Your Friday Frisson - Finca Cortesin Edition

I know, I'm trying to make up fr the light week of blogging, though I'm distracted by the Solheim Cup playing in the background.  And, since I'm watching the taped foursomes coverage, it means that every few minutes I have to rotate 160 degrees and FF through commercials....

Solheim Stuff - It's a fun event, not least because of the bad blood that's built up over the years.  And the player that's generated the largest share of said blood just happens to be the Euro's captain... Putting it the week before the Ryder Cup, however, isn't doing the girls many favors, although the East Coast weather forecast could be quite the ratings boost.

They obviously try to mimic the Ryder Cup, though making the first hole a drivable Par-4 feels a bit gimmicky.  And while the first two U.S. teams broke well from the gate (Lexi being out first makes that matter), Nelly Korda's smother-hook into the water wasn't the start she needed.

U.S. Captain Stacey Lewis is feeling dissed:

On Wednesday, Lewis expressed disappointment when asked if the organizers of the Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup, team match-play competitions being held in back-to-back weeks in Europe for the first and likely only time, could have done more to jointly promote the events.

“I thought this could have been marketed together as two weeks in Europe, two cups for play. I think it was a missed opportunity for the sport of golf,” Lewis said on Wednesday from Finca Cortesin, site of this week’s Solheim Cup. “I wish people could get the sponsorship things out of their head and figure out how we can work together. This may not ever happen again, the two Cups being played in the same year. So I thought it was a massive missed opportunity.”

Lewis went on to say she “tried to do a little bit with the guys and just weren't really able to move things along the way I would have liked. … I just would like to see it for the good of the game. It's not to further women's golf. Let's further the game of golf in general.”

No, nothing to do with promoting women's golf at all..... And we believe that, perhaps she's got some swampland to sell us.... Obviously Stacey needs a tutorial about golf organizations and their responsibility:

The LPGA and Ladies European Tour oversee the Solheim Cup while the PGA of America and DP World Tour are responsible for the Ryder Cup. Ordinarily, the biennial events are played in opposite years, but when the Ryder Cup was delayed from 2020 to 2021 due to COVID, it created a one-time overlap for 2023. (The LPGA is moving the Solheim Cup to even years in 2024).

You know who is responsible for marketing your event, Stacey?  Unfortunately Google is failing me, but Stacey has a bit of a history on this subject, as I've previously called her our for whining about the women's treatment as compared to the men.  Apparently, because a Pro-Am partner asked her once if she ever misses  fairway, she took that to mean that the girls are just as good or interesting as the men.

Meanwhile, the PGA of America responded thusly:

"We are enthusiastic supporters of the U.S. Solheim Cup Team and are promoting the Solheim Cup in a number of ways. For starters, we are creating digital assets and collaborating with our friends at the LPGA on our social media channels. For the first time, we produced a U.S. Ryder Cup Team video in which the players and our Captain expressed their support for the Solheim Cup Team.”

Additionally, the PGA of America’s statement noted: “We are also supporting the Solheim Cup with editorial content on PGA.com and by engaging with Solheim Cup content across PGA of America channels. Finally, our CEO Seth Waugh will be onsite in Spain to cheer on the U.S. Solheim Cup Team for all of us.

“While scheduling and logistics challenges precluded some other joint activations, the PGA of America will help to raise awareness in a meaningful way through our digital and social media efforts.”

I'd have gone with "Bite Me", but this is probably the better strategy....

As you can tell, I'm a supporter of the event, but the girls occasionally lapse into this "The world owes us respect" logic, and I'm inclined to call them out on it.  They need to earn their audience, it's not an entitlement.....

It's early in the broadcast so any conclusions should be received with skepticism, but the combination of understandable nerves,  cold early morning weather and the disjointed nature of alternate shot has the golf looking quite scratchy.... I mean, except for watching Rory, not sure where you'll see more short ptts not threatening the hole.  But that's the fun in it, no?

That Other Cup - One of my golf buddies suggested that he's the perfect guy for the job, to which I could only shrug my shoulders:

In Zach Johnson, the U.S. might have the leader (and fighter) made for an embattled Ryder Cup

Maybe.  I like Zach, because who doesn't like an over-achiever.

Zach Johnson doesn’t think we’ll be friends. He didn’t take the U.S. Ryder Cup captaincy at the

height of the most divisive time in golf under the illusion that he’d catch an easy ride — from reporters, golf fans or anyone else. And to date, the captaincy has not been that. There were months of LIV/PGA Tour feuding, legal dramas threatening to impact tournament eligibility. And did we mention that bit about the PGA/PIF merger?

Why would Johnson (or, for that matter, his Team Europe counterpart, captain Luke Donald) choose to enter this scrum? Because the 47-year-old, 12-time PGA Tour winner believes he has the DNA to deliver the first U.S. Ryder Cup win on European soil since the Clinton administration — DNA that has no shortage of testiness. But Johnson’s fighting spirit may be precisely what Team U.S.A. needs. A saying will be stitched into their uniforms: Dodici forti. It’s Italian for the old American Ryder Cup axiom “Twelve strong.” In Johnson, who spent plenty of the past year competing alongside most of the dozen players who’ll ultimately make up his team, it’s certain the Americans will have a 13th man in the foxhole.

Twelve strong, eh?  I remember a guy who got excommunicated for suggesting that it takes twelve players, and I'm wondering where Zach was then....

If you were looking for a clone of Zach in a prior generation of players, I'd suggest that you might not come closer than Corey Pavin.  Anyone remember how his captaincy played out?   I mean, talk about similarities:

GWK: You said a gnat. I was going to ask you, do you like being described as a bulldog?

ZJ: Yes. That’s probably another good description. I love match play and given the golf course, I think I think I can have success. I always feel like mentally I go into a manner in which I feel like the player I’m competing against is going to play really, really good so I have to play well. When we get up around the green, whether it’s a putt or chip or whatever, he’s going to make it.

That was actually Pavin's nickname, though by the time he got to Celtic Manor letting his wife design the unis seemed to be the higher priority.... 

My other concern with Zach is that he owes his job to that cabal of cool kids initially led by Phil.  For instance, we all know that Tiger was going to advocate for JT getting that pick, and I'm not even arguing that he shouldn't have been selected.  My question is, do we think Zach was prepared to say "no" to Tiger?  

Speaking of the Striped One, where exactly is he?   I'd submit this for lamest (read: bullshit) trope:

GWK: How will Tiger Woods be involved?

ZJ: Well, he’s been involved throughout. Just communication, whether it’s a text here or text there. We can bounce things off him if we desire. At the same time, what’s happened as of late, he’s even voiced it: he’s like, ‘hey, once tournament week comes, I don’t need much.’ He’s like ‘if you need me to look at something, so be it.’ But at the same time, we really haven’t done that, because there’s so much of our work we get done before the week. But he’ll be in communication, whether it’s FaceTime or text.

In the header Tiger is referred to as the 13th man..... Of course, Keegan Bradley thought he was the 13th man, but Tiger will be just as critical as Keegan....

Seriously, you got a text or two out of the man?  Wow, what a commitment!  He wants to be perceived as the éminence grise of professional golf, but only from his couch in Jupiter.  He's a dick, guys, and can't be bothered if there's no payday in it for him.  All this 13th man nonsense just makes Zach and the players sound needy, but he doesn't want to be near you in case it goes badly.

This has some interesting data:

An unprecedented statistical deep dive into Ryder Cup performance

We always here that the U.S. sucks in foursomes, though it's far more nuanced than that:

1. It should come as no surprise that the home team enjoys an advantage in each of the three formats, but it is surprising that while Fourball and Singles hover around 52% for the home team, Foursomes (aka "alternate shot") is higher to a statistically significant degree, with more than 56% of all matches going to the home team. The last two Ryder Cups showed a great example of this phenomenon; in Paris, the Europeans went 6-2 in Foursomes, while at Whistling Straits, the Americans returned the favor with the exact same record.

The story of Ryder Cups recently has been one of home team dominance.....

2. If you wanted evidence that the Europeans have been strategically sharper than the Americans since '83, look no further than the records by format. In the pairs sessions, the Europeans have thrived, winning 55% of all Fourball matches and 52.6% of all Foursomes matches. In singles, though, it's the Americans who came out on top with a narrow edge of 51.1%. The obvious conclusion here is that America's talent surplus comes to the fore in singles, but in the formats where tactical maneuvering yield the most benefit, Europe has excelled.

I don't know about that strategically sharper bit.  Seems to me that the bigger issue is that the team formats only include eight players, meaning that the Euros are predictably able to leverage their top-heavy rosters.  But singles go twelve deep...

This doesn't tell us much:

3. Captain's picks have only been moderately successful. Combined, both the U.S. and European captain's picks have won at about a 50% clip, with Europe just slightly more successful. We all know stories of great successes and failures, like how the American Ryder Cup captain's picks dominated at Whistling Straits while Jim Furyk's picks in Paris were steamrolled, but over time, this all appears to balance out. This is especially interesting in the context of both teams adding more and more captain's picks each year.

Jim Furyk isn't the sharpest knife in the draw, but the issue might be more how he used his picks.  Thing is, expanding the number of picks doesn't really change the rosters much at all, and certainly not favor the Americans.

This should be expected, no?

5. As far as rookies go, this might be the most surprising statistic of all. The American rookies have compiled a very respectable record of 113-104-40, almost a full ten matches above .500, while the Europeans are an abysmal 78-101-37. That's a shocking total from the team that has been overall much better than the Americans since '83.

Silly.  The captains picks are the bottom of the roster and the U.S. always has a deeper roster.  Of course their rookies will out-play the Euros....

This might make you laugh, assuming you forget who we put in charge:

7. And how about the winning percentage by the Ryder Cup standings? Here, we see how mightily the U.S. has struggled at the top of the table. The player who finished first in the standings since '83 has a winning rate of just 45.9%, while number two is even worse at 37.7%. Nowhere was this difficulty more evident than 2004, when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson came in 1-2 and proceeded to combine for a 3-6 record as Europe ran up an historic victory. This also gives evidence for something Europe has prided themselves on for decades: They're giant killers at the Ryder Cup.

Phil hated Tom Watson, which is ironic because he did more than anyone else except perhaps Tiger to cause Watson to get the gig.

PIF/Tour Stuff - The beatings will continue until morale improves:

Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, said in an interview with Fox News that aired Wednesday that he doesn't care about allegations of sportswashing made against his country.

"If sportswashing [is] going to increase my GDP [gross domestic product] by way of 1 percent, then I will continue doing sportwashing," he said, according to Foxnews.com. "I don't care."

Through its Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia has been increasingly aggressive in its involvement in global sports in recent years, highlighted in the United States by the creation of LIV Golf, which recruited high-profile players from the PGA Tour, eventually leading to a union between the two.

But I had been reliably informed that it was all about growing the game.... Yeah, I agree, that was a good one.

I may be a skeptic as to the efficacy of sportswashing, but the guy footing the bill seems all in.  So, no problem handing him the keys to professional golf.

This tab has been open for months, but it's just pitch perfect for cluster-eff in which we find ourselves:

Could the Saudi-backed PIF become the primary sponsor of a Florida PGA Tour event? Hear us out

What we learned this week is the PIF will be “a premier corporate sponsor” of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and other international tours (now we know what $2 billion buys), and a title sponsor of at least one event. Those tours will work together to identify a high-profile event for the PIF to make that financial investment as title sponsor.

And it just so happens the tournament formerly known as the Honda Classic is looking for a new title sponsor after American Honda ended its 42-year partnership following this year’s tournament. Talks have been slow when it comes to a new title sponsor, which was expected with the Tour more involved in reworking the schedule and negotiations with the PIF that would reshape the game on a global level.

Although officials from the Tour and locally are confident a quality title sponsor will be identified before the 2024 tournament … an opening still remains for the PIF to expand its golf enterprise.

What could go wrong?

This is pretty amusing, especially given that it was written by a South Florida reporter:

And although logic says the PIF will pump money into an event on the DP World Tour, if it does happen in the U.S. — and that remains a big ‘if’ — Florida is as good a place as any to further the objective of distracting from Saudi Arabia’s atrocious human rights violations.

LIV Golf has become a favorite of the MAGA crowd, thanks to the vocal support of Donald Trump, whose properties are hosting three LIV events this season — events, by the way, whose futures are unknown. Per the agreement, LIV Golf now will fall under control of the PGA Tour, which, presumably, has the power to disband the league.

What better spot than a state turning more red by the day?

I thought the left's style book called it Extreme MAGA" these days?  There's multiple layers of irony here. including how the Tour's treatment of its sponsors created this opening, but also created the environment in which these strange bedfellows found each other.

But, riddle me this, Batman, how does this turn Florida blue?

And, just for the record, CTRL:F - Jewish yields exactly zero results.  You're pimping for a Saudi event in a location with perhaps the largest concentration of Jews in the country?  And it doesn't even warrant a mention?  

At least we closed that browser tab.....  And, given how the Tour abuses its sponsors, fun to think of PIF on the receiving end, although they will, of course, be treated differently because, well, bonesaws.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday.

 

Weekend Wrap - Table For 35 Edition

So, funny sequence of events over the weekend.  I played nine holes on Friday and, while warming up on the range, the head of my 6-iron flew off and went significantly downrange into a section of the range that hadn't been mowed since the Carter Administration.  Our head pro was on the range and jumped in to help, and I thought it a miracle when we actually found the head.  Saturday, after my round, I went out to find Theresa on the back nine, only to espy her headed to the range due to frustration with her swing.  When we got there, we saw a member and a couple of youngsters searching as we had been doing the prior day, as the son's 7-iron head had flown off in similar fashion.  They still hadn't found that clubhead when we departed....  Metal fatigue seems to have been the theme of the weekend.

Breaking Through - A nice story and popular win:

Third time’s the charm for Sahith Theegala.

The now-25-year-old put his name on the map of professional golf last season with a spectacular rookie campaign, making it all the way to the Tour Championship.

But, despite holding the 54-hole lead in two different events during his rookie season, he had yet to win on the PGA Tour and that continued through his sophomore season in 2023.

At least until Sunday.

With the Southern California native playing close to home this week at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, Theegala posted a final-round 68 to convert his third career 54-hole lead into his first career PGA Tour victory at 21 under.

This was an odd bit at a golf tournament:

As he approached the 17th green holding a four-shot lead, chants of “Thee-gal-a” rang out from the crowd.

“That was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” the former star at Pepperdine said. “I had so many family and friends cheering me on, and just the support I have is mind-blowing. I go to bed at night these last few days and I’m like, I can’t believe how many people are cheering for me and rooting for me.”

Thirty-five souls, at least according to the broadcast....

Was there any reason to be interested?  Not really, though this is about the extent of it:

Justin Thomas posted rounds of 69-67-65 before regressing Sunday with a 72 to finish fifth. This was his best Tour result since finishing fourth in February’s WM Phoenix Open.

Two-time defending champion Max Homa recorded a T7 in advance of his first Ryder Cup.

 The Tour Confidential panel had some thoughts on one of those guys:

5. Justin Thomas, after a year where he missed the PGA Tour’s playoffs, finished fifth at this week’s Fortinet Championship, displaying a few changes along the way. Notably, he said he’s taking more ownership of his game from an instruction standpoint — his coach is his dad, Mike — and he added a longer driver. What did you learn from Thomas this week? How big was the finish for him and the U.S. Ryder Cup team?

Melton: Confidence is everything in golf, and all it takes is one week to get your mojo back. If in fact this is a turning point for JT, the Americans’ chances in Rome just got a hell of a lot better.

Rogers: I learned that those 80s in the spring probably didn’t mean much! The strong finish should help build confidence and momentum heading into Rome and hopefully silence the JT doubters a bit.

Dethier: This finish didn’t do anything for the Ryder Cup team in the sense that it’s still 0-0 heading to next week. But it should shut up some of the doubters arguing that Thomas is in poor form; instead of being the guy who missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs, he’s now the guy coming off a T12 at the Wyndham and a fifth at the Fortinet. I’m sure U.S. captain Zach Johnson is happy to have some better ammo for his decision.

It makes a blogger laugh.... if you're sufficiently indifferent to his play, why would you breathe a sigh of relief when he has a credible finish?  Though I'll readily agree, if only because I said it last week, that it beats the hell out of an MC...though that Sunday sleep-walk is curious, no?

But the bigger issue is that Homa and JT are the only two Americans that have played since East Lake, which is a full month+ of inactivity.  If they start sluggishly on Friday in Rome, you heard it here first.  Especially since.....

Reps All Around - The Euro Tour schedule is a bit of a hot mess these days, but their forced move of their flagship event to September seems to have been, well, timely, as Geoff explains:

Europe is well-positioned to win back the Ryder Cup after all 12 members of the 2023 team made the BMW PGA Championship cut, with seven recording top 10’s. The matches are now less than two weeks away and Luke Donald’s squad appears to have done everything right since coming together following the September 4th Captain’s pick announcement.

As New Zealand’s Ryan Fox captured the DP World Tour’s flagship championship for his first Rolex event title, England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai tied for second with Ryder Cuppers Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood taking the next three spots on the board.

Fair enough, but we'll not trouble ourselves with Kiwis in a Ryder Cu year.  But Geoff provides a longish update on how those Euros played at Wentworth:

Tyrrell Hatton (T2 - 68 69 68 66). How good is the temperamental one’s game right now? Finished in a divot on the 17th hole and just cracked a smile, then hit the ball about 10 feet from the cup.

Jon Rahm (4th - 71 67 66 68). Another solid finish at a place he’s finished second at two times before.

Viktor Hovland (5th - 69 70 67 67). Also finished T5 at Wentworth last year and continues to thrive since winning the Tour Championship.

Tommy Fleetwood (6th - 69 66 67 72). Another rough final round but his resurgent game continues to be in very good shape.

Rory McIlroy (T7 - 72 71 67 65) - Posted a final round 65 just two days after barely making the cut (more below). McIlroy says his back and swing issues are improving and everything’s “in pretty good shape.”

Ludvig Aberg (T10 - 68 66 66 76) posted a final round 76 just two days after the youth-desperate golf world was ready to retroactively award him some majors. Despite the final round blow up, the young lad should be fine.

Sepp Straka (T10 - 70 66 69 71). Reaffirms his Captain’s pick with another solid week on a big stage.

Shane Lowry (T18 - 69 71 67 71). Played well until a triple bogey at the 17th Sunday. Coupled with his T3 in the Irish Open, he’s the least of Captain Donald’s concerns.

Matt Fitzpatrick (T18). Recently got engaged and the game seems fine. The notoriously fickle horse-for-courses needs to display an affinity for Marco Simone or he’ll be sitting a lot.

Luke Donald (T36) tied with captain’s pick Justin Rose. While never great to tie with the captain, Rose seems to be in the vicinity of serviceable play and has a 13-8-2 Ryder Cup record that should help the Captain pencil his name into the lineup.

Robert MacIntyre (T45). Draw a line through this one since he was dealing with hecklers (see below) just trying to win a match bet any way possible. The Scotsman’s track record at Marco Simone remains his greatest strength heading to Rome.

Nicolai Hojgaard (T64). Not a great week but missed the BMW cut last year and has a 3rd and T5 in previous two DP starts to suggest he’s also not hopelessly lost. Hojgaard may not like the oft-remodeled Wentworth, which hardly makes him an outlier.

In contrast, Patrick Cantlay has been meeting with lawyers and merchant bankers, so we've got that going for us....

One last discordant note summed up here by Shack:

In yet another reminder that the professional tours are festering with all sorts of lightly addressed issues while the execs deal with “the events of June 6th,” the normally bucolic English countryside saw an effort to interfere with the competition. On top of a Friday finish in darkness and a former Ryder Cup captain clashing with drunks, and the early week seemed more Wasted than Wentworth.

More details here.  We're seeing more and more of this, small scale for the time being, but with no sense that there's any plan to address it.

The Cup That Shall Not be Named - If a tree falls in the forest..... Yeah, it's a fine event, but if you wanted to kill it forever, what would you do differently than this year's schedule?

1. The Solheim Cup starts this week at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain, and there is no

shortage of storylines. Which one will you be watching most closely?

Zephyr Melton: I’ll be interested to see how Lexi Thompson’s week plays out. She’s been out of form all season (to put it lightly), but coming up clutch in Spain could completely flip the narrative for her in 2023.

Claire Rogers: Rose Zhang! I can’t wait to see what the Solheim Cup (and LPGA!) rookie brings to the matches and how her game stacks up in a team setting.

Dylan Dethier: Let’s stay big picture: Can the Americans win?! Team Europe comes in with two victories in a row and four of the past six, including some shockers. Team USA once again enters with the edge in on-paper talent, world ranking etc. Will it actually matter? More specifically I’m intrigued to dive into the subgroup represented by Team Sweden; there are four Swedes on the European side, including player-slash-assistant-captain Anna Nordqvist and future World No. 1 Linn Grant. The Swedes are stars! How will they perform under the bright lights?

There's always one Lexi dead-ender in a crowd, but that's not a narrative that will flip so easily.... But, if you thought JT a bad pick, Lexi might provide some need perspective.

It's team match play and there's enough bad blood to keep things on edge, you just have to ignore that the biggest concentration of talent isn't included.  And the ladies won't be adding a Prez Cup, because that would just be a beatdown.

2. Who is your MVP from the American side? The European side?

Melton: American MVP: Rose Zhang. European MVP: Leona Maguire.

Rogers: I have to agree with Zephyr on the U.S. side. Rose Zhang for the Americans, Linn Grant for the Europeans.

Dethier: Gimme Meghan Khang for the US; she’s been playing incredible golf and should mesh well with any playing partner — including Nelly Korda? But if you’re an investor, you should still find her at some better odds. For Team Europe, I’d go Charley Hull. Her summer suggests she’ll embrace the moment.

Not a single vote for Lexi, eh?

Not only do they have no chance of attracting viewers the week before the Ryder Cup, but the European venue insures unfavorable air times.... 

That Other Cup - Just a few bits for your delectation, beginning with this outside the box suggestion:

Woodard: Forget the points lists. Let the captains pick their entire Ryder Cup teams

Really?  Color me cynical, but would this actually change anything?

“The feedback from last time’s Ryder Cup, it was a very positive influence to have the captain be allowed to have six captain’s picks for a variety of reasons and some that I didn’t even think
about,” said PGA of America president John Lindert during this year’s PGA Merchandise Show. “When there were only two, the two who got picked somewhat didn’t feel inclusive because they were the two, right?

“With six, it’s a 50-50 field so it becomes a more inclusive team and it allows the captain to actually build a team.”

Oh, I get it now, elite athletic events are all about inclusivity.....  I'm just holding my breath until they realize how many POC's and women will be there....

The argument against?

That said, the merits of a point system are obvious, too. The biggest con to the idea is the fear the event will become even more of a popularity contest. The best players should earn the privilege to represent their country. That’s where a captain comes in. How do you ensure the most-worthy players are picked? By naming the proper captains who will select the best teams. Not just by naming a popular name for name’s sake.

If it’s truly their team, a captain and his staff should pick who they want. Naturally a selection or three will be made based on course fit, for a match pairing or even due to past experiences. Picture a live selection show where a captain unveils his team and then gets to explain his reasoning. Professional golf is rapidly changing to improve its entertainment value. Match pairings are broadcasted, so why not the team selection, too?

Let me see if I follow the argument.  The organizations that sell the event to the highest bidders, will tell the captains not to pick their buddies?  For the good of the game....

But what's the real pint?  At least for the U.S., those top six qualifiers were going to Rome in any event, so the only change is that you'd lose the marketing value of the points list.  

Europe is far more complicated, because they use their Euro Points list to keeps some of the lads at home.  Just ask Adrian Meronk.... In certain years that can be a gift to the Yanks, not that said Yanks have done much with it.

Did you catch Rory's comments on the American team's advantage?  It was quite the self-own, but let's excerpt this bit first:

Winning abroad is a tough task for both the Americans and the Europeans. It’s been nine years since Team Europe triumphed at Medinah, and McIlroy is hoping to utilize the home turf in Rome to Europe’s advantage.

“I think you have a home course advantage for a reason,” McIlroy said. “I’ve felt this for a while now, but I think one of the biggest accomplishments in the game right now is a team winning an away Ryder Cup. It hasn’t happened since 2012, and I just think you’re gonna see this pattern of, the teams are gonna do everything they can to set themselves up for success. So if you look at what the Europeans do well compared to what the Americans do well, and these things are so analytics-driven.”

Don't need no deep analytics to know the Americans haven't won in Europe in 30 years.... But math is hard, so let's not break it to them that Medinah was 11 years ago, not nine.

Alan Shipnuck famously predicted an era of U.S. dominance in 2018, but it's a funny kind of dominance when you haven't won a road game since the Clinton administration.... Obviously this is one the should win, but one gets that queasy feeling that our guys aren't exactly road warriors.

Do you have a box of Kleenex handy?  Because your eyes will tear up when you read this:

Sergio Garcia reportedly made a last-ditch effort to play in this month’s Ryder Cup, but his

attempt was rejected.

According to an article from the Telegraph’s James Corrigan published Sunday, Garcia, 43, offered to make good on paying his fine for defecting to LIV Golf plus all other outstanding DP World Tour fines he owed, a total reportedly in the vicinity of £700,000, in hopes of becoming eligible to play for the European team that will compete in two weeks at Marco Simone outside of Rome. The story said that DP World Tour officials, however, turned down the plea from Garcia because he resigned his tour membership, which disqualified him from being eligible for the European team, and that he could not regain his membership in time for this year’s matches.

Gee, are you suggesting that actions have consequences?  Because, if he wanted to stay a member in good standing with the European Tour, maybe he shouldn't have been such a dick on the way out?  I know, an idea so crazy it might just work:

The Telegraph story did not mention the nature of the other outstanding fines that Garcia faced. The 16-time DP World Tour winner, however, was fined an undisclosed amount by the tour after failing to provide a reason for withdrawing from the BMW PGA Championship in 2022. The tournament was reduced to 54 holes in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth, with Friday play canceled. Garcia WD’d after an opening-round 76 and was then seen Saturday on the sidelines of Texas-Alabama college football game 5,000 miles away.

He's a petulant, self-centered a******e, and we're all better off without him.   Would this be a good time to remind folks of when, in a fit of rage, he damaged greens at the Saudi Euro Tour event?

I'm reminded of that Sergio-Rory conversation, in which Sergio opined that it was great that LIV was finally giving professional golfers what they deserve.  Rory responded that as golfers they don't deserve anything, it all needs to be earned.  In this case, Sergio is, in fact, getting what he deserves, and your humble blogger is grooving on the schadenfreude.

This bit was equally delusional, just from a less objectionable human:

4. Dustin Johnson, in an interview this week with the Palm Beach Post, said that he “would love to be a part” of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, and that while his play wasn’t great in 2023, he thinks it was enough to have earned a spot in Rome. Furthermore, Johnson went on to claim that if he hadn’t joined LIV Golf and instead had plied his trade on the PGA Tour, he would be heading to Marco Simone with the rest of the American Ryder Cuppers, just as he did in 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2021. Should Johnson have been more strongly considered? What else could he have done?

Melton: I’m not sure why DJ thinks he played well enough to be on the team this year. He’s got just two major top 10s in his past eight starts and has been largely irrelevant in golf’s biggest events since his 2020 Masters triumph. Sure, he’s won a couple LIV events of late, but does that really mean much? If he wants to be considered more seriously, he simply needs to play better when lined up against the game’s other top stars.

Rogers: Before I even get into this, I just need to say that I absolutely love DJ’s confidence here. “Yeah I didn’t play that well, but it was still good enough” is an awesome take. Do I think he’d be heading there if he didn’t go to LIV? Probably. But again, these guys knew what they were getting into when they went over there to play. It makes a ton of sense for Koepka to be on the team after his win at Oak Hill, but without a major win, it’s hard to make an argument for the guys on LIV because they had been told they wouldn’t be eligible.

Dethier: It’s sort of an impossible hypothetical because if Dustin Johnson had played on the PGA Tour, we would have had a completely different sample to work with. That either would have been good for DJ (top finishes against better competition!), bad for DJ (mediocre golf in deep fields!), or neutral for DJ (a little bit of everything — think Cameron Young’s resume). His 5-0-0 record at Whistling Straits would give him an edge. So would the fact that he’s one of this generation’s greatest golfers. As a result, there’s a better chance he would have made it … but that’s a different world than this one.

What folks forget is that, after that November 2020 Masters, DJ's game went into remission, a longer period of poor play seems to be acknowledged.  Yes,. he played well at Whistling Straits, but I don't even think he would have been the next LIVster chosen.... he simply hasn't done enough to make this statement.

Of course, the bigger issue is that he chose competitive irrelevance, and now seems surprised that there are actual consequences.  That this affecting these guys to the extent that they're whining is about the only good news I've seen since June 6th.  

That's it for today kids.  A light schedule this week for sure, although without any specificity attached.  I'll blog when, as and if I feel like it, unti we flood the zone next week. 

Thursday Threads - Ryder Cup Musing Edition

Don't know your experience, but I thought the PGA Tour off-season dragged.... Not as badly as the Aaron Rodgers era, of course, but glad to have it behind us...

Roman Holiday - Shack is just back from Rome, seemingly avoiding both teams' scouting trips.  Who knew golf wasn't in the lifeblood of the Eternal City?

After taking over almost 150,000 steps interrupted by gelato testings, I can report no sign whatsoever of the Italian people having an inkling of the biennial matches coming to their country. (Though there was an airport display and cheesy video dedicated to the Cup’s official wine). But Rome’s a big place and I’m sure the combatants will not be discouraged to know they will be a mere blip from September 29 to October 1. Besides, of more interest to those of us who will be watching and pulling for a lively contest between the United States and Europe, the matches have sold out and corporate sales have been a huge success. With big crowds, an ideal course routing for the Ryder Cup and a big time venue build-out, Marco Simone should create a sensational arena for the matches.

The sell-out no doubt due to the pre-bookings of all those Polish golf fans.... or something.  

Geoff seems to be channeling his inner Alan Shipnuck here:

I don’t believe I’m alone in feeling like the 2023 edition has seemed like a bit of a transitional year with familiar veterans now gone. But after seeing how the venue will work and seeing the teams getting there for early scouting, it’s starting to feel like a good, old-fashioned and over-analyzed Ryder Cup. Just the way we like it. Prego!

Yes, but the closer to the event we get, the more traditional it feels.  The statistically superior U.S. squad?  Check.  The top-heavy Euro team?  Check.  The smug, clubiness of the Americans?  Check.  The seemingly invincible American teams (think Spieth-Thomas and Cantlay-Schauffele)?  Check.   Sending Phil out in foursomes?  At least I've good news for you on that last one...

Geoff has some interesting course notes, though my biggest question is either not addressed or is behind Geoff's paywall:

• The routing. Marco Simone’s sequencing keeps most of the key holes on an upper shelf of the property, with only the 3rd, 4th and 5th a bit removed from the action. Thanks to that trio sitting in a lower valley below the majority of upper holes, even that stretch can be seen pretty easily by spectators and other matches.

• Drivable par 4s! The 11th and 16th should liven up the back nine and are guaranteed to play as long par 3s in the four-ball session. In foursomes the 16th could see some lay-ups depending on the state of the match. On the front nine, the 5th tee signage has been moved up from its 376 yards total to something just over 300. With water by the green and a nice bit of strategy created for the tee shot at 375 or so yards, the shift forward feels forced and I won’t be shocked if, after player feedback, it’s reversed. Besides, the 6th, at 383 uphill, pinches down in a way that might encourage a few players to muscle one close to the green.

Leaving them drivable sounds like an advantage to the Yanks, no?  

• The design is very straightforward. Or, as the kids might say in full Tiger mode, it’s “all right in front of you.” The recent team practice rounds probably made this apparent to first-timers. I don’t see the players showing up there for the first time during Ryder Cup week and feeling as if they are at a great disadvantage. Learning Marco Simone will not pose an extreme cerebral challenge for Spieth, Cantlay and Schauffele to learn in a day or two. 

Straightforward?  That's not how "boring" is spelled. 

• Scouting what? The newbies may even be glad they missed the practice since it was playing pretty soft and green. The course is made up primarily of cool season grasses and appeared to have been (wisely) nursed through a brutal stretch of heat in July and August. It’ll be in good shape for the matches. But last week Marco Simone was understandably soft, lush and slow.

Honestly, they coulda just sent the caddies.... 

• Greens. A few key par 3 greens with severe undulations could play radically different by Ryder Cup time, depending on what Europe decides to do with green speeds. Will they go slow to favor their side less use to playing 13-and-up Stimping greens?

Don't be silly, they'll stimp at ten.  But nothing on fairway widths or depth of rough, then again we're still fifteen days out.

Old-World  Musings - Poor Rory has a sad on:

For Rory McIlroy, the Ryder Cup has always been about the bonds. The Northern Irishman spent the better part of 13 years, since his 2010 debut, forging them with a group of stalwarts who defined the European team: Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, and Graeme McDowell.

But that trio joined LIV Golf in 2022, along with fellow Europe team veterans Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and would-be captain in Rome, Henrik Stenson. As such, they were no longer a consideration for one of Luke Donald’s captain’s picks. At Marco Simone Golf Club outside Rome, where the Ryder Cup will be played Sept. 29-Oct. 1, the European side will be without any of the six for the first time in 26 years.

The four-time major winner played 16 of his 28 career matches with Poulter (6), McDowell (6) and Garcia (4). Now, he’ll work with a team that includes qualifiers Jon Rahm, Robert MacIntyre, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick, as well as wildcards Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and rookies Ludvig Aberg, Nicolai Højgaard, and Sepp Straka.

Sergio's absence seems more of a feature than a bug, unless you want your greens damaged or are an expectoration fan.... More substantively, it's hard at this juncture to think any of those guys (Casey perhaps the lone exception) could make much of a contribution given their age and moribund games.

Then again, Rory himself didn't make a positive contribution at Whistling Straits, and it's hard to see the Euros staying close if that repeats.

We might see these two guys paired:

McIlroy at least has one very strong bond to start this new chapter with Europe: Irishman Lowry. The pair teamed up for a Friday fourball match at Whistling Straits in 2021. Lowry and McIlroy grew up playing golf together in Ireland and, despite their careers going in different trajectories for a while, are now inseparable living in the Jupiter, Fla. area. Their daughters attend the same school. McIlroy seems like he’d take a proverbial bullet for Lowry.

“Yeah, he's turned into one of my closest friends and I'd go so far to say Erica would take a bullet for Wendy, Shane’s wife, too,” McIlroy said. “We are all that close; it’s just like a little pod since they moved down to Jupiter. … Shane and I grew up together. We've grown closer together over the last sort of five years.”

And they're perhaps the two biggest question marks on that Euro team, more so even than the two youngsters.  This is the case for Shane:

Lowry loves the big moments, almost exclusively. His four DP World Tour wins and two PGA Tour titles are primarily prestigious events. There’s the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush, and a World Golf Championship-Bridgestone at Firestone. He won the Irish Open as an amateur in 2009, and the European circuit’s flagship event, the BMW PGA at Wentworth, last year.

Not sure of that "exclusively" bit, though I'm more focused on the absence of any recency to it all.   Shane has gotten prickly on that subject:

“I know there was a little bit about that last week,” Lowry said, before pausing for thought, on

Tuesday ahead of the BMW Championship at Wentworth. “I need to be careful here. It didn't sit very well with me, to be honest. Yes, my results have not been amazing this year. But I feel if you purely go down to statistics and go down to the 12 best players in Europe, I’m one of them. I feel like I deserve my place on the team.

“I didn't feel like I had to go out and prove anything to anyone last week,” he continued. “The Irish Open is important to me and a tournament I wanted to play well in. If I shut a few people up, so be it, but I wasn't trying to do that last week. I wasn't trying to finish third last week. I was trying to win last week. So last week was disappointing for me. This week is the same. I'm trying to win the tournament here this week. I know I deserve to be on that team, and I know I'll be good in Rome in a couple of weeks. I’m very excited for it.”

Well, he's certainly captured the zeitgeist.  Just like these crazy kids today, because he identifies as one of the top twelve Euro players, he feels entitled to the pick.  It's not all that different from the Justin Tomas pick... he was always going to be on this team, especially given the paucity of grizzled Euro veterans.  And, also like JT, he has the right friends..... but the pick comes with some serious pressure.  If he is to be paired with his BFF, it's hard to see them staying close without them putting a few points on the board.

This comes as little surprise:

Ludvig Aberg was the breakout star of the European Ryder Cup scouting trip, according to his teammates

He's the guy I most want to see....

While that might be the ultimate compliment Aberg has been paid, there was a lot more to be said about the Texas Tech graduate. He certainly didn’t disappoint McIlroy.

“He probably exceeded my expectations,” McIlroy said. “Everyone talks about what a great driver of the golf ball Ludvig is—and he is. The ball-striking is incredible. But I was really impressed with his wedge play and how he can control his trajectory with shorter clubs. I was on the bandwagon before. I’m certainly at the front of it now.”

And McIlroy has company. Sitting right beside him on that bandwagon is Rahm.

“When you're creating the kind of reaction Ludvig has, it's a good thing,” said the Masters champion. “Because clearly people see the potential you have. He's already played good enough to capture the attention of the best players in the world and the media. Coming from behind and making four birdies in a row and taking the lead to win the European Masters is not easy. So clearly he's showing it. He's got great potential. The only thing that matters is what's going on in his head. A lot of times as players we put a lot more pressure on ourselves than the media can put on us. I wouldn't quite know how to answer the question [how much of a risk his selection is], but he definitely has the talent to back it up.”

I come at it from a different perspective.  Aberg is simply good enough to be worth the risk, though it will be interesting to see how and how often Luke uses him.  But we assume by Bethpage he'll be solidly in the rota of Euro studs with Rahm and Viktor, no?  But, especially if Rome doesn't go well for them, they're staring down the barrel of the hardest road game ever at Bethpage.

New World Musings - It would almost have to be, no?

Pre-Ryder Cup trip to Italy for the U.S. was more important than you might think

But how funny is this bit?

In 2021, when almost the entire U.S. team—players, caddies and captains—took a trip to Whistling Straits a few weeks before the Ryder Cup (only Brooks Koepka, nursing a wrist injury, missed out), the captains were asked to describe the purpose of that trip.

“They had us over a barrel in Paris because we didn’t have enough practice rounds,” Davis Love III, a vice captain, said at the time. “The other team knew the golf course way better. ... It’s important for us to gather local knowledge and pass it on to the guys who don’t have the intimate knowledge as guys like DJ.”

Let me see if I have this right.  The U.S. depended upon DJ's deep forensic knowledge of Whistling Straits?   Have you stopped laughing yet?  I mean, yowzer!  Next thing you'll tell me is that he actually read the rules sheet...

Johnson continued to emphasize the point in the smaller media huddle after the press conference

ended, and now, more than a year and a half later, he made good on his wish. This past weekend, nine members of the team—all but Jordan Spieth, who missed it for the impending birth of his child, and Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, who missed for personal reasons—traveled together to Rome with the captains to play the course and have some private moments as a group before the chaos of the Cup.

There were some hilarious moments that came from the gathering, including Scottie Scheffler dancing all over Justin Thomas' college football grief, Jim Furyk bringing back the Brookline shirt at the team dinner, and the sheer size of Stewart Cink's calves, but the bigger picture is that this was a critical strategic trip for the Americans.

Among the tangibles they discovered—that the rough is growing in thick, which is purportedly what Euro captain Luke Donald desires.

 

“The common sentiments that I heard on the golf course was they really liked it, which is awesome,” Johnson told the Associated Press. “And I knew they would because Marco Simone is very, very good. The rough was very thick. That was the other nugget that we talked about a lot.

I could have told you about the rough from my couch in New York, the question being whether Zach's IQ exceeds that of Jim Furyk, which admittedly is quite the low bar.

But your humble blogger is struck by the importance they place on team building, while simultaneously seeming unconcerned when key members of said team can't be bothered showing up.   Given Mr. Cantlay's dissatisfaction with his compensation, I'll be reminding folks of this should he not play well.

Sean Zak has six outstanding Ryder Cup issues, including a few that relate to the Americans.  First, there's only one guy in golf permitted to wear a mullet, and he isn't eligible for this cup:

Who will get a haircut?

This is more important than you think, given a good part of Europe’s roster insist on going hatless during this event. But early content from the team practice sessions in Rome show some ‘dos that I could certainly do without. And it makes me wonder if there are any adjustments in the works. Because the Ryder Cup is not too different from weddings. There are three-piece suits, gala gowns, a ceremony, the after-party, cigars, champagne — the list goes on. As a result, there are many, many photos. The kind that live on forever.

Brooks Koepka has clearly gone months without a haircut, and we’ll allow that mostly because he and his wife just welcomed newborn baby Crew to the world. I trust BK will trim the hedges before the massive photoshoot that is the Ryder Cup, if only for the reason that of the few podcasts Koepka has appeared on, one was with his barber. Brooks enjoys his hair.

Brooks Koepka seems to be in his Bama Bangs era and I absolutely support it. pic.twitter.com/hzwSP9puM8

— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) September 8, 2023

And Brooks isn't the worst do out there:

Sam Burns gets less of a pass. It may not be a full-blown mullet that he’s rocking right now, but it’s certainly mullet-adjacent. And the truth is, we’ve already got enough mullet in pro golf. Here’s hoping Sammy gets it clipped neatly before arriving in Rome.

RBC and ADP must be so proud.

Perhaps his coif shouldn't be at the top of our concerns:

Will Brooks Koepka play well?

Speaking of Koepka, it is not outrageous to wonder how he’ll play. He made this American team on the back of performances in April and May. We’ll toss in his top 20 at the U.S. Open in June (at a course he didn’t prefer) for good measure. But ever since July started, there have been many more average rounds than great ones. The sample size of performances is small, to be clear, but August Koepka was decidedly worse than world-beating, April Koepka.

So, what does late-September Koepka look like? Probably still pretty good, I’d think. He calls LIV events “tune-ups” for the bigger tournaments, and coincidentally has a LIV event the week prior to the Ryder Cup in Chicago. If that doesn’t go well, we’ll have much more to talk about.

These guys aren't too weird, are they?  For instance, have you heard what Brooksie and Jenna named their spawn:

Brooks Koepka and his wife Jena Sims have officially welcomed their first child, Crew Sims Koepka. The couple took to their social media platforms on Thursday morning to announce the exciting news about their baby boy. “I love my Crew,” Koepka's post read.

I guess "posse" was already taken?

And this:

Why the tie-dye?

The uniforms Team USA has made public are, in a word, typical. They are very similar to uniforms of the past — there’s a hoodie, dark blue polos with big stripes and hats with dominant U.S.A. lettering. The white, knit sweater with red and blue bordering stripes has great potential. Especially if worn in a particularly baggy way by swashbuckling shot-maker Scottie Scheffler. (Say that five times fast.) But besides that, the uniforms leave plenty to be desired. And that vibe was only made worse when Zach Johnson debuted a tie-dye hat during his team’s initial visit to Marco Simone.

Ugh!

Lastly, we keep hearing that these guys are relentlessly focused on growing the game, for which we can only express our gratitude.  Simultaneously, we've been assured that a certain Netflix documentary has exposed millions of non-golfers to the PGA Tour, creating countless new golf fans.  So, naturally, one assumes that the most dramatic event in golf will create must-see content for the next season, right?  Right?  

Netflix cameras will be at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club later this month for the Ryder Cup, but the access will be significantly limited.

U.S. captain Zach Johnson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the 12 American players unanimously decided to keep certain areas at the tournament in Italy off-limits for the “Full Swing” camera crew.

It’s unclear what areas of the tournament will be off-limits specifically, though Johnson said the U.S. team room would be one of them.

"It was one of those where we all gathered, I talked to every individual and laid out scenarios," Johnson said, via The Associated Press. "And they all felt like it was best to navigate that week of the tournament in a manner in which the sanctity and sacredness of Team USA is preserved. We're eliminating scenarios."

The key word being....

"Netflix is going to be there," PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said, via The Associated Press. "I would say all things involving the team we leave to the team and the captain. I think there's a sanctity to the team room, and the experience is important to them. It's part of being a team, right? Netflix has been great for the game. They're doing great things. The team collectively decided there are areas of privacy that need to be respected."

Ya got that?  These guys are far too precious for my taste, only willing to preen for the cameras when it suits their purpose.  I'm pretty much at a point where I'm prepared to respect the sanctity of the entire PGA Tour from a suitable distance.

The question it begs is what don't they want us to see?  If I were the Euros I'd be allowing those cameras full access, just to draw a sharp distinction....

I lied...just this one tweet: 

Who did this dammit?
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Fue4fxGzIj

— Héctor R Fernández🇺🇸🇵🇷✈🖤💙 (@TheCCornerStore) September 3, 2023

I find myself unable to take my eyes off Justine, and hope she plays well in Rome.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you Monday 

Weekend Wrap - Content-Free Edition

I'm merely the aggregator, so hold your fire.  Unless, yanno, you're a Giants fan, and then you'll need to release a bit of that frustration.

They're Baaack! - How was your off-season?  Yeah, I know, it just flew buy as if it wasn't more than a couple of weeks.... But, good news, no one expects you to be interested in this first bit:

5 things to know about the FedEx Cup Fall, consisting of 7 official PGA Tour events

I'd be far more interested in the Fall of the FedEx Cup, but I'm sure this will be quite grand.  Though you might want to take notes:

The fall portion of the PGA Tour schedule has been reimagined as the FedEx Cup Fall, consisting of seven official Tour events. The top 70 have secured their cards for the 2024 season, which returns to

a calendar-year schedule (January-August).

The top 125 after the RSM Classic, the last of the seven fall events, will retain their playing privileges for 2024 while those who fail to do so (and aren’t otherwise exempt) will be forced to return to PGA Tour Qualifying School in December, where five Tour cards will be up for grabs.

“We are launching the most meaningful updates to the PGA Tour season since 2007, the first year of the FedEx Cup,” said PGA Tour president Tyler Dennis.

If these guys were better at the imagining thing, they could have spared us the reimagining bits...

They used to call it the Fall Finish, and it made sense as a place for guys to improve their status, just not as a place for folks to, yanno, watch.  It's mostly the events you've previously ignored, with a tweak or two:

Napa, California, is the kick off for the fall portion of the schedule, where the only notable course change is the World Wide Technology Championship, which shifted from Mayakoba Golf Club near Cancun – which jumped to hosting a LIV Golf event – to Los Cabos in Mexico at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal at Diamante. Also, the fall portion of the schedule lost its Houston event, which moved into the regular season in 2024, and the CJ Cup, which had been played in South Korea, Las Vegas and most recently South Carolina. CJ took over title sponsorship of the Dallas Tour stop. The WGC-HSBC Champions in China, which has not been contested since 2019, will not be played in 2023.

That Houston event still brings a chuckle to your humble blogger, as they voluntarily eschewed a spot on the main schedule for the wasteland of the4 Fall, ostensibly because of Houston weather.  Then they got a load of those two playoff events in Memphis and Atlanta and said, "If Lucas Glover is to have swamp ass, why not in Houston?"  In fact, Robert Garrigus might be in line for a sponsor's exemption....

This might be the extent of anyone's interest:

Will any of the big names play?

Much of the top Tour talent has been dreaming of a true off-season and the end of the wrap-

around schedule means players in the top 70 don’t have to worry about falling behind in the standings if they don’t play in the fall and the top 50 have already locked up status in the signature events. They have limited motivation to play in the seven fall events but they are still eligible to do so and some of them may sign up for tournaments that they are fond of, or they might just get bored being home (too much time off?) and want to play – pro golfers are gonna golf!

The Fortinet Championship field has two-time defending champion and Fortinet ambassador Max Homa as well as his Ryder Cup teammate Justin Thomas signed up to knock off some rust after missing out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

The Zozo Championship in Japan, which is a limited field, no-cut event, should draw some big names. Golfweek has learned that Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele, who both have ties to Japan, are expected to play and it would be a shocker if native son Hideki Matsuyama skipped playing there.

You could throw up a limited field no-cut event in Antarctica opposite the U.S. Open and draw a bunch of these guys, just to help grow the game I'm sure.

The Tour Confidential writers likely expected to have an offseason as well, but had to come up with something to head their homepage:

The fall season of the PGA Tour schedule begins Thursday with the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif. What storyline are you most interested in monitoring: Can Max Homa three-peat? Or will Justin Thomas turn in a good result following his Ryder Cup captain’s pick?

Zak: It’s all about Justin Thomas. If he finishes in the top 10, no one is worried about his form ahead of the Ryder Cup. If he misses the cut, the scrutiny only increases. Keegan Bradley only gets more annoyed. Jordan Spieth’s form gets brought into discussion, as a result of being Thomas’ preferred playing partner. It all gets…hairier. And frankly, more fun to talk about. But I’m rooting for JT to make it a non-story.

Sens: Sean has summed it up well. Another way to put it is that this is what we call a ‘slow news week’ story.

Colgan: Correct. A top-10 and nobody says a peep until we get to Rome. An MC, on the other hand, and the discourse may threaten to reach a fever pitch.

Got to admit, the JT is just a wee bit interesting.....and perhaps risky.  A 75-76-MC will make Zach's collar just that much tighter, though maybe the whole team could use some competitive reps?

Ryder Cup Musings - Very little to mull over, but that TC panel went after those Euro picks and "snubs":

The 24 Ryder Cup players representing the U.S. and Europe became official last week when captain Luke Donald finalized his European team with six captain’s picks made on Monday: Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry and rookies Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard. What are your thoughts on the picks? And what do the three newcomers bring to the team?

Sean Zak: The picks make sense. Aberg is the future world-beater. Hojgaard doesn’t need to be selected, but it’s also a future-oriented pick. And a player who is in form. Unlike the American team, the captain’s picks that Donald went with were all players going out and getting it, so to say. I think they’ll all happily follow Rory and Rahm’s lead, playing their three matches and faring quite well on European turf.

Josh Sens: Sound picks on paper, for sure, with a good mix of young talent and experience. The Americans are favorites heading into Rome. I’m not sure they should be.

James Colgan: All the picks make immediate sense with the exception of Aberg and Hojgaard. I like Aberg, but he’s a particularly notable gamble given his age (23) and relative inexperience (no career major starts). Those two won’t be relied on to do everything for the Euros, but it’s the Ryder Cup — would it surprise you if the whole thing came down to those two?

OK, except that Shane Lowry hasn't "gone out and gotten it" since July 2017....

Aberg made Luke pick him by winning (and isn't THAT young), but the Hojgaard pick still surprises me.  But it's never about just the one guy, it's always a choice:

One player who wasn’t selected was 30-year-old Polish pro Adrian Meronk, who said his emotions have turned “from shock to sadness to anger,” although now he says he’s using it as motivation. Meronk has won three times since July 2022, and his latest victory (back in May) was at Marco Simone — the same course that will host the Ryder. He also barely missed auto qualifying for the team. Was he the biggest Ryder Cup snub of all, including the U.S. side?

Zak: Absolutely the biggest snub. He must have thought “what more can I do?” after winning a tournament on the host course this year. But Keegan Bradely felt similarly after he won the Travelers. It’s never a done deal if you don’t auto-qualify. That’s the big lesson here.

 

Sens: ‘Adrian Meronk’ is pretty much Polish for Keegan Bradley — each is the biggest snub of his respective side. But let’s not make too much of this and suggest that Donald and Johnson somehow made the wrong decisions. The picks they made were every bit as defensible as choosing Meronk and Bradley would have been.

Colgan: Agreed, Sean. If the Euros lose on the back of the two younger picks, you can bet the fans will be roiling about Meronk’s exclusion.

What more could he do?  Well, let me just spit-ball here, but he could, yanno, automatically qualify or, failing that, rank higher than 11th on the World Points List.   

I don't actually like using the word "snub" here, because captain's picks can and should be made upon their own subjective criteria.  If you've left yourself in that position, then you simply haven't earned a spot on the team.  If you're picked, that's a gift, but the absence of a pick doesn't come with a license to whine.

If you need a laugh, this reflection on that 2018 face-palm will provide it:

The U.S. Ryder Cup team won’t make the same mistake twice. At the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, Europe held a distinct advantage as Le Golf National had been the site of the DP World Tour’s French Open for years. Then U.S. Captain Jim Furyk led a trip there ahead of the British Open in July for potential team members, but only Justin Thomas competed in the French Open that year and he ended up with the best record among the Americans, who were routed 17½ to 10½.

“They had us over a barrel in Paris because we didn’t have enough practice rounds at (Le Golf National),” Davis Love III, former two-time captain and a vice captain in 2018 and again this year, told Golfweek in 2021. “The other team knew the golf course way better.”

Isn't this why we have a Task Force?  Yet, coming off that route at Hazeltine in 2016, they thought they could throw any twelve guys out there and make it work.  How'd that work out? 

But this might be even funnier:

That could be the case again but to a lesser extent: the last three Italian Opens have been held at Marco Simone. Love noted that Tiger Woods helped shape Team USA’s approach to preparing for a course.

“He said, ‘Let’s talk to the head pro, the best caddie, the top players among the members,’” Love said. “We learned a lot of why he beat us all those years.”

Sure, that's the ticket.  You didn't need to be Nostradamus to know how the Euros were going to set up Paris, yet our vaunted Task Force not only put Phil on the team, but sent him out in foursomes.....Like they say, it's not just a river in Egypt.

Of course, not everyone could be bothered:

Nine of the 12 U.S. Ryder Cup team members made a quick visit to Rome and Marco Simone Golf Club over the weekend to familiarize themselves with the venue that will stage the event Sept. 29-Oct. 1

Jordan Spieth, whose wife Annie is pregnant, did not make the trip. Nor did Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, both of whom had previous commitments according to captain Zach Johnson.

Previous commitments, eh?  Given that our terrific penis has been trying to find a merchant bank to outbid the Saudis, we are once again reminded of their priorities.

And what did they find?

"The common sentiments that I heard on the golf course was they really liked it, which is awesome, and I knew they would because Marco Simone is very, very good," Johnson said in the AP story. "The rough was very thick. That was the other nugget that we talked about a lot.

"The putting greens were very good, very true, very nice. The fairways were awesome. It’s a great test and it’s a really, really good match play golf course. So the guys are excited about the competition."

I'm sure you were dying to know their artistic reaction.... Of course, he offers and opinion on the quality of the fairways, whereas we're rather more curious about their width.... But I guess we're to be kept in suspense on that one, although this guy might have given the game away:

Oh no, don’t tell me those nasty Europeans have set up the course to their advantage. The scoundrels. I mean, that never happens in the US 😉👇 https://t.co/FQJbyZADPF

— John Huggan (@johnhuggan) September 10, 2023

The discussion on the Justin Thomas pick is valid, of course, but the bigger issue is how JT and others will be used.  His specific pairing with that father-to-be doesn't seem to me to fit foursomes, though Zach should have an adequacy off ball-strikers on this team.

If it doesn't work out, we'll always have Paris.

Ryder Cup Prep - U.S. fans will want to see JT play reasonably well this week, but how will Euro fans react to this prep work?

Rory McIlroy finds water 4 times at Irish Open while Vincent Norrman storms to victory

Only four?

Playing in the final group, McIlroy was tied for the lead at 13 under when he arrived at the par-4 seventh. There, he put the first of four balls in the water Sunday—this one an approach from 158 yards from the middle of the fairway to make double bogey. The World No. 2 found water again, this time a 136-yard approach that he pulled just left of the green at No. 11.

Still, when he sat in the fairway at No. 16, McIlroy was three shots behind clubhouse leader Norrman with three to play and par 5s among that trio. It was not out of the question for a four-time major winner to make up the deficit. With 267 yards to the narrow green, McIlroy flared a fairway metal into the creek. Then, after dropping in the fairway closer to the green, McIlroy fanned his fourth shot into the water. He airmailed the green for his sixth shot and, from the bunker, made 8. A birdie at the par-5 18th gave McIlroy a nine-under score and a tie for 16th.

That's the River Liffey, for those keeping a scorecard at home.

Of course Rory's travails mean absolutely nothing, but it's easy to make the case that Rory might be the pivotal player for Europe.  Everyone is wont to cite their three top dogs, ignoring that Rory hasn't exactly brought his best stuff to recent Ryder Cups.  

Parting Shot - There was a funny bit from that U.S. scouting trip, one that Spieth must regret missing:

The selection of Justin Thomas to the U.S. Ryder Cup team was made with team vibes in mind. Unfortunately for JT, the vibes couldn't have been lower during the American squad's scouting trip to Rome on Saturday night.

As a team, the Americans kicked back and watched college football's first marquee matchup of 2023 -- Texas at Alabama in primetime. Thomas' Crimson Tide, playing at home in Tuscaloose, closed as a 7.5-point favorite, but quickly found themselves in a dog fight with Scottie Scheffler's Longhorns. While Bama certainly kept it close and at times looked like they might pull away, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and the Longhorns offense kept answering before finally slamming the door, stunning Nick Saban's Tide and winning 34-24.

The game had a classic changing-of-the-guard feel, Saban's former pupil, Steve Sarkisian, possibly having Texas all the way "back," for real this time. Max Homa, one of the automatic qualifiers on the U.S. Team, captured that exact feeling and moment for JT and Scheffler:

Texas is back pic.twitter.com/18xUZinM1T

— max homa (@Maxhoma) September 10, 2023

Boys will be boys....

Have a great week.  It'll be a light blogging schedule, so plan your week accordingly.