E-Notes – August 23, 2011

PGA TOUR

Eleven of the 35 PGA TOUR rookies qualified for The Playoffs – Keegan Bradley (5), Charl Schwartzel (21), Scott Stallings (31), Chris Kirk (33), Jhonattan Vegas (35), Brendan Steele (41), Robert Karlsson (45), Kyle Stanley (48), Kevin Chappell (88), Michael Thompson (107), William McGirt (125). Schwartzel is the only player among the 11 not participating at The Barclays this week.

Rookies at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola

1990     Robert Gamez

1991     John Daly

1993     Vijay Singh

1994     Ernie Els

1995     David Duval, Woody Austin

1996     Tiger Woods

1997     Stewart Cink

1999     Carlos Franco, Notah Begay II

2004     Todd Hamilton, Zach Johnson

2005     Sean O’Hair

2006     Trevor Immelman

2007     Brandt Snedeker

2008     Andres Romero

2009     Marc Leishman

2010     n/a

Four players that qualified for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup have wins in the state of New Jersey: Phil Mickelson (2005 PGA Championship), Vijay Singh (2008 Barclays), Heath Slocum (2009 Barclays) and Matt Kuchar (2010 Barclays).

Steve Stricker looks to extend two streaks at The Barclays this week. Stricker has made 38 consecutive PGA TOUR cuts entering The Barclays and is the lone player to have played all 64 rounds in the four-year history of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

History is not a good omen for Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and William McGirt, the three that played their way into The Playoffs at the Wyndham Championship. No player in the four-year history of the FedExCup has a player qualified for the Playoff finale, the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, after being outside the bubble entering the Wyndham Championship.

Webb Simpson led the field in Putting – Strokes Gained at the Wyndham Championship at 2.095 strokes per round, the fourth TOUR winner to lead the category since it was introduced at the Wells Fargo Championship in May. The others: Lucas Glover (Wells Fargo Championship), Fredrik Jacobson (Travelers Championship) and Nick Watney (AT&T National). Note: Putting – Strokes Gained statistics were not calculated at the U.S. Open, British Open or PGA Championship.

Kevin Streelman (No. 102) was the lone player to start the 2010 Playoffs outside the top 100 to qualify for the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.

Webb Simpson jumped from 18^th to eighth in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings with a victory at the Wyndham Championship last week. Simpson is one of six players inside the U.S. top 10 that has not participated in The Presidents Cup. The others: Matt Kuchar (2), Nick Watney (4), Dustin Johnson (5), Bubba Watson(6) and Bill Haas (10).

On the International side, Jason Day (2), Charl Schwartzel (3), Kyung-tae Kim (5) and Louis Oosthuizen (8) are the four players among the top 10 without Presidents Cup experience.

Just three tournaments remain for automatic qualifying for the 2011 Presidents Cup, to be contested Nov. 17-20 at Royal Melbourne GC in Melbourne, Australia. Following the third Playoff event, the BMW Championship (Sept. 18), the 10 players for both the U.S. and International teams will be determined. The U.S. team is chosen based on the players who earn the most official PGA TOUR money beginning with the 2009 Wyndham Championship through the 2011 BMW Championship, with money being doubled during the 2011 season. The International team will be based on the Official World Golf Ranking through the BMW Championship. Both 12-man teams will be rounded out by two Captain’s Choices per team following the Playoff finale, the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola.

Entering The Playoffs, Luke Donald (68.92) leads Steve Stricker (69.04) by percentage points in the battle for the Vardon and Byron Nelson trophies, awarded to the PGA TOUR player with the lowest adjusted scoring average throughout the year. Matt Kuchar led the TOUR in scoring average last year (69.61)

CHAMPIONS TOUR

Fred Couples joined Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd as just the third player to claim both a PLAYERS Championship title and a Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship crown. Couples’ win also earns a return trip to the 2012 PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass. He won THE PLAYERS in 1984 and 1996.

Fred Couples earned 810 Charles Schwab Cup points and moved into 11^th place in the season-long standings (880 total points). His check for $405,000 allowed him to jump from 66^th to 22nd on the 2011 money list -- $522,032.  

Peter Senior’s third-place finish at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship made him the only player to finish among the top-10 in four of the Champions Tour’s five majors this year. Senior lost in a playoff at the Regions Tradition, was T5 at the Senior PGA Championship and was sixth at the U.S. Senior Open. He was T31 at the Senior British Open.

At the start of July, Tom Lehman enjoyed a 480-point lead over Nick Price. Before last week’s final major championship of the season, Lehman had four players within 500 points of his 1,661 total. With his fourth-place finish at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, Lehman continues to lead with 1,985 points, 566 points in front of Peter Senior (1,419).

This year’s Boeing Classic includes 27 of last year’s top 30 money winners. The only players missing are Fred Funk, who finished 6^th on the final 2010 list, Corey Pavin, who was 17^th, and Tom Watson, who was 23rd. Funk is sidelined with a thumb and knee injuries.

In the six-year history of the Boeing Classic, no first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win.

11 – The number of bogey-free rounds Peter Senior has recorded in 50 rounds on the 2011 Champions Tour (through the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship).

NATIONWIDE TOUR

The Nationwide Tour has a new leading money winner. J.J. Killeen finished T4 at the Midwest Classic in Kansas City on Sunday to overtake Mathew Goggin, who held the lead after the 13 previous tournaments. Both Killeen and Goggin have won two tournaments this year.

Of the 37 regular season events played on the PGA TOUR this year, 28 were won by former Nationwide Tour players...a 76% rate.

Webb Simpson's first PGA TOUR win on Sunday was the 316th by a Nationwide Tour alumnus. 

Two-time major champion John Daly will be joined in Knoxville at this week's News Sentinel Open presented by Pilot by fellow Nationwide Tour alum Boo Weekley. Daly is also entered in next week's Mylan Classic near Pittsburgh, along with popular western Pennsylvania native Rocco Mediate.

With a run of T2, T39 and T2 in Omaha, Springfield, Mo. and Kansas City, Sweden's Jonas Blixt is in the best position of his three-year Nationwide Tour career to earn a PGA TOUR card. The former Florida State University All-American has jumped from 47th to 11th in August, shooting a cumulative 53-under par.

Scott Dunlap flirted with 59 last Friday.  A par-birdie finish at Nicklaus Golf Club at LionsGate led to an 11-under-par 60.

PGA professional Mark Bradley asked his son, Keegan, how he was able to be so consistent and calm en route to his recent PGA Championship victory. His two-word response - "Nationwide Tour".  Source: Jackson Hole News