By Bryan Douglass
June 3, 2008 1:16pm CDT

- Getting In If you follow golf on any level, you love the major tourneys, and that would mean you might just understand why (a) golfers left the Memorial on Sunday and spent more time talking about the next day's qualifying tourneys to get into the U.S. Open, and (b) why this week's Stanford St. June tourney doesn't make as much noise as a field of this magnitude might normally make.

Pat Perez told reporters he cared more about qualifying for a visit to Torrey Pines than the win at the Memorial (think Jack appreciated hearing that?).

The truth is that these qualifying rounds, a round of 13 qualifying tourneys held throughout the country (including one in Europe) that are visited by bigger names than you might guess, are as challenging and competitive as these golfers might have seen since they tripped through Q School. The vast majority of the PGA was on hand, players and personnel, at the Columbus sectional, held in the same town as this week's Memorial and starting at an ungodly time of the morning to insure all participants got through in a day (which didn't happen as several rounds will be completed on Tuesday).

This particular tourney was played on two courses, putting golfers through a morning and afternoon round. The AM holes were held on the Brookside course while the links at the Ohio State Scarlet Course served as the host for the PM battles.

Among the names able to score low and get through with tickets to Torrey Pines was Davis Love III, starting a new string of major appearances after his string of 70 straight was broken by failing to qualify for The Masters. Love shot 72 in the AM but rebounded with a 5-under 66 in the afternoon, one of 23 players to make the field through those qualifying opportunities (rounds that included a daunting 11-man playoff in the afternoon to decide the final seven spots).

Other names of note that took this route to Torrey Pines: Chad Campbell, Ben Crane, Nick Watney, Dean Wilson, Rocco Mediate, Joe Ogilvie, Bart Bryant (posting the second best combined score of the day), the formerly-mentioned Pat Perez, and the top man on the day, Carl Pettersson.

However, more shocking may be the one name of note that will not be an attendance: Freddie Couples. This has been an up-and-down season for Couples as he missed his first cut in decades at Augusta and now will be absent from the field at Torrey Pines. Coming into the qualifier, Couples had hinted that this season may be his last in taking this particular path towards the U.S. Open, the favorite major for many American golfers like Couples, and after shooting 69 at Brookside followed by a 72 on the Scrarlet to finish out of field by two shots, Couples failed to submit a signed scorecard and was disqualified.

Unfortunately, that says it all.

Other names of note not making the cut: Tom Lehman, Chris DiMarco, Paul Goydos, Steve Elkington, Brad Faxon, Kevin Sutherland, Billy Andrade, and Bill Haas.

Across the country, other PGA professionals were qualifying as well, including John Merrick, Brett Quigley, Jason Bohn, Mark O'Meara, Rich Beem, Matt Kuchar, D.J. Trahan, Jason Gore (a shock for those that have tracked his play of late), and the man we'll mention as our Hot Hand of the week.


~ Hot Hands ~
- Mathew Goggin
I will admit that I was brought to attention when I turned on the tube on Sunday and found Mathew Goggin in front of me, battling to get in contention for the win at the Memorial. I had let him slip through the cracks after a rough and inconsistent start to the season. As a fantasy golf enthusiast, there is nothing I dread more than a lack of consistency, for missed cuts are more damaging than any other outcome available.

However, upon further review, I believe it may be time to evolve my views of his progress. The veteran from the big island suddenly stands at #47 on the PGA Money Leaders list, and we are nearing the mid-point of the season. Take a look at his seven weeks of performance and you'll see how he rose to such stature.

Through his first four starts of the season, Goggin had gone T35 at the Bob Hope, missed cut at the FBR Open (that was worrisome), T43 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and a worrisome T68 at the Northern Trust. There was a sign of hope with a T7 at the Honda Classic, followed by a T14 at the PODS, but then another missed cut at the Arnold Palmer laid that momentum to rest, a move that was all but killed with a T50 at the Zurich Classic.

That brings us to the rise in question. After two missed cuts and just one top 10 after eight tourneys, Goggin regrouped and got his swing in order. He went out the next week and finished T20 at the Shell Houston Open, blowing a shot at a larger check with a 74 on Sunday. He took that and finished T17 at the Verizon two weeks later. Then, a T19 at the Byron Nelson, a strong outing against a strong field, and the momentum was back and building once more.

Goggin then hit the Wachovia Championship, one of the most competitive fields on the Tour, and finished in the top 20 once more, hitting 68 on the final day to come in at T20. That gave him four consecutive top-20 finishes.

The next two weeks appeared to be headed in the wrong direction, missing the cut at THE PLAYER with a T46 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational. However, the rise at the Memorial, finished in 2nd place despite a 74 on Sunday, and the ability to rise in qualifying for the U.S. Open shows Goggin is on pace to continue a surge and work as a viable fantasy candidate.

~ Cold Feet ~
- Chad Campbell
We listed Campbell as one of several PGA members qualifying for the U.S. Open on Monday, but unlike Goggin, that may be viewed as a negative in reviewing Campbell's work.

It wasn't that long ago that Campbell was working as one of the greats on the Tour. He was competing on a weekly basis, the top finishes came much more often than not, and it appeared he was well on his way to becoming a regular at the majors of the season.

Instead, Campbell is becoming that guy that never realized his full potential. They say there is a fine line between grinding out a life on the PGA Tour and getting by with less than your best. It might be fair to ponder which side of that line Campbell is living, for we know the talent is there to shine. Review his PGA swing stats and it's undeniable: 283.2 yards per drive with 65.1% accuracy (a 62 Total Driving rating, 48th on the Tour), 66.4% of greens in regulation (20th on Tour), 1.756 putts per green (17th on Tour). Those numbers alone should put Campbell in contention on a weekly basis.

To be fair, there are still flashes of that ability, including some that have come in recent memory. Campbell started with a T12 at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, followed by a T10 at the Sony Open. He also registered a T11 at the Northern Trust, a T20 at the Honda Classic, and T21 at the Arnold Palmer. Through the first eight weeks of the season, Campbell touted just one missed cut (the FBR Open) and four top-20 finishes. He was a regular in our Weekly Rankings and I actually started to ponder if a rise to a major championship was conceivable.

Since then, Campbell has floundered. In his last seven PGA starts, Campbell has suffered a whopping five missed cuts. His only two finishes have been impressive, including a 2nd-place finish at the Shell Houston Open (hoping to qualify for The Masters, and coming oh so close) and a T10 at THE PLAYERS. The first showed Campbell has the heart to play and excel when it is all on the line, the second showing he has the swing to compete with the big boys.

The missed cuts that dominate the starts around those finishes show that he may have more going on than a simple struggle to get the ball where he wants it.


- FedEx Cup Standings
RANK PLAYER POINTS
1 Tiger Woods 17,745
2 Phil Mickelson 15,617
3 Ryuji Imada 10,531
4 Kenny Perry 10,442
5 Stewart Cink 10,058
6 Geoff Ogilvy 9,2973
7 Anthony Kim 8,868
8 Vijay Singh 8,652
9 Boo Weekley 8,084
10 K.J. Choi 7,934


- US Ryder Cup Point Standings
RANK PLAYER POINTS
1 Tiger Woods 8,665.627
2 Phil Mickelson 4,244.570
3 Stewart Cink 3,581.747
4 Jim Furyk 3,117.386
5 Kenny Perry 2.488.655
6 Boo Weekley 2.232.792
7 Anthony Kim 2,216.806
8 Zach Johnson 2,046.291
9 Steve Stricker 1,991.120
10 J.B. Holmes 1,964.139


- PGA Money Leaders
PLAYER EVENTS EARNINGS
Tiger Woods 5 $4,425,000
Phil Mickelson 13 $3,872,270
Geoff Ogilvy 13 $2,584,685
Stewart Cink 13 $2,516,512
Kenny Perry 15 $2,437,655
Ryuji Imada 14 $2,336,647
Vijay Singh 12 $2,182,017
Anthony Kim 12 $2,115,370
Sergio Garcia 10 $2,073,690
Jeff Quinney 16 $1,916,623


- Official World Golf Rankings
PLAYER EVENTS AVG PTS
Tiger Woods 40 19.82
Phil Mickelson 45 10.13
Adam Scott 49 5.86
Ernie Els 56 5.84
Geoff Ogilvy 47 5.59
Justin Rose 48 5.42
Steve Stricker 47 5.31
Jim Furyk 51 5.21
K.J. Choi 57 5.17
Vijay Singh 60 5.15


- World Money List
PLAYER EVENTS EARNINGS
Tiger Woods 6 $4,846,717
Phil Mickelson 13 $3,872,270
Geoff Ogilvy 13 $2,584,685
Stewart Cink 13 $2,516,512
Kenny Perry 15 $2,437,655
Ryuji Imada 14 $2,336,647
Anthony Kim 13 $2,227,095
Vijay Singh 13 $2,201,793
Adam Scott 11 $2,193,189
Sergio Garcia 12 $2,158,422