We took a bit of time out from our swampland golf to add in a cold weather component, which only serves to make a fellow that much readier for ski season.
Malaysian Daze - Golf.com's 30-second guide is about all I have the stomach for:
Winner: Marc Leishman, by five (!) over Emiliano Grillo, Chesson Hadley and Bronson Burgoon.
Why it matters: Wins are wins. Leishman nabbed his first win of the 2018 calendar year. It will push him back into the top 20 of the world ranking.
How it played out: Leishman began the day in a three-way tie for first with Gary Woodland and Shubhankar Sharma….and he was the only one making birdies. Big Leish made birdie on four straight holes (nos. 2-5) to run out ahead of the others. Leish made just one bogey on the day (at 14), and cruised to a 5-shot victory. He added a birdie from 12 feet to cap it off on 18. Oh, and 26 under tied the tournament record.
I'll just have to take their word for the fact that it does matter...This side note is modestly cute:
Better yet, the win earns the 34-year-old Aussie an invite to the Tournament of Champions. Providential for Leishman, given he booked a trip to the Aloha State before his triumph in Malaysia.
“I was actually talking to my wife about that two weeks ago, and we booked flights to go back to Australia and had to book sort of return ones back to America, and I just booked them for Maui, thinking that I'll either be playing in the tournament or we'll go for a vacation there,” Leishman said. “Now I’ll be playing a golf tournament. I know (wife) Audrey will be very excited, as my kids will be.”
Today's pampered professionals can look a $75 change fee straight in the eye and not blink.... The Tour is now off to Korea, not that we'll be paying much attention.
A Ryder Cup Mash-Up - A few widely disparate stories, for which the Ryder Cup provides the connective tissue. First up, his Montyness with his unique perspective on the world:
In an interview with Reuters prior to this weekend’s SAS Championship, Montgomerie described how a “moral code” helped the European Ryder Cup teams he was a part of have success.
“I could be on to you all day about what goes on in the team room in the Ryder Cup and what’s been said and what hasn’t been said, but I would never ever breach that code to say anything,” Montgomerie said.
“Every captain’s made some odd decisions and whatever but it doesn’t really matter. You’re playing for the team and anything that goes on behind those closed doors should stay behind those closed doors. That’s our moral code anyway.”
A moral code? Remember that bit from The Usual Suspects about the devil's greatest feat being to convince us that he doesn't exist? I picture the Euros tittering over causing us to believe that they win because of their system.... As for the reference to odd decisions, would he be alluding to bizarrely leaving Paul Casey off that 2010 team, resulting in one of their better players opting for a decade in Siberia?
But Monty wasn't finished:
Phil Mickelson should have withdrawn his name from Ryder Cup consideration ratherthan taking part in a losing effort at Le Golf National last month, Colin Montgomerie said.“Possibly that would have been the thing to do for Phil, knowing the course set-up as well. Phil needs a more wide open course, as he’s said himself. The course should have been known by the captain and the players.”
By that logic, so should Sergio, no? Every struggling player thinks he's one swing away from finding it, but it's the captains that we expect to be the adults in the room. Let's take a player that hasn't found a fairway since the Carter administration, and by all means on a tight venue put that player out in foursomes, where the effect of every mistake is magnified... Sheesh!
This gent deserves his moment in the sun:
Thomas Bjorn had every reason to sing his own praises when he turned up for the $4 million Sky Sports British Masters at Walton Heath, his first return to golf sincemasterminding Europe’s 17.5-10.5 Ryder Cup victory at Le Golf National. That’s not Bjorn. He’s not one to gloat.
Bjorn stuck to the script he’d penned long before he assembled his 12 men on the outskirts of Paris to take on one of the strongest U.S. teams ever assembled: it wasn’t about him or any other individual, but the 12 players who formed the European team. And, as we’ve found out from nine European victories over the last 12 Ryder Cups, there is no “I” in team.
Take the Dane’s “controversial” decision to select Sergio Garcia as one of his wild-card picks. Bjorn was pilloried from all points – including this one – for picking the out of form Spaniard. If Bjorn had any reason to say “I told you so,” this was his opportunity. Instead, he took a dignified stance.
“I’m not one to sit there and say I told you so, because Sergio could have showed up and not won points,” Bjorn said. “He could have played well and lost matches. That happens in the Ryder Cup.
To be a genius in this case only required being smarter than Jim Furyk, a low bar indeed....
The Forecaddie continues his hot streak with a follow-up on the Bash Brothers story:
The Forecaddie has tried to resolve several leftover mysteries from the 2018 Ryder Cup.We will probably never know why Jim Furyk sent out Phil Mickelson in foursomes play or what Europe was thinking with those burnt-orange sweaters. But judging by the questions Brooks Koepka is getting over his friendship with Dustin Johnson, The Man Out Front is pretty sure this is the only Ryder Cup mystery fans care about.
The questions arose following a Telegraph report of Sunday-night fighting between the two while they stopped in at the European team’s victory party. The Forecaddie has asked around and thanks to two eyewitnesses, can confirm Koepka’s assertion that there are no issues between his gym buddy and good friend Johnson. Turns out, Koepka may be up for Nobel Peace Prize consideration down the road since TMOF hears he was preventing his pal getting into a more serious brouhaha with someone at the party.
While Koepka might have been the subject of DJ ire for a few seconds after intervening, the light tussling between them understandably led to multiple eyewitnesses confirming the Telegraph report of a fight between them to Golf Digest. But The Forecaddie’s ears, and even Furyk in a Golf Channel interview last week, confirmed Koepka was acting as a friend in getting Johnson to cool off. Koepka, the U.S. Open and PGA Champion and probably the only person capable of corralling Johnson, ushered him off to a cab for a late-night fresh air spin around Versailles and away from the Ryder Cup team hotel bedlam.
Unfortunately, he is unable to positively identify the culprit, though Tyrell hatton has been eliminated as a person of interest.
For anyone that wakes up at night in a cold sweat hearing those Euro crowds singing Ole, I refer you to this account of the suffering of said crowds. Doesn't matter... like an abused spouse, they'll be back in 2022 in Italy. Maybe our guys will show up ready to play? Wait a sec, whose the abused spouse here?
Blue On Blue - A pretty funny story from Congressional Country Club, of which we'll see far too much in the coming years:
Large properties such as the country club are required to obtain a sediment-control permit from Maryland’s most populous county if they clear more than 5,000 square feetof tree canopy. The club, located at 8500 River Road, chopped down more than four times that amount without securing permission, according to county officials.
After inspecting the grounds and comparing aerial photos with photos received as part of a complaint, authorities said the club appears to have removed roughly half an acre of tree cover in recent months — possibly in preparation for hosting several high-profile tournaments in coming years, including the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup.
If, like me, you're surprised that anyone noticed, they didn't.... They have a mole:
A club member, who triggered the investigation by tipping off a local environmental group, estimated that 1,000 trees were taken down on the 358-acre property. The member thinks it happened in the colder winter months, when the courses are less utilized.
“I am [upset] because they’re ruining my club,” said the member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from club officials, but added that dozens of fellow clubgoers are also concerned.
I guess he wasn't invited to be on the greens committee. But this is my favorite bit:
Helen Wood, a board member of the environmental nonprofit organization Conservation Montgomery, made the complaint to the county after being tipped off by the club member. She said she’s hoping to see some “serious remediation.”
“We all have a stake, really, in their trees,” said Wood, who lives in Bethesda. “By regulation, they have a plan that’s approved that allows them to have their beautiful golf course, their lovely grounds. But they have, if nothing else, a civic responsibility to fulfill their conservation role in the county. And that’s a legal responsibility.”
You didn't build that! You're allowed governing class.... Don't forget your place.
Predictions Are Hard - Jaime Diaz shoves all his chips into the pot, first excusing Tiger's listless Ryder Cup:
But a drained Woods didn’t have it at Firestone, and he finished T-31. He was brilliant the next week at the PGA at Bellerive, where he was second to Brooks Koepka, but in his first full season since 2013, he was already on the verge of being over-golfed. He may have felt closer to his first victory in five years, but going on to play all four of the FedExCup Playoff events meant he would have to dig very deep.
In that regard, his triumph at the Tour Championship – at least in relation to the Ryder Cup – was Pyrrhic. The massive cheering throng that surrounded the 72nd green was a profound signal of what the victory must have meant to Woods personally. But four hours later he was on the team charter to Paris, his opening match five days away. It’s easy to say Woods just doesn’t care enough about the Ryder Cup – his 13-21-3 record is Exhibit A – but there’s more evidence that he simply didn’t have time to sufficiently recharge.
That empty look and dull body language that Woods carried at Le Golf National wasn’t from apathy or age. I had seen it before. While at Stanford, Woods – who took his college studies seriously and enjoyed being anonymous in the classroom among students he called brainiacs – would sometimes complain that he was tired and relatively unprepared because of trying to keep up in school. His demeanor during some college tournaments could be flat.
Jaime uses instances back in the 1990's when he saw Tiger similarly tired to excuse his play in Paris. to which I don't know how to react. I get that he was tired in France, yet somehow that seems an inadequate explanation....
Jaime has these logical thoughts about the road forward:
Woods has said little about 2019, but I think there will be two main themes: Less is more. And, to a greater extent than ever, it’s all about the major championships.
No doubt Woods will play fewer than the 18 official events he entered this year, and likely between 12 and 15. It will be a schedule predicated on being fully ready for four weeks. Yes, passing Sam Snead’s record of 82 career PGA Tour victories will be on Woods’ mind (he needs three more), but majors count toward that total.
The plan would be a time-honored tradition that’s been vetted by the very best. Bobby Jones followed it all his career, including his Grand Slam season in 1930. Ben Hogan seldom played in non-majors after his car accident in 1949, and the rest of his career would win six majors against only five regular events. Jack Nicklaus, especially after age 30, established the model that Woods has generally followed. The pattern for all was “prepare, peak, play (wins), rest and repeat.”
Hogan and Jack for sure, but citing Bobby Jones is just plain silly. Jaime's cri de coeur is a fine indictment of the insane golf calendar, thank you Nurse Ratched, but doesn't tell us all that much about Tiger I fear.
One last bit from Jaime:
Next year, the first three majors are at venues where he has won – Augusta, Bethpage, Pebble Beach. If he doesn’t get one, and especially if he doesn’t seriously contend in any of them, any dreams of his catching Nicklaus will be dealt a blow. But if he can win one, it will prove he can win another. And the most important record in golf will be back in play.
Then why on his return visit to Bethpage did Tiger play so poorly? Tiger's play in 2018 indicated to me that he COULD win another major, but that's quite a ways from thinking that he WILL.
I shan't bother to find and link my 2014 Wither Tiger post, but that vintage Tiger was an inconsistent driver and putter, and my expectation is that that's the Tiger we'll see going forward. The putting certainly is something that we typically see in older golfers, which begs the question of whether he can put it together at the right time.
But it should make the 2019 majors that much more exciting, so the most depressing part is that we're still a full six months from Augusta.
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