Tuesday Trifles

It's a perfect golf blogging day.  Lots to discuss, none of which matters a damn....

There's Got To Be a Morning After - Perhaps these folks should have moved on by now?  

It has been a month since the U.S. was blown out by Europe in the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National outside Paris, and with the passage of time, a broader question still remains:

What does it mean for the Americans going forward? 

Almost immediately after the seven-point drubbing in France, the leadership within the U.S. team room started dissecting what went wrong—on the course and off it—according to assistant captain Davis Love III. That conversation hasn’t stopped in the ensuing weeks, either, with a series of debriefings taking place and a string of ongoing text messages exchanged.

Text messages?  Wow, these guys are really committed....  Have they figured out what went wrong with the pods?

These guys are all about accountability, though, as this quote has been making the rounds:

“I dropped the ball on two or three things that could have helped, and I apologized to Jim,” Love told Golf Digest last week. “I should have seen some of those things coming.”

Now, whatever could he mean by that?  I'll defer to Shack's educated guesses:

Not obtaining Justine Reed’s Twitter and Facebook passwords and changing them? 

Too much Polo in the uniforms? 

An imbalance of plain, almond and chocolate croissants in the team room?

I told you we've been overthinking things.  On the croissant issue, just see what the Euros order and make it two...But the actual answer might be even sillier:

That’s overstating things a bit, but one of the responsibilities of Love, a veteran of eight

Ryder Cups including his captaincy in 2012 and 2016, was letting Patrick Reed know that he wouldn’t be playing with Jordan Spieth, whom he’d compiled a 4-1-2 record with in two previous Ryder Cups. 

Love informed Reed during the week that he would be paired with Tiger Woods, and Reed was indeed aware of that likelihood before the team even crossed the Atlantic.

But somehow it got lost on Reed, and the frustration of losing boiled over in his post-match comments to the New York Times in which he said he felt blindsided and called the decision-making process a “buddy system” that ignored the input of all but a few players. Since that story, Furyk and others have spoken to Reed to try and clear the air, among other conversations that have taken place.

Gee, it seems to me that Patrick was informed sufficiently timely that he would get to play with his hero, so I'm hard-pressed to see what the issue is...  It might just be that one of our guys is an a******e, which wouldn't be the first.

While the Americans lost by a larger margin in France than in Scotland, don’t expect a back-to-the-drawing-board rebuild like we saw four years ago. The differences between then and now are significant. For one, Mickelson served as the voice of an entire team that had grown frustrated under Watson’s captaincy; for another, the makeup of the

players who will be part of U.S. teams for the foreseeable future, and the culture between that group and future captains and assistants is more cohesive. And even with Reed’s rant, there have been plenty of teams with a lone wolf across all sports that found a way to be successful. 

“What we did after ’14 was create a sort of USA Basketball mentality,” said Love, referring to, among other things, a continuity in leadership as well as a higher level of commitment. “We’re in this for the long haul.” 

Added Stricker: “We didn’t see [Reed and Spieth not playing together] as an issue while we were there, and it’s unfortunate it came out the way it did. But Jim did an unbelievable job, and he was up front [with Reed and Tiger] and [Reed] handled it great at the time. But I don’t think it will be an issue going forward. I think going forward we’ll stay the track.”

Obviously he's not a disinterested party, as he's in line to get the home game captaincy.  But am I the only one to see a caution flag?

The U.S. won’t have to wait until the next Ryder Cup two years from now at Whistling Straits, when Stricker is expected to be the captain, to find out. In just over a year the Americans will travel to Australia to play the Presidents Cup. Many of the same players who were in France will be in Oz, and Woods will be the captain.

Though the U.S. has been wildly successful in that event against the International team compared to the Ryder Cup against Europe, losing just once in the 12 meetings, the message remains the same in the months leading up to it, according to Love. 

“We’ve done a massively better job communicating,” he said. “But we still have to get a lot better. My advice to Tiger: Keep ramping up the conversation.”

And the evidence that all this talking is actually useful is?  But just a couple of reminders....  First, that one loss in the Presidents Cup was where?  Not only is it an away game, but it's at an odd time on the calendar where the guys might not be at their sharpest.  Because, you know, these things do, as the wise man said, require twelve players....

Euro Doings - No word on their croissant strategies, but there's news on the Euro Tour schedule.  Amusingly, the https://www.geoffshackelford.com/homepage/2018/10/29/european-tour-thanks-for-nothing-franceFrench Open has been degraded a mere month after the venue is credited with securing a Ryder Cup massacre:

The Open de France loses its importance. It's official, the tournament will no longer

benefit from its status of "Rolex Series" next year. Moreover, it will not take place in June but in October, from 17 to 20. 

Title sponsor since 2017 for a period of at least three years plus two years in option, the Chinese tourism group HNA, entangled in serious financial problems, has failed the organizers several months ago. The replacement of Alstom had allowed the Open de France, oldest tournament in continental Europe, to integrate the eight "Rolex Series", the newly created category grouping the most prestigious competitions of the European circuit.

That's quite the bad translation, but we get the picture.  The date might not be quite as bad as it seems at first glance, as the Euro Tour is beefing up its Fall schedule in reaction to the U.S. Tour finishing before Labor Day.  

The bigger news is that the imperiled British Masters has landed safely, at least for 2019:

The European Tour unveiled its 2019 schedule with 47 events once again and a new fall finish anchored by the BMW Championship and followed by the Open de France’s move 

from May to October but losing Rolex Series status (au revoir!). 

Besides elevating the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship to Rolex Series status, the other headlining news is the last minute salvation of the the British Masters. Thought to be in danger, the event has landed the beautiful Hillside Golf Club next door to Royal Birkdale and Ryder Cup hero Tommy Fleetwood as host of the 2019 edition.

From first-hand experience I can assure you that Hillside is a gem.  It's back nine might be as good a nine holes as any in England, and Tommy Fleetwood is a Southport native.

Don't Know Much About History - The World Golf Hall of Fame has taken some body blows recently, as its current induction class was pretty lame.  But Geoff is just merciless in blogging this interview:

Not only must the golf world at large continue to ignore the World Golf Hall of Fame as they have so well in recent years—down to inductees passing on there ceremony when they are in the same zip code—but now there may need to be questions about the legitimacy of the entire World Golf Foundation after its CEO admitted on the record that he Hall is a popularity contest for the selection committee.

So, what's got his dander up?  This comment by WGHOF CEO Steve Mona that he characterizes as a face palm:

“The Fame element is part of it. Some people were just more popular than others when they were on tour.”

OK, I'm thinking that use of the words "Fame" and "popular" will get a reaction, though we can all agree with this part of Mona's clarification:

“It’s not just strictly (based) on playing record,” he told Reuters.

Of course not, as Shack agrees:

In an unbylined Reuters piece, Steve Mona said eligibility is not strictly based on playing record, as it shouldn’t be—Captaincy’s, course designs, influence as a media member and other influencer intangibles should help push some over the finish line.

 The current class is obviously lame, and I'd hope that the Hall recognizes that in its self-reflection.  If you can't up with a stronger player on the merits than Retief Goosen, something has gone woefully wrong.  The bigger issue to me is the failure to enshrine Peggy while the old girl was still with us....  If you want folks to pay attention, that's an important means towards that end.

But everyone is still agonizing over those three same names, Weiskopf, Lema and Macdonald Smith.  Though I think we can all agree that Bill Mallon characterization takes the prize for tone deafness:

“I think both Weiskopf and Lema are two marginal candidates, although both are two of my favorite players,” Mallon told Reuters. 

“Of the two, I think Weiskopf has a better resume for inclusion but that is certainly only because of the plane crash (that killed Lema). Not sure how the voters would figure that in.”

Yeah, i can't imagine what he was thinking....  Didn't he realize how confusing it would be for the voters?

Mikie Bams, Unplugged -  I've taken issue with a couple of recent offerings from the man, so I'm happy to link to some of his better work.  His latest Seven Things offering is all over the place, but I do like this:

7. 4 FOR PHIL 

Last week I wrote about the pleasures of playing in a four-club event. That short commentary elicited this interesting note from reader Michael Sullivan: “I read your article where you talked about the four-club format. I think it would be crazy interesting to see Tour pros manufacturing and improvising shots with only four clubs to choose from. In fact, I think the Tiger vs. Phil event would actually be worth watching if it was played with only four clubs. I think it would be an advantage for Tiger, as Phil would probably forsake his extreme lob wedges. But who knows?” Exactly! You have to make a whole series of decisions before you get to the first tee, and then on the course all bets are off. I’m with Mr. Sullivan. If Phil and Tiger each had four clubs at their Thanksgiving pay-per-view thing, I’d pay to view.

That would be so cool.....  Shotmaking has become a lost art, but this would bring it out in spades.  Forget the $9 million of OPM, this would take them out of their comfort zone, which is precisely why they would never do it.

And this:

1. MERION: ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING 

The worst-keep secret in Far Hills, N.J., is the very likely venue for the 2030 U.S. Open: the Merion Golf Club. The blazers there love the restoration work Gil Hanse (a club member) is doing and has done there. (The course has been closed for almost a year.) The 2030 Open will mark the 100th anniversary of Bobby Jones winning the Grand Slam, which he did by winning the British Amateur, the British Open, the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur at Merion. I only hope that in 2030, the USGA will allow the golfers to really play the course as it was intended to be played, which was not the case in 2013, with crazy-narrow fairways and a cumbersome start. ALL play should begin on the first tee, the players should use the member parking lot and the clubhouse and the member driving range. If the field has to be smaller, or ticket sales limited, to make that possible, it should be done. As John Lennon once wrote, You may say I’m a dreamer/but I’m not the only one. The goal is to let the world see Merion. Let the people see Merion.

Screw that, how about letting ME see Merion....  But Mike is a Philly guy, and I do agree with him, though with a non-trivial caveat.  In 2030, Cameron Champ will no doubt be a short-hitter (or retired), so I'm not exactly sure how this will work out....   

Is Gerry McIlroy Involved? - This header caught my eye:

Irish bettor turns €10 wager into more than €10,000 with ridiculous parlay win

Hmmm.... 

In golf, picking a winner from a full field of players is more than hard enough. Picking two winners in the same day—in the same bet? That’s nearly unheard of. But one bettor

from County Mayo, Ireland scored big on Sunday when his two-player parlay cashed in for a five-figure win. 

BoyleSports, Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker, announced on Monday that a customer, who wished to remain anonymous, had placed a 10-euro bet that required two winners: Xander Schauffele at the WGC-HSBC Champions as well asCameron Champ to win the Sanderson Farms. That didn’t mean one or the other could win; both needed to for a full cash-out. 

Schauffele looked like a longshot with just two holes to play, but birdied 17 and 18 to force a playoff with Tony Finau. He birdied the first playoff hole to hoist the trophy. That meant the savvy Irish punter just needed the 23-year-old Champ to hold onto a four-shot lead in Mississippi.

If he's from County Mayo, he can use the money....  It's where Employee No. 2's Mom was born, and is the poorest county in an extremely poor country.

That said, Even McIlroy pere isn't putting money at risk on his kid these days....

 I'll leave you there, with a warning that tomorrow's temps are expected to be in the high 60's.  You know that that might mean, especially as our greens are scheduled to be punched the following week.