PGA Tour 2024 - BMW Chamionship

[Splatt]

G’day golfers,

We’re onto the 2nd stage of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and only the top 50 on FedEx Cup standing have progressed to the event this week at the BMW Championship. We’re really getting to the skinny end of the season with one event to go where only the top 30 on the FedEx Cup standings will tee it up.
More on that next week.

 

This week we’re at the BMW Championship and for the first time since 2014 it returns to Colorado at the Castle Pines Golf Club. The players are set to experience some elevation this week so it’ll be interesting to see how it effects the golf shots and also the players fitness levels.

 

Castle Pines Golf Club is a par-72, 8,130-yard course sitting at 6,200 feet above sea level. I’d expect some serious bombs to be hit off the tee at this elevation and the guys are going to need it seeing how this course is over 8,000-yards long!! It is the longest course in PGA Tour history!
Castle Pines used to be a regular on the PGA Tour hosting The International, a Stableford style event, from 1986 all the way until 2006. This will be the Tours first visit to Castle Pines since The International stopped in 2006, although it has seen a lot of changes since then with new tee boxes, re-shaped greens, new bunkers, and freshly renovated water features.

At the BMW Championship last year hosted at Olympia Fields in Illinois, Viktor Hovland won by 2 shots over Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick. Hovland started the final round Sunday 3 shots behind Scheffler and Fitz, but 7 birdies in his final 9 holes saw him rocket up the leaderboard and claim the victory and set a new career low with a 61. Do yourself a favour and watch the highlights below, it’s some incredible golf.

 

 

Some notable players who missed the top-50

·         Tom Kim – Ended his season 51st on the FedEx Cup Standings, first loser some might say. Kim mad it all the way to The Tour Championship last year and finished 20th, but his golf has just not been as consistent this year and Kim being eliminated after the first FedEx Cup Playoff event just proves it.
 

·         Justin Rose – Finished 55th this season and misses out on the BMW Championship. He made the BMW Championship last year, but that was the first time since 2019 he’d achieved it. He finished 34th on the FedEx Cup standings so he did not progress to the Tour Championship last year.
 

·         Nick Taylor – Canada’s own Nick Taylor finished 58th this year on the FedEx Cup Standings. Last year he made it all the way to the Tour Championship, but despite a win at the WM Phoenix Open (A signature event) it was not enough this year to take him all the way to the season ending event.
 

·         Jake Knapp – Knapp is still a fresh face on tour, but he promises good things with his maiden victory coming this year at the Mexico Open back in February. A lot of plus 50 finishes and missed cuts since then has meant that he season has ended with him 59th on the FedEx Cup Standings. I’ll be keeping a close eye on Knapp next year.
 

·         Min Woo Lee – My boy Min Woo Lee finished the season in 60th position on the FedEx Cup ladder. He’s yet to get his first win on the PGA Tour, but he’s had 2 wins on the DP World Tour and also won the Australian PGA Tour Championship earlier this year. Lee has made a name for himself this year and I’m sure his first victory is coming very soon.
 

·         Jordan Spieth – Spieth finished 66th on the FedEx Cup Standings and this marks the first year since 2013 that Spieth has missed out on the BMW Championship, and it’ll also be the first year since 2021 that Spieth hasn’t made it all the way to the Tour Championship. Spieht has been a bit out of sorts this year with only 3 top-10’s to speak of and 7 missed cuts.

 

There’s plenty of highlights to keep an eye on in the field including Scottie Scheffler, Xander Shauffele, the winner last week Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, and many more.
What makes this week interesting is any of these guys can win but it’s the guys in 31st to 50th place that need to make something happen.
Some notable names currently not playing next week are:

·         Tommy Fleetwood – 31st

·         Corey Conners – 33rd

·         Matt Fitzpatrick – 36th

·         Will Zalatoris – 37th

·         Cameron Young – 39th

·         Adam Scott – 41st

·         Max Homa – 43rd
 

 

There’s be fireworks this week and some big drives, should be a great event!

See you next week

 

SPLATT

[GolfSpy_APH]

Can't say I will actually watch any, but love reading your recaps and previews!

[OB Specialist]

Would love to see a good week from Zalatoris, and Conners so the can sneak their way into the top 30. Would also like to see JT have a good weekend! 

[Ewells09]

I live out here just south of castle pines in the springs. As a retired vet it’s nice being able to see these guys in person where I reside. Conditions are always going to play a factor, but between elevation & the random weather that pops up around the mountains, I’m excited to see what these gents can do!

[fixyurdivot]

Keegan is always a fun player to watch. He more than so many seems to approach these like a game of horse with his buddies. His set-up makes me think someone forgot to tell him clubs can be lengthened .  I'm rooting for he or Hideki to hoist the hardware. Go Team Srixon .

[Josh Parker]

Somehow my pick'em selections always fail to perform.  Ha.  Next year I'm going the opposite of what I originally think.   

There should be some bombs this week out there.  Looking forward to seeing how everyone does come Sunday.

[Indy_Oz]

Nice to see two of the more aesthetically pleasing swings go low today. I never tire of seeing Adam Scott swinging clubs and Åberg makes it look pretty effortless too. Couple of very impressive rounds from pros at almost-opposite ends of their PGAT careers. Shaping up for an interesting weekend’s viewing. 

[Huse343]

Great tournament so far! Will be interesting to see what happens with Scottie after potentially tweaking his back yesterday. He’s had too good of a season for this to ruin it for him

[Indy_Oz]

Gotta feel for Matt Fitzpatrick. Cracked driver face and current rules effectively say "tough sh!t"!! So it's 3-wood off the tee when faced with 530yd par 4 holes! But if a club is significantly damaged in pretty much any other way, you can replace it? That's what the ESPN discussion sounded like it said.

If the rules don't change to include cracked driver/wood faces, then pressure is back on manufacturers to not have this happen. I wonder if Taylormade carbon faces popping off results in a replacement as it's more than a cracked face... could be the desirable failure mode for tour players! LMAO

[Shapotomous]

Watching Aberg hit into the water and the expert commentator is nice enough to tell us "that must have been a mishit" .  Well duh, it was about 40 yards short and 20 yards left so I could tell you from my couch it was a mishit!  I really doubt he would have hit the wrong club by that much, even having to calculate altitude differences!  

[fixyurdivot]

So happy for Keegan .  From being the last player in the field to hoisting the hardware and gaining some huge ground in the FedEx Cup is stellar stuff.

6 hours ago, Indy_Oz said:

Gotta feel for Matt Fitzpatrick. Cracked driver face and current rules effectively say "tough sh!t"!! So it's 3-wood off the tee when faced with 530yd par 4 holes! But if a club is significantly damaged in pretty much any other way, you can replace it? That's what the ESPN discussion sounded like it said.

If the rules don't change to include cracked driver/wood faces, then pressure is back on manufacturers to not have this happen. I wonder if Taylormade carbon faces popping off results in a replacement as it's more than a cracked face... could be the desirable failure mode for tour players! LMAO

That's really ridiculous.  Add it to the list of dumb, and way overdue for change, rules of the game .  It sounded like Scheffler was arguing the case on Matt's behalf.  There is no reason not to allow replacement of clubs not intentionally damaged.  I mean they allow replacement of the golf ball in play... what is the difference?

[Indy_Oz]

10 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

So happy for Keegan .  From being the last player in the field to hoisting the hardware and gaining some huge ground in the FedEx Cup is stellar stuff.

That's really ridiculous.  Add it to the list of dumb, and way overdue for change, rules of the game .  It sounded like Scheffler was arguing the case on Matt's behalf.  There is no reason not to allow replacement of clubs not intentionally damaged.  I mean they allow replacement of the golf ball in play... what is the difference?

Completely agree! It was reassuring to see Scheffler vociferously arguing in support of Matt. He seemed pissed about the ruling. Not surprising given he plays a carbonface driver. Ha ha.

Yeah, it was nice for Keegan. hell of a way to continue in the Fedex when you're facing the cut for the final event. If he keeps this up, he'll have to play himself in the Ryder cup.

[fixyurdivot]

I had missed seeing his 227 yard, up a mountain, 5i, moonshot .  He could not see the result... only hear it.  That was an amazing shot.

[cnosil]

9 hours ago, Indy_Oz said:

f the rules don't change to include cracked driver/wood faces, then pressure is back on manufacturers to not have this happen. I wonder if Taylormade carbon faces popping off results in a replacement as it's more than a cracked face... could be the desirable failure mode for tour players! LMAO

The rules do allow for replacement of a cracked driver/wood face.  The officials assessing the crack determined that it was not severe enough to warrant replacement.  The PGA tours statement about the driver:

“But we on the PGA Tour, very similar to other major golf tours around the world, have a slightly stricter guideline regarding when a player is permitted to take a damaged club out of play, and that club needs to be significantly damaged. In our assessment, not only with the first official but also a couple of others, including myself, that threshold of being significantly damaged hadn’t been significantly met. Although there was a small crack in the face, there was no separation in the metals, and on that basis, that threshold wasn’t met, so his only choice in that case was to continue using that club.”

Cox added that if Fitzpatrick damaged it further, the tour would reexamine it and then reassess its decision.

 

Obviously the discussion centers around what is considered "significant"   Kind of like when is a divot no longer considered a divot.  

[Josh Parker]

It's a terrible rule and one I hope we see changed.  

[Lefty11]

The rule is absolutely ridiculous! In baseball or hockey, if you break your bat or stick, you can simply replace it. Golf should be no different.

[bens197]

The Fitzpatrick ruling was one of the most brain dead, infuriating decisions I've ever seen.  

 

Yes Matt, there is a crack in the face.

Thank you, you see it as well; so I can replace it?

No, it's not a big enough crack.

 

Let's think about it.  The driver is unplayable.  He's showing them on the next tee how it's unplayable and is willing to set himself up for a bogey to prove a point.  He then proceeds to say he's stuck with 3 wood for the remainder of the round.  

This is what happens when you give insecure people a little bit of authority.  They are sad, little men.

 

I need a coffee.

 

 

[RetiredBoomer]

1 minute ago, bens197 said:

The Fitzpatrick ruling was one of the most brain dead, infuriating decisions I've ever seen.  

 

Yes Matt, there is a crack in the face.

Thank you, you see it as well; so I can replace it?

No, it's not a big enough crack.

 

Let's think about it.  The driver is unplayable.  He's showing them on the next tee how it's unplayable and is willing to set himself up for a bogey to prove a point.  He then proceeds to say he's stuck with 3 wood for the remainder of the round.  

This is what happens when you give insecure people a little bit of authority.  They are sad, little men.

 

I need a coffee.

 

 

Agreed.  I think that it's the OEMs that are wimping out.

They should defy the USGA / R&A , combine to promote a rival sanctioning body, and even make non-USGA conforming equipment available to the public on a major scale.

The PGA Tour split from the PGA of America,
and then the Middle Eastern owned promotion--is it LIV or something like that?--split with them.
[I haven't followed pro golf for a while.]
Now it's time split from the USGA.

Of course, since I'm the only one calling for this, there must be drawbacks that I don't see.
Admittedly, I've always been annoyed by the USGA for one reason or another.

[Shapotomous]

9 hours ago, cnosil said:

The rules do allow for replacement of a cracked driver/wood face.  The officials assessing the crack determined that it was not severe enough to warrant replacement.  The PGA tours statement about the driver:

“But we on the PGA Tour, very similar to other major golf tours around the world, have a slightly stricter guideline regarding when a player is permitted to take a damaged club out of play, and that club needs to be significantly damaged. In our assessment, not only with the first official but also a couple of others, including myself, that threshold of being significantly damaged hadn’t been significantly met. Although there was a small crack in the face, there was no separation in the metals, and on that basis, that threshold wasn’t met, so his only choice in that case was to continue using that club.”

Cox added that if Fitzpatrick damaged it further, the tour would reexamine it and then reassess its decision.

 

Obviously the discussion centers around what is considered "significant"   Kind of like when is a divot no longer considered a divot.  

Instead of having a rules guy decide it should be between players in the group.  The rules guy has no idea what the impact of that damage is to an elite players game and working the ball.  None. Unless there is an empirical measurement happening the rules guy is giving an uninformed opinion.  He has no idea what a cracked face feels like at impact when hitting a 170mph ball speed.

The other players know the feel of something like that and can give an informed decision.

[bens197]

7 minutes ago, Shapotomous said:

Instead of having a rules guy decide it should be between players in the group.  The rules guy has no idea what the impact of that damage is to an elite players game and working the ball.  None. Unless there is an empirical measurement happening the rules guy is giving an uninformed opinion.  He has no idea what a cracked face feels like at impact when hitting a 170mph ball speed.

The other players know the feel of something like that and can give an informed decision.

Few things would protect the game’s integrity better than playing partners mutually acknowledging their partner is at a disadvantage. Great thought. 

[cnosil]

27 minutes ago, Shapotomous said:

Instead of having a rules guy decide it should be between players in the group.  The rules guy has no idea what the impact of that damage is to an elite players game and working the ball.  None. Unless there is an empirical measurement happening the rules guy is giving an uninformed opinion.  He has no idea what a cracked face feels like at impact when hitting a 170mph ball speed.

The other players know the feel of something like that and can give an informed decision.

Damaged balls are done by the players themselves, surprised that you have to go to a rules official for a damaged club.  I would think that the rules official only needs to be called if there is a disagreement between the players.  
 

but a cracked driver isn’t considered significantly damaged.  From model local rule g-9   

For the purposes of this Local Rule, a club is “broken or significantly damaged” when:
➢ the shaft breaks into pieces, splinters or is bent (but not when the shaft is only dented)
➢ the club face impact area is visibly deformed (but not when the club face is only scratched)
➢ the clubhead is visibly and significantly deformed
➢ the clubhead is detached or loose from the shaft, or
➢ the grip is loose.
Exception: A club face or clubhead is not “broken or significantly damaged” solely because it is cracked.

 

while I agree the club probably should have been able to be replaced, it should not have been based on the rules.   Obviously people disagree with lots of the rules, but it is pretty clearly stated that a cracked driver cannot be replaced.   

[Shapotomous]

Oh rules of golf, please define "cracked".  Is it a hairline "crack" not completely through the face or crown or glue/weld joint?  Or does it also include a complete "crack" through the material?  And please define "visibly and significantly deformed". Is it when you can feel the difference in the level of the material when scraping your fingernail across the "crack" or something more?  To me if you can feel that it is significantly deformed.  You wouldnt buy a club in that condition would you?

They hide behind whats a divot in that discussion but are perfectly willing to make a judgement on whats a crack and what is significant. 

Same judgement they do in what is damage to a ball.  They actually called in a rules official to make a judgement on what is a playble damage to Rory's ball last week.  You may as well have called in the hot dog vendor to give his opinion since he knows the impact to a pros game as well as the rules official. 

[bens197]

59 minutes ago, Shapotomous said:

You may as well have called in the hot dog vendor to give his opinion since he knows the impact to a pros game as well as the rules official. 

I am dying

[Steven coffman]

Looking forward to seeing who makes it to the Tour Championship! Any predictions for who will take home the FedEx Cup this year?

P.S. Have you checked out our new line of bathroom door handles? They're the perfect finishing touch for any bathroom.

Edited September 11 by Steven coffman

[Shapotomous]

3 hours ago, bens197 said:

I am dying

I am your go to guy when you want some hyperbole thrown into the conversation!! 

[Quigleyd]

I really wish the tour would just completely redo the playoffs. The current set up renders them completely pointless and really pretty boring. 

[gavinski91]

9 hours ago, Shapotomous said:

Instead of having a rules guy decide it should be between players in the group.  The rules guy has no idea what the impact of that damage is to an elite players game and working the ball.  None. Unless there is an empirical measurement happening the rules guy is giving an uninformed opinion.  He has no idea what a cracked face feels like at impact when hitting a 170mph ball speed.

The other players know the feel of something like that and can give an informed decision.

I can see letting playing partners make that decision in match play, but in stroke play you could end up in a situation where you are playing with your friend who would let you exchange your club for very minimal "damage".

[fixyurdivot]

Hey PGA, please do us all a favor and provide your rules committee staff with one of these high tech devices 

 

[Cls98]

Does anyone else feel strange with Rory's antics? I feel like he has been growing really frustrated this year. Throwing a driver, breaking it later at this event. I am not sure he is mentally in a great spot ending this year. 

 

Thoughts?

[BIG STU]

On 8/25/2024 at 4:46 PM, Shapotomous said:

Watching Aberg hit into the water and the expert commentator is nice enough to tell us "that must have been a mishit" .  Well duh, it was about 40 yards short and 20 yards left so I could tell you from my couch it was a mishit!  I really doubt he would have hit the wrong club by that much, even having to calculate altitude differences!  

Saw that IMHO he hit what we call a pulled Chunky Monkey