Tuesday Tastings - RSG Edition

[Laidlaw Purves] was determined to seek the best possible site for such a links within comparatively easy reach of London, and set out to walk the length of the south coast from Poole to Ramsgate surveying all likely places for a first-class golf course, which would be named St George’s to form an English rival to the Royal and Ancient at St Andrews. Dr. Purves and two friends from Wimbledon climbed the tower of St Clement’s Church at Sandwich to obtain an overall view of the sand dunes east of the town, and what they saw pleased them mightily. B.J.W. and PETER HILL

As always at times like these, the timely quote is stolen from Shack's blog.  I don't think he'd mind, given the hat tip, though it's always better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.

The History - The previously unknown to me Michael Corcoran pens a love letter to Royal St. George's, more specifically it's place in golf history:

At the crossroads of myth and time, and the natural world and championship golf, sits Royal St. George’s, a conduit to ancient days and the roots of the relatively newish links game. The town

of Sandwich, home to roughly 5,000 souls, is where you’ll find the golf course named for the patron saint of England, who lived so long ago that all we know of him is a mysterious blur of legends and dragons and crusades and disjointed hagiography.

The passage of time and timelessness are juxtaposed in Sandwich, in the county of Kent in southeast England, about as close as you can get to continental Europe while keeping your feet dry on the UK’s home island. In its heyday as a port — which had already come and gone 300 years before the first Open Championship, in 1860 — Sandwich sat hard by the sea, but over a millennium the Channel crept away, stranding the town two miles from the shoreline. The land revealed by nature’s retreat became home to Royal St. George’s and two neighboring courses that have also hosted Opens: Royal Cinque Ports, which in your dusty books of golf history is sometimes referred to as Deal, and Prince’s Golf Club. Royal St. George’s, as sturdy a test as they come, emerged as an anchor in the Open rota.

Do time and myth cross?  The article itself is fine, but the accompany photos are sublime:

Alas, the photos are uncaptioned, so we don't know which part of the links is in frame.

More of our history lesson:

In distant days, the “wich” part of the town’s name meant a fortified place where trade took place. A steady stream of merchants and smugglers entered and exited the sandy-soiled market town via its port. In later years, the flow of golf as a global game ran through Sandwich, starting in 1894, when the Open at St. George’s marked the first time the competition moved beyond Scotland’s borders. The 94-player field was the largest up to that time and included 14 Scotsmen who took advantage of specially negotiated (by the R&A) railroad rates to make the journey to Sandwich, far from the golf hubs of Scotland. The rail-riding Scotsmen might have glimpsed some of Kent’s conical-roofed oast houses, where hops were dried as part of the brewing process. Another 21 Scots working club jobs in England also joined the fray.

The parochial little Open of the 1860s, ’70s and ’80s began to spread its wings in 1890, when John Ball became the first non-Scot and amateur to win the tournament. From that point on, England was in the Open to stay, and the Open was in England to stay. England’s J.H. Taylor won in 1894 at St. George’s, and 10 years later Walter Travis became the first American player to win the Amateur Championship, also at RSG. Time, having changed so much of the little town by the sea, now relaxed its grip on Sandwich and exerted its power on the game.

To explore the streets of Sandwich on a pleasant day is to experience small-town England and historic England all at once. Medieval structures are scattered about the town that has been the revolving door that opened England to outside influences since forever, including the Roman invasion of the island in 43 A.D. Thomas Paine lived in Sandwich for a time, right around when John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, was giving his name to the tasty goodness served up between slices of bread. The Fourth Earl also sponsored the voyages of Capt. James Cook, who “discovered” the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawaii). The archipelago was one of the last great international finds of the age, but Royal St. George’s and the Kentish town associated with Cook’s benefactor have never ceased to broaden the international appeal of the Open Championship and golf. 

And an excuse to throw in another of those spectacular aerial photos:

Now that celebration of golf "spreading its wings" should come with an Irony Warning, specifically related to Walter Travis' win in that 1904 Amateur, as per Travis' Wikipedia page:

Schenectady putters, marked "Patent Applied For", were produced prior to its patent on March 24, 1903. The Schenectady Putter was among the "centered-shafted, mallet-headed implements" that were banned by Royal and Ancient Golf Club Committee on the Rules of golf in 1910, in response to a request from a golf club in New Zealand. The R&A's ban included the Schenectady Putter. There is no evidence that Travis's use of the Schenectady to win the 1904 British Amateur contributed to this controversial ruling, though the myth persists. The ruling became controversial because, for the first time, an R&A ruling was not wholly adopted by the United States Golf Association. The USGA agreed with the banning of mallet-headed clubs but ruled that the Schenectady Putter, and other center-shafted putters did not fall within this category. The R&A ban on center-shafted putters was finally removed in 1951.

So it was banned because of a request from New Zealand?  Yeah, that's a good one...

Mike Bamberger also has penned an ode to the Open, one I'll not excerpt but allow you to explore on your own.  Also, I like this from Brendan Porath very much, though it's a reposting of a two-year old item:

Why The Open is the best major championship in golf

Although his first item might rock you back on your heels:

Links weather

It can get a little monotonous for the American golf fan. Sure, there are occasional seaside venues and many courses have a signature hole or quirk. But there are certainly months-long stretches with little variety.

The Open's great appeal is that it presents the players and audience with such a dramatically different venue and style of golf. There's an increased level of creativity often required to succeed -- we've seen Tiger win without ever taking his driver out of the bag, we've seen unknown Todd Hamilton win using a damn hybrid to bump-and-run his way around the greens, and we see winning scores that run the gamut. At Troon, a runaway duel between Phil Mickelson and Henrik Stenson left us with a winning score at 20-under.

It's just a totally different style of golf and the weather can change it all from day to day, morning to afternoon and hole to hole. Sure, the big hitters and bombers often still have the advantage that they enjoy at many of the other venues on the season schedule. But at least they have to think about it some more, adapt different parts of their games and get creative at times. There are *options* on almost every shot, especially up around the green.

The best testament to the vagaries of  links weather might be Rory's start to the 2010 Open, when in the first two rounds he went 63-80.

3. The 18th

Fewer and fewer things in golf really get the emotions running high -- so much of it is produced and forced. But the scene at the 18th of The Open never fails. Like so much with the oldest major in golf, it's because you know exactly what you're getting there. The courses may change but the R&A creates an ideal theater at the 18th each year. The only difference, really, is the clubhouse, which can serve as a "back wall.”

Grandstands go deep up the fairway from the area around the green, creating a tunnel of sorts. They also always look the same -- a similar arrangement with the blue-and-yellow scoreboards lording over the scene. It's a tradition and it looks inspiring even empty before Sunday...

And this:

... and then completely chilling when that Sunday comes and the crowds envelope the final group walking up to the green.

 It's great for sure, since it happens without the terror in evidence at Kiawah back in May.

Brendon has much more, so dive in.

Storylines - Daniel Rappaport offers five, including this obvious issue:

The guys who aren’t here

It’s commonplace for big-name players to miss time in other sports. Any fantasy football owner knows this all too well. Or take this year’s NBA playoffs, when there seemed to be as many stars in street clothes as there were on the hardwood.

But in golf? In “normal” years, the majors serve as a quad-annual get-together of almost every relevant player in the sport. Granted, there is typically an injury or two, but fans can count on seeing a who’s who of the game’s best at least four times per year. At the PGA Championship, just two months ago, a full 99 of the top 100 players in the world rankings teed it up at Kiawah. If you get an invitation to the party, you RSVP yes. Duh.

Sure, I guess.... except if you're Lee Trevino and it's the Masters....

From another source, here's a list of those that won't be playing:

Open Championship withdrawals 

Cameron Davis
Louis de Jager
David Duval
Sungjae Im
Zach Johnson
Si Woo Kim
Danny Lee
K.H. Lee
Hideki Matsuyama
Ryan Moore
Kevin Na
Bubba Watson
Matthew Wolff

Quite obviously the event will muddle through without David Duval and Louis de Jager, and most of the names figured to be inconsequential to the integrity of the event.   But it includes the current Masters champions and several other potential contenders.

The withdrawal of the two South Koreans came as a surprise.  Apparently, Olympic golf grows the game by keeping top players out of majors... Who knew?  Here's Daniel's coda on this topic:

The strictness of both the testing/contact-tracing protocols and the on-the-ground rules have resulted in a cascade of withdrawals. Hideki Mastuyama and Zach Johnson are out due to positive tests. Bubba Watson, despite being vaccinated, cannot play as he was deemed a close contact. Kevin Na voluntarily pulled out after deeming the restrictions too onerous. In total, six of the world’s top 54 players and 17 players who qualified—not including past champions who’ve decided to let the young guys have at it—will not compete. Sunday’s winner will be a deserving one; there is no asterisk situation here. But it has been odd watching player after player pull out of such an iconic event. Let’s hope the withdrawals are trickling to a stop and nothing COVID-related steals the headlines during the actual tournament.

We certainly can have no confidence that this is the last of the WD's, though the nightmare scenario would be a WD of someone in the hunt.  Stay tuned to this channel.

 As I said yesterday, this guys seems to be the strongest betting favorite, non-Tiger division:

Rahm’s chance to separate

Dustin Johnson’s form toward the end of 2020 was a tease at a dominant spurt to come. At the

very least, it saw him separate himself from the pack in the best-in-the-world conversation. He began 2021 with a win in Saudi Arabia but has hit a lull since; his lone top 10 in his last 10 starts is a T-10 against a weak field at the Palmetto Championship.

Enter Jon Rahm, who’s emerged as undoubtedly the finest golfer on the planet, at least at this literal moment. He blitzed the field through three rounds at the Memorial, leading by six and marching to victory until an extremely poor-timed positive test. He followed that with a storybook performance at the U.S. Open, birdieing the 17th and 18th at Torrey Pines South to win his first major. He comes into Royal St. George’s off a seventh-place finish at the Scottish Open, where he was just two shots outside a playoff despite missing two jaw-droppingly short putts on Saturday. Rankings be damned—Johnson actually took back the No. 1 spot from him Sunday morning, somehow­—Rahm sits on top of the sport and has the chance to cement his status as top dog with a victory here. He enters as the clear favorite, and he’d be the first player since Tiger Woods in 2000 to win the U.S. Open and the Open Championship in the same year.

Your humble blogger is too lazy to fire up the Google machine, but I assume that the last player to win back-to-back majors was Rory in 2014, Hoylake and Valhalla, specifically.  So shouldn't this coming with a mandatory hubris warning, given that Rory hasn't so much as contended in a major since then?

No doubt here, as it's crunch time:

Ryder Cup crunch time

This marks the first time in 50 years that the Open falls as the last major before a Ryder Cup. (Back in 1971, the PGA Championship in Palm Beach, Fla., was moved to February for one year only in anticipation of oppressive heat. Jack Nicklaus won it. Fun fact!) As such, this week presents the last massive tournament for fringe Ryder Cup players to make a statement—particularly on the European side, where several bubble guys do not play on the PGA Tour and thus will not participate in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

As it stands currently, Team Europe stalwarts Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter would require captain’s picks to join the squad at Whistling Straits, a prospect captain Padraig Harrington has hinted he’s more than open to. Defending Open champion Shane Lowry has some convincing to do, as do younger players like Victor Perez, Robert MacIntyre and Guido Migliozzi. Justin Rose needs to make something happen quickly if he’s to make his fifth straight team.

The American picture is comically crowded this year as well, and with only six auto-qualifiers, there’s plenty of space for a player to make his presence known for captain Steve Stricker. Household names like Tony Finau, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson are outside that top six. Then there’s the newcomers clamoring for a spot: Harris English, Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Will Zalatoris, Jason Kokrak and Sam Burns, to name several. For any of these players, a victory would all but guarantee a spot, and a top-three finish might even be enough.

I'm not sure there's anything short of incriminating photos of Steve Stricker that would result in Harris English being on the team.  Though the crowds this week will, of course, be pulling for an "Englishman", so would it be ironic?

I would imagine that a full Ryder Cup status post is in your near-term future.  But just remember, Steve, that Phil has recently revealed that he apologized to two of his prior Captains for his selfish behavior...Jusdt sayin'.

The 'vagaries' are back

It sits on the Mount Rushmore of Golf Cliches: the vagaries of links golf. But it’s a cliché because it’s true—more so than any event stateside, the Open lends itself to some funky stuff. When the weather gods are feeling particularly tempestuous, one half of the field can be essentially wiped out for no other sin than having a tee time on the wrong side of the draw. Back in 2010, Rory McIlroy opened the action at St. Andrews with a 63 on Thursday morning, ran into a gale on Friday afternoon and shot 80. There will be funky bounces, drastically different weather forecasts, weak putts that roll right back to a player’s feet, greedy bunker shots that run into a pancake-stack bunker face, balls lost in the gorse, mis-hit approaches that roll forever and ever, and who knows what else? Such is the beauty of links golf, where great golf without the blessing of the golf gods usually isn’t enough to capture the claret jug.

It sets up as a low-vagary week.  The course has been slightly tamed by Martin Ebert to makes fairways easier to hit and it's been very wet, so the course is soft and those crazy bounces will be tamer.  I'll update the weather forecast, but the one I saw a few days ago had balmy conditions, dry with just a wee breeze.

This guy had to be patient:

He’s no Dick Burton, who reigned as Open champion for seven years because of a little inter-continental skirmish that became known as the Second World War. But Shane Lowry will surely—and hopefully—forever be known to pub quizzers everywhere as the only man who had to wait 24 months to defend the claret jug. It is something the genial Irishman has, like the rest of humanity, had to come to terms with since the cancellation of golf’s oldest major last year. And, like just about everyone else, he’s had just about enough of it.

The astute observer will note the two previous Open winners.

Though he admits that he might have benefited from the delay:

When it comes to what might be called the Open’s “gap year,” Lowry didn’t deny that the cancellation makes a successful defense of his title a lot more likely than it would have been 12 months ago. At that time, his form was less than stellar, his World Ranking 14 places lower than it had been in the immediate wake of Portrush. In what would have been the run-up to his arrival at St. George’s, Lowry missed three cuts in four starts. This time, he has pitched up on the back of three top-10s—including a T-4 at the PGA Championship in May—in his last six tournaments. Things are looking up rather than down, even if he arrives as only the 44th best golfer on the planet.

But is there the slightest chance that he would be asked by an intrepid reporter how he felt deferring his defense so that the R&A could cash a rather large check?   I know, I'm like a dog with a bone....

Back to that heavy favorite, whose backswing is measure in microns,.  It so happens he's overcome more than any of us knew:

Speaking of that short backswing. It has been suggested that tight hips are the cause of it, that the

lack of flexibility prevents him from a loading up like, say, Bryson DeChambeau does. Not so. On Tuesday, Rahm explained—for the first time, it seems—the genesis of his unique move, and it’s one that dates to the very first minutes of his life back in the Basque Country.

“I was born with a clubfoot on my right leg, which means for anybody that’s sensitive about that, my right leg up to the ankle was straight, my foot was 90 degrees turned inside and basically upside down,” Rahm said. “So when I was born, they basically relocated, pretty much broke every bone in the ankle and I was casted within 20 minutes of being born from the knee down.

“I think every week I had to go back to the hospital to get re-casted. So from knee down, my leg didn’t grow at the same rate. So I have very limited ankle mobility in my right leg. It's a centimeter and a half shorter, as well. What I mean by limitations is I didn't take a full swing because my right ankle doesn't have the mobility or stability to take it.

“I learned at a very young age that I'm going to be more efficient at creating power and be consistent from a short swing. If I take a full to parallel, yeah, it might create more speed, but I have no stability. My ankle just can't take it.”

Wow!  

Just to add to the excitement, Lee Westwood is chasing down history:

It's not often in sports that you can break a record by losing, but that’s exactly the position Lee Westwood finds himself in this week. Coming into the 2021 season, the 48-year-old Englishman had played in 84 major championships without winning, just three behind Jay Haas for the most

ever. He pulled within one of Haas at the PGA Championship, tied him at the U.S. Open and will hold the top spot by himself next Monday … provided he doesn’t win the Open Championship at Royal St George’s.

Offered the choice between setting the record or not, Westwood would obviously take the Open victory. Though he has 18 major top-10 finishes on his résumé, and has shown solid form at times this year—his back-to-back runners-up at Bay Hill and the Players prove that on the right weekend, Westy is still more than capable of competing with the world’s best—the likelihood of actually winning is small. In fact, he’d be the third-oldest player ever to win a major, behind Julius Boros and … checks notes … Phil Mickelson. In reality, it’s unlikely he’ll ever win a major, and that’s been true for a few years. Which means the dubious mark seems destined to bear his name, whether he likes it or not.

It was already the case that Westwood’s professional career was defined—in part—by his failure to win a major, and if he moves ahead of Haas this week, there will be very little doubt that he’s the best player ever not to win. Before Westwood, that honor arguably went to Colin Montgomerie, a player with a shockingly similar résumé. Between Europe and Asia, Westwood has won 37 times; Montgomerie won 35. Westwood has won twice on the PGA Tour; Montgomerie never managed to break through in America. Westwood has captured 23 Ryder Cup points in a solid career; Montgomerie won 23½ in a slightly better career (both are top five in European history). Westwood spent 22 weeks as the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world; Montgomerie was on the brink several times, but peaked at No. 2. They even look alike … if you squint your eyes.

But riddle me this, Batman..  Both of their careers were held back by their putters, no shortage of those guys in golf history.  But at the Ryder Cup they both putt like Bobby Locke....  

I'll save the "Who you gots" for later in the week, but just quickly cover a couple of items.

Udder Stuff  - The UK Golf Guy has a thoughtful piece on this event:

Stick or twist? Is it time the Scottish Open moves from The Renaissance?

There's a lot here for links addicts, including the counter-intuitive fact that's there's actually not all that many options of links for this event, given that the Open rota courses are no-go zones.  That unfortunately seems to include the renovated Ailsa at Turnberry, despite the fact that it doesn't appear to still be in said rota.

But in a buried lede situation, this would seem to be news:

There are a couple of topics of discussion on the ground this week for The Renaissance. Jerry Savardi hinted in the Scotsman that the Scottish Open is in a strong position to be a co-sanctioned event next year. That means that it will count as an event on both the PGA and European Tours which would only help the event attract a field of stars.

Another rumour doing the rounds is that we may see a change in sponsor for the event.

That would help the event, though wouldn't said help come at the expense of the John Deere?  The Deere field this year seemed exceptionally weak, and I was under the impression that Jay Monahan's job was to support his Tour's events...

Here's a guess as to how this might play out:

Whatever happens, it looks like 2022 will be an interesting year for the Scottish Open. If it is a

co-sanctioned event the Tours will be keen to assemble a stellar field. The world’s best are all due to be at Adare Manor to play at JP McManus’ shindig at the beginning of the week. If they can make the logistics work, getting that field over to Scotland could make it the best field ever.

 Given all of that I think it is more likely that the event will stay at The Renaissance. However, going forward I’d love to see a hybrid model.

Until something is done about the distances players hit the ball the fact is there just aren’t enough great golf courses that can host the Scottish Open - and probably not enough willing clubs to sustain a rota.

Given The Renaissance’s development then why not host the event there every other year and in the ‘odd’ years move it around. Obvious candidates would be Castle Stuart, Gullane and Royal Aberdeen. All courses which the player’s have enjoyed and are good tests.

There's little doubt that the Re naissance can play firmer, as per the photo above.  I'd prefer a simple four-course rota of those names, but mostly are just happy that they're committing to a links venue for the future.

And one last, quick story, a strange bit from last weekends Senior U.S. Open:

The rules for returning from a rain delay are much like the rules to start a round, and one player at this week’s U.S. Senior Open found that out the hard way.

When weather halted play on Saturday during the third round at Omaha Country Club, in Omaha, Neb., Marcus Meloan had completed 14 holes. He was 5 over for the tournament, which put him teetering on a top-20 finish. Tom Lehman and Peter Fowler tied for 21st at 5 over when the four-round event was completed, with each earning $42,432 in the process.

But when Meloan was scheduled to resume play after the break, he missed his restart time by more than five minutes and was subsequently disqualified from the tournament.

It's not like I've ever heard the name before, but this is the bit that jumps out at me:

Coincidentally, friends of Meloan’s had raised $1,350 through this GoFundMe account to help defer his expenses for the event.

To me, the buried lede is that he has friends.  Because how would you feel if you had contributed?

That's a wrap for today, kids.  Catch you down the road, though tomorrow seems unlikely.