Bo Van Pelt lead a group of five players currently inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Both runner-ups to Brendan Steele, Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman return to TPC San Antonio AT&T Oaks Course.
Past champions of the Valero Texas Open (4): Brendan Steele (2011), Justin Leonard (2007, 2001, 2000),Duffy Waldorf (1999) and Tim Herron (1997).
Player Spotlights Brendan Steele
Brendan Steele’s win in 2011 meant rookies had won back-to-back events on the PGA TOUR (Steele/Valero Texas Open and Charl Schwartzel/Masters) for the first time since 2002 when Jonathan Byrd won the Buick Challenge and Luke Donald won the Southern Farm Bureau Classic.
Steele was the 16th first-time winner in the history of the Valero Texas Open: Chick Harbert (1942), Tony Holguin (1953), Mike Souchak (1955), Jay Hebert (1957), Bill Johnston (1958), Harold Henning (1966), Deane Beman (1969), Ben Crenshaw (1973), Terry Diehl (1974), Ron Streck (1978), Bob Estes (1994), Duffy Waldorf (1995), David Ogrin (1996), Bart Bryant (2004) and Eric Axley (2006).
Dating back to 1970, Steele (2011), Eric Axley (2006), Terry Diehl (1974) and Ben Crenshaw (1973) are the only rookies to win the Valero Texas Open.
Steele’s best finish thus far in 2012 was a T5 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Johnson Wagner
Johnson Wagner was voted the PGA TOUR Player of the Month presented by Avis for January thanks to a win at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Wagner also finished T2 at the Humana Challenge and T4 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Johnson is currently 4th in the FedEx Cup point standings.
Johnson’s best finish in the Valero Texas Open came last year as he finished T15.
Matt Kuchar
Matt Kuchar has had a steady start to the 2012 PGA TOUR season. With a T5 at the WGC-Accenture Match Play, a T8 at the WGC-Cadillac Championship and a T3 at the Masters Kuchar is sitting at 21 in the FedEx Cup standings. Also Kuchar is currently ranked 14th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Bud Cauley
Making his first start at the Valero Texas Open Bud Cauley, a Jacksonville, Florida native, is hoping his good play will earn him a spot in the field for THE PLAYERS Championship in May. Cauley is currently ranked 36th in the FedEx Cup standings with finishes of T4 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, T8 at the Shell Houston Open and T13 at the Farmer’s Insurance Open.
J.B. Holmes
J.B. Holmes comes into the week with a few bright spots in 2012 since undergoing brain surgery in 2011 which removed a piece of his skull. Holmes has recorded two top 10’s a T8 at the Northern Trust open and most recently a T8 at the Shell Houston Open.
Holmes finished T11 in last year’s Valero Texas Open.
Jordan Spieth
Current Texas Longhorn Jordan Spieth is in the field on a sponsor’s invite. Spieth is currently ranked No. 2 nationally among Division I men’s college golfers in only eight starts. His first individual collegiate win came at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational. Jordan was the only freshman to compete at the Western Refining All-American Classic where he finished T15.
Spieth, a member of the 2011 Walker Cup team and current member of the Texas Longhorn golf team, makes his Valero Texas Open debut. This will be his fifth career PGA TOUR start with his best finish coming in 2010 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship a T16.
Spieth is a semifinalist (10 players) for the Ben Hogan award, which recognizes the outstanding male amateur and collegiate golfer of the year.
Texas Connections
Chad Campbell
The Andrews, Texas native’s best finish of the year is a T26 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
Jimmy Walker
Residing in San Antonio, Jimmy Walker, has three top 10’s in 2012 including a T4 at the Northern Trust Open.
Lonny Alexander
The Texas State alum and director of instruction at Onion Creek Club in Austin was the PGA Section Champion and Player of the Year for 2011 earning him an invite into the Valero Texas Open
University of Texas Longhorns
Jordan Spieth (Sophomore) Justin Leonard (1994 Business) Bob Estes
The rookies
Of the 26 rookies in the 2012 class:
18 of the rookies are under the age of 30
10 of the rookies are 25 or younger.
The youngest rookie is Seung-yul Noh, who will turn 21 in May.
San Diego native J.J. Killeen was the 2011 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year highlighted by backto-back wins at the Utah Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission (last week of July)and the Cox Classic presented by Lexus of Omaha (first week of August).
Double heart transplant recipient Erik Compton earned his PGA TOUR card for 2012 after finishing No. 13 on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2011.
The 26 rookies are divided as such:
Q-School – 11
Nationwide Tour – 12
2011 Non-member money list – 1 (Bud Cauley)
2011 Q-School/Nationwide Major Medical Exemption – 2 (Jamie Lovemark and Joe Affrunti)
TPC San Antonio Notes
For the third consecutive season, the Valero Texas Open will be held at TPC San Antonio AT&T Oaks Course. The course was designed by Greg Norman with Sergio Garcia serving as a design consultant.
In 2011 TPC San Antonio ranked 7th in toughest courses played on the PGA TOUR, including courses hosting major championships.
With a scoring average of 4.35 the 474 yard Par 4 9th was ranked the 19th toughest hole on the PGA TOUR in 2011.
Also the first hole was ranked 35th, making it critical to limit mistakes on the front nine at the Oaks Course with two holes on the front nine inside the top 50 toughest holes on TOUR in 2011.
Miscellaneous Valero Texas Open Notes
Since 1960, only Arnold Palmer (1960-1962), Justin Leonard (2000, 2001) and Zach Johnson (2008, 2009) have successfully defended their title at the Valero Texas Open.
In celebration of the 90th anniversary the Valero Texas Open will partner with San Antonio based C.H. Guenther & Son’s Pioneer® Brand to host the Pioneer® Brand Celebrity Cake-Off. There are six teams and each will design a 90th anniversary cake incorporating the tournament’s themes such as the Valero Texas Open’s logo, golf, charity, or the tournament’s three pillars: music, food, and military appreciation. The event will take place Saturday, April 21.
Celebrity Chef, Duff Goldman (Ace of Cakes, Charm City Cakes), will serve as the featured Pioneer® Brand Celebrity Judge and will also design his version of the Official 90th Celebration Cake, which will be unveiled following the completion of the Pioneer® Brand Celebrity Cake-Off event on Saturday in the lower lobby of the JW Marriott Resort.
Source: PGA Tour
Posted By The Original Golf Blogger
Valero Texas Open Television and Radio Times 2012
U.S. TV Coverage (EST)
4/19, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. GOLF
4/20, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. GOLF
4/21, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. CBS
4/22, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. CBS
SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (EST)
4/19, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET
4/20, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET
4/21, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET
4/22, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET
Posted By The Original Golf Blogger
