Dukies on the 2022 PGA and LPGA Tours

[seacap29]

Other golf of note this week is the Korn Ferry Utah Championship. Ryan Blaum and Max Greyserman (D'17) are entered. It's good Max is playing again after wrist surgery in February. Prior to that he had made four straight KFTour cuts.

[mkirsh]

I think this is sorta a big week for Alex. Three weeks ago he was in the mix at The Scottish Open, and while he played very well, if he had made just one short putt he would have qualified for the The Open at St. Andrews. I want him to bounce back with at least a top-20 this week.

And I'll say this now: Alex Smalley will be the best men's golfer ever produced by Duke. Maybe best golfer period.

The best thing about this prediction is that it will probably take at least 20 years to prove me wrong.

While it may take 20 years to prove you wrong, you have a steeper hill to climb to be right - since you said “ever” you can’t actually be definitively right until either Duke or men’s golf cease to exist.

[dudog84]

While it may take 20 years to prove you wrong, you have a steeper hill to climb to be right - since you said “ever” you can’t actually be definitively right until either Duke or men’s golf cease to exist.

I'll be dead. As long as I'm right when I croak.

[dudog84]

Streelman at 7:01 on the back
Long at 1:11 on the back
Smalley at 1:22 on the front

Very little wind, but it could get rainy on the weekend.

[dudog84]

Alex off to a strong start, -2 through 5.

[DU82]

After the first round of the last major of the year, the AIG Women's Open at Muirfield (Scotland), Celine Boutier is tied for 5th at 3 under, 3 shots back of the leader. She had the best round of all the afternoon golfers, when the winds definitely picked up.

Leona Maguire is even par (also an afternoon round) which is tied for 26th. I didn't see any other Duke golfers in the field (quick scan, I might have missed somebody.)

If tomorrow has similar conditions, both hopefully will score better, and can move up the board.

[arnie]

After the first round of the last major of the year, the AIG Women's Open at Muirfield (Scotland), Celine Boutier is tied for 5th at 3 under, 3 shots back of the leader. She had the best round of all the afternoon golfers, when the winds definitely picked up.

Leona Maguire is even par (also an afternoon round) which is tied for 26th. I didn't see any other Duke golfers in the field (quick scan, I might have missed somebody.)

If tomorrow has similar conditions, both hopefully will score better, and can move up the board.

Mina Harigae also even par.

[dudog84]

Alex goes -5 for a T5. Now that's some home cookin'!

[seacap29]

Alex goes -5 for a T5. Now that's some home cookin'!

Good for Alex (65), not so much for Kevin (72) and Adam (73).

[dudog84]

I don't know what's going on with Alex today, but it ain't good.

[dudog84]

Hopefully Alex will do better on the front, where he was bogey-free -3 yesterday.

[nmduke2001]

The women are playing a major this weekend. The Women's Open Championship is being played in Scotland. After 2 rounds (although some are still on the course), Celine Boutier is tied for 5th and Leona is tied for 13th. You might remember that Celine is coming off of a heartbreaking 2nd place finish in the Scottish Open last week. She had a pretty large lead headed into the final but the eventual winner shot a course record 10 under par final to leapfrog Celine.

[AGDukesky]

Hopefully Alex will do better on the front, where he was bogey-free -3 yesterday.

You called it - he had 4 birdies before a bogey on #6 (his 15th hole) and is back to even for the day!

Adam Long has withdrawn

[dudog84]

You called it - he had 4 birdies before a bogey on #6 (his 15th hole) and is back to even for the day!

Adam Long has withdrawn

Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while. Half the field still to play, but it was a very nice recovery and Alex should be hanging around the top 10 and within striking distance over the weekend.

[seacap29]

So Alex is T17 going forward and the next couple of days should be interesting. Unfortunately Kevin's 68 today still left him short of the cut line.

Way up north in the Quebec Open (PGA Canadian Tour) Chandler Eaton (D'20) is T21. Keep your eye on Chandler, he's learning the ropes. Also from Duke ('16) Motin Yeung (Hong Kong) played but missed the cut.

[dudog84]

The bad news on Alex: He dropped 10 spots today (pgatour.com shows him T15).

The good news on Alex: He started the day 4 shots behind the leader, and he ends the day 4 shots back.

More good news for Alex: Only 3 of the 14 players above him are ahead of him in the FedEx Cup standings, so he clearly has chops to play with this crowd.

Looking forward to the weekend. He's got about as good a chance as anyone. But it's one of the most crowded leaderboards I can remember...everyone making the cut is within 7 shots of the leader (edit: a few guys left on the course due to darkness, I suppose that could change by a shot). That may be a record, it's certainly unusual.

[du_bb1]

Volunteered at the Wyndham past two days, marshall on 14th green. Yesterday Streels lipped out 6 footer, today Smalley lipped out 12 footer. The 14 th may have been hardest hole, sure had more bogeys and doubles than birds.

[dudog84]

Volunteered at the Wyndham past two days, marshall on 14th green. Yesterday Streels lipped out 6 footer, today Smalley lipped out 12 footer. The 14 th may have been hardest hole, sure had more bogeys and doubles than birds.

So you're saying you're jinxing our guys?

[du_bb1]

I accept full responsibility. Alex should do better today, I'm not there. Interesting yesterday, two gentlemen following Alex sporting their Duke gear. I talked with them, they are from Alex's home town ( Ohio? ) and friends with his parents and grandparents-good people.

[arnie]

The women are playing a major this weekend. The Women's Open Championship is being played in Scotland. After 2 rounds (although some are still on the course), Celine Boutier is tied for 5th and Leona is tied for 13th. You might remember that Celine is coming off of a heartbreaking 2nd place finish in the Scottish Open last week. She had a pretty large lead headed into the final but the eventual winner shot a course record 10 under par final to leapfrog Celine.

After completion of the 2nd round, Celine is 8th and Leona 20th. Hoping both can close the gap.

Regarding last weeks Scottish Open, a young pro did come from way back to win. However, Celine didn’t have a large lead going into Sunday, but was tied with Lydia Ko. She managed to fend off Ko and others close behind, but the -10 was spectacular.