No Wednesday game this week, so we can spend as much time together as is needed. Tomorrow, on the other hand, will feature morning golf in our annual caddie event, so no blogging will be possible.
The Euro Beat - This Daily Mail interview with the always interesting Paul McGinley has some quite interesting takes on the state of play, in which the former Ryder Cup captain sees disruption ahead:
Time to put the hard hats on and prepare for three or four years of disruption.
That's the view of former Ryder Cup captain and European Tour board member Paul McGinley on the threat golf's current eco- system faces from the cash-rich Saudis and other forces pushing for a breakaway tour.
The Irishman believes the Saudis will complete their purchase of the Asian Tour, which, in turn, means the certain loss to Europe of such established events as the Hong Kong and Malaysian Opens.
Apparently, having been spurned in their attempt to purchase the world's second most prestigious golf tour, the Saudis have decided to use their filthy lucre to purchase the world's third most prestigious tour, which they will then aim at the party that spurned them.
Hong Kong and Malaysia are one thing, though this would seem to be the event in the crosshairs:
Another casualty will be the Saudi International, running for the last three years as part of theMiddle East swing and which lured many of the world's top golfers in February with silly amounts of appearance money.
What happens if the Saudis plonk that event opposite, say, the Dubai Desert Classic early next year?
'We're resigned to that kind of thing happening and the lawyers being involved,' said McGinley. 'If the Saudi event becomes part of the Asian Tour, will Jay Monahan (CEO of the PGA Tour) give the defending champion Dustin Johnson a release to get his $2million £1.4m) appearance fee, or Keith Pelley (CEO of the European Tour) grant releases for the leading Europeans to play? That's the path we're on, sadly.
'We've spoken to the Saudis on a number of occasions. We would love them to continue to be part of our tour but they see it a different way. They think golf is stale and want to come in as disrupters and change the whole DNA of the game.'
Golf stale? Gee, where might they have gotten that idea? Of course, the irony burns, because the Euro Tour is the least stale of the lot... Though the irreverence and playfulness of the Euro Tour can't possibly survive contact with the Ponte Vedra Beach mafia.
This bit hits on that which has always seemed to your humble blogger to be the fatal conceit of the Premier Golf League efforts:
'The Saudi lawyers reckon the PGA Tour can't stop the players from joining and still being members but Jay is adamant that he can,' said McGinley. 'Unfortunately, it's looking like we'll end up with a massive legal case.'
To date, the only players who have shown interest in linking up with the Saudis or the Premier Golf League, another organisation with designs on a breakaway tour, are those coming towards the sunset of their careers.
'We think the Saudi tour will start up but I'm not sure how far you can get without the biggest names,' said the Dubliner. 'You can't build a tour just around players past their best. The young players are the future and they've aligned themselves strongly with the current system. So we'll have to wait and see.
The question I keep asking myself is, did Keith Pelley cash the right check? I would just suggest that the reader keep that last 'graph above in mind as we hear more from McGinley:
What about the European Tour? They hitched their wagon to the PGA Tour last year in a strategic alliance that will see the Scottish Open count on both circuits next year, while a couple of smaller events in America will be open to European Tour members.
'Over the next few years we'll hopefully see a couple more events, like Dubai and the PGA at Wentworth and maybe the Irish Open, go the same way as the Scottish, and then you've got something of a World Tour going,' said McGinley.
'It's true the Scottish will not now be open to all our members but if you're in the top 60 you'll get into that $10m event and if not you can play in a couple of $5m tournaments in America. So it's all about trade-offs at this point.'
I had been reliably informed that the Euro Tour was not in financial distress, and when have our leaders ever lied to us? It seems to me that it was apparent that Keith Pelley faced quite the dilemma, to wit, that he was forced to consign his organization to vassal status, his only choice being whose vassal he would become.... But that sound you hear is McGinley whistling past the graveyard:
As for what happens if the Asian events disappear, McGinley has good news for British golf fans, with the tour heading back to its roots. 'We envisage Britain taking up most of the slack with quite a few events here each year,' he said.
'We're not going to be eaten up by the PGA Tour. They came in with a proposal to accelerate the path we wanted to go down and it's left us in an incredibly strong financial position.
'We can help out with prize funds and the Americans are happy because the best young players can then feed into the PGA Tour. Ultimately, we'll get to where everyone wants to be. But we are going to have to suck up some disruption.'
Goalposts, moved. Jay doesn't want to swallow you, Paul, he just wants to eliminate you as a competitor for talent and viewership, and you seem quite jiggy with that. You've replaced local options for your tour rabbits with second-tier events if far-off America, but the players in question seem unlikely to be able to absorb the travel cost for one or two smaller events.
To me, that last 'graph says it all. Rather than an independent tour that can keep its marquee players at home, you've become a feeder tour for Jay Monahan, no more viable or prestigious than the Korn Ferry Tour. Is that really the path you wanted to go down? Because that way lies oblivion...
It now seems that Keith Pelley has only a single lever left to keep his talent at home, that being Ryder Cup participation. Obviously we can't be sure how this will play out with the reduction in WGCs and only the one co-sanctioned event to start, but this seems fraught with peril, especially since that Ryder Cup isn't Monahan's favorite event, for the simple reason that he doesn't control it.
The Amateur - The U.S. Amateur has quite obviously seen better days, with the NCAA Championships seemingly have supplanted it as the most important amateur event of the year. But it certainly helps to take it to iconic venues such as Oakmont, though the week is off to a rough start:
The 121st U.S. Amateur was rocked by a nearly four-hour long weather delay on Tuesday,shaking up the schedule for the rest of the week.
Play was halted at both Oakmont Country Club and Longue Vue Club at 1:34 p.m. ET midway through Tuesday’s second round of stroke play due to dangerous weather in the area. The skies cleared and the action resumed at 5:24 p.m. ET, but play was again stopped at 8 p.m. ET due to darkness before the second round could be completed.
Mark Goetz, who grew up just 30 miles from Oakmont in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, currently holds the lead at 9 under. The West Virginia fifth year fired a bogey-free 6-under 64 Monday at Longue Vue and was 3 under Tuesday at Oakmont before he was stopped after 12 holes.
Last week at Westchester they had a field of 156 ladies, but for the men they have 312 players to get around the two courses before they can set the match-play field.
The second round will resume at 7:30 a.m. ET Wednesday morning, with the field of 312 players being cut to 64. If a playoff is necessary for the final spots in match play, the earliest possible start time will be 12:30 p.m. ET. The Round of 64 matches will start no earlier than 12:45 p.m ET. Match play will only be contested at Oakmont.
That inevitable playoff would be the best bit to catch, but the coverage windows are absurdly short:
Wednesday, Aug. 11
Peacock: 3-4 p.m. ET
Golf Channel: 4-6 p.m. ET
It's probably worth tuning in, because the Golf Channel guide shows Golf Today, the replacement for Morning Drive, in the 12:00-3:00 window, with a pregame show in the 3:00-4:00 slot, so one assumes they'll be showing extensive action from Oakmont.
The weather is apparently not the only bad luck being absorbed, as an event already short on star power is in danger of losing some of its best-known players:
3. Tough on top
Although the match-play bracket will not be finalized until early tomorrow afternoon, there are some players who already know their fate. Among them are two of the top players in the world in Keita Nakajima and Ludvig Aberg.
Nakajima, the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, finished 11 over through 36 holes and will finish well outside the cut line, while Aberg, the No. 3-ranked amateur will suffer the same fate after finished eight over.
Second-ranked amateur Pierceson Coody was also paired with Nakajima and Aberg, but his future is far less clear. The University of Texas standout rallied to shoot one-under 69 on Tuesday at Oakmont to finish four over. He will be scoreboard watching throughout Wednesday morning to learn if it will be enough to advance to the knockout rounds.
As of this moment, before play resumes, those at +3 would play off for the final slots in the match play bracket. One would expect that number to move higher, it's friggin' Oakmont for God's sake, so I'd guess that Coody would be in a playoff, worst case.
The mayhem starts when they begin match play, and at least it's something to watch besides the dreary Wyndham.
Ryder Cup Watch - As promised, it's time to review the European points list to sketch out what that roster might look like. Though we also have some beat writers doing the same, so we'll circle back to the home team below.
The Euros qualify in a two-step process, though you'd be surprised at how difficult it is to find it presented accurately. For instance, I think this page at the Ryder Cup official site is prone to misinterpretation, because it doesn't combine the Euro and world points list.
Here are the first four from the Euro list:
- Jon Rahm
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Rory McIlroy
Surprising to me to see Fleetwood ranked so high despite a pretty weak run of form.
We then add the five highest ranked players on the World list not already qualified, which like this:
- Viktor Hovland
- Paul Casey
- Matthew Fitzpatrick
- Lee Westwood
- Shane Lowry
All familiar names for sure, but far from an intimidating roster, given that about half are demonstrably off form lately.
Daniel Rappapor has this take on the nifty nine:
The European side is pretty intriguing; all the sudden, it feels like the team is basically set apart from one person. Yes, there are still four big events to shuffle the rankings—the three FedEx Cup playoffs, plus the BMW PGA Championship—but the nine players currently in the auto-qualifier spots are essentially locks: Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry.
Rahm and Casey seem to be on form, at least when the former isn't the victim of those horrible PCR tests...
But here's his further thoughts on Padraig's picks:
Ian Poulter has shown plenty of form recently, and judging by Paddy Harrington's pro-veteran comments, he's a lock. So is Sergio Garcia. That would seem to leave one spot for Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose ... who else?
I don't about "plenty", but I can see where he's played just well enough to be assured a pick, given his prior history in the event. As for Sergio, aren't we hoping he'll go back to that well?
But the name missing from his captain's pick speculation might be Victor Perez, as Joel Beall notes here:
JB: Victor Perez is ahead of Young Bob, Rose and Sergio in the World Ranking, but he missed the cut in every major this season and is in a funk something fierce, so don’t think he’s in the running. Bernd Wiesberger’s shot at Bryson on Twitter over the weekend felt baked in “Hey guys, don’t forget about me!” vibes, and with a win and T-5 in his last six starts, suppose we could throw him into the mix. But to me, Guido Migliozzi is the interesting watch. Understand that Harrington has telegraphed he wants vets with his captain’s picks, but if he goes with Sergio and Poulter, that’s four 40-plus players (along with Westwood and Casey) to go along with seasoned Ryder Cuppers in McIlroy, Fleetwood and Lowry. Coupled with Rose sputtering, think a shot of youthful vitality could be in order, and if that’s the case it comes down to MacIntyre or Migliozzi, who had back-to-back runner-ups before finishing T-4 at the U.S. Open.
I didn't realize that Perez was in quite that deep a funk, but I share Joel amusement at the Euros being so outraged over Bryson, as Richard Bland also piled on there. The key point to make is the Euro talent pool falls off pretty precipitously, so Padraig might as well try for the hot hand. That said, they've kicked our butts with rosters that looked far weaker than this one, most notably in 2018.
The guys had some thoughts on the Yanks as well, and this was Rappaport's answer to Joel Beall's challenge to name the player most needing to prove himself in the next few weeks:
DR: As far as the U.S. goes, the clear answer is Phil. He said so himself after a T-17 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, which was actually his best finish (by far) since tha magical week at Kiawah. “I haven't had a top-10 outside of the PGA,” Mickelson told ESPN on Saturday after his third round in Memphis. "You can't take somebody that is that inconsistent. I have three events, here and the two playoff events. And if I finish high in those events and move up on the list, you never know. But you have to have a little bit more consistency and momentum I think.” By saying that, he's consciously taking the pressure of captain Steve Stricker, who'd have a really hard time leaving off an all-time great in a year he's won a major championship. If Phil pushes hard in the playoffs, either with his play or with his words, I still think he gets a pick. But he's not doing that right now, and he seems to be a couple bad performances away from voluntarily taking himself out of consideration.
Gee, and I was hoping that he was already out of contention...
My favorite subject continues to be PReed, and Joel has words of encouragement for me here:
As for the Americans … one of the most deluded notions of the Ryder Cup over the last two decades is that the Europeans are a band of brothers while the American locker room orders 12 taxis for 12 players. In truth the Europeans aren’t as buddy-buddy as portrayed and the American team culture isn’t permeated with dysfunction or animosity. I say that to say this: With the Brooks-Bryson thing inching closer to a dark space and Patrick Reed’s baggage from Paris and Melbourne and San Diego, the U.S. could use an extra adult in the room. And with Phil going south since South Carolina, Stricker desperately wants that adult to be Webb Simpson.
I hope he's right, though I've seen little evidence that our Ryder Cup folks have had their fill of the noxious Reed. I just don't think they're ready to walk away from the Captain America nonsense, but I'd be delighted to be proven wrong.
Which brings him to this juncture on rounding out the team:
Speaking of locks, you mentioned the Euro auto-qualifiers are basically set. Same can be said for the American side (Morikawa, Johnson, DeChambeau, Koepka, Thomas, Schauffele). Spieth would have to announce he’s taking up the game left-handed to not be picked, and even then I think Stricker would still give him a spot. Despite his stumble in Memphis, something would be amiss if Harris English (No. 10 in the world!) was left off. Adding Simpson makes nine and there's still Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau, Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler, plus the Mickelson question AND a possible playoff run from someone not on the list. What I'm getting to is this: As shocking as it sounds, is Patrick Reed in danger of missing this team?
I actually argued for Berger back in 2018, because at least he can roll his ball. I'm still trying to figure out Patrick Cantlay, who seems to this observer to not bring much heat, but Finau and Scheffler seem exactly the wrong direction to me (though Finau was admittedly one the few Yanks to play well in Paris) because of the putter.
My gut tells me that Reed still ends up on the team, but Rappaport give voice to our worst nightmare:
DR: I can't see them not taking him. It feels like just enough time has passed since Le Golf National, and the Bahamas, and the Presidents Cup, and Torrey Pines—man, the guy truly can't stay out of his own way—and Bryson has supplanted him as the No. 1 guy people love to hate, which does take some attention off. P-Reed's been in kind of meh form recently—five finishes between T-19 and T-34 and one missed cut in his last six starts—but the guy has a preternatural scoring ability, which always plays well in match play. Stricker also needs to find DeChambeau a partner, and with Tiger out of the mix and Phil's chances on life support, could we see an all-time heel duo of BDC and P-Reed at Whistling Straits?
A point of order. It's not BDC, It's BAD. Just look at the guy's yardage book...
They do go on at length on the pairing issues, which seems a bit premature until the rosters are set. They also do so without regard for the format, which seems an obvious limitation, as per this bit:
-If Reed does make it, Bryson would be the natural match. Not only do they complement each other’s games, let’s face it, the rest of the Americans aren’t banging down the door to play with either.
In what sense do their game's complement each others'? Well, Bryson might be the best player out of the rough and Patrick doesn't hit a lot of fairways, but Bryson would be forty yards further back than he would be on his own ball. It matters not how their games mesh in fourball, and one assumes Mr. Stricker will be sufficiently astute to not play Patrick, if selected, in foursomes, though that concept was too complicated for Mr. Furyk.
To be continued as the rosters take form.
That's all for today, but check back on Friday.
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