PGA Kicks Off Again in Chicago

As the sports world focuses its attention on the blossoming NFL season, the PGA Tour continues to drive to the season’s end with dramatic tournaments week after week. This week, Conway Farms will host the BMW Championship, which is the third leg in the four part FedEx Cup Playoffs. So far there have been no real surprises, as Adam Scott won the Barclays and Henrik Stenson blew away the field at the Deutsche Bank Championship. In Illinois this weekend, the remaining 70 competitors will compete for a victory that will skyrocket them up the rankings and put them in contention for the coveted Tour Championship. Without big performances this week, we may lose some of the best in the world from the field, as only 30 can advance to next week.

The BMW Championship has been played six times before, and each time it was won by an elite name in the golf world. Tiger Woods has won twice, 2007 and 2009, and Rory McIlroy comes in as the defending champion from 2012. Although the players are familiar with the name of the tournament, the course may be a different story. Conway Farms hosted tournaments in the past but this will be its first time hosting a PGA event. The beautiful par 71 course is in Lake Forest, IL, very near Chicago.

Patrick Reed is one of the few in the field who have experience at Conway. He played in the stroke play and match play portion of the Western Open here in 2009, and he fared well in both events. Harris English also played in that tournament but did not find his groove and finished +16 in the 4 day event. I would not consider Reed a favorite this week but he has won tour this year and knows what it takes to find his way to the top of a leaderboard.

As you may know, Charlie and I like to do a tee time draft for the bigger tournaments and I have found a tee time slot that will not disappoint this week. Phil Mickelson will tee it up with Matt Kuchar and Graham DeLaet this week in what could be one of the most consistent threesomes on the course. Of the three, I have a weird feeling that Phil is going to make his presence felt this week. He sort of feel off after his impressive victory at The Open but he may have gained the momentum he needs with his 6th place finish last event. Watch for Phil to do what he does; putt well and creep his way into contention.

My favorite to win this week and notch his second victory on the year is Justin Rose. The guy seems to right there every single week. After doing a little reading and research, I found that he has been under par in all eight rounds of the FedEx Cup Playoffs thus far. That is out of control. He would have had himself a playoff against Scott at The Barclays, if it was not for a three-putt on 18. Rose is second in total driving, and 10th in GIR. With a win here, and a couple dice rolling the right way, Rose could find himself as a favorite next week to win the Tour Championship. He won the BMW two years ago and I think he is primed to get another trophy for that case.

As the fields get smaller and the completion gets tighter, the golf will continue to get better and better. You never know who is going to find their groove and come out on top in these things but I know it is going to fun to watch. Last week, the PGA Tour got out of the way and let the NFL have their kickoff party but this week, they’re back and they will not disappoint.

-Bryan Reynolds 

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The Barclays Championship Launches the PGA Playoffs

It begins. The FedEx Cup playoffs are upon us. Although most fans do not realize, the season has been all

leading up to this. Brandt Snedeker will attempt to be the first player to win back to back FedEx cups since the format began in 2007. Brandt currently ranks third, behind Tiger Woods, but he within striking distance, needing only 841 points to catch him. Over the next four weeks, we will get to watch the best in the world compete for the season-long title declaring them the best, and most consistent golfer of 2013.

The winner of The Barclays Championship has only gone on to win the Tour Championship once, occurring in 2008 when Vijay Singh took out Sergio Garcia in a playoff. This goes to show that the players obviously want to win each of these tournaments but ultimately, they are playing for points. As was discussed on the blog last week, there will be only 100 men advancing to the Duetsche Bank Championship, and for those on that ‘cut’ line, there will be some scoreboard watching unlike the previous months making Sunday's round more exciting than usual..

With this in mind, it is hard for me to look at this week’s tournament and pick a winner or a group of favorites. The Tour has once again flexed its muscles with the pairings and threw the top three in the FedEx cup race in a Thursday group. Matt Kuchar, Snedeker, and Tiger Woods will definitely be three of the top men to watch this week, and the week’s coming up. Kuchar is no stranger to victory at the Barclays, seeing that he won this tournament in a playoff over Martin Laird back in 2010.

I do not know if it is even worth the words but Woods is the favorite here this week, obviously. When played here in 2009, Tiger finished in a close tie for second highlighted by a Sunday round of -4. Tiger has been lights out this year, winning the five of the seven stroke play tournaments he has teed it up in. Although he has yet to win a Barclays’, I would not be surprised if he takes the trophy home this week.

Although I don't really like the momentum he brings into the week, I think Nick Watney could be a guy to watch here. He is the 2012 Barclays champion and has performed well in the past. In 2009, he finished a stroke behind Tiger, in a tie for third place. Watney has proving to be extremely inconsistent, especially this season, but I hope the pendulum swings in his favor this week.

I do not know if he can be considered a sleeper pick, but Dustin Johnson seems due for a good performance. Although the whole world seems to know, DJ is coming off a recent proposal to The Great One’s daughter, Paulina Gretzey. DJ won this tournament two years ago and finish in a tie for 15th last time in was played here in Manhattan. The most impressive part of his 15th place finish in 2009 was his seven under final round. If DJ can find a way to go low at any point this week, he could be dangerous.

One thing I know for certain is that we do not have to worry about Heath Slocum defending his 2009 crown, and we know there will be plenty of men chasing it. As the year comes to a dramatic end, the Tour will not disappoint. Pick your favorite and cheer for consistency because everyone has got a chance now.

-Bryan 

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PGA Championship Comes to an End but The Drama Does Not

As the week of the PGA Championship comes to a close, we have to watch another season of majors fade

away. The 2013 Majors did not disappoint. As Charlie did a fine job of walking you through Jason Dufner’s victory, I would just like to recap my thoughts on this often overlooked tournament.

While I sat and watched, somewhat expecting a hiccup in Dufner’s excellent Sunday round, I could not help but find myself in awe of the control and poise he showed. Dufner was absolutely lights out down the stretch, especially with his mid-range irons. As Twitter was abuzz throughout the afternoon, I saw may quotes stating his round could have been one of the best ball striking displays we have ever seen. Now that Duff Daddy has broken through for his first major victory, we can finally see how his game will adapt as he strives to add to his trophy case. As Jim Furyk stated after his second place finish, he did not feel like he played bad golf, and he did not make any major mistakes. He was right; he ran into a freight train that was not going to be derailed.

Now that the major season is over, the Tour will take a slight break of sorts this week before starting the

FedEx Cup Playoffs. I do not mean to understate the importance of any given week on Tour but here at SnoTap, we want to be sure to keep you up-to-date on what to watch for each week. The most important focus of this weeks’ Wyndham Championship will be those players attempting to lock their place in the Top 125. If the playoffs were to start this week, we would see big names like Nicolas Colsaerts, Padraig Harrington, Shawn Stefani, Ricky Barnes, and previous FedEx Champion Vijay Singh all miss the cut. These players will be fighting for every stroke as they are all valuable when trying to advance in the ranks.

It took me a bit of time to truly figure out how the FedEx Cup Playoffs work, and I am still learning, but once you get a grasp it is one of the coolest championships in sports. The process kicks off at The Barclays Championship where the top 125 compete for points to climb the leaderboard, with the winner taking 2,500 points. The rankings following the tournament are then reordered and the top 100 advance on. This same process will continue at the Deutsche Bank Championship but following this, only the top 70 will advance to the next stage.

I will leave it there for now, as the next two stages become more crucial and therefore more detailed. The essential idea that is important to take away is that the higher a competitor places in the events, the more points they will receive. These points may be more valuable than in the past as they are once again chasing Tiger Woods. Tiger won the FedEx Cup in its inaugural year (2007), and once again in 2009. There are three other men who have found themselves a ways in front of the field; Matt Kuchar, Brandt Snedeker, and Phil Mickelson.

Snedeker will be the only one of those men teeing it up this weekend at Wyndham, and he will once again find himself the favorite. If he were to reel in the victory this weekend, he would have the momentum he needs to catch Tiger and look to defend his FedEx Cup Title. 

Bryan 

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PGA Championship Preview: Bryan's Five to Watch

Bryan and I decided to do things a little differently for the final major of the year, the PGA Championship. We are just picking five players we like not named Tiger because it is more fun that way and then doing our usual tee time draft tomorrow. Enjoy.  

Coming off an outstanding victory at Firestone, Tiger Woods will be the hands down favorite to win this year’s final major. Rochester, NY and Oak Hill CC will play host to the 2013 PGA Championship and I can guarantee they will not disappoint. It has been 10 years, but this is not the first rodeo for Oak Hill when it comes to this championship. Back in 2003, Shaun Micheel raised the trophy and marked himself one of the biggest underdogs to ever win this major or any other. There is always the chance that a ‘no-name’ with rise from the slums to win a major but let me take this chance to tell you who my ‘big-name’ favorites are to win the Tour’s final major

1) Adam Scott - This is not the first time Adam Scott will play the PGA at Oak Hill. When it was played here 10 years ago, Scott notched a top 25 finish at the young age of 23. Since the 2003 PGA, Scott has only been able to record one top five finish at the final major, coming back in 2006. We all know he is the defending Masters champion but that does not carry any value this week. He fared well in Scotland, with a third place finish but was less than impressive at Merion. With two out of three incredible runs in majors this year, I expect Mr. Scott to stay consistent and keep the putter hot to be near the top this week.

2) Matt Kuchar - If it were not for the incredible year Tiger is having this year, Kuchar would be the easy favorite for Player of the Year. Kuch has established himself this year by gathering two victories and two more second place finishes. Also, he is still the tour’s leader in made cuts going back to last year and it does not look to be letting up. Kuchar does not necessarily have a vast history at this championship, especially considering he has only made the cut once. That occurrence came in 2010 when he was able to finish in a tie for 10th overall. With a victory here, Kuchar would put himself in a prime spot to compete for the FedEx Championship.

3) Sergio Garcia - Really Bryan? Sergio? I know it’s a bit crazy but that is how golf works sometimes. What amazed me the most prepping for this tournament was the fact that Sergio is the exact same age as Adam Scott. Knowing this, it is about time Sergio turned that frown upside down and labeled himself a major champion. He has had three top five finishes at previous PGA’s but missed the cut last year. He ranks first on Tour in stokes gained putting, which was long held by his best buddy, Mr. Tiger Woods.

4) Henrik Stenson -  have to pick Henrik here to redeem myself for leaving him off the list last week. He has been incredibly consistent this year but is yet to break through this season. Stenson's best major finish of 2013 was second place at The Open Championship. He also took an impressive second last week considering he spend his Sunday playing alongside Tiger. While he ranks second in ball striking and GIR, his most important performance stat to keep up will be his scrambling from the rough; where he currently leads all players.

5) Rory McIlroy - If we look back to this time last year, it would be hard to believe picking Rory this week would be a surprise. He is the defending PGA Champion and with a victory here, he could be only the fifth player in history to get three majors before the age of 25. He placed in the top five in three of his four attempts at this major and has never missed a cut. Also, 2009 was the last year that we saw Rory go a season without a victory. I do not know if he has the confidence to pull through for a win this week but he really needs to put himself near the top to get back on track.

-Bryan

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