Steve Stricker became the latest two-time winner on the PGA TOUR in 2009.
Jul. 13, 2009
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What are our writers thinking about after the John Deere Classic? Brett Quigley's near-miss, two-time winners on the PGA TOUR, Zach Johnson's dedication and Padraig Harrington's title defense.
BRETT'S REASONS FOR STAYING: Brett Quigley knows that he's left himself open for criticism by not accepting a last-minute exemption to play in this week's Open Championship.
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He knows there are a "million reasons" to play at Turnberry. He knows that if he heard another player turn down the invite, his response would be, "How can you not go to the British?"
But as Quigley said, "It's just not for me."
Along with the mad scramble of re-arranging his schedule -- his passport was still at his Florida home -- Quigley wants to be with his family as he plays this week's U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. He has a pro-am obligation. And he wants to attend Beth Smith's funeral on Tuesday to support his friend, Chris Smith, who lost his wife in a tragic automobile accident.
Quigley may not have a million reasons not to go to Turnberry, but he certainly has some very good reasons to stay in the States this week. And if there's any justice, perhaps the golf gods will favor him this week as he tries to break that 0-for-353 drought on the PGA TOUR. -- Mike McAllister
HOGGING THE TROPHIES: Is it just me, or does it seem like a handful of players aren't playing well with others this year on TOUR? Counting John Deere Classic champion Steve Stricker as the latest, in 29 tournaments, we have had seven multiple winners. That means more than half this year's trophies have gone to the same group of guys: Geoff Ogilvy, Zach Johnson, Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson, Brian Gay and Steve Stricker -- who all have two -- and Tiger Woods, who has three.
Let's not forget it could easily have been more. Mickelson came tantalizingly close to the U.S. Open win (again), and Johnson was flirting with a third last week. Not to mention other winners who have threatened to repeat like Paul Casey, Sean O'Hair and Nick Watney.
So what does this do for our guessing game at the British Open? Sure, you can never pin all your hopes on the obvious, but, the first two majors notwithstanding, it does seem as though the third major champion of 2009 will be someone who has already hoisted a trophy this year.
My they've-already-won favorites this week include Stricker, Ogilvy of course, (Mickelson, we'll miss you), Casey -- for England, Perry (give him another chance, major overlords), Johnson and, hmm, not to be obvious, but yes, Tiger.
If I had any idea how, I'd wow you with some calculations on the odds that we would have had a repeat winner at the John Deere Classic and what those odds would be for a repeat winner at Turnberry. But I don't. Instead, I'll just reiterate that there's a special group on TOUR this season, and you can expect them to keep up the domination -- at the British Open or elsewhere -- because they're not showing any signs of slowing down. -- Ceri Mobley
HIS FIFTH MAJOR: For about 90 minutes on Sunday, it really appeared that Zach Johnson was going to take the John Deere Classic. A victory at TPC Deere Run -- located a mere 100 miles from his hometown of Cedar Rapids -- is something Johnson wants badly before his time on TOUR is over.
Johnson was tied with Brett Quigley in the middle of the final round but had to watch as Steve Stricker came in with a bogey-free 64 to win by three shots.
The John Deere Classic was one of the first tournaments to give Johnson a sponsor's exemption -- he played in the event in 2002 and 2003 when he was a struggling pro preparing to head onto the Nationwide Tour.
"John Deere and the tournament and staff here gave me two sponsor's exemptions when I had no status, and now I'm on the board of the tournament," Johnson said.
"You know, I come here because I love the golf course for sure, family and friends. But really it's my support here. I mean, that's really why I'm here. It's not hard to be here. It's enjoyable. Like I said, just the fact it's reassuring I can actually play decent here." -- Ryan Smithson
WHAT'S NEXT FOR PADRAIG? Steve Stricker's success and Padraig Harrington's struggles. Those are the two things that jump out as we look back at the John Deere Classic and ahead to this week's British Open, where Harrington is the defending champion.
Unlike Stricker, who now has two wins this season and could be headed for a career year, Harrington has struggled in his efforts to "get better" after winning the final two majors of last year. It's an interesting decision, though not all that surprising coming from one of golf's biggest tinkerers. That doesn't make it any less curious, however. As Jim Furyk said to me a couple of weeks ago, "If something worked, why would I want to change it?"
That's worked for Furyk pretty well, but others, like a certain world No. 1, have changed their game time and again to the degree of 68 career wins. What does all this mean for Harrington? Nothing good, at least for right now.
Tiger Woods enters the British Open as a prohibitive favorite and Harrington somewhere lost between the player who looked so unflappable a year ago and a guy who just can't leave alone what's not broken. In Harrington's defense, one step back is sometimes needed to take two steps forward. It just appears Harrington isn't quite ready to take those steps forward yet. -- Brian Wacker
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| Stock up |
Steve Stricker: His scoring average of 69.19 is startling enough, but more telling is his improved driving: He's 49th in Total Driving after ranking 193rd a year ago.
FedExCup rank: 2 (5 last week) |
Tim Petrovic: He double bogeyed the 18th Sunday, which cost him a solo second, but his third top-10 of '09 places him above any worry of qualifying for the Playoffs.
FedExCup rank: 87(100 last week) |
Charley Hoffman: You probably had no idea he's 17-for-17 in cuts made. After a tough '08, his consistency is unexpected. He tied for 15th in Illinois and led the field in Putts per GIR.
FedExCup rank: 18 (18 last week) |
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| Stock down |
Kenny Perry: He slipped from second to third in the FedExCup ranking after twin 72s during Sunday's 36-hole marathon. He joked that he usually struggles during title defenses, and he was right.
FedExCup rank: 3 (2 last week) |
David Toms: Toms usually dominates courses that require a 20-under score to win, but he didn't make the cut after shooting a pair of 71s. A 33-putt first round sealed an early exit from Illinois.
FedExCup rank: 11 (11 last week) |
Lucas Glover: The U.S. Open champ finally gets some rest after a balky putter (62 putts) caused him to miss the cut at the John Deere Classic. It was Glover's first missed cut since THE PLAYERS Championship.
FedExCup rank: 7 (7 last week) |
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| A Quick 18 |
| Front Nine | Back Nine |
| Steve Stricker, like so many PGA TOUR regulars, hits it farther than you think. On Sunday, he bombed a 311-yard drive on the 569-yard, par-5 17th
hole and easily hit the green in two. Stricker gets a lot of attention for his wedge game and putting stroke, but he's winning on TOUR because his ball-striking is starting
to match his world-class short game. | Call 2009 the year of the return from injury: It looks like Trevor Immelman will return to the PGA TOUR at the RBC Canadian Open. Immelman hurt
his wrist at the Memorial, and the injury has not healed as quickly as the 2008 Masters champion had hoped. Immelman hasn't scored a top-10 since the 2008 TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. |
| More about Stricker: He was one of several players with a legitimate shot at shooting 59 at TPC Deere Run. His 61 in the second round included a
three-putt bogey on the par-3 third. The rain that softened the course left it open to low scoring, and Stricker's 61 was the classic TPC Deere Run score: 32 on the
front, 29 on the back. The 504-yard, par-4 ninth was a real momentum killer -- even the big hitters had a mid-iron in. | Zach Johnson, Davis Love III and Lucas Glover left the John Deere
Classic via charter after the first round to attend the visitation for Jim Byrd, father of 2007 John Deere Classic winner Jonathan Byrd. The elder Byrd died of brain cancer
last week at his home in South Carolina. Our
cameras captured the Byrd family in Tampa, when Jim followed his son all week at the 2009 Transitions Championship. |
| At the start of Sunday's final round of the U.S. Women's Open, 2007 Open champion Cristie Kerr had a two-stroke lead and was looking at the possibility of a second national title in two years. She stumbled from the beginning of the round, though, with a bogey on the first hole -- the first of many on her way to a 4-over 75 at Saucon Valley Country Club. Kerr was a gracious loser, however, and embraced her playing partner Eun Hee Ji of South Korea when she sank a birdie putt on the 18th to win the championship. | Ted Bishop, a PGA professional in Franklin, Ind., wrote a wonderful tribute to Beth Smith, wife of PGA TOUR regular Chris Smith.
Beth Smith died in a car crash on June 21 that also injured her two children. Bishop wrote about the upcoming Beth Smith Memorial Golf Tournament, which will raise
money for the children's care. |
| Interesting round of the week: Peter Lonard birdied his first five holes in the third round of the John Deere Classic, and he missed a seven-foot birdie
putt on the sixth. He birdied the par-3 eighth to get to 6 under, but he was 3 over the rest of the way. He broke 70 all four rounds to tie for 15th, his first top-25
of the year.
| Amateur Mike Van Sickle, son of Sports Illustrated golf writer Gary Van Sickle, made his PGA TOUR debut at the John Deere Classic and
missed the cut despite rounds of 70-71. Mike, a former All-American at Marquette in Milwaukee, is also in the field this week at the U.S. Bank Championship.
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| With his win on Sunday, Stricker is a mere eight points behind Tiger Woods in the FedExCup standings. It was Stricker who nearly won the inaugural
FedExCup in 2007 after he opened the PGA TOUR Playoffs with a win at The Barclays. Stricker has also moved his Official World Golf Ranking to sixth, which
matches his ranking two years ago. | It was a solid week for Adam Scott at the Scottish Open. Scott, who tied for fourth, has been working on rebuilding the swing that made him one of
the game's best young players. "It's taken me a long time to get it back on track," said Scott, who has fallen to 43rd in the world. |
| According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Stricker and fellow Wisconsinite Jerry Kelly are working with PGA TOUR officials on a plan to
keep a PGA TOUR stop in Milwaukee. Kelly and Stricker live year-round in the Badger State, and both players have second-place finishes in this tournament. |
On the Nationwide Tour at the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic, Kyle Reifers set a record by shooting 10 under during one eight-hole stretch. Starting at
the fourth hole, Reifers had six birdies and two eagles before a bogey at the par-3 12th. Reifers went on to shoot 61, but he tied for 12th after failing to break
70 in the next three rounds.
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| Kenny Perry has won five times in the last year with the help of a old Ping putter given to him by a friend. Perry initially didn't want to try the putter,
but after one particularly rough day on the greens, he put it in his bag. How did Perry repay the friend? When Ping sent him a gold-plated replica of the putter, Perry
presented it to his friend in a ceremony. | Officials at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational announced last week that all active and retired military will gain free admission to this
year's event. All that is required is valid military ID at the gate. The tournament's decision comes after the tremendous military presence at the AT&T National, which
was packed with men and women in uniform over the Independence Day weekend. |
| More about Perry: He says he is not sure where he is going to play some Champions Tour events after he turns 50 next year. He pointed out last week
at TPC Deere Run that his exempt status on the PGA TOUR doesn't run out for several more years. His goal is to reach 20 PGA TOUR wins (he has six to go) and
the way he's playing, he might reach that goal sooner rather than later.
| Brandt Snedeker tied for second at TPC Deere Run, and he said the rib injury that kept him sidelined all spring was not hurting his swing.
Instead, Snedeker said, his putting was slow to return. Snedeker topped the field last week in putts per round -- he used only 103 putts. His two, consecutive, top-five
finishes mean it's less likely he'll miss events when the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup kicks off in six weeks. |
| Perry heads to the British Open this week for his first foray since 2006 into golf's oldest championship. He heads to Scotland with a heavy heart: His
mother is suffering from multiple myeloma and was placed in hospice care. Perry's father recently recovered from a serious heart ailment, and Perry's mother-in-law is
recovering from a serious fall suffered in 2008. |
Tweet of the week: Stewart Cink gave his wife props for driving on the left side of the road (with a left-handed stick shift!) during their trip to Turnberry this week.
According to Cink, he had to make a last-minute trip to the passport office after discovering that both his kids' passports had expired. |
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| The Forward Spin |
| Tiger Woods got his first look at Turnberry on Sunday, as he headed out to play a practice round -- media and fans in tow. It will be interesting to see how he handles the layout, which is lined with rough that is already starting to gain legendary status. As Helen Ross points out, Woods handled Royal Liverpool during his first attempt there in 2006. |
| We keep waiting for someone to shoot 59 again, and Brown Deer Park is just the type of place where that score can pop up. As usual, the weather is expected to be perfect come tournament time, and if the course gets some rain before Round 1, expect scores to be low. This tournament has produced a pair of first-time winners the last two years (Joe Ogilvie, Richard S. Johnson), but we predict a veteran will shoot 20 under to win on this underrated par-70 layout. |
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PGATOUR.COM'S Ryan Smithson wrote the Quick 18, Stock up/Stock Down and Forward Spin.
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