Late-Week Letdown

There is no country where the golfers are more keen or more hospitable than in Ireland, and the friendliness with which the inhabitants welcome their guests is only equalled by the earnestness with which they endeavor, and very often successfully, to beat them. It is a fine country for a golfing holiday, and this fact is now so thoroughly appreciated that Englishmen and Scotsmen pour over to the Irish courses every summer, and more especially to the particular course on which the Irish Championship is being played for. BERNARD DARWIN

True that.

I almost called this post a Weekend Wrap, as today has the feel of a Monday, no?  Play from Lahinch is competing with blogging for my attention, so set your standards accordingly.

Scenes From Lahinch - Set the time warp to 2007, Mr. Sulu:

Irish golf fans have been hoping for an Irishman to play his way into form in the build up to the British Open at Royal Portrush. They just weren’t expecting it to be Padraig Harrington. 

The 2020 European Ryder Cup captain looked like the guy who won three majors in a 13-month spell between 2007-2008 in returning a 7-under-par 63 to lead the $7 million Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Lahinch. The 47 year old takes a two shot lead into the second round over South Africa’s Zander Lombard. 

“I had neutral expectations,” Harrington admitted. “I’ve been playing all year trying to find my game. I’ve been struggling coming back after my wrist injury. You know, this week, I just decided I’d go and play and try and get stock on my game. That’s kind of been the feedback I’ve been getting from my team around me. Let’s go out and play and see where we’re at.

Alas, Padraig has reached his sell-by date, already +4 today.  There was never even a remote chance that he could keep it going, but nice for the locals to have had some early fun.

They love their Padraig, though perhaps they could be encouraged to give him just a wee bit more space:

Video at link, if you're inclined to see how many go in with him.

We've not visited with Brian Keough of the Irish Golf Desk in quite some time, and he scores an interview with Miguel Viador, the man in charge of the set-up for this week's Irish Open:

The Spaniard is in charge of setting up the course for 12 of the world’s top 50 and 29 of

the world’s top 100, including 2017 champion Jon Rahm (11th), England’s Tommy Fleetwood (20th), South African Louis Oosthuizen (21st) and hope favourite Shane Lowry (35th). 

“The course is amazing considering they almost lost the fairways last year with the drought,” he said. “The rough is juicy, just off the fairway it's not too penal but if you start going sideways, you are going to find some nasty spots. 

“I don't care about the winning score, and I am not worried about them going crazy because that's not going to happen. We have taken eight shots off par already with the second and fourth becoming par fours. 

“It is such a special spot. Yesterday, it was blowing 25 mph and if you get that wind, this place is brutal. With that northwest wind, there are so many crosswind holes that if is that strong, it is tough.

And it sounds as if the town has embraced the event:

“I think the crowd is going to be great. We are expecting 25,000 to 30,000 a day. We have almost reached sellout at the weekend and it was a clever move from Paul [McGinley] to move as far away from Dublin and the North as possible.

“The village is fantastic. They have painted all the houses and you can see how the community has embraced the tournament. I love it here. It is a special spot and I am really looking forward to it.

I hope they have a great week, crowning a worthy champion on Sunday.  As for the wind, we'd like to have a bit of it for sure.

As for the blind Dell hole, where a big screen will show the players on the tee how their shots finish, he said: “It is what it is. It is a hundred and God knows how many years old. There were no bulldozers in those days so play over it and get on with it.

“We will use the right pin on day one and two for sure. The back left pin is a beauty but the green is only nine yards deep so you have to nail it with the tee shot.”

Here's a reminder of how shallow that green is on the left:

It almost seems you need to deliberately play off that back dune....It's gonna be a hoot.

Preaching To The Choir - You think Eammon Lynch caught my ode to Lahinch yesterday?

Eamon's Corner: It doesn't get any better than links season in July

Strictly speaking, there's two links seasons.  There's the one when I get to watch it, and that's pretty great.  Then in August comes the one where I get to play them myself, and that's way better.

If you’re looking for a true feast of golf, links season in July is where you will find it. 

Starting this week in Ireland, golf fans will be treated to four straight weeks of 

Royal Portrush

tournaments played at the world’s finest golf courses, but as Eamon points out, none of those will be PGA Tour events. 

TPC courses (public and private facilities operated by the PGA Tour), will play host to three of the next five PGA events. 

And what’s the difference? 

“The TPC’s are more like Chuck-E-Cheese.”

Even for me that's a little harsh.  Fair, but harsh.... 

In his weekly mailbag feature, Alan Shipnuck fielded some queries that relate, first this lay-up:

Admit it: The Irish and Scottish Opens will be 10 times more entertaining than what the PGA Tour will offer over the next few weeks.-@PopGarypopovitch 

I admit it. Is this even in question?

I'm sorry...does the PGA Tour have an event this week?  Shouldn't they have let us know?

And a couple of Potrush items:

Are you teeing it up in Ireland before The Open?-@neillmp 

You wanna hear the ultimate First World problems? My annual buddies trip to Bandon got scheduled (by others) for the week after the Open. And I promised my teen daughters I’d take them to see Billie Eillish in concert this summer and the only time it works is the week before the Open. Thus smooshed for time on both sides of the trip, I don’t have a single round lined up on the Irish island. For shame! I have been lucky to play my way across Ireland a few times, and I’ll surely sneak in some twilight golf with Bamberger at some point. The good news for you, the fan, is that I will be one less scribe filling up your social media feeds with mouth-watering golf porn from all over Ireland in the days before and after the Open.

Yanno, Alan, it's not always all about you, even in your own mailbag. 

What are you most and least looking forward to about going to Royal Portrush?-@alexthomascnn 

Most: The incredible passion that surrounds this historic Open. The thump of a good iron shot played off that gloriously firm turf. The fresh-out-of-the-frier fish and chips sold at every Open. Watching the pros use the wind and the ground to manufacture shots. Following local sons McIlroy and McDowell to see if they can summon some magic. Twilight golf with friends. The unpredictability of Open Sunday.

Least: not a single thing.

For the latter, I nominate the misuse of the terms fescue, gorse, heather and whin.... I'd like to think that knowledgeable golf commentators could get it correct, but I'd be mistaken. 

 Advice From a Stoner... - Though I do find myself in agreement with him:

In March, the tour announced that the 41-year-old had violated its Anti-Doping Program. 

Although the tour used the term “drug of abuse,” Garrigus—who overcame substance issues to become a PGA Tour winner in 2010 and finish T-3 at the 2011 U.S. Open—confirmed he had tested positive for marijuana in a statement of his own. Speaking to the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, Garrigus said that marijuana should not be considered in the same category as other performance-enhancing items. 

“I wasn’t trying to degrade the PGA Tour in any way, my fellow professionals in any way. I don’t cheat the game,” Garrigus told the Golf Channel. “I understand HGH [Human Growth Hormone], anything you are trying to do to cheat the game you should be suspended for 100 percent. Everything else should be a discussion.”

I had my tongue planted firmly in cheek when I referred to him as a stoner....  He's a consumer of weed for medical reasons only, lest you think poorly of him:

The tour defines a “drug of abuse” in its anti-doping manual as “recreational drugs that are often times obtained illegally.” However, Garrigus said he was prescribed medical marijuana to treat knee and back pain, and told the Golf Channel if a doctor believed it could help him, “then what are we doing?”

Of course, the story gets a wee bit complicated:

“If you are doing marijuana, then we should be testing for alcohol, too,” Garrigus said. “If you can buy it in a store, then why are we testing for it? That's my opinion.” 

Garrigus, who owns a marijuana farm in Washington, told the Golf Channel he plans to meet with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in hopes of removing marijuana from the banned list.

OK, so he's a bit biased, with a vested economic interest.

Obviously he'd fail any Intro. to Logic course he might take, alcohol being legal and pot a far longer issue.  I agree with him that, since no one has ever made the case that it's performance-enhancing, we shouldn't be the players' nursemaids.  Of course there's always been an argument about the criminal act of obtaining the substance, but that's en route towards being moot.

But I don't believe the Tour has discretion any longer, with golf in the Olympics. they must follow the WADA protocol.  Why WADA cares about tokers, I've no clue.

I Get Bills In The Mail - Tiger, on the other hand, comes home to this:

I'm always amused when I see the winner's trophy, because Roberts and Jones wanted to tear down the clubhouse, but couldn't raise the money.  I guess that's off the table...

It doesn't exactly come in a plain brown wrapper, as the box itself is equally cool:

Given that he's now got five of these, perhaps he'll throw one up on E-bay?

What Is This Off-season of Which You Speak? - Dan Kilbridge catches up with some players to discuss the new Tour schedule, reminding us in the process of what lies ahead:

What’s coming up is a furious stretch of golf to wrap up the major schedule and shortened FedEx Cup playoffs before September. Usually this feels like a midway point, with two majors still on the calendar. But with the PGA Championship’s move to May,

the British Open at Royal Portrush in July is the final major chapter for 2019.

A new WGC event in Memphis debuts after the British Open, followed by last call to get into the playoffs at the Wyndham Championship. 

It all makes for a rapid five-week stretch with which players are still trying to get acclimated.

“Man, it just seems like it’s way earlier,” said Jimmy Walker, who’s playing Detroit, Minneapolis, the Scottish Open and British Open ahead of the Wyndham Championship.

To paraphrase Harry Bosch, if all tournaments are important, then none are.  But that WGC in Memphis just cries out to be skipped, no?

Then the inevitable:

If there’s a consistent complaint regarding the new schedule – or the old one, really – it’s the lack of a structured offseason. Some were led to believe there might be a longer break with the FedEx Cup Playoffs ending earlier, but the Tour has instead added more fall events and will begin the 2019-20 season Sept. 12-15 with the Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, two weeks after the 2018-19 Tour Championship.

That’s one of 11 fall events already on the docket for 2019-20, though the Tour has not yet released the full schedule.

But remember, there's an event missing from this recitation, with the Prez Cup moved to December to accommodate the Australian events. They can't bring themselves to leave a week open, because someone else might fill the void.

More Alan - I suspect he's spot-on with this one:

One of the most poignant items I read was Michelle Wie saying she might be done with golf. Will she be back?-@david_troyan 

The heart says yes, but the brain says no. Wie has played under a brutal spotlight since

she was a tween. Her adolescence more or less robbed by parents and multinational corporations which turned her into a commodity. She has battled back over and over from injury, but the constant dings and swing changes have robbed her of her gift: she’s won only once in the last 5 years. Wie turns 30 this year and is recently engaged – does she want to keep banging her head against the wall? I’ve always felt she is too smart and well-rounded for the numbing grind of Tour life. I could see her transitioning into the fashion world, product design for Nike, the art world…lots of things, actually. I hope I’m wrong and she has a triumphant final act on the LPGA, but right now that seems very far away.

It's almost a relief to me.  Watching her stink up the joint, most notably that table-top putting style, has worn me down.  

This one as well:

Is Steve Stricker now Hall of Fame material?-@ScottyGman23 

Underpinning this question is another: can achievements on the Senior tour significantly elevate a player’s legacy? The sustained dominance of Hale Irwin and Bernard Langer is certainly incredible and has thrown into sharp relief the competitive spirit of these warriors. But they were already defined by their U.S. Open and Masters victories, respectively. Stricker had a nice PGA Tour career: 12 victories, including some blue-chip ones. If it was called the Hall of Very Good, he would be a first-ballot inductee. Let’s say Stricker goes crazy and wins the next half-dozen old-guy majors in blowouts. It’s a cool achievement and would bring some deserved acclaim…but he’s still not Hall-worthy.

Completely, though you see how slippery that slope has become....   Monty's seven Orders of Merit easily trumps Strick's twelve wins (but a Memorial and an old Western Open are as blue chip as they get), but the floodgates have been opened.

And this obvious follow up:

What will it take to permanently remove “senior major” from the golf vernacular?-@pmmacaluso 

Personal responsibility. I am proud to say I have never used that particular phrase and would implore you to follow suit.

Done.

Stay tuned on this one:

What happens to all of those signed scorecards? Would be great charity auction donation items!-@ronjfitz 

This is a spectacular idea. I honestly don’t know what the Tour does with them each week but I’m fixin’ to find out.

Let me know if you lay your hands on Ouimet's card from '13...

Shall we torment Shippy with some Ryder Cup questions?  I thought you'd agree...

If the Americans sweep the majors does it make up for the waxing in the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, and does it restore ‘Merica’s mantle of dominance in golf?-@BrunoGarrett1 

Given the trauma I’ve endured nothing will ever make up for the monumental egg that the U.S. laid at the last Ryder Cup. But the Americans’ continued dominance in the majors does buttress my long-term prediction that the U.S. will turn the tide at the Ryder Cup on the strength of younger, stronger players. The x-factor remains Europe’s better captaining and, especially, vastly superior team-building. While the Americans always seem to be dealing with melodrama and struggling to find chemistry, the Euros consistently bring out the best in each other and have a heckuva lot more fun doing it. At this point it takes an anthropologist to explain why, not a sportswriter.

More like a psychiatrist, or really a team thereof.  But I think this actually amkes it worse for Alan... salt, meet open wound.

When will we have a senior Ryder Cup?-@RealRosenRosen 

This would actually be awesome. Can you imagine the yip-a-thon coming down the stretch? There is so much history and bad-blood here…who wouldn’t want to watch Zinger and Olazabal battle to the death with some kind of Ryder Cup trophy on the line?

This has been proposed previously, and I'm quite surprised that the Tour hasn't jumped on it (of course, the name is held by that other PGA).  The absence of Seve would be the only downer, though they'd have to hold the first one at Kiawah, no?

Lots of great non-fiction and instructional golf books out there. Top 3 fiction golf reads?-@Sandiegogolfer 

Dead Solid Perfect, The Match, The Swinger.

I didn't realize that middle one was fiction....  I guess Alan's a denier.

So, after what should be a fantastic Open Championship in Portrush, the highlight of the rest of the year is the Fedex Cup and the Presidents Cup…z z z z. Sorry, nodded off during my own look at the rest of the golf calendar.-@Mcooney1 

Well, for ages we’ve been complaining that the season is an endless slog. Now it’s been condensed and everyone is complaining. I like the cadence of the new schedule. And once the FedEx Cup ends there is still plenty of meaningful golf on the Euro Tour and LPGA, then in Australia and South Africa and parts of Asia, to say nothing of the do-or-die developmental tours. I think it will be nice to have the chance to miss the PGA Tour for once.

Ummm, Alan, how can we miss them if they won't go away (see item above).  

Headers of Note -  Phil has a tendency to be Phil, but even by his standards this is odd:

Phil Mickelson’s first round at 3M Open derailed by numerous penalties

Numerous?  Can't be a mere two or three I'm thinking....

Is there such a thing as a “good 74” on the PGA Tour? If you consider the fact that Phil Mickelson matched that number on Thursday after hitting four balls in the water, the round actually doesn’t sound too bad.

Poor Tim....  I'm thinking that Bones got out in the nick of time....

Three more pars followed on Nos. 15, 16 and 17, but a disaster struck on No. 18. Mickelson hit his drive into the water, and had to drop back in front of the hazard. He then hit his next shot (his third) in the water again. Ugh, that’s two penalty strokes right there. He then played his fifth shot from the same spot, but took a safe line to the left of the green. His sixth shot finally found the green, and he two-putted from there for a triple-bogey 8. Ouch.

Do keep in mind that Phil is only pegging it at the easier courses on Tour these days....But this might be the best bit:

By our count of the Shot Tracker data, Mickelson suffered four total penalty shots (all via water balls), but in his post-round comments to the media, Phil saw it differently. 

“Oh, my goodness. You know, I had seven penalty strokes. You can’t do that and compete,” Mickelson said. “It’s frustrating because I felt like I was playing well, making some good swings.”

Yeah, great swings.

For those that, like your humble blogger, are tired of a certain four-time major winner's whining about disrespect from the media, are they doing it intentionally?

Scott Piercy leads 3M Open, but DeChambeau and Kopeka are within striking distance

Now I'm confused.... The 3M is being played in Minnesota, though I had been reliably informed that Kopeka is in Kansas.

Have a great weekend.