Season Play Results

[SteveHorn]

Judy! Congrats on your win. Also I'm currently playing your marvelous Arcadia Bluffs at The Bankia Madrid Masters. I've only played round 1 so far a few days ago but I'm getting set to go for round 2. Shot even par on (L,M,C) but if conditions toughen up I can see this course would be a real bear. (GREAT COURSE)

[Indy Anna Jones]

Thanks Steve. This was "IndyGoBlue's" last course together, and (yes I'm very prejudiced) I think it was a magnificent job. I would really like to play the real course, as it's only a few hundred miles from us, but the green fees ($180 in 2007) are just too steep. It is pretty wicked on dry even if the wind is down, IMO. I think -4 is the best I've ever shot there for 18 holes; I get a fair share of birds but also a fair share of bogies.

[SteveHorn]

I finished The Bankia Madrid Masters at Arcadia Bluffs yesterday. Unfortunatly even though I played pretty well overall I just didn't make enough putts to make the cut. I was (-2) after 36 holes but the 1st cut was (-3). Anyone who isn't familar with Arcadia Bluffs should go download this course Immediatly. It has a alot of wicked looking slopes and hills (very undulated) but the textures are just right to keep this course from being unfair. Its probably in my top 10 of courses I've played for this season to date and I've played ALOT of great courses this year.
There was a 4 way playoff between Seung-yul Noh, Y.E. Yang, Nick Watney and Louis Oosthuizen all at (-15). Noh was the leader for the 1st 3 rounds but shot +3 in round 4 to fall back into a playoff. But he regrouped and the young South Korean pulled out the victory. There was a 7 way tie for 5th at (-14) so to finish in the top ten you had to be within 1 stroke of the winner. Notables who picked up 2 points Webb Simpson and Steve Elkington both fighting to get into or stay in the top 20 in points. With his 2nd place finish and hot play the last few tourneys Louis Oosthuizen is solid in the top 20 currently.

Next - My extended venture thru Europe has 1 more stop before heading home The Portigual Masters at another great course Dano's Bish Memorial G.L.

[SteveHorn]

I finally finished The Portugual Masters at Bish Memorial G.L. Once again I had plenty of opportunities to go low with makeable birdie putts but my putter let me down with way to many lags and tap in pars. I did finish tied for 16th at (-11) but I should have easily finished in the top 10 or been in contention to win.
There was another playoff, this time between Chris Riley, Matteo Manassero & Parker McLachlin each finishing at (-16). The winner was Chris Riley. There was no movement amoungst the top players for the season. The only players who picked up any points that still have a real chance to make the World Championship field was Chris Riley who now has (24) points leaving him 2 points shy of the top 20. Also Alexander Noren and Metteo Manassaro both moved into a tie for 31st but only 6 points out of the top 20.
Anyone who likes a solid inland links style course should play Bish Memorial G.L. Its an (A) lister in my book and has been for a long time. Reminds me a little of National Golf Links of America in slyle and lenghth.
Only 3 touneys to play before the Tour Championship then The World Championship not including The Presidents Cup. Haven't decided if I'll play The Presidents Cup before or after the final 2 stops. Next up - The Childrens Miracle Network Classic being played at both Del Bocca Vista and Great Pond.

[SteveHorn]

I finished The Childrens Miracle Network Classic yesterday being played at both Del Bocca Vista and Great Pond. I missed the 2nd cut which was (-5). I shot 2 over in the 3rd round to finish (-3). Both courses are A list and you should definintly download. Accually Del Bocca Vista would be up amongst my all time favorite courses except 2 big reasons lower its ranking. 1. Its greens are the same texture as Bay Hill. That means VERY SLOOOOW. and the coefficients are probably the worst this game has to offer. The ball will always take 1 to 3 big hops forward if landing on the green with your approach shot no matter if its a wedge or 3 iron and greens are moist or wet.
2. NOT A SINGLE GREEN has a fairway connecting to it. This is a pet peeve of mine and is ussually a sign of the designer being lazy with the architect. Its much quicker to just make a green without a seamless connection to the fairway. This was also making hitting the greens VERY DIFFICULT since flying the ball onto them they would bounce and roll off due to the horrible choice of texture.
This is very unfortunate because everything else at Del Bocca Vista is amongst the best this game has to offer. Enough about the courses. Your winner was the hot Matteo Manassero at (-17). His 1st victory with probably many more to come since I believe he's only (18). This moved him into the top 20 in points. 2nd place was a tie just 1 stroke back between Kevin Na and Marc Lieshman. 4th went to last weeks winner Chris Riley. Notables amoungst the top 30 or so points leaders to get points this week Charl Schwartzel, Graeme McDowell and Chad Campbell.
Only 2 tourneys left before the Tour Championship then The World Championship. Only 1 tourney left where the whole field is eligable to play in. Thats the next tourney The CIMB Asian Pacific Classic in Malaysia. After that is the last
WGC-HSBC event which only tourney winners and top players are eligable. So this next tourney is very impotant to many players on the cusp. Its being played at Lakeland Hills.

[SteveHorn]

Since I'm no longer designing a course on the architect I'm able to get more play time in my season mode. The winner of The CIMB Asian Pacific Classic in Malaysia was LEFTY, Phil Mickelson shooting (-21). His victory earned him a hefty 1.5 million payday and 10 points. This is a PGA tour stop that is slowly gaining in popularity. This win also keeps Phil alive and quailifies him for the next tourney The WGC-HSBC Champions tourney in China.I've chosen THE TRENCHE AT MONTICELLO to host this event that only tournament winners and top points or money earned players are eligible. This event is kind of like the quarter finals. Phil will need a top 3 finish to have any chance of advancing to next weeks semi finals The Tour Championship. Phil has never been a big winner on my World Tour for some reason so it was nice to see him pull out a victory.
I played pretty solid and consistent golf and finished at (-13) tied for 7th and earned 2 points. Matt Kuchar whos still a distant 2nd in points also tied for 7th. There is still about 10 players who can still win The World Title but since there has been very little movement (points earned) amoungst the top ten in season points over the last 8 to 10 tourneys Dustin Johnson is The heavy favorite to hold on and win The World Title.

[JaxDuffer]

My season finished. Although I only made 14 cuts, I finished 2nd in earnings. Matt Kuchar won the whole enchilada. rounding out the top 5 were Casey, Stricker, and Elkington??? Poor YE Yang was dead last making 2 cuts.

I have started the process of changing the entire PGA pro file to reflect their real stats. Wow, does that take a long time. It is worth it though to get the Keegan Bradley's of the world into the mix and knock out some of the dead weight.

I have experimented with what I have done so far and am seeing a lot more even rounds. Very cool. My goal is to get my cut lines consistently to E to +4 like real life. No more of this -6 stuff.

[SteveHorn]

JaxDuffer - My cuts after the 2nd round are usually set at within 10 strokes of the leader & minimum of 70 players. With most of the tourneys for me having at least 150 players the cut is around (+2 to -2) with a few rare occasions the #3 will be the cut. This often will make 125 or more make the cut. Thats why I added a 2nd cut after the 3rd round of within 7 strokes of the leader & minimum of 70 players and this does a pretty good job of getting the field for the final round near 70 players. Three more tourneys and the Presidents Cup still left in my season.
Kuchar is in 2nd for me and Elkington is somewhere around 16th. On the real PGA tour he had a fairly good year last season making alot of cuts and having a pretty good stroke avg. but he rarely ever makes the top ten.

[SteveHorn]

Finished up The WGC - HSBC Champions tourny a few days ago at The Trenche at Monticello. As I said before only tournament winners are eligable along with a few of the other top players in points. This essentially made this elite tournament the quarter finals. After regulation we had a 3 way tie between Matt Kuchar, Simon Dyson & Steve Stricker at
(-18). Stricker ended up winning and recieved 17 points for his efforts moving him ahead of me and into 3rd place. Kuchar (2nd in season points) got 12 points moving him closer to the points leader Dustin Johnson. Unfortunatly for Kuchar and Stricker Johnson wasn't shut out of the points. He finished tied for 8th and got 4 points. I played steady golf again and finished tied for 16th at (-11). Kevin Na finished 4th with Oliver Wilson, Padrig Harrington and Marc Lieshman tied for 5th.

Next up a Robert@ design featured at The Tour Championship (Semi Finals), Seasons. 43 players qualified for this tournament which the winner will receive a hefty 25 points for a victory. There are still 8 players who are mathmaticlly alive to win The season long championship. But really the odds are its a 2 person race with 2 or 3 others having a slight chance of pulling out the championship.

[SteveHorn]

The Tour Championship has concluded at Seasons. Things have gotten much more interesting going into the final tournament (except Presidents Cup) The World Championship. The top 2 points leaders Dustin Johnson 115pts and Matt Kuchar 99 points got shut out of the points. However Marc Lieshman who was in 5th won the tournament shooting (-17) and moved into 3rd place with 94 points. I finished in 2nd but stayed in 4th place but moved alot closer and now have 88 points.
I had my chances to win but I found the green texture very slow and lagged a few to many putts over the 4 rounds of golf at Seasons. The winner of the World Championship tournament being played at Oakmont and TPC Waterloo will receive 36 points. This still gives me a chance but only the top 4 have a chance for season long title. If steve Stricker (5th place currently) would win the tourney he would finish with 114 points 1 shy of Johnson currently.
I found Robert@ Seasons to be stunning to look at and very well planted. However although I know many people love this course I think as far as the layout goes it was a little to tricked up and I like many of his other designs better then Seasons. I did have fun playing it though and shot in the 60's all 4 rounds.

Here is the 20 who qualified for The World Championship tournament. Alvero Quiros and Phil Mickelson tried to sneak into the field by finishing in the top 15 in dollars won but finished 16th and 17th in that stat.
--------NAME------------------ POINTS
1. Dustin Johnson--------------115
2. Matt Kuchar----------------- 99
3. Marc Lieshman--------------94
4. Steve Horn--------------------88
5. Steve Stricker----------------78
6. Ben Crane---------------------64
7. Jason Day --------------------63
8. David Toms------------------56
9. Charl Schwartzel ------------53
10. Gary Woodland------------ 46
11. Bill Haas--------------------45
12. Tiger Woods----------------41
13. Anthony Kim----------------41
14. Matteo Manassero---------40
15. Jim Furyk-------------------40
16. Jerry Kelly-------------------37
17. Chris Riley------------------37
18. Chad Campbell-------------36
19. Louis Oosthuizen----------35
20. Bo Van Pelt-----------------35