The Zurich Classic

[fixyurdivot]

The Zurich Classic is back.  A team play event since 2017 that is always entertaining.  Some new faces in the field including Collin Morikawa who is partnered with Matthew Wolff.  I had initially believed playing partners were randomly selected, but that is not the case.  The top 80 ranked players who have elected to participate may choose their partners.  I wonder how that works out when a particular player is asked by multiples others?  Are their any teams that catch your eye as being the odd couple?  I keep hoping to see a Thomas/Speith or Johnson/Koepka pairing at some point but not this year.

Clearly Rahm & Palmer are looking to repeat but I kind of like the Cameron Smith/Marc Leishman and the Billy Horschel/Sam Burns teams.  Which team do you think hoists the hardware?

 

 

 

 

[PMookie]

I was hoping to get Tour Truck access, but it’s not looking good. Ugh. Man. 

[fixyurdivot]

1 hour ago, PMookie said:

I was hoping to get Tour Truck access, but it’s not looking good. Ugh. Man. 

I was thinking about you when I was typing TPC Louisiana in the thread tags.  We held a handful of our technical society meetings in New Orleans over the years and I always enjoyed the atmosphere there... especially oysters on the half shell .

[PMookie]

2 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

I was thinking about you when I was typing TPC Louisiana in the thread tags.  We held a handful of our technical society meetings in New Orleans over the years and I always enjoyed the atmosphere there... especially oysters on the half shell .

I needed to have a few appointments down there this week to be able to get to the tournament. Ugh. Hopefully I’ll be able to play it in a few weeks. The twilight rate for Louisiana residents is awesome. No doubt the food in NOLA is the best! 

[fixyurdivot]

9 hours ago, PMookie said:

I needed to have a few appointments down there this week to be able to get to the tournament. Ugh. Hopefully I’ll be able to play it in a few weeks. The twilight rate for Louisiana residents is awesome. No doubt the food in NOLA is the best! 

Oh yea, those aren't any good all . One of my colleagues was also a hot sauce lover - his Scoville threshold a few ticks north of mine.  There were specialty shops with seemingly a hundred different spice sauces and it was a hoot just looking at all the labels.  One of the shops we visited had a locked cabinet behind the register that the owner tapped into to meet Dave's how hot can I go quest.  I recall him warning us about not getting this near our eyes, using real sparingly, and washing your hands after use .

So a week later at work he tells us that he made a LARGE pot of spaghetti sauce in which he added a few drops.  None of the kids or his wife could tolerate it (all like hot, spicy stuff) and it was pretty much at his threshold... a guy who eats raw Habaneros at lunch .

[DannyDips]

The Zurich sure is a different event with Pros partnering up. I thought I had read somewhere that top 30 or 50 players couldn't partner with each other, which would eliminate those dream pairings from dominating the field. Maybe that's not the case. I did find this on the PGA website when I tried to look it up. 

https://www.pgatour.com/news/2017/04/17/zurich-classic-team-format-how-it-works.html

[fixyurdivot]

1 hour ago, DannyDips said:

The Zurich sure is a different event with Pros partnering up. I thought I had read somewhere that top 30 or 50 players couldn't partner with each other, which would eliminate those dream pairings from dominating the field. Maybe that's not the case. I did find this on the PGA website when I tried to look it up. 

https://www.pgatour.com/news/2017/04/17/zurich-classic-team-format-how-it-works.html

That makes sense except the Morikawa/Wolfe, Palmer/Rahm and some others don't meet that restriction.  I've been trying to find the definitive scoop/rules on how these pairings are managed but thus far not finding anything concrete. Anyone else know the rules on this?

  

[Josef]

On 4/19/2021 at 6:08 AM, fixyurdivot said:

Oh yea, those aren't any good all . One of my colleagues was also a hot sauce lover - his Scoville threshold a few ticks north of mine.  There were specialty shops with seemingly a hundred different spice sauces and it was a hoot just looking at all the labels.  One of the shops we visited had a locked cabinet behind the register that the owner tapped into to meet Dave's how hot can I go quest.  I recall him warning us about not getting this near our eyes, using real sparingly, and washing your hands after use .

So a week later at work he tells us that he made a LARGE pot of spaghetti sauce in which he added a few drops.  None of the kids or his wife could tolerate it (all like hot, spicy stuff) and it was pretty much at his threshold... a guy who eats raw Habaneros at lunch .

Gotta love southern food and I live for the spice. That sandwich looks great!

[Josef]

On 4/19/2021 at 1:48 PM, fixyurdivot said:

That makes sense except the Morikawa/Wolfe, Palmer/Rahm and some others don't meet that restriction.  I've been trying to find the definitive scoop/rules on how these pairings are managed but thus far not finding anything concrete. Anyone else know the rules on this?

  

It seems like it something no publisher gets around to asking about what keeps the best players from pairing up. I mean besides what has been stated. Either when it first started to now it seems like everyone kinda skirts around this detail and it just seems to be at the player's discretion. 

I mean this article mentions how great of a pairing Morikawa/Wolfe is but they don't ask why more top players don't do it more often or why two top 5 players are allowed to play with each other. Of course they do talk about how chemistry seems to play a part in choosing your partner. So maybe egos are why don't have more top heavy power pairings.

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pga-tour-zurich-classic-team-strategy-xander-schauffele-patrick-cantlay-collin-morikawa-jon-rahm-justin-rose-henrik-stenson

In regards to the Schauffele(5)/Cantlay(10) pairings-

“I think you definitely want to get along with who your partner is and then you want to grab the best player you can possibly grab,” said Patrick Cantlay, who will tee it up with Xander Schauffele this week.

It helps, too, that they’ve become fast friends. At the 2019 Presidents Cup, Schauffele and Cantlay, each with a sense of humor ranging from dry to sarcastic, bonded over nightly dinners and card games. On the course, they played four matches together, going 2-2 for the week, but scored a key Saturday afternoon foursomes win over Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith as playing captain Tiger Woods sat out. The victory helped close the gap on the Internationals and the Americans went on to complete the comeback in singles the next day.

They’ve been regular practice round partners on tour since."

[Rickp]

Palmer/Rahm looks good to me....But...


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[fixyurdivot]

I suspect this is why Reed chooses to skip this event... simply way too many requests from top players wanting to pair up and him not wanting to hurt anyone's feeling.

Spoiler

 

[WaffleHouseTour]

What I like most about this tournament is a chance to pick those in my fantasy sports league I'd otherwise never pick - like Scott Brown, Danny Willett, Kris Ventura, Talor Gooch; oh and Rahm and Horschel too...

[RollingGreens]

Wolf/Morikawa and Cantlay/Schauffele are two solid pairings for the big easy. Have not had a chance to get down to NOLA, great food/music and site seeing locations from what I’ve been told. COVID unfortunately stopped me from being there for a bachelor party which I’ve heard has saved me and my bank account from the tomfoolery that would have occurred 

[bens197]

It’s fun to watch Cam Champ and Tony Finau together this week. Bombs away!

[fixyurdivot]

Morikawa/Wolfe sporting some smack attire.  Is it time for Matt to consider losing the "strangest ignition in golf"? 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

20 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

Morikawa/Wolfe sporting some smack attire.  Is it time for Matt to consider losing the "strangest ignition in golf"? 

well that smack attire smacked them in the face today. ugh

[fixyurdivot]

1 hour ago, rbsiedsc said:

well that smack attire smacked them in the face today. ugh

Yea, they really stunk it up.  Wolfe is just somewhere else presently... some serious funk.  Just heard the backstory on how the Watson/Scheffler pairing came to be.  Neither could get anyone to team up with them .  So far, it's proving a good marriage.

[PMookie]

They keep talking about the tightly mown Bermuda around the greens and how tough it is to hit off of it... Heck, that’s all-day-everyday around here!!!!!! They’re pros......

[fixyurdivot]

55 minutes ago, PMookie said:

They keep talking about the tightly mown Bermuda around the greens and how tough it is to hit off of it... Heck, that’s all-day-everyday around here!!!!!! They’re pros......

I must say that some dang good hybrid and fairway wood putts have been executed.  Could this spell doom for the wedge industry? 

[Rickp]

I must say that some dang good hybrid and fairway wood putts have been executed.  Could this spell doom for the wedge industry? 

And the Putter Mfg


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[fixyurdivot]

13 hours ago, Rickp said:

And the Putter Mfg


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Nah, they were great lags, likely better results than they would have produced with a wedge, but still required a flat stick to finish the task. I cannot recall an event where that many players have been using this technique.  Like @PMookiementioned, the broadcast crew have been talking up the Bermuda grass mix/cut height and how challenging they are for chipping.  From what I can tell on the TV, those aprons look like billiard tables and I'd just use my putter.  The only time I use my 3w as a putter is situations where I have to come across (or go through) a short distance of longer shag before getting too the short grass.  

[PMookie]

56 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

Nah, they were great lags, likely better results than they would have produced with a wedge, but still required a flat stick to finish the task. I cannot recall an event where that many players have been using this technique.  Like @PMookiementioned, the broadcast crew have been talking up the Bermuda grass mix/cut height and how challenging they are for chipping.  From what I can tell on the TV, those aprons look like billiard tables and I'd just use my putter.  The only time I use my 3w as a putter is situations where I have to come across (or go through) a short distance of longer shag before getting too the short grass.  

There isn’t a course in Louisiana that I’ve played the last two years that doesn’t have these shaved aprons. The issue they present when chipping is the grain... It’s next to impossible for an amateur to chip/pitch well from these areas, and still very difficult for pros. I played in a number of tournaments with college players here, and almost every one of them putted from these areas, said how difficult it was to predict how a wedge would react, and therefore where the ball would finish. Short Bermuda grain into you? No way. The wedge will not glide through, it just catches and digs. Grain with the player? Definitely putt! Anyway, it’s silly tough, even a putter can catch the grain in the shaved areas, so players tend to hit the top half of the ball to protect against that.

[revkev]

There isn’t a course in Louisiana that I’ve played the last two years that doesn’t have these shaved aprons. The issue they present when chipping is the grain... It’s next to impossible for an amateur to chip/pitch well from these areas, and still very difficult for pros. I played in a number of tournaments with college players here, and almost every one of them putted from these areas, said how difficult it was to predict how a wedge would react, and therefore where the ball would finish. Short Bermuda grain into you? No way. The wedge will not glide through, it just catches and digs. Grain with the player? Definitely putt! Anyway, it’s silly tough, even a putter can catch the grain in the shaved areas, so players tend to hit the top half of the ball to protect against that.

Yep, I am sure to make an ascending stroke with whatever club I’m hitting for those shots be it putter, fairway or in prior days, hybrid.

We now have a practice area for them behind our back range.


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Does anyone know if this tournament counts towards the World Golf Rankings. I seem to remember that it does.


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[fixyurdivot]

Anyone really that surprised?  Great finish. 

[PMookie]

I saw a Tweet about how awesome would this finish be if this were the format for the Olympics? Oh, man!!! South Africa and Australia in a playoff for GOLD?! That would be insane!!!!

[WaffleHouseTour]

Felt like someone needed to leave this here....