Photo Caption Fun: The Donald And The Great One

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There's a superb photo gallery accompanying Steve Polti's most enjoyable Star-Ledger column on Donald Trump taking The Barclays by storm.

While most of the photos were pretty self-explanatory, I just felt like this caption on John Munson's image didn't quite tell us everything:

Donald Trump and Wayne Gretzky watch Dustin Johnson on the 14th hole during the final round of The Barclays golf tournament at the Plainfield Country Club.

Don't get me wrong, it works, but I feel like we, as fans of the Star Ledger, might be able to do better...

LOL: Jason Day Could Ascend To No. 1 This Week

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The best player on the planet right now actually has a chance to get the algorithm's attention at this week's Deutsche Bank Championship. Why is this funny?

Because we could be in for a lot of discussion, speeches, thank yous and cutting of bonus checks for one of the three lads vying for the typically-six-weeks-behind "World No. 1" label.

Anyway, Rex Hoggard explains how Day can pull a Keen Ice and come flying down the lane while American Pharoah and Frosted were outdueling most of the way. Hint: Day needs to win this week, not that this is a reach given the courses power bias, his affinity for TPC Boston and the way he's playing.

Brian Wacker touched on this and five other things from Sunday's Barclays, where Day dominated.

“Really trying to manage that has been tough. But over the years it's starting to become a lot easier. The last six weeks, they've been crazy. U.S. Open, The Open Championship, you mix that in with three other wins. The good thing about it is it's not over. I have this great momentum going into next week to a course I absolutely love. It's only positive stuff moving forward from here.”

ESPN.com's Jason Sobel notes how Day suddenly makes winning look easy after having done so little of it up until this year, where he has four victories.

Entering the current season, Day had competed in 151 PGA Tour events and won only twice. For most players, the "only" qualifier in that sentence wouldn't be applicable. That type of victory ratio throughout a career will keep any player employed at the game's highest level and, yes, extremely wealthy.

Hoggard says the difference may be in the lag putting. The stats back him up.

Maybe a more detailed explanation would be dramatically improved lag putting, like when Stenson gave Day something to look at on the leaderboard on Sunday, moving to within two strokes with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 13 and 14. Your new FedEx Cup front-runner answered by rolling in 61 feet of birdie putts at the 14th and 15th holes.

On paper it would explain how Day, who hasn’t ranked outside the top 30 in strokes gained-putting the last five seasons, is second on Tour in putts outside of 25 feet this year, converting 10 percent from that neighborhood.

Playoff Pressure! Bubba Aims At Tent; Jordan Goes Home

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You can literally see the playoff vibe at Plainfield.

In the form of large, Impact font lettering along the fairway, just in case you forgot these were playoffs where algorithms rule!

That's the good news for Jordan Spieth, who misses his third cut of 2015 but is still very much alive in the FedExCup points race despite stepping on his ball. Reinforcing just how vital these playoffs are, Spieth put new irons in the bag this week, reported Jonathan Wall (and noted by golf.com's Brendan Moehler).

The 36-hole leader, Bubba Watson, apparently doesn't care much for Plainfield due to the blind shots, so he's aiming at tents and not worrying if he moves the ball. He's also using driver on holes where the play seems iffy, but the strategic tactic is to secure a few of the next shot.

Kevin Maguire on the tent play:

The two-time Masters champ said previously this course just doesn't suit his eye. Blind shots, of which there are many on the classic Donald Ross design, are difficult for Watson and he is an extremely visual golfer.

"The reason why I hit driver is to make the hole visually better for me on the next shot," Watson said.

Asked about his hole after the round, Watson simply gave the answer that many a weekend golfer would after making a par in a non-traditional.

"There's no pictures on the scorecard," he said.

But it doesn't really matter because the golf should still be fun. Example 4.5 million of how much more fun golf is when the ground game matters, Jason Day style at Plainfield's superb 7th hole:

Another Course Bites The Dust; A Dozen We'd Like To Have Back

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Imran Ghori in the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that the Pete Dye-branded Moreno Valley Ranch, once home to a Nike Tour event, closed its doors on August 25th.

The course goes to auction September 1st with an openign bid of $3.6 million for the 27 holes and clubhouse.

On the sad topic of lost courses, GolfAdvisor.com's Jason Scott Deegan looks at a dozen shuttered golf courses that we all regret having seen gone to seed.

Correction: Koepka Did Earn Presidents Cup Points

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I know how the Presidents Cup dynamics are constantly in your hearts and minds so it is with my deepest apologies for passing along incorrect information. It regards Brooks Koepka's non-member days not counting toward his Presidents Cup standing. I regret not having fact checked the blog post I linked to.

In fact, Koepka is credited with Presidents Cup points dating back to start of the qualifying period, the 2013 BMW Championship. 

However, I do stand by the rest of my views that the PGA Tour needs to reconsider how it treats "non-members" who make the playoffs but don't make the playoffs, and consider the long term ramifications on college golf if there is a view that players can't finish the school year without harming chances of making the playoffs of either tour. (WGC winner Shane Lowry could have been part of the venting too, but I'm more concerned by the route from elite college player to tour.)

 

Playoff Fever: Plainfield! Plainfield! Plainfield!

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Let's be honest, no one cares about the playoffs unless points resets are your thing, which is why we at least have our Fantasy League (with prizes from Avis and Callaway!) to keep us company. Two top players are limping in if they're playing at all (Hank Gola reports), Rory McIlroy is sitting out the first round and it'll be tough to top the 2015 majors.

But we have Plainfield for this week's first playoff event, The Barclays! This means two weeks in a row of Donald Ross designs, and as we saw last week at Sedgefield, there is something about those green complexes, the strategy and the intimate scale of the old style venues that makes for great tournament energy.

In 2011, Plainfield was soft from a wet summer and then was made even more forgettable by Hurricane Sandy.

This time around, the course is said to be in amazing shape by the PGA Tour's advance staff, the hurricane's are staying away and this Donald Ross masterwork should be a lot of fun to watch this week.

Ran Morrissett's Golf Club Atlas review is several years old but he makes the key point that this is one very special use of a property with more standout Ross holes than just about any course he created.

Gil Hanse has overseen restoration work here, with more tweaks in advance of this year's event at holes 15 and 16, as Tripp Isenhour reveals in this video report. The 18th will be driveable again, as Isenhour explained in this Golf Central report.

Coverage begins Thursday on Golf Channel at 2 pm ET, but those who've signed up to the PGA Tour's streaming option can start soaking up playoff tension at 8 am ET.