No-complaint zone

Click here to read the full article…

HAMILTON, Ontario – Keegan Bradley didn’t originally have the RBC Canadian Open on his schedule. But he added it at the last minute, and after his opening round, he’s sure glad he did. Bradley shot a 7-under-par 63 Thursday at Hamilton Golf and Country Club to take the early lead. This came after he finished last year’s Canadian Open with an 8-under 64. Related: Leaderboard | Canadian golf in ‘best place … ever’ There’s something about Canada, he said. “Every time I come to play in Canada, I love the courses we play,â€� he said. Bradley has played the Canadian Open three times and his worst finish is a T-22 in 2011. Bradley said he added this week’s event to his schedule in hopes of getting “a little something goingâ€� before next week’s U.S. Open after missing two of his last three cuts. “I’m thankful that I did, but I want to keep going,â€� he explained. “It hasn’t been quite the year I wanted, but that can change real quick.â€� Bradley returned to the winner’s circle at last year’s BMW Championship – for the first time since 2012 – and ended the year eighth in the FedExCup standings. He’s currently 72nd. Bradley started his round with five pars before rattling off the five straight birdies, a streak, he said, was his best ever. His 7-under 63 was his lowest opening round all season, and he hit 17 of 18 greens.  “Today was one of the best of the year, if not the best (ever),â€� he said of his ball striking. “I knew if I could just put myself in the fairway, which I did today, I was having short irons in, and I’m pretty dialed in right now. I was able to really get that close and then hole those putts.â€� Bradley said, for him, it all comes down to the putter. He’s 206th in Strokes Gained: Putting on TOUR this year – while sitting third on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach The Green. He made more than 73 feet of putts Thursday and had it rolling well on Hamilton’s small and slopey greens. He credited an attitude adjustment to his success on the greens in the first round, saying he kept telling his caddie he needed to try not to force putts in. “Sure enough, right after that, they started going in,â€� he said. Although he said Glen Abbey – where they’ve hosted the last four Canadian Opens – was a great course, he loves Hamilton so far. It’s just been one round, but he’s eager to keep things rolling on Friday. “It was so fun to go out there and feel like that. Today I was in complete control of my ball, and then when you couple that with feeling good on the greens, that’s when a 63 or a good, nice round happens,â€� he said. “Where they’re both combined is pretty rare. I’ve had good ball striking days and then maybe you don’t putt as well and shoot a couple under. Today they matched up. Just got to go for it when I that happens.â€�

Click here to read the full article…

When the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play announced a format change for the 2015 edition at TPC Harding Park, some golf fans were skeptical of the impact it would have on the excitement of the competition. For years, the single-elimination, 64-player format provided a thrilling prospect on the opening Wednesday: top players in the world could find themselves on a flight back home that evening. Just ask Tiger Woods, who in 2002 dropped his opening match to unheralded Aussie Peter O'Malley, 2&1. The pool play format guaranteed everyone in the field would play for at least three days, with the top performers from each group advancing to the Round of 16. While every match still has value, a pool play loss wasn't a week-ender: 27.5% of players to advance out of pool play since 2015 have lost one match. While some long-time fans of the event may still long for the madness of that win-or-go-home Wednesday, the early returns on pool play actually say the new format have made the results more democratic, seed-wise. The average seed of a player to advance to the Round of 16 is almost identical under the new format. From 2010-2014, that number was 28.6. Since the beginning of pool play, that number is 28.9. LOW SEEDS ADVANCING In each of the four years this tournament has been held at Austin Country Club, at least one player seeded 50th or lower has made it to the quarterfinals. In 2019, two players did it - Lucas Bjerregaard (50th) and Kevin Na (57th). Four players in the pool play era (since 2015) have been seeded 60th or lower and made the Round of 16. Charles Howell III has made the Round of 16 twice since 2017 when seeded 59th or worse entering the week. When filling out your bracket, consider this: 17% of the players to move on from pool play at Austin Country Club have come from the "D" group - or the players seeded 49 through 64. In 2019, three players seeded outside the top-40 made it to the quarterfinals, while just one of the top-10 seeds - Tiger Woods - joined them there. Each of the last two winners here - Bubba Watson in 2018 and Kevin Kisner in 2019 - beat at least 5 players seeded higher than they were on their way to victory. SITUATIONAL STATS A hot start is paramount in match play. And while colloquially, ‘momentum' is a word fans will frequently hear this week, the numbers bear out that getting a lead is a big advantage at Austin Country Club. Over the last two years, more than 73% of players who held the lead at the turn went on to win their match. More than 80% of those players would either win or earn a halve. In that span, there have been 52 instances where a player was 3-down or more through 9 holes. Not a single player came back to win in those situations. Trailing 1- or 2-down is a bit less dire, but still not a place to be: players 1-down at the turn went on to win 22.4% of the time in 2018 and 2019 at this event. Players 2-down went on to win 19.1% of the time. A lead after 13 holes is even more significant. Over the last 2 years, only 7.5% of players who trailed after 13 have come back to win their match. In 2019, no player came back from more than 1 down through 13 holes to win the entire week. ONE AND NOT DONE Since pool play began in 2015, more than one-quarter of players to move on out of pool play dropped a match (27.5%). Seven times since 2016, a player has lost his opening match of the week and still moved on to the Round of 16 - including Kevin Kisner, the tournament winner two years ago. So while it's possible to move on with a dropped match, the price is still enormous. Of the 80 players to advance beyond pool play since 2015, 63 won their first match of the week (78.8%). 70 of those 80 players either won or halved their opening match. While Fridays under the new format have received a bit of a bad reputation because several players are already mathematically eliminated by that point, consider this: only five players have lost their third match of the week and moved on to the Round of 16 - or less than 7%. In 2019, 44 of the 64 players in the field still mathematically had a chance to move on entering the final day of pool play.

Click here to read the full article…