Unplayable Lies: Thursday Threads

An odd mix of items for you today, delayed by a great day of golf at The Stanwich Club.

The PGA Supercut - Quadrophenia Version - And you thought we were done rehashing the PGA? Oh you sweet, innocent fools...it's a guy named Michael David Murphy that prepares these, and he's quite outdone himself this time, a quad version covering all four of the primary protagonists.

Do give it a look, as it really grabs you, and offers a handy rebuttal the next time someone says golf is too slow. For those of you old enough to remember it, the opening announcements reminds me of nothing so much as the start of Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!... or maybe that's just a flashback. In any event, enjoy:

Ryder Ruminations - Everyone has advice for the Captains, not that they're exactly asking for it. We'll deal with the Euros first, and please bear in mind that their points race has not yet concluded. Welshman Jamie Donaldson grabbed a spot on the squad with his win last week at the Czech Masters, and conversation this week will focus on Stephen Gallacher, who can dislodge Graeme McDowell from the last qualification slot with a win or second place this week in Italy.

Since an opening round 72 has the Scot T66, we'll assume that is not to be. That will leave matters in the hands of Paul McGinley, who will announce his three picks at 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday. An unbylined piece on the European Tour website tees up the issue this way:

“This is the last lap of qualifying for The Ryder Cup and from the World Points angle this

Paul McGinley

tournament could make a contribution,” said the Irishman who is at Circolo Golf Torino this week to also compete himself after a number of weeks on the sidelines nursing a shoulder injury. All eyes will be on Stephen Gallacher, the Scot needing to finish in the top two to force his way past Graeme McDowell into the final qualifying place, but the likes of Joost Luiten and Francesco Molinari will be among those hoping to impress McGinley in this final week as he weighs up his wild card options.

They may be in the field, but the Joost Luiten ship has sailed, and I find Molinari to be only slightly more improbable.

Alistair Tait says that the conventional wisdom points towards grizzled veterans:

Conventional wisdom says European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley would pick Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald if he had to make his three wild-card picks right now. As weave seen in the past, though, conventional wisdom sometimes flies out the window when it comes to Ryder Cup picks.

But he also gives us the counter-point logic:

Stephen Gallacher

However, McGinley will be somewhat torn. A part of him will want to reward the commitment shown by Stephen Gallacher, who is 11th on the Ryder Cup table.

Gallacher can seal his place with a win or second-place finish in this week’s Italian Open. Should he fail in that attempt, then he will have to rely on McGinley for a wild-card choice.

Gallacher has something else going in his favor. He’s Scottish, and McGinley would love to have at least one home player on the team he takes to the heart of Scotland.

If your curious about that "commitment" referenced in the excerpt above, here' s the issue fleshed-out:

What some commentators might not be taking into consideration is McGinley’s European Tour loyalty. He’s an establishment figure, serving on the European Tour’s tournament committee for many years. He will feel honor-bound to choose a player like Gallacher who’s fully committed to the European Tour.

There is precedence for selecting Gallacher over a more obvious candidate. It’s only 14 years since Mark James chose Andrew Coltart over Bernhard Langer for the 1999 match. Although it remains one of the oddest choices ever made by a European captain, James picked Coltart partly because he wanted to reward European Tour loyalty. Like McGinley, James was part of the European Tour’s fabric, serving as tournament committee chairman.

My guess is that Poulter is a lock and that Donald is also on the team. I think it comes down to a choice between Westwood and Gallacher, a pair that would seem comparable except for the fact that Lee Westwood hasn't done much this year. But then Jason Sobel gave us this:

Outside of the top 100 on the FedEx Cup points list after finishing at The Barclays, Lee

Westwood won’t advance to next week’s Deutsche Bank Championship and beyond.

When asked his imminent schedule, he was either a bit presumptuous or knows something the rest of us don’t.

“Off until the Ryder Cup,” he said. “After that, I don’t know.”

Has McGinley been whispering sweet nothings into Lee's ear? Stay tuned...

We've gone long discussing the Euros, so I'll be brief as regards the Yanks. I believe that Keegan Bradley and Hunter Mahan will be chosen by Watson, and in this piece Luke Kerr-Dineen is on the same wavelength. Luke uses his piece to list the qualifications of five players for that last pick, the catch being that he provides them blind. It's immediately obvious to the reader that they are completely interchangeable as far as metrics are concerned, good players with successful careers but, in the immortal words of Sneedeker, eight-time major champions are ineligible. So the Captain will pick based upon a metric known only to him, though a good showing in Boston this week will not hurt.

With a gun to my head I'd guess Snedeker, because they have a good relationship and good putters are never a bad idea.

Advice for Potus - I had my fun with Obama's golf wars, and am inclined to steer clear of that subject for a bit...unless I can't. Thanks to Shackelford for catching this John Feinstein rant:

But here's a tip to the White House media office. Never, never again let the president be photographed in a golf cart. What is the wussiest item in all of sports? A golf cart — that electric chaise lounge. A movable divan. Could you ever picture Vladimir Putin in a golf cart? You think Angela Merkel poses in a golf cart? In a pig's eye.

I'm unclear as to why John thinks images such as the one above won't put the fear of God into Vlad the Impaler. But thanks for the rant, John.

Memory Lane - Golf.com has a slideshow of great pics of Tour players before (some way before) they made it big, and it's got some gems. I'll skip the pic of the Rotund Rory and Rickie from the 2007 Walker Cup, but see how you like these: