A holiday weekend on tap with a good weather forecast, so let's have at it. The header will have telegraphed my primary focus, but let's dispense with a few other bits first.
Roman Holiday - It's unclear what's gotten into Fred Couples, but Captain Johnson needs to keep him as far away from a microphone as possible, because he's making quite the hash of things. He's got two new comments, the first of which is in support of an actual pick, so I've no real issue with it:
“I’ve got 50 texts today, why two or three guys aren’t on the team,” Couples said. “And I don’t have an answer for that. The only answer I have is, this is the team, and the team has spoken. And if the team likes another guy a little bit better than that guy who didn’t win six tournaments and do all this, then, then no one has a problem with any of it.'
Well, if only you could stick to that "no answer" bit....
“And I think the JT thing is the strongest pick. That was a no-brainer.”Couples said that if the situation was reversed, and Jordan Spieth needed a pick to pair with Thomas, he would do the same thing. Couples says he also believes in Thomas’ ability to rise to the occasion.“The analytics would say no, the way he plays golf, said yes,” Couples said of Thomas. “One of the things JT can do is he can dissect the golf course. That’s what we’re counting on.”
Has anyone told Fred that they play singles as well?
But doesn't it present our hardened warriors as just a little precious... that Jordan couldn't possibly pair up with anyone else.... More to the point, Jordan's own game is diminished to such an extent that he required a captain's pick, yet his position in the cool kids club is such that he gets a +1 invitation. Of course, no one seems especially worried about who Brian Harman or Wyndham Clark will be paired with, but I'll leave you to ponder that.
I've been harping for almost a decade on that 2014 Ryder Cup press conference, but shall we revist those comments of Phil Mickelson:
There were two things that allow us to play our best I think that Paul Azinger did, and one was he got everybody invested in the process.
He got everybody invested in who they were going to play with, who the picks were going to be, who was going to be in their pod, who—when they would play, and they had a great leader for each pod. ... And the other thing that Paul did really well was he had a great game plan for us, you know, how we were going to go about doing this.
Besides being an inappropriate venue and the worst possible messenger, Phil's point was that the American players require a safe room to perform, which might well explain their crash-and-burn routine in road games.
The other silly bit is that there is an actual case for JT based on his historical record, including especially his play at road game cups (Paris, most notably), but Fred can't be bothered making it.
This is the comment getting the most ink, which has some truth embedded but why go there?
On Couples’ most recent episode of The Fred Couples Show on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, he and Downing addressed Bradley’s insinuation that being a self-described outsider contributed to the fact that he wasn’t picked.“There’s no ‘outside,'” Couples said. “I saw Keegan Bradley’s statement. I left him off the [2011 Presidents Cup] team when he won a PGA. It’s the harshest thing you can do to a guy. I feel like it’s the players’ team, but you can’t have guys telling the captain here’s who I want, should be on it, unless you’re a Jordan Spieth or a Scottie Scheffler, or a [Patrick] Cantlay.”
Ummmm, Fred, isn't that exactly what's happened? The only complication being that Jordan Spieth isn't really Jordan Spieth any more, though I guess once you know the secret handshake...
But then he gives the game away:
“Now they’re picking other guys that may not have the record of Keegan, but they pair them up perfectly,” Couples said. “I like Keegan. He’s an older guy, and he’s not in tight with them. If that had 20 percent to do with it, I won’t argue that.”
Keegan played well enough to be in the mix, but not well enough to consider it a snub. But Rickie's record is barely indistinguishable from Keegan's and he's only three years younger, but he was considered a lock, mostly because he's good buddies with Jordan and JT.
But by far the best evidence that Fred needs to be gagged was this from a month or more ago:
In a candid conversation with his co-host, George Downing, Couples seemed confident while revealing his take on the prospects of the current American fence-sitters.“Here’s the guys that are not confirmed and need to make a case,” Downing prompted Couples. “No. 7: Max Homa.”“I’m like one of the 19 assistants, I’ll say Max Homa’s gonna be in Italy,” Couples replied. “I’ll say Max Homa’s gonna be in Italy, without getting anyone in trouble.”“Cam Young,” Downing said.“Cam Young will be in Italy,” Couples replied.“Jordan Spieth?”“Will be in Italy.”“Keegan Bradley?”“The rest is — I’m stopping,” Couples said.
How is that remotely appropriate?
A couple of final thoughts. First, to me it's curious that it's the JT pick he's defensive about, whereas to me the Bradley omission was likely to put Sam Burns on the team. This obviously was done to placate Scottie Scheffler, though does anyone remember Burns' performance at the 2022 Prez Cup:
Sam Burns (0-3-2): BBurns’ record is not indicative of his play and more a reflection of Scottie Scheffler’s struggles (which is a damn odd thing to write about the reigning Masters champ and PGA Tour Player of the Year). Still, even with a new pairing in Billy Horschel on Saturday afternoon, Burns failed to register a W in the first four sessions. Unfortunately for Burns, Sunday was more of the same, playing strong and tough golf against Hideki Matsuyama, flipping a 2-down deficit at the turn to a 1-up advantage with four to go. But Burns doubled the 15th and his 23-footer at the 18th to win the match came a foot short. The case can be made that Burns was the second-best player for the Americans this week, yet he posted one point over five matches. Golf, man.
I'm persuadable on this one, he did win that last Match Play after all, and he's far younger than Keegan, which to me is more important than their buddy system. That said, we've got no shortage of players whose best form is in the rear view mirror, and I don't much love that Scheffler-Burns team very much, although that's mostly due to Scottie's putting woes. Not sure which format will suit, because Scottie projects as a great foursomes player, where's Sam is perhaps a bit too mistake prone for that test.
The Spieth-JT pairing presents the same issue, but here the answer is more clear cut. They should be a fourball team and be kept away from foursomes. Even with his woes, JT still makes a ton of birdies, and Jordan's big misses are legendary. But I can't get the vision of Jim Furyk throwing Phil out in foursomes in Paris out of mind, so all bets are off with our genius Task Force.
Team Europe - We haven't peaked in some time, and are still awaiting their captains' picks. But here's the headliners:
Qualified:
Rory McIlroyJohn Rahm
Viktor Hovland
Sepp Straka
Ludvig Aberg
Adrian Meronk
Seamus Power
Alex Noren
A genuine wildcard option with supreme talent as the No 1 amateur in the world last year, while gaining invaluable experience on the college circuit at Texas Tech. No Ryder Cup experience, obviously, but the 23-year-old has played plenty of team golf in the junior ranks and has taken to professional golf in style with a series of impressively high finishes on the PGA Tour as a rookie. If Donald is looking for a spark, Aberg might just provide it. Broadcaster Nick Dougherty revealed a conversation between himself and Donald on Aberg: “He told me there have only been a few [players] that he’s played with for the very first time that have the ‘wow’ factor. One of them is Rory. Now he says Ludvig Aberg is one of those guys as well. He said his driver is a huge weapon, he makes the game look effortless. He added that as long as he continues to show form, he will definitely be considered for the [Ryder Cup] team. This guy is going to be a superstar.” There is also the added bonus of a potential mentor in compatriot Alex Noren, who is also in contention to feature in Rome.
Definitely a comer who will play in future Ryder Cups, though it would be quite the roll of the dice to add him this year. Europe's Ryder Cup DNA includes stellar performances from grizzled vets long past their competitive primes, so I'd expect him to take two of those bottom three. Obviously Meronk doesn't fit that profile, but who could resist the first Polish Ryder Cupper ever.
Donald has six picks, which are to be made on September 4th.
All Things Walker Cup - An historically significant event in golf history, predating the Ryder Cup, it allows the best amateur players t show off in a team match play format. Adding to its allure, the venue choices have been unbelievably inspired recently, including rarely seen venues such as Seminole and Cypress Point (the latter in 2025).
The excitement here is to see something unusual in these times, match play on the Old Course. Geoff is predictably all over this and he first reminds us of how long it's been:
It’s been way too long since pure team match play has been over the Old Course at St Andrews. The Dunhill Cup was a splendid event from 1985 to 2000, but the format consisted of three-man teams in stroke match play. That’s as absurd as starting a professional tournament with the leading player ten-under-par.The Ryder Cup?Never been to St Andrews in the 96 years since those matches between professionals were established.The Walker Cup?Eight times at the Old Course but not since 1975.How long ago was that? They played in May and the GB&I team had been announced a full seven months ahead of the matches, prematurely ruling out Nick Faldo. That meant Great Britain and Ireland sent out its Gordon’s, Hugh’s and Ian’s against a USA squad featuring Curtis Strange, Jerry Pate, Craig Stadler, Gary Koch, George Burns and three all-time amateur greats: Vinny Giles, William Campbell and Dick Siderowf. But at least they played matches and GB&I kept it close the first day before USA pulled away for a 15.5 to 8.5 win.
Lengthy excerpts for sure, but let's allow Geoff to explain our mutual excitement:
Other than The Amateur twenty years ago (won by this week’s GB&I captain Stuart Wilson), the Old Course has been awash in events all played at a stoke play format too often prone to negate its most brilliant, cerebral and downright juicy qualities.
In a card and pencil world, many of its pesky half-par holes featuring nearby boundary lines force safe plays out to the center of the out-and-back links. In recent championships, holes have been cut in spots so incongruous to making birdies, even risk-takers have found themselves unable to enjoy the rewards of flirting with the 110 bunkers or perilous Old Course boundaries.Merely turning loose ten elite amateurs from each side and playing foursomes in the morning, singles in the afternoon each day, should alone make this weekend’s Walker Cup fascinating. If the wind surprises forecasters and really blows, a fourth protagonist will only make the proceedings better. The energy should be dynamite as well, with galleries walking the fairways and standing immediately next to greens as opposed to being held back farther back.
Just think about playing that Road Hole in match play, where you could win it with a bogey. I you're one-up on the tee, do you play further left and dare your opponent to flirt with OB right?
The other bit worth noting is that the Old Course is a pace-pf-play nightmare in the Open, featuring six-hour rounds. This is partially a function of those drivable Par-4's, but more the result of the double-greens and resulting narrow corridors. With two holes and two tee boxes in close proximity, the players are waiting interminably for others to play, the issue being the resulting crowd reaction.
This is not a big factor this week because of the smaller number of groups. Mostly as the guys play the outward holes there will not be anyone playing the inward nine. perhaps in singles in the middle section of the course, but that's about the extent of it, so play should move.
If you're expecting the Ryder Cup format, this one is a little different, beginning with it being only a two-day event:
FORMATSaturday4 foursomes matches, 3:30 a.m. ET start8 singles matches, 8:45 a.m. ET startSunday4 foursomes matches, 3 a.m. ET start
10 singles matches, 8:15 a.m. ET start
And the TV coverage reflecting those pesky time zones:
Saturday: 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel)
Sunday: 8 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel)
That's a reasonably generous coverage window, as me memory from Seminole is that gave us a mere two hours each day. Obviously Golf Channel can spare their airwaves at those early hours, especially over a holiday weekend, but I do hope we see the foursomes matches finish. If you're playing this weekend, you'll need to power up the DVR.
My biggest golf dream, at least the biggest that doesn't involve my own play, would be a Ryder Cup on the Old Course. That would be just epic, but can never happen due to the economics of the Euro Tour. Their every four years home game is a vital cash infusion, as it's sold to the highest bidder each cycle. Of course, flush with Saudi loot, maybe we can start dreaming again?
Have a great weekend and we'll pick things up next week, although likely not until Tuesday at the earlier.
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