February 8 2012

9:02 PM

The beauty of Pebble Beach

With perfect weather for their practice rounds this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, several players have tweeted photos from Pebble Beach. Here’s a sampling:

GEOFF OGILVY

@geoffogilvy "pretty stunning right now"

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IAN POULTER

@IanJamesPoulter  11th hole at Monterey it's very pretty, 183 yards pure

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GAVIN COLES

@angryant1910  No15 at mpcc shore course, awesome back drop

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JIMMY WALKER

@JimmyWalkerPGA  @attpbnproam #pgatour #7

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PAUL STANKOWSKI

@PaulStankowski This never gets old.

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December 8 2011

5:00 PM

Countdown of Top 100 Players begins

PGATOUR.COM’s countdown of the Top 100 Players to Watch in 2012 begins today.

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Starting with Thursday’s unveiling of Nos. 91-100, we’ll unveil our list throughout the rest of December, with the No. 1 Player to Watch unveiled on Dec. 30.

Each day, we’ll also post a note in TOUR Report with the latest list of players.

That will give you an opportunity to weigh in on how you think those players will perform next year – and whether you think we have them ranked too low or too high. After all, just like snowflakes, no two lists will be the same.

So for the debut of this year’s list, here are Nos. 91-100. Click on each player’s link for his preview page, including this year’s new addition of the Three Wise Men – Chris DiMarco, Arron Oberholser and Craig Perks, who offer their takes on each of the players on the list .

Don’t forget to let us know what you think.

No. 91: Angel Cabrera

No. 92: Justin Leonard

No. 93: J. J. Killeen

No. 94: Scott Verplank

No. 95: Jimmy Walker

No. 96: Andres Romero

No. 97: Paul Goydos

No. 98: Ricky Barnes

No. 99: Kris Blanks

No. 100: Billy Hurley

ARCHIVE PAGE/ROLLOUT SCHEDULE OF TOP 100 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2012


September 5 2011

4:05 PM

Leaderboard update: Mahan on move

NORTON, Mass. – The wind is already fairly brisk at TPC Boston on Monday and by the time the leaders get on the golf course at 1:45 p.m. the gusts  could clock in at 20 mph.

Maybe that’s why no one is going really low early like Phil Mickelson did as he posted a 63 on Sunday. Of the 52 players who have played at least at hole right now, 24 are currently over par.

Pat Perez and Jimmy Walker have the day’s low rounds so far, shooting 67s. Walker, who came into the week ranked 48th in the FedExCup, is 4 under for the tournament and projected at No. 51.

But Perez is 1 over for the tournament and could have just made his final Playoffs appearance. He came into the week ranked 63rd and has dropped to 76th in the projections. Only the top 70 advance to next week’s BMW Championship.

On the opposite end of the ledger, Hunter Mahan is doing his best Charley Hoffman impression. Like Hoffman did in shooting a final-round 62 a year ago, Mahan has gotten off to a good start – making birdie on his first three holes to move to 8 under for the tournament and three strokes off the lead held by Bubba Watson.

Marc Leishman, who came into the week holding down the bubble spot at No. 70, is also 3 under for the day through seven holes. He’s currently projected at No. 57.

The afternoon should remain warm, with temperatures in the mid-80s, and dry although a cold front is slowly pushing through New York and western Massachusetts. Rain could enter the picture in the evening.


August 18 2011

7:47 PM

Walker rides momentum on Thursday

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Jimmy Walker started strong this season, posting three top-10s in his first five starts. But he didn't get until another three weeks ago in his last at-bat when he finished one stroke out of a playoff at The Greenbrier Classic.

Walker, who shot a career-low 62 at The Old White TPC that week, appears to have carried that momentum with him to Greensboro after shooting a round of 5 under that left him two strokes off the lead. He made seven birdies and two bogeys, one of which unfortunately came on his final hole.

Still, Walker couldn't be too disappointed.

"I hit it really well all day," he said. "Made a bunch of good putts on the back nine, hit some close shots and kept making some good putts. The bogey on 18 is what it is. I caught a little flyer out of this rough which you can do and or you can have a really bad lie and not hit it anywhere. I hit a good pitch and putt on the last hole, didn't go in. Still a great day. I'm happy with it."

Walker said the putter was key to Thursday's performance. He used just 27. while hitting 8 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens. He hopes to continue to ride the momentum into the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

"I really wasn't worried about the FedExCup yet," Walker, who ranks 63rd, said. "I knew I was in pretty good shape to play two, three, and I just wanted to continue what I did at Greenbrier a couple weeks ago, went home and kept working on the things that were working at Greenbrier. ... (I wanted to) try to carry it into this week and have another solid week and worry about The Playoffs starting. Be playing good and get into the next event."


July 31 2011

4:30 PM

Sunday set-up: Can Kim hold on?

The biggest reason Anthony Kim is atop the leaderboard entering today’s final round: Ball-striking. In the third round, he hit 17 greens in regulation and tied his career-low with a 62. For the week, Kim has hit 85 percent of his greens -- up from his season average of 61 percent.

And should Kim, currently 92nd in the FedExCup standings, go on to win he’ll move inside the top 30 for the first time since the sixth week of the season when he ranked 26th.

Similarly, Jimmy Walker, who is three shots back, has also had a good week with his irons. He hit all 18 greens in the third round and averaged just 24 feet, 3 inches on those approach shots . That was a big improvement from his first and second round when he hit 12 and 11 greens, respectively.

Maybe the most impressive numbers belong however to Scott Stallings, who is just one back and will play in that final group with Kim. Stallings is 11 under in his last 42 holes with 11 birdies and zero bogeys. His last bogey came on the third hole (his 12th) of the first round.


July 30 2011

6:44 PM

Walker turns things around with 62

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Jimmy Walker shot an 8-under 62 Saturday at The Old White TPC.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. -- Jimmy Walker couldn't be too disappointed.

He didn't become the sixth player in PGA TOUR history to shoot a 59 on Saturday at The Greenbrier Classic. But Walker still posted a career-low 62 that vaulted the man who made the cut on the number into a share of the lead when he finished.

It was a big turnaround -- in more ways than one.

"When I finished yesterday I didn't know if I was going to make the cut, and then the wind kind of picked up," Walker said. "(It was) kind of, Hey, we're here. I did it. Let's go make the best of it. You got nothing to lose when you're at the back of the pack.

"I told my wife last night, I was like, I'm just going to go out and attack and see what happens. It worked."

Walker said he got a putting tip from his father, who noticed something while watching The Greenbrier Classic on TV. Walker hit every green and ended up using just 28 putts after taking 29 and 31 in the two previous rounds.

"I wasn't like setting into my left side as he thought I was on the West Coast this year when I putted really well and played really well," said Walker, who had three top-10s in his first five starts but none since. "So I kind of thought about it and talked to my caddie about it this morning. My coach gave us a good tip about really talking out putts. He thinks I do better when I talk about where it's going and this, that, and the other.
   
"So we talked about a lot of the stuff today. I putted well. I made a lot of good putts. The stroke has felt like it's been there, I just haven't been making anything. I don't think I was rolling it any different today than I have been the last couple weeks."

Walker hit it inside 10 feet nine times on Saturday and made six of those for birdie. He also two-putted the par-5 12th for another birdie and made a 21-footer for his final one at the 16th hole. His previous career low was a 64, shot four times, most recently in the second round of last year's Greenbrier Classic.

Walker, who currently ranks 75th in the FedExCup, tied for fourth at year ago at The Old White TPC so his strong play this week should come as no surprise. Not to mention, he won the 2007 National Mining Association Pete Dye Classic, which was played about two-and-a-half hours away in Bridgeport, W. Va. He went on to win Nationwide Tour Player of the Year honors that season.

"We need to have more tournaments here, I guess," Walker said with a grin. "When I won that Nationwide Tour event in 2007, I can remember playing that golf course and thinking was hard the year before, the two years before. I didn't play real well there, then got back there and played solid and won it.
   
"And then last year came here and just enjoyed the golf course, enjoyed the place, enjoyed the Greenbrier. It's kind of fun dressing up at night going dinner and putting a coat on and gambling. Everybody down there is all nice and dressed up. They just run a nice, nice place."

Walker said playing out of the fairway to softer greens on Saturday was key. He ranks 186th in driving accuracy on TOUR this year but he only missed two fairways in the second round.

"If I'm in the fairway, I'll be able to be aggressive," Walker said. "If you're not fairway it's hard to be aggressive. They're going to tuck the pins and make the golf course a lot harder tomorrow, I think. So I'll need to be in the fairway I think to have a good run at playing well and seeing what happens.  I don't know what these guys are going to do today. I did what I could do."


5:41 PM

DiMarco not surprised by low scores

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Chris DiMarco was one of several players to go low Saturday morning.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COm

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. -- The Old White TPC is being a little more generous in the early going on Saturday.

Not only did Jimmy Walker threaten the magic 59 before settling for a career-low 62, four other rounds of 65 or better have been posted before the leaders of The Greenbrier Classic tee off at 1:50 p.m.

Chris DiMarco got one of those with a bogey-free 64 that moved him back into red numbers at 5 under. Andres Romero, Bob Estes and Kyle Stanley, who played with Walker, all shot 65s – the Argentine moving to 5 under and the other two vaulting to 4 under.

"It's benign out there," DiMarco said. "Didn't get much wind until the back nine. Obviously being the third off the tee the greens were pretty good all day, too. So I was able to keep control of it, hit the ball in the fairway a lot and gave myself some chances. Made a couple good ones; actually left a couple out there."

DiMarco said he missed a 4-footer for birdie on the first hole and another at No. 13. "Other than that, it was a very solid round," the Floridian said. The winds hadn't started swirling Saturday morning, either -- " Yesterday afternoon was probably the toughest wind I played in in a long time," DiMarco said.

"It would never make up its mind. It wasn't like it would go just a quarter one way or the other. It was straight in or straight down on most holes. It was really difficult. You never knew when you were going to get it."

DiMarco finished with a flourish on Saturday as he two-putted for birdie from 36 feet at the par-5 17th and holed an 8-footer at No. 18. He expects the immature greens – all 18 were reseeded with bentgrass over the last 12 months – to be a factor as the afternoon progresses.

"They're tough to reason," DiMarco said. "And then later in the day, I mean, the leaders that go out in probably another two hours, they're going to feel the 75 guys putting out there. It'll make a difference. There's no doubt about it. It was nice to be the third group off and not see any spike marks and kind of have smooth greens."

Even so, DiMarco expects to see some more good scores as the day progresses.

"It's out there right now," he said.


4:24 PM

Is another 59 in the cards?

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. -- Jimmy Walker will finish his third round more than an hour before the leaders tee off, and he has certainly given Brendon de Jonge and Webb Simpson something to ponder.

The Texan, who tied for fourth in The Greenbrier Classic a year ago, has played his first 16 holes in 8 under and is now  tied for the lead.

Walker needs a birdie and an eagle to shoot another 59 like Stuart Appleby did in the final round at The Old White TPC a year ago. It could happen, too. He's got a 595-yard par 5 and 124-yard par 3 remaining.

Walker's round started innocently enough. His first birdie on Saturday came at the second hole when he rolled in a 10-footer. Birdie putts of 5 and 10 feet followed at Nos. 7 and 8, and Walker made the turn in 31.

The former Nationwide Tour Player of the Year, who is looking for his first PGA TOUR victory, has continued to hit it close on the back nine. He's made birdie putts of 6, 7, 2, 5 and 21 feet -- the latter of which tied him for the lead.

Walker's low round a year ago came in Friday when he shot 64 to go with a trio of 67s.


May 20 2011

2:16 AM

Late birdie moves cut line to 1 under

FORT WORTH, Texas – When Jimmy Walker birdied his final hole of the day – and the final hole of the entire second round -- it didn’t seem like a huge deal on the leaderboard. After all, that birdie left Walker 15 shots off the lead held by David Toms.

But it turned out to be a key stroke for 10 players who failed to make the cut at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

The projected cut line had been even par, but when Walker birdied, he moved the cut line to 1 under. Those unfortunate players who finished at even par were: Billy Mayfair, John Rollins, Heath Slocum, Angel Cabrera, Bryce Molder, Mark Brooks, Kevin Chappell, Ryuji Imada, Rocco Mediate and Tommy Gainey, who had bogeyed his last hole and was still sitting at the scorer’s table when he found out he had missed the cut.

A total of 70 players made the cut at 1 under or better. They will all be chasing David Toms, who will take a seven-shot lead going into the weekend after firing his second consecutive 62. The seven-shot lead is the largest on the PGA TOUR after 36 holes since Tiger Woods led by seven shots 11 years ago at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.


April 1 2011

5:15 PM

Walker double bogeys the 11th

We now have a five-way tie for the lead for at least the next few minutes.

Jimmy Walker was cruising at 9 under until he reached the par-4 11th, which is guarded by water entirely down its right side. That part got Walker, who rinsed his tee shot and had to settle for double bogey. Only three players: Walker, Chad Campbell and Jarrod Lyle.

Walker's Shot Tracker image from the 11th:

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