Thursday
Aug202009
On the eve of the storm
Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 11:03PM
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Writing from Town and Country, Mo.
As usual, the gentlemen and ladies of the Western Golf Association have taken care of virtually every detail in advance of their big professional gala, known to history at the Western Open and more recently, once the check cleared, as the BMW Championship.
Their hard work is hardly a surprise, given a history of success that goes all the way back to 1899. There's just one thing missing from the 105th playing of the big fandango.
Go to the massive merchandise tent, located a flip wedge from the 18th green on the plush acreage of Bellerive Country Club, and you can't locate what may be the single hottest seller for the next 48 hours.
Life rafts are not to be found.
That's a shame, for the weather forecast through Friday morning is an atrocity. The remnants of Hurricane Gustav, which thankfully spared New Orleans, were taking aim at greater St. Louis at midday Wednesday. The forecast calls for three to five inches of rain. If the great green blob on the radar in central Missouri heads this way, bet the over. As for the course, bet part of it to be underwater. Part of Bellerive drains well, but that part drains into the part of Bellerive in the valley. Most of the front nine is a flood plain, and you don't want to know about the public parking lot.
A deluge brings the prospect of Thursday's tee times not being acted upon until some time Friday, which would dampen, but not drown, the spirits of St. Louis golf fans. They are a hardy breed, without a visit from the world's best players since the 1992 PGA Championship – the 2001 American Express World Golf Championship tournament here was canceled on Wednesday, September 12, a day after the horrors visited upon New York and Washington – and have already turned out en masse to see the first Western Open without a defending champion since 1970. When you've got about 20,000 strolling in on a Tuesday, and 25,000 fans on hand for a Wednesday pro-am and Tiger Woods, he of the bum knee, is not one of the pros, you've got an eager audience.
As many or more are expected to turn out for the first round on Thursday, if Thursday happens. If not, they'll be here on Friday, when Thursday may be played out. Regardless, the limited field – 69 players, with only Woods absent from those eligible to play – means this affair could still conclude on Sunday. The potential to play 36 holes in one day looms, and could be accomplished without too much trouble, as long as everyone doesn't four-putt.
While the galleries gawk, the talk of the players is the size of Bellerive's greens. They're like Dubsdread's, only moreso.
"Huge," said Steve Stricker without pausing to pick a different word. "Rees Jones made it very difficult for us. You've got to get it in the right quadrant."
Take the green at the 460-yard par-4 18th, for example. It rolls up toward the back on the right, and dips toward the back on the left. And you don't want to leave it short, lest more rolls than in a bakery come into play.
The length of the course is also an eyebrow-raiser. It's listed as 7,324 yards. That's for a par 70. Of course, Stricker did allow that he was hitting the ball 300 yards. With his 3-wood. (Dubsdread was listed as two yards longer from 2004 through 2007, but played to a par of 71. The last par 70 Western Open was in 1959, at the Pittsburgh Field Club, a 6,625 yard course.)
"If it rains, it's going to get even longer," said meteorologist Sergio Garcia.
Garcia, who has had more trouble closing than an off-kilter screen door, may find the key holes on the course, the long 16th, 17th and 18th, to his liking. He drives the ball 294.1 yards, but that's only good for 46th on the PGA Tour. The 16th is a 235-yard par-3 that demands precision, the 17th a 601-yard par 5 that asks more of the same. As noted, the home hole is a 460-yard test around a corner.
Meanwhile, Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington lead the important categories going into the first round. Singh, thanks to his wins in New Jersey and Boston, leads the money, and Harrington, with two majors in his pocket but in danger of missing the Tour Championship unless he moves from 44th to at least 30th, is first in scoring average.
As might be expected, Singh was as workmanlike in his assessment of his chance to go three-for-three as he is on the range.
"Just play your own game, play hard and play good," Singh said. "I'm not worried about the points. I'm just really worried about this week. If I win, it'll be great. If I don't win, hopefully I can get enough points to clear it up."
No matter what the weather, the happiest man going into the Western is Jay Williamson, the 41-year-old overnight success who just happens to be a Bellerive member. He made the show, the third of the three PGA Tour playoff tournaments leading into the Tour Championship.
"That's the best thing," Williamson said. "That I'm not here because someone gave me a spot. I'm here because I earned it."
Williamson said he doesn't really have an edge, but he knows this about Bellerive, which weaves its way through stands of trees and around water hazards: The shorter the grass, the better.
"The true test of Bellerive is keeping the ball in the fairway," Williamson said. "You're going to get the ball close to these flags because of the rain. The greens are already soft, not really that fast, and unfortunately those are really the defenses this golf course has."
Alas, what course superintendent Chuck Gast may really need is the Army Corps of Engineers. Can a BMW float?
-- Tim Cronin
Writing from Town and Country, Mo.
As usual, the gentlemen and ladies of the Western Golf Association have taken care of virtually every detail in advance of their big professional gala, known to history at the Western Open and more recently, once the check cleared, as the BMW Championship.
Their hard work is hardly a surprise, given a history of success that goes all the way back to 1899. There's just one thing missing from the 105th playing of the big fandango.
Go to the massive merchandise tent, located a flip wedge from the 18th green on the plush acreage of Bellerive Country Club, and you can't locate what may be the single hottest seller for the next 48 hours.
Life rafts are not to be found.
That's a shame, for the weather forecast through Friday morning is an atrocity. The remnants of Hurricane Gustav, which thankfully spared New Orleans, were taking aim at greater St. Louis at midday Wednesday. The forecast calls for three to five inches of rain. If the great green blob on the radar in central Missouri heads this way, bet the over. As for the course, bet part of it to be underwater. Part of Bellerive drains well, but that part drains into the part of Bellerive in the valley. Most of the front nine is a flood plain, and you don't want to know about the public parking lot.
A deluge brings the prospect of Thursday's tee times not being acted upon until some time Friday, which would dampen, but not drown, the spirits of St. Louis golf fans. They are a hardy breed, without a visit from the world's best players since the 1992 PGA Championship – the 2001 American Express World Golf Championship tournament here was canceled on Wednesday, September 12, a day after the horrors visited upon New York and Washington – and have already turned out en masse to see the first Western Open without a defending champion since 1970. When you've got about 20,000 strolling in on a Tuesday, and 25,000 fans on hand for a Wednesday pro-am and Tiger Woods, he of the bum knee, is not one of the pros, you've got an eager audience.
As many or more are expected to turn out for the first round on Thursday, if Thursday happens. If not, they'll be here on Friday, when Thursday may be played out. Regardless, the limited field – 69 players, with only Woods absent from those eligible to play – means this affair could still conclude on Sunday. The potential to play 36 holes in one day looms, and could be accomplished without too much trouble, as long as everyone doesn't four-putt.
While the galleries gawk, the talk of the players is the size of Bellerive's greens. They're like Dubsdread's, only moreso.
"Huge," said Steve Stricker without pausing to pick a different word. "Rees Jones made it very difficult for us. You've got to get it in the right quadrant."
Take the green at the 460-yard par-4 18th, for example. It rolls up toward the back on the right, and dips toward the back on the left. And you don't want to leave it short, lest more rolls than in a bakery come into play.
The length of the course is also an eyebrow-raiser. It's listed as 7,324 yards. That's for a par 70. Of course, Stricker did allow that he was hitting the ball 300 yards. With his 3-wood. (Dubsdread was listed as two yards longer from 2004 through 2007, but played to a par of 71. The last par 70 Western Open was in 1959, at the Pittsburgh Field Club, a 6,625 yard course.)
"If it rains, it's going to get even longer," said meteorologist Sergio Garcia.
Garcia, who has had more trouble closing than an off-kilter screen door, may find the key holes on the course, the long 16th, 17th and 18th, to his liking. He drives the ball 294.1 yards, but that's only good for 46th on the PGA Tour. The 16th is a 235-yard par-3 that demands precision, the 17th a 601-yard par 5 that asks more of the same. As noted, the home hole is a 460-yard test around a corner.
Meanwhile, Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington lead the important categories going into the first round. Singh, thanks to his wins in New Jersey and Boston, leads the money, and Harrington, with two majors in his pocket but in danger of missing the Tour Championship unless he moves from 44th to at least 30th, is first in scoring average.
As might be expected, Singh was as workmanlike in his assessment of his chance to go three-for-three as he is on the range.
"Just play your own game, play hard and play good," Singh said. "I'm not worried about the points. I'm just really worried about this week. If I win, it'll be great. If I don't win, hopefully I can get enough points to clear it up."
No matter what the weather, the happiest man going into the Western is Jay Williamson, the 41-year-old overnight success who just happens to be a Bellerive member. He made the show, the third of the three PGA Tour playoff tournaments leading into the Tour Championship.
"That's the best thing," Williamson said. "That I'm not here because someone gave me a spot. I'm here because I earned it."
Williamson said he doesn't really have an edge, but he knows this about Bellerive, which weaves its way through stands of trees and around water hazards: The shorter the grass, the better.
"The true test of Bellerive is keeping the ball in the fairway," Williamson said. "You're going to get the ball close to these flags because of the rain. The greens are already soft, not really that fast, and unfortunately those are really the defenses this golf course has."
Alas, what course superintendent Chuck Gast may really need is the Army Corps of Engineers. Can a BMW float?
-- Tim Cronin
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