Funny how the world keeps rotating on its axis while I'm busy with real life. So, shall we clear the decks before the first tee ball is in the air at Hoylake?
PR for Dummies - We had some fun with Jessica Korda last evening, which I hope didn't come across as in any way mean-spirited. But the entire PGA Tour PR Department, up to and including Commissioner Ratched, should be forced to follow Jessica on Twitter to learn how to handle such a "disaster." Here's her tweet when she realized she had erred:
I especially like the blonde hashtag.
Now class, do you see what she did there? She laughed at her mistake and shared it with all her followers... Had this been a PGA Tour video, the Ponte Vedra suits would be claiming copyright violations and demanding that YouTube take down the offending video. Because, God Forbid, we can't have professional golfers going off-script and acting all human now, can we?
Ryder Redux - If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. then it might be a tough week in September at Gleneagles. Obviously the PGA of America was trying to shake things up by selecting Old Tom as captain, but he won't be hitting too many of the team's shots.
So, as previously discussed, Cap'n. Tom suggested that the players stop by Gleneagles to check out the course, and all of two players showed. Ewan Murray had this from Tom's presser:
Watson, meanwhile, insisted he hadn’t been perturbed by only two players – Keegan Bradleyand Jim Furyk – joining him to play the Ryder Cup course at Gleneagles at the weekend. He had reportedly extended an invitation to as many as 20. “Most of them were playing either at the John Deere [Classic], some of them the Scottish Open, some of them had other plans,” he said.
Shack helpfully translates those comments into English for us:
And after The Loop ran it through our translator:“I couldn’t ask 20 players in December because the list hadn't been there, really and frankly, I couldn’t have fathomed how lousy some of our stars and almost-stars would be playing. So I had to wait until a certain time, and I did it after the U.S. Open, started asking players, begging really, and boy do they make me beg, these kids today. And I didn't expect too many to be able to make it because, well, it’s very hard to travel these days with private jets and first class tickets to pick up for their in-laws. These guys have different plans, and frankly, different stock portfolios than I ever did. As I said, they played in a couple of different tournaments. It didn’t bother me. If you’re asking me that, it doesn’t bother me at all. No really, it doesn't bother me, not one bit. At all. Nada. Zilch. OK, maybe it was weird Patrick Reed said he was going to show and didn't.”
Yeah, I'm sure it doesn't bother him at all... Not gonna change until our guys get really pissed off at the losing, and we don't get that sense, do we?
Tom also addressed the Tiger issue, though there's really not much he can say. The issue is that after the Open Championship, Tiger has exactly two starts on his schedule, the Bridgestone and the PGA. There are other big-time tourneys before the Ryder Cup, but thanks to Nurse Ratched those are the FedEx Cup playoffs, and as of now Tiger isn't close to qualifying. So while Tom is looking to see Tiger on form, one typically needs to be able to tee it up to eliminate the rust.
I wonder if Tom is having second thoughts about the venture.
You Knew This Was Coming - Because the golf calendar isn't crowded enough, word comes that the PGA Tour, European Tour and PGA of America can't resist the temptation to create a Senior Ryder Cup. Word is that it will premiere next Fall in the U.S. with ten-man teams.
I like team formats as much as the next guy, and this will undoubtedly be far more interesting than Olympic Golf, but still... Maybe they'll show a sense of humor and sens them back to Kiawah?
Revolting Rio - I've got a nice stream of consciousness thing going, so while we're on Olympic Golf, it turns out that per ESPN, Rio had other things streaming during the World Cup:
Last year, she said, the water at Copacabana was safe for swimming only half the time, androughly the same at Ipanema, Leblon and Leme. In January, one of the busiest beach months, only two days at the famous Ipanema were safe.
"Because of fecal matter," she said.
Every second in Rio, she said, 4,700 gallons of sewage spills into the ocean. Up and down the coast, open pipes along the beach just dump the waste right into the water, and on bad days, locals call the visible stain of human waste the "black tongue." The amount of feces in the water, she said, is 195 times what the U.S. considers acceptable, and 78 times what Brazil considers acceptable, and while this is profoundly disgusting -- Leona stopped swimming when she learned the numbers -- it is also cosmically perfect. There is the Rio that visitors see, whether swimming in the water or watching a soccer tournament on television, and then the real Rio, beautiful but flawed, hiding in the cliché.
Just lovely... But remember, these are the people to whom we've entrusted the future of our game. As for the course (and unlike Shack I'll refrain from any reference to the source of water for irrigation), it might be ready:
Peter Dawson, the president of the IGF, admitted to a “tight” schedule on the course’s construction. Dawson also refused to rule out golf being pulled from the Games. “I don’t think we’re in any more danger of that than any other sport,” he said.
“I think the whole Rio construction project has been looked at very hard by the IOC. It’s having to be accelerated. And I wouldn’t want to single out golf as the most vulnerable in that process, nor am I here announcing that any other sport is vulnerable.
Well, that certainly clears things up. There's talk of contingency plans, but God only knows what they might mean.
Things We Missed - I saw very little of the U.S. Senior Open, but Alex Myers had this item that I liked:
It's not often that a golfer turns 50 the day before the U.S. Senior Open. It's more rare when that event just happens to be at the site where you had arguably your best week ever (winning the 1984 U.S. Amateur). But (Scott) Verplank didn't take advantage, shooting a pair of 75s in his Champions Tour debut and missing the cut. After one final bad drive on Friday, he gave his driver to a kid in the crowd."I asked him if he was a golfer and he said he was so I gave him my driver. He will hit it better than I will.
Thanks Scott, we love a player with a sense of humor, especially when things are going south.
BFF Update - We strive to keep you current on the status of formerr Ulster BFF's Rory and Graeme. While Rory says it's awkward but not, you know, too awkward, Graeme takes a different tack:
"It's been a strain on our relationship, no doubt about it. We're not the same as we used to be,"conceded McDowell.
And the Portrush man added: "Until the legal proceedings are over and done with, there's always going to be that little bit of tension in the air."
I'm guessing it's more than a little awkward between them, though there wasn't much evidence of it during their pairing in the early rounds at Pinehurst.
With his win at the French Open, McDowell has himself back in the Ryder Cup mix, and seems a likely candidate for a McGinley Captain's pick if he doesn't qualify on point. Question is, will the two Ulstermen be paired in the four-ball and foursomes?
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