"Story Of The Year" Billy Hurley Wins At Congressional

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What seemed like a ho-hum week on the PGA Tour turned into an epic, emotional and intriguing mix of youth, age and sentimentality merging into the best tournament of the season.

Photo by JD CubanIt wasn't just that former Navy man Billy Hurley III won in his native D.C.-area almost a year after his father went missing and eventually, took his life, and did so with his career at a low point where he had limited status. He did it with a sponsor's invite by Mike Antolini of the Woods Foundation, in front of understandably emotional family and friends, all while holding off HOF's Els and Singh, and new young-gun Jon Rahm.

John Strege with some great backstory info on Hurley.

Thomas Boswell in the Washington Post on the win. And this quote from Hurley says so much about the emotions he had to battle en route to victory.

On Saturday, as he held the lead at Congressional, Hurley noticed that there were policemen following him, protecting him, so to speak. “Obviously I think about my dad a lot,” Hurley said after his round. “I was walking from 9 to 10, and I’ve never really had a whole lot of police officers following my group. You know, I’m not like that cool. But playing in the lead, they have a couple police officers following you around. It dawned on me, ‘Hey, this is what my dad did.’ He walked inside the ropes and did this at Presidents Cups [and other Washington-area events].”

The chip-in, which is enough to make anyone believe in the Golf Gods.

The full round highlights:

The day was big for those hoping to play in the next major. Hurley, Rahm, Singh and Harold Varner (!) made it to Troon thanks to their great play at Congressional.

For Immediate Release:

HURLEY III, RAHM, SINGH AND VARNER III QUALIFY FOR THE OPEN AT QUICKEN LOANS NATIONAL

26 June 2016, Bethseda, Maryland, United States: Billy Hurley III, Jon Rahm, Vijay Singh and Harold Varner III have qualified for The 145th Open at Royal Troon after today’s final round of the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

The Quicken Loans National was the seventh event in The Open Qualifying Series, which gives players the opportunity to qualify for golf’s most international major championship at leading Tour events around the world.

The four players will now compete against the world’s best golfers to become Champion Golfer of the Year when The Open returns to the famous Ayrshire links for the ninth time from 14-17 July, 2016.

Meanwhile, six players also qualified for The Open through the European Tour Race to Dubai and the PGA TOUR FedExCup rankings. In the Race to Dubai, England’s Andrew Johnston, Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg, South Korea’s Soomin Lee, and Joost Luiten from the Netherlands all earned a place at Royal Troon, while Americans William McGirt and Smylie Kaufman booked their place through the FedExCup.

At the Quicken Loans National, American Billy Hurley III earned his first PGA TOUR title and a place in The 145th Open after a tremendous performance in front of a raucous hometown crowd. The former US Naval officer thrilled spectators by chipping in at the 15th and following that up with a 27-foot birdie putt on the 16th green to close out the tournament with a two-under-par 69.

The 34-year-old finished on 17-under-par and will now challenge for the Claret Jug for the second time after making his Open debut in 2014 at Royal Liverpool where he finished tied 64th.

Vijay Singh, who made his first appearance in The Open at Royal Troon in 1989, will play in his 25th Championship and 89th major after finishing runner-up behind Hurley. The 53-year-old Fijian’s best finish was tied for 2nd place with Thomas Bjorn in 2003 at Royal St George’s. At Congressional, Singh closed out his round of 65 with a birdie at the 18th to finish on 14-under-par for the tournament.

Former no. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ Jon Rahm booked his spot at The Open after tying for third place alongside Bill Haas, who has already qualified for the Championship. The 21-year-old Spaniard, who was making his professional debut this week after finishing as low amateur at last week’s US Open, posted a final round  70 to finish on 13-under-par.

American Harold Varner III also qualified for The Open after nudging out European Ryder Cup player Francesco Molinari, who was in position to scoop the fourth qualifying spot after finishing 8-under-par. But a final day score of 70 saw him finish in seventh place at 9-under-par behind Ernie Els and Webb Simpson who were both already exempt for the Championship. He will now make his Open debut at Royal Troon.

Terrible Flooding At The Greenbrier

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Ryan Ballengee at GolfNewsNet with the details of terrible flooding at The Greenbrier resort, where the PGA Tour is headed in less than two weeks for its ow-annual stop.

The resort's owner is not concerned with the status of the resort as West Virginian's battle with life-threatening matters caused by the rains.

“It’s like nothing I’ve seen,” said Greenbrier owner Jim Justice in a Thursday statement. “But our focus right now isn’t on the property, the golf course or anything else. We’re praying for the people and doing everything we can to get them the help they need.”

Greenbrier resident Bubba Watson Tweeted this video:

DeLaet WD’s With…Chipping/Putter Anxiety

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Alex Myers with the blunt Twitter admission from the Canadian, who admitted on social that he wasn’t ready to play this week's Memorial due to what sound like yip issues.

Good on him for being honest.

That said, maybe it’s time to lose the playoff beard. Win twenty in The Show, and then you can have fungus on your shower shoes. To quote Crash Davis.

Colonial Win: Spieth's Spectacular Finish

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Two weeks of sleeping in his own bed, hearing the positive vibes from the home crowd and refining his game paid off in spectacular fashion for Jordan Spieth. Oh, and just like his UA counterpart Steph Curry last night, the long range three is back from a mini-vacation. Just in time for the most difficult U.S. Open greens.

Nick Menta with where the win stacks up and other notes for the field.

From John Strege's roundup of Spieth's Dean And Deluca win at Colonial.

“This day is a moment that will go down, no matter what happens in the next 30 years, as one of the most important days I’ve ever had,” he said.

The highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment speak to the patient front nine and back nine outburst that should do wonders for spirts that have been a bit off of late.



The chip in reaction is stellar:


Spieth's post round interview is notable again because he's so at ease for the first time in a while and mentions the tough times of late. From GolfChannel.com:

 

Greenbrier: Freemium Comes To The PGA Tour

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An unbylined AP story reports that Greenbrier owner Jim Justice, who is also running for West Virginia governor (who knew?), has asked the state legislature to pull its $1.75 million funding of the Greenbrier Classic (who knew?) over their inability to pass a budget.

Best of all, he's giving away admission to the tournament this year as as result...

"My dream has always been to change the image of and bring opportunity to our state, and that's why I wanted to bring the PGA Tour to West Virginia," Justice said. "The budget mess we're in now is exactly what's wrong with politics. I am not going to let politicians delay the budget or bash me over the greatest economic/PR opportunity West Virginia has ever seen."

Republicans hold a majority in both the Senate and House of Delegates. Justice said he has endured criticism by GOP leaders and therefore "I am refusing the state's participation" in the golf tournament.

The only bummer: the concerts the event has become known for are off the table. At least for now.

But finally, the freemium model gets tested at a PGA Tour event!

Mitzvah Files: Less Bermuda Rough At TPC Sawgrass

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Rusticize the place! 

As previously reported, changes are coming to the TPC Sawgrass after The Players. And great news, the clubhouse is getting bigger!

As I write for Golf World, my Sawgrass sources say we will see Bermuda roughs reduced and more sand/pine needle/scrub areas brought closer to the fairways to recapture some of the original Swamp Golf aesthetic.

Longtime readers know I feel a Pinehurst-like restoration to the original Pete Dye vibe would look livelier, more interesting, more environmentally-responsible and more visually intimidating. Done right, it might even justify the price of golf here in the way that Pinehursts's renaissance has restored a singularity to No. 2.

Check out the aerial comparison from 1982 at Golf Course Histories. It speaks for itself.

As difficult as the TPC remains, today's equipment and conditioning means the TPC Sawgrass has been left behind and green speed is one of its last defenses. It's an unfathomable notion given that this course was viewed as too tough when it opened, and the bermuda rough lining the fairways has not instilled much fear.

Jason Day hitting iron-3-wood to the once unreachable 9th? Dustin Johnson launching a 372 yard drive there as well, and too many other instances of players able to bomb and gouge has to be an alarming sight for those insisting the course should not be updated. I will argue until I'm blue in the face that there was not an intentional effort to reverse the low scoring by the tour staff on Saturday, but a strong case can be made that the green speeds we saw are motivated by a desire to keep an immacutely-groomed, scoreable course relevant.

As for the look of the TPC, two-time former Players Champion Steve Elkington noted this on Twitter:

Ultimately, the weird dynamics we saw at TPC Sawgrass boil down to one thing: the fear factor has been lost.

Getting that back won't be easy because of modern driving distance prowess, but at least bringing back some of the rusticity to TPC Sawgrass--and a few back tees--would help for the long term good of The Players.

Russell Knox Offers A Textbook Study In Handling A Nine

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Doug Ferguson on Russell Knox's Saturday 9 and the affable way in which Knox handled the catastrophic 17th hole play.

The good news? He holed an 8-foot putt to make a 9.

''I had no idea what I was going to make,'' Knox said. ''I ended up making an awesome putt for 9. After I was walking through the tunnel (toward the 18th tee) I was like, 'Whoa, that was to avoid a 10.'''

The Scotsman's Tweets were fun:

 

 

 


Here was the massacre, followed below by the brief scare Sunday:

 

Watch the initial reaction Sunday...

 

Players Saturday: Two Hole Locations Changed, Apologies Shared, Move On?

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If you didn't see any of the coverage or believe me from my post yesterday that the PGA Tour rules staff genuinely didn't try to push TPC Sawgrass over the edge, note from Rex Hoggard's report that they changed two Sunday hole locations and expressed their regret.

PGA Tour VP Mark Russell appeared on both Morning Drive with Damon Hack and Todd Lewis on Live From to explain how sickened they were to lose control of the course.

I'm not sure many will believe him given the sense that scoring drove the changes. I certainly understand given my view that the overall push for green speeds is an intentional or subliminal movement in golf to combat the overmatched nature of courses.

Thoughts?

Elephant In The Room Files: Green Speed Push Blows Up Again

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While I never enjoy seeing a course setup go bad--especially when I know how sick the PGA Tour rules staffers and weather forecasters will be following Saturday's TPC Sawgrass putting bloodbath--it's good to have days like this to remind people how close golf courses are taken to the edge in the name of resisting technological advances that no architecture can keep up with.

When Stimpmeter speeds hover in the 12-13 neighborhood, the slightest bit of drop in humidity mixed with little root structure and unexpected wind can send greens that just days before were said to be too soft (but still wickedly fast) into a state of goofiness. We reached a point in the sport where the green is taken up to extreme speeds and allowed to play too prominent of a role at all levels in part because agronomists are so good at what they do. But mostly, it's about, but the professional game having outgrown just about every course on the planet.

As the 2016 Players joined the list of tournaments influenced by a setup gone wild, we are reminded again that the modern golf ball, when hit by the world's best, goes distances not foreseen by designers and therefore is not something manageable by any design under 8000 yards.

The TPC Sawgrass, once a beast, is often overmatched in today's game. It's final defense, short of 5 inch rough and and adding new tees: extreme green speeds that are manageable until they're not.

Unlike every other professional sports league, the PGA Tour will never get in the business of regulating the equipment played at its events to keep courses relevant and green speeds at a sane level. So there is sweet irony in watching yet another position taken with profit margins in mind bubble to the surface at the Tour's marquee event.

The unfortunate takeaway most will have from Saturday's debacle will believe that the tour was angry at the low scoring and did this. But having been around the TPC all week, I didn't encounter one PGA Tour official even the least bit bothered by Jason Day breaking the 36-hole scoring record. This was a greater-than expected change in the weather that took greens so precariously close to the speed edge and turned them silly.

It's funny that a sport which self congratulates itself repeatedly for having more integrity than any other looks the other way when it comes to protecting the integrity of its playing fields, solely in fear of (potentially) costly regulatory fights that also might call into question golf's devotion to the gospel of unfettered capitalism. How is this sad state of affairs any less ridiculous than looking the other way on a doping scandal?

But I digress...

In Brian Wacker's GolfDigest.com round up of player comments, note Justin Rose's comment about the ball gliding over the greens. That's what happens when all moisture has been sucked out of the blades from mowing, rolling, heat, lack of humidity and perhaps some influence from the Precision air units underneath (assuming they were in use). Also note these numbers:

Over the first two days, there were 122 combined three-putts among the 144 players in the field. On Saturday there were 149 three-putts among the 76 players who made the cut, and 15 of those players had at least 34 putts for their round including McIlroy, who had 37.

Rex Hoggard has some eye-opening putting stats as well, and has this from PGA Tour VP of rules and competitions Mark Russell.

“We have done the same thing all week. We have been double cutting these greens and double rolling them and trying to get them firmed up,” said Mark Russell, the Tour’s vice president of rules and competition. “What happened today was just kind of a perfect storm with the weather. We weren't expecting a 20 mph wind all day, and the humidity 30 percent, not a cloud in the sky. And they just, you know, sped up on us.”

But then that doesn’t explain a three-putt percentage of historic proportions?

The Tour average for three-putts in a round is 2.93 percent, and on Thursday and Friday the field hovered around the norm with a 2.08 and 2.67 percent average, respectively. On Saturday that number skyrocketed to 11 percent.

Rory McIlroy had one of the worst days on the green, reports Will Gray at GolfChannel.com.

“I mean, it’s like a U.S. Open out there. I can’t really describe it any other way,” McIlroy said. “I just found I had a really difficult time adjusting to them. I stood up here yesterday and I said it’s amazing how differently the course plays from morning to afternoon, but I didn’t expect it to be like that out there this afternoon. That was borderline unfair on a few holes.”

McIlroy opened his round with a birdie, but he realized conditions had changed when his 85-foot eagle attempt on No. 2 raced nearly 18 feet past the hole. It led to the first of five three-putts on the day, including three such instances in a four-hole stretch on Nos. 10-13 that dropped him off the first page of the leaderboard.

Jim McCabe says the Shinnecock word came up a lot after the round.

“A lot of caddies kept asking, ‘What’s this remind you of?’ ” said James Edmondson, the caddie for Ryan Palmer. “Everyone said, ‘Shinnecock.’ ”

And when his back-nine 42 and round of 79 was complete, Ian Poulter blurted out “TPC Shinnecock,” only to catch himself and shake his head.
“I’ll refrain from saying anything,” Poulter declared, and wisely he moved to the autograph area and signed for a long line of youngsters.

ESPN.com's Bob Harig says players were not buying the tour's stance on greens getting the same treatment as the previous days. Technically that is true with one extra rolling between the conclusion of round two and the start of round three.

"It was a massive change -- it wasn't very subtle,'' Scott said.

"That was borderline unfair on a few holes,'' Rory McIlroy said.

"I felt like I was putting on dance floors out there,'' Billy Horschel said.

"It was crazy tough,'' Matsuyama said.

There were just three rounds Saturday in the 60s and only six under par. There were seven in the 80s. The 76 players in the field combined for 149 three-putts or worse -- a record for the course. There were 86 double-bogeys or worse.

Sergio's six-putt should not be watched by young children...