Thursday, October 15, 2015

Thursday Thoughts

It's opening day for the PGA Tour's 2015-16 Wraparound Season, and I simply can't wait for the first Golf Channel graphic with projected FedEx Cup standings.  Hey, I'm only human...

Dot's All, Folks - Doug Ferguson informs that the Dotster found a chair when the music stopped:
CBS Sports filled a big void on its golf broadcasting team Wednesday by hiring Dottie Pepper, giving the network that covers the most PGA Tour events its first female voice.

She replaces David Feherty, who left CBS to join NBC Sports. 
That doesn’t make her the next Feherty.
Who among us is?  She actually gets bonus points for acknowledging to the CBS brass that she's not funny, and w elike those with a measure of self-awareness.

As noted previously, I think she's very good at her craft and the best of the ESPN gang coming onto the market, so a good move by CBS.  As an added benefit, she'll presumably not be on ABC's one-ff coverage of the LPGA season-ending event, liklely a good thing considering her gratuitous trashing of the 2013 U.S. Solheim Cup team (you remember, too much focus on manicures and the like).

But see if you enjoy this bit of pretzel logic as much as I:
“We didn’t hire Dottie because she’s a woman,” McManus said. “We had been considering for a long time adding a woman to our crew, and this turned out to be perfect.”
Sean, why so defensive?

Chambleeing Out - Just when I thought I was out.... I thought we were done with the Prez Cup, but Brandel's comments turn out to have legs....

 First, Tiger and Phil get some love from Captains past and future:
“If you’ve been paying attention to the last few Ryder Cups or Presidents Cups, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods have become respected leaders of this team,” Love said. “Whether you’re playing in Korea or Medinah, these guys have stepped up to the plate and been leaders. So now the players respect them, they look to them for leadership and they’re expecting that in the future.”
OK, but to me that seems more applicable to Phil than Tiger....

Next Jaime Diaz addresses the jury, though I noticed Juror No. 9 rolling his eyes at the header that speaks of several captaincies....in fact, his facial expressions reminded me of Hunter Mahan's from the famous Gleneagles presser.
Of course, they would be. And should be. 
Why? It’s simple. Because they are Tiger and Phil. On that basis alone, they each – to use the verb of the moment - “deserve” the jobs. 
They are icons. Players of all ages remain in awe of their records. In the end, peers know better than anyone the full extent of a player’s accomplishments, and on that most important basis, Woods and Mickelson command immense respect. It’s always an honor to make a team. But playing on the first team captained by Tiger or Phil would be a special honor – and a motivator.
 Yes, they're Tiger and Phil, though Brandel's response is that this is also Tiger and Phil:

If u want 2 know why I questioned the passion of Tiger&Phil @the Ryder Cup.Is there another explanation?I'm all ears


Matt Ginella, playing co-counsel, posted this to Instagram:

matt_ginellaWhen Justin Leonard made The Putt at Brookline in '99, hard to say Tiger (leaping, top right) and Phil (lower left), didn't show "interest or passion" in the Ryder Cup. They'll both be captains.

Funny how we react differently to the same image...Matt sees unbridled enthusiams, whareas your humble correspondent's reaction is to note that that 1999 photo is the last winning Ryder Cup team for our Tiger.  I do hope he saved the shirt, though....

I think Brandel erred in lumping the two together, because their situations couldn't be more different.  The case against Tiger would be that he was never comfortable in the event, and I'm surprised that no one has exhumed his comments before the Cup at the K Club, to with that the $1 million large on offer in the WGC event the preceding week was more important to him.

Now I don't remember any serious allegations against Phil that he lacked motivation, though he certainly hasn't played well.  The case against him is the shiv he stuck in Watson's back at that presser, and the powers that be have forgiven him... I'll continue to beat this drum because I'm not so good at the Moving on thing, but I can't wait to see the pod system he implements in his captaincy or, heaven forbid, captaincies...

There's much speculation of interest in the Diaz piece as to the type of captains they'll be, though as much as I love Jaime, I need to call BS on this closing graph:
And let’s not forget, both Woods and Mickelson have been closely involved with the ongoing machinations of the task force. That alone shows a degree of passion. They have each have demonstrated they care more now than ever about team competitions, and along with their innate qualifications, that’s more than enough to serve multiple stints as captains.
Jaime, they called in once by speakerphone...

I know you wouldn't want to miss this:


As they say, what happens in Incheon stays in Incheon.

Gambling in Casablanca - You'll be as shocked as I was by this:
Reigning NCAA champion Bryson DeChambeau told GolfChannel.com on Tuesday night that he is leaving the SMU men's golf team and will focus on preparing for the Masters. 
"To best prepare myself for the next six months of competition and future events, I felt it was appropriate to make this decision now to be fair to my coaches and team," he said.
Well played, NCAA.  You've driven an interesting and worthy champion that did absolutely nothing wrong out of the college game....  

Deer Me - Shack calls it The Spat at Spyglass, which is better than I could come up with.  There's a Par 3 at Spyglass (sorry, too long ago to remember the hole number) populated by deer.  Here's one of my photos from my visit:


A golfer caught this fun video of these deer:

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