My great friend Bruce, and 30+ year Member/Guest partner, had the treat of playing in a ProAm with Padraig Harrington - I never get invited ANYWHERE! First, Bruce reported that Padraig could not have been more fun, but I have no doubt that Padraig said the same to his friends about Bruce. When the topic was raised of why there are so few Americans in the Top-20 and why Europe dominates the majors, Padraig's response was interesting. In short, he blames the overwhelming money on the PGA Tour. The best US players go directly from college to the PGA Tour, and learn to survive - but not to WIN - on Tour. By contrast, on the far less lucrative European Tour (or Asian Tour) players must contend and win in order to make big money. Padraig also suggests that this explains the lack of success the US is having in the Ryder Cup. Makes sense to me!
Patrick Cantlay is having a pretty good summer!
If you watched the US Open and/or the Traveler's, Patrick's travels were frequently discussed. From the Palmer Cup at The Stanwich Club, Greenwich, CT (my home course!), on to the US Open at Congressional where Patrick not only took the Low Amateur honors but contended (T21). Next, back to CT and TPC River Highlands where he posted 67/60 to hold the lead after the 2nd round. This week he is on to Aronimink GC in PA for the AT & T. WHEW!
Back to Padraig's point, as an amateur Patrick passed up $46,425 for his T24 finish in the Traveler's. Out of curiosity, I checked the European Tour's BMW Championship in Germany this week and the money is slightly less than half. 24th place paid $27,832 (I did the Euro conversion to $). The BMW winner made $473,000 vs. $1,080,000 at the Travelers.
What does Patrick need to do to win?
Simply stated, he must avoid errors off the tee and improve his putting. While Patrick's long game was excellent (13.5 GIR's), he incurred two penalties off the tee. Our winner's profile incurs one of these tee shot penalties only once in every 10 rounds.
As the ShotByShot.com %1-Putt graphic above shows, Patrick needs to increase these numbers, especially in the important ranges inside 10 feet. The Tour's new Strokes Gained stat supports this as Patrick ranked 33rd with .46 strokes gained on the field. The five winners that I have tracked since this stat was launched have averaged 1.27 strokes gained and Fredrik Jacobson blew the Traveler's field away by gaining 2.25 strokes.
Finally, Patrick, if you see this I have set up an account for you on ShotByShot.com and will try to add your AT&T rounds to get you started. If you contact me, you may continue to use the program with my compliments.
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