Midweek Musings

A day late on those musings, but that just means they've aged properly.

Easy Pickings, Part I - Oh, the drama....  

Most years, there is some suspense when the Ryder Cup captains announce their choices to round out their rosters. Not so this time—especially on the American side. 

When Jim Furyk formally named his first three picks on Tuesday, there was about as

much suspense as there is on the day the Electoral College formally elects a President. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau were 100 percent locks. If there was such a thing mathematically as 110 percent, they would have been 110 percent locks. 

Going a step further, there’s really no suspense about who Furyk will name with his fourth choice next Monday when he makes his so-called “Billy Horschel pick.” This is the delayed decision created by the Ryder Cup Task Force—now known, if you’re scoring at home, as the Ryder Cup Committee—after Horschel won the last two playoff events in 2014 after Tom Watson had made his selections. Horschel, $10 million FedEx Cup bonus in hand after a clinching victory at the Tour Championship, got a call from Watson to both congratulate and console him. 

“Billy, you’re a day late,” Watson said. “But you certainly aren’t a dollar short.”

How crazy is it that people still pine for Billy Horschel?  I mean, what's the utility of a "Billy Horschel pick" if it results in having Billy Horschel on your team?

Perhaps the only surprise was the announcement of the three additional Vice Captains, or cart drivers per Shack, who has good fun going all Mark Broadie on them in this post.  He attributes David Duval's selection to an on air spat with Brandel Chamblee, though this linked item doesn't provide much background:

How the death of Arnold Palmer on the eve of Ryder Cup week impacted the event. How 

an on-air verbal battle between Golf Channel analysts Brandel Chamblee and David Duval lit a fire under the U.S. team. Why Love screened calls from assistant captain Tiger Woods. Why Phil Mickelson said his favorite moment from the week was Jordan Spieth’s speech to the team. 

And how a dirty joke told by Woods calmed Patrick Reed before his epic singles match against McIlroy. And how Reed almost broke Spieth’s hand.

I don't remember any of that, but Duval had been a non-person in Ryder Cup circles ever since his outspoken demand for allowing the players to select charities for some of the riches this event generates.  

But I think we can all agree that this is way TMI:

“I do remember vividly Davis saying, ‘At least we gave you a happy ending,’” Feinstein said.

Hey, what happens in the team room....

Mike Bamberger calls the proceedings "giddy", which certainly didn't translate through the medium of TV.  But this triumphalism, no doubt from his colleague Alan Shipnuck, seems premature at best:

For reasons not immediately apparent — nothing to do with drink — Tiger and Phil had a giggle-fest when they stood almost shoulder-to-shoulder to do a joint standup for one

of the broadcast outlets after the formal announcements were over. We’ll all be seeing a lot those two in Paris, although not, Furyk noted, twice a day on the Friday and Saturday of Ryder Cup play. Some of us will tune in to watch them go head-to-head on pay-per-view in Las Vegas, $9 million to the winner. 

In any event, this is likely the best team Woods and Mickelson have ever been on together, with Spieth and Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson and maybe even Tony Finau. That prospect could have left them giddy. They’re in their 40s. They’re deep on the back nine of their careers.

Given that Tiger wasn't on those 2008 and 2016 teams, that leaves 1999 as the only time both played on a winning team.  But calling a team great before balls are in the air seems...... well, let's just say that it sounds like something we'd hear from Hal Sutton.

Easy Pickings, Part II -  Color me surprised by this:

Thomas Bjorn selects four wily veterans as European Ryder Cup captain’s picks

The European team roster for the 2018 Ryder Cup is officially set. On Wednesday, European captain Thomas Bjorn made his four captain’s picks for this year’s event at Le Golf National in France. Bjorn tapped veterans Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson to round out the European side. 

They will join the eight players who automatically qualified for the team on points: Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, and Thorbjorn Olesen. Olesen earned the final automatic spot following the tournaments last weekend.

Well, I've no quibble with the v-word, but two years ago we'd have considered Westwood and Kaymer to be wily, no?

Obviously Sergio is quite the gamble given his lack of form, the gamble being that the event itself will shake him up and get his juices flowing.  It's not a crazy notion, I just think he had better choices.

Monday I linked to this Shane Ryan piece, but only as relates to Yanks.  Here were his pre-announcement thoughts on The Bjorn Dilemma:

Ian Poulter: I wish people would memorize the adage “experience is only good if the

actual experience was actually good.” Poulter is the epitome of “good experience.” He’s one of the best Ryder Cup golfers ever, and I’d take him even if he were 60 and moving around on a rascal scooter. 

Henrik Stenson: In theory, you take Stenson if he’s healthy, pair him with Rose, and watch them ravage the Americans. But did you know Stenson went just 2-3 in 2016 at Hazeltine National? At 42, he’s the poster boy for “potentially diminishing returns” among Europe’s golden generation. It’s a question mark, and to me his inclusion hinges totally on his health. But if all signs are good, pick the man.

That first bit applies better to the U.S. Captain than anyone, but also to our fourtysomethings as well....   Henrik wa sa case, I think, of Bjorn being forced to decide early to allow him to take those two weeks off to get healthy.  

But these are the ones I wanted most to excerpt:

Rafa Cabrera-Bello: People are talking like he’s the odd man out, which is insane to me.

He’s steady with occasional flashes of greatness, and he went 2-0-1 at Hazeltine when his teammates were dropping like flies. He deserves a pick, and it shouldn’t be a debate. 

Sergio Garcia: No. No, no, no. Form has to matter a little, right? Sergio would be the ultimate mistake for Bjorn, and a bad sign that his thinking is mired in the past.

Hey, it's not like Sergio has a tendency to pout when he plays poorly....

But Shack makes an odd point in his post on the picks:

The greater concern for Europe should be what this says to younger players and those attempting to be loyal to the European Tour. 

Rafa logged 9 starts on the tour in 2018, not including World Golf Champioships and majors.

Another contender for the team, Matthew Fitpatrick, made 7 European Tour non-major/WGC starts but is leaving for the PGA Tour.

Wallace has made 18 non-major/WGC European Tour starts in 2018. Despite three wins, he was 13th on the European Tour points list. Perhaps his inconsistency this year, coupled with an MC at the French Open proved fatal. But he also birdied 7 of the last 8 holes in front of Bjorn at the Made in Denmark event, then won a four-man playoff in a last minute bid.

Meanwhile, Garcia has posted just 3 non-major/WGC European Tour starts in 2018 and several other numbers are not helping his cause.

While the Ryder Cup team should not be filled out by those loyal to the European Tour, the Bjorn decision could have ramifications into the future. 

Given the 2018 European team's emphasis on PGA Tour-based members and the strange point totals not benefitting European Tour play, the deck looks more stacked than ever against those loyal to Europe. Bjorn's pick could provide one more reason a European packs their bag and makes a go of things in America. Or, at the very least, give players a case to chase World Ranking points and money over loyalty to their home tour. Because it's clear Ryder Cup brownie points were not earned this year for showing loyalty to the European Tour.

Egads, Geoff, the only players 'showing loyalty" to the Euro Tour are those without playing privileges in the U.S.  They've gotten over it, so perhaps we should as well?

Ryan Lavner has this item, the premise of which is obvious:

Experience is overrated in Ryder Cup

It is, except when it isn't....

Lee Westwood in 2016 is an obvious example, though it's not like Darren Clarke had any viable alternatives.  I'd also add, as Geoff did as well, that I'd place a much higher weighting on experience in a road game.  

But the die is cast, with the exception of one last slot on the American team.  Now it's just a three week wait until hostilities begin.

What's It All About, Alfie? -  Jeff Ritter fires up the Waybac Machine to evaluate the history of captain's picks, including these highlights:

1987

Europe 15 – U.S. 13 

Europe – Captain Tony Jacklin

This is actually the 1989 Team.

Sandy Lyle (3-1)

Jose Maria Olazabal (3-2)

Ken Brown (0-2) 

Europe won back-to-back Cups, including this stunner in ’87 at Muirfield Village, which happened to be U.S. Captain Jack Nicklaus’s home course. You can almost hear the voices echoing from the U.S. locker room that Sunday night: “Hey, why don’t we start using captain’s picks, too?” In ’89, they would do just that.

GRADE: A-

The more things change....  We're still copying what the Euros do.

Alas, the race for worst captain's pick of all time isn't remotely competitive, though surprisingly did not come from Hal Sutton:

1995

Europe 14 ½ – U.S. 13 ½ 

Europe – Captain Bernard Gallacher

Nick Faldo (2-2)

Ian Woosnam (1-1-1) 

U.S. – Captain Lanny Wadkins

Fred Couples (2-1-1)

Curtis Strange (0-3) 

Strange was a controversial pick, as he hadn’t won on Tour since the ’89 U.S. Open at Oak Hill, which was also the venue for this Ryder Cup. He capped a nightmare week by losing the final three holes of his singles match to Faldo to cough up a costly point. Ouch. 

EUROPE GRADE: B-

U.S. GRADE: D-

He didn't just lose the last three holes, he handed them to Faldo on a silver platter.  Good fun and it'll jog your memory in many instances.

Aronimink -  The guys at No Laying Up have posted this video on the Gil Hanse-Jim Wagner restoration of the Donald Ross gem:

And Shack takes way too much pleasure in the club having dumped Fazio for Hanse's firm, but what a really good move.  

But can we stop with the linkage of the BMW to the long-deceased Western Open?  It's laugh-out-loud-funny with the move to Philly, which is not Western in any recognized sense.  Commissioner Ratched couldn't find a place in his schedule for the historic Western Open, so give it up guys, it's gone.

Millennials Will Dig It - As for the rest of mankind, I'm guessing this will be interesting for about 30 seconds:

Golfers in North Dakota will soon be able to get refreshments delivered during play from 

a drone. 

King’s Walk Golf Course in Grand Forks, N.D., will be delivering food and drink via a drone for a $3 service charge in about 10 minutes. The orders will be attached to the drone via a rope. 

“Wherever you are, you should be able to get what you want within a few minutes,” Yariv Bash, CEO of FlyTrex, the Israeli drone logistics startup operating the service, told CNNMoney. “Why wait?”

I hope the yahoos like a large head on their beer.....

News You Can Lose -  Travelin' Joe with some useless advice:

So, how best to proceed when your clubs go MIA? 

First, don’t panic. “Submit your claim without ranting. Most luggage is just delayed, not

lost,” says Gordon Dalgleish, president of PerryGolf, one of the industry’s leading custom travel service companies. “Follow the process described by the airline for tracking luggage. While tempting to call the airline/airport, that will change little. Most airlines update status online. Keep your receipts for all expenses as a result of the delay and be reasonable about costs.”

We're headed to Cabot Links next week and I have no confidence in Delta Airlines, so thank God Joe told me not to panic.

It's good that they typically do show up, because they'll screw you pretty well on reimbursement:

As long as you file notice of claim within 24 hours, the airline will reimburse you for the actual value of the lost property (less any applicable depreciation) determined by the documented original purchase price, so keep your receipts for whatever items filled your travel bag. For U.S. domestic flights, the maximum reimbursement is $3,500; for international flights, the figures are $9.07 per pound, up to $640 per bag, between destinations where the Warsaw Convention applies.

You can replace your clubs for $640, can't you?

But the real cost is being forced to play destination golf with rentals, and the recourse for that is not available in this lifetime.  So, thanks for nothing, Joe.  I'm thinking that I might as well panic now....

See y'all tomorrow.