Weekend Wrap - Medinah Mulligan Edition

Did anyone watch any golf this weekend?  I mean, anyone?  Bueller?

Just a few quick notes and then I'll let you get on with your week.

The Cup That Can't Shoot Straight - I know, I typically save that one for the LPGA, but the Prez Cup, which is fine if one manages expectations, just can't be what folks want from it.  The missing ingredient is bad blood, Ernie Els just not being ale to channel his inner Seve.

It's team match play with 24 great players, so it ought to amuse at the very least.  Of course, if they set as their objective to take the event to the dreariest venues possible, then I have good news for all.  Mission Accomplished!  But Medinah isn't just uninspired, it checks off so many boxes, also being the site of the U.S. team's most humiliating collapse, so I guess, "Bygones"!  And while perhaps there's a case to be made for Medinah as a gritty, old-school U.S. Open style Bataan death March, did it show itself as a worthy strategic match play venue in 2012?  Have you finished laughing?

Let's drop in with thoughts from the Tour Confidential panel:

The Presidents Cup begins Thursday at Medinah Country Club outside of Chicago, with the Americans attempting to win their 11th straight. The U.S. holds a 13-1-1 all-time record in the event and is the favorite once again. What has to go right for the Internationals to pull off the upset? And will they?

Dylan Dethier: On paper it looks as lopsided as ever — perhaps even more so than usual. But this event does have a habit of getting slightly closer than you’d expect, at least until late on

Sunday. It would be awesome for the Internationals to contend; their blueprint for getting there is channeling the energy of Si Woo and Tom Kim plus the unpredictable nature of match play. Look, they have plenty of good golfers too; why not Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Ryan Fox, Hideki Matsuyama and Co.? I dunno. I’m hoping desperately for a fun Sunday finish.

Josh Schrock: They need their top players — Hideki, Si Woo, Tom Kim and Adam Scott — to be a firewall and then hope that the match play variance works in their favor in singles. If their big names get beat up, they don’t have a chance.

Zephyr Melton: They need … a miracle? Only kidding (kind of). But without the talent they lost to LIV, along with being without stalwart Jason Day, I just don’t see a path to victory for the Internationals.

Typically we go into these things thinking there's quite a bit of talent on the International Team and, given the vagaries of match play, there's no reason they can't compete.  But as the writer's note, this year's team is, well, less familiar:

Si Woo Kim 

Hideki Matsuyama 

Ryan Fox 

Tom Kim

Min Woo Lee 

Adam Scott 

Sungjae Im 

Nico Echavarria 

Corey Conners 

Nick Taylor 

Christiaan Bezuidenhout 

Ryo Hisatsune

Doesn't blow you away at the top of the list (the first six were the automatic qualifiers), and I'll bet that Captain Ogilvy struggled a bit to come up with six names.... Of course, they're still pretty good and we keep expecting to find a chip on their shoulder....

Take your pick: Which players will be the respective MVPs for each squad, and which one player might we be sleeping on who has a big week at Medinah?

Dethier: The U.S. team will be anchored by Sam Burns, who doubles as the U.S. sleeper. We are, as always, sleeping on Sam Burns. Ryan Fox is your man on the International side; this is somehow his event debut, and I’d expect him to go all out.

Schrock: The internationals will be anchored by Tom Kim, and the Americans will lean on Xander Schauffele, who I feel is close to being back to top form. I think we’re sleeping on Chris Gotterup’s potential to have a big week and make everyone re-debate why he should’ve been at Bethpage.

Melton: U.S.: Wyndham Clark (with a hot putter). International: Si Woo Kim. As far as sleepers go, I could see Jacob Bridgeman and Ryan Fox having solid weeks.

The U.S. choices were maybe a little more interesting, but no votes for the kid?  That's got to be the pick that Sneds will be judged by, no?   Especially because of this:

'Odd man out' J.J. Spaun got snubbed, so he went to Wentworth and took down everyone, including Rory McIlroy

I'm not a fan of calling such things snubs, since Spaun didn't play well enough to lock down a spot, so that chip on his shoulder is something he is just using for his own purposes.  All athletes do this, at least all who watched Michael Jordan, but we also might not that had he found that chip earlier in the year....

Shane Ryan performs a dubious public service with this:

Presidents Cup 2026: Myth-busting the 12 most common tropes of team match-play golf

Spoiler Alert: The answer to all twelve tropes is, "Well, it depends."  

Trope 1: Always pick the hot golfer

Explanation: Captain's picks (six per side) should be used on players who have shown very good form in the past month or two.

Aquino's take: It depends on what you mean by hot. Are you just considering the last four weeks

and the guy who won two tournaments in that stretch? In that case, the answer is no. With captain's picks, you're looking at a much larger body of work, plus fit for the golf course and fit for potential pairings. If you won on a course that bears no resemblance to the course you're going to play, how relevant is that?

And you have to be so careful, because some players can be feast or famine, and you don’t want to risk catching a guy at the tail end of his feast period. Lucas Glover in 2023 is a good example. (Glover had five top-6s, including two wins, in a seven-week stretch in July and August before the Rome Ryder Cup), where even before the end of qualifying it looked like he might be reverting to the mean.

For my team and most analytics professionals, we don't put a lot of stock in a flash in the pan, even if it's three weeks before the competition. Now, if you widen the sample size to at least a full season, even a little longer, and show me sustained form and consistency over that period, we can have a conversation.

This is laugh-out-loud funny, not because it isn't a valid dilemma, current form vs. a total body of work, and I mostly come down on the latter.

The reason it's so funny is obviously when you look at where these cups are on the calendar.  Recency bias is a real thing, but there's no recency in late September, because the last real golf was in August.  Forget who the captain picks, our idiots in Rome didn't even realize the problem that none of their twelve guys had played in the last six weeks.

Trope 4: Winning partnerships should stay together

Explanation: Across sessions, formats, and even across multiple Ryder Cups, two partners who win should stay together.

Aquino's take: I think of foursomes and fourball as two very different games, so to keep guys together between formats reflexively without any regard to what wins in either format is foolish. I

remember when we got criticized for splitting up Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in '21 after foursomes, and sending Xander out with Dustin Johnson in fourball. They ended up rolling, so the criticism died down quickly, but people get anxious for some reason when it comes to splitting guys up between foursomes and fourball. But they're so different, and, also, from a practical standpoint, you have to split them up at some point if you plan to rest guys.

We've realized it's better to get guys into the matches early, get them feeling that pressure, because the longer you wait, the more the pressure builds. It doesn't help their preparation to keep them off the field. Add in the fact that guys need rest. Why even have a bench of any depth if you're afraid to use it? Another thing I can tell you is that we found a pretty firm relationship between a stressful match in the morning and not playing as well in the afternoon. I'm not going to define what we mean by a "stressful match," but you can kind of guess. And it makes the argument for having a rotation, which means splitting up even successful pairings to get fresh legs in.

I would never be dogmatic or axiomatic about whether one team's success in one format will translate to the other. It can, but you have to do the analysis.

As for keeping winning partnerships together cup to cup, it sometimes works out that way and it’s a great bonus if we can do that, but again, you have to do the analysis. Analytically, partners won’t necessarily be the same players they were two years ago any more than they will be the same players two years from now. Their fit together changes over time and as venues change. So it’s no surprise to see pairings work for a while—until they don’t.

So, no resolution of the pending Reed v. Spieth matter....

Luke Kerr-Dineen demands solutions, and he's got a couple.  Though we'll let him frame the issue:

The Presidents Cup has a systemic flaw. Here are two ways to make it fair

 Is it unfair now?  

This is going to sound like I'm being a Presidents Cup hater. But I'm not. What I am is a Presidents Cup realist.

I like the Presidents Cup … well, the idea of it at least. What I don't like is the systemic flaw in its design that means one team dominates year after year. The overall record in this match that dates back to 1994 is 13-1-1 in favor of the Americans. Even if the International Team pulls off a historic upset this year at Medinah No. 3, the competitive imbalance would remain.

I played around with a bunch of different variations, and these were the two fairest.

Keep an open mind, and let's get into it.

You are gonna love his Plan A, which is really a Plan B:

Option 1: International Team vs. USA-B Team

Again I'll give you a moment to stop laughing....

Here's his B-Team:

 

First things first. I need a volunteer to break the news to J.J. Spaun that he also failed to make the B-Team....that chip isn't getting any smaller.

Secondly, is LKD aware that this event is televised and that they're hoping to draw an audience?  Because, except for Rickie, I don't think most of us could pick these guys out from a post office wanted poster.

The second one is far more promising, although really only in a theoretical sense:

Option 2: A mixed-team event

I can already sense some executive in a suite somewhere shaking his head, dismayed at the thought of having to cut the LPGA Tour into a PGA Tour asset and make less money because of it.

But the thing is, this idea really does make sense! If you took the six highest-ranked men and women on each side, here's how the International Team would look:

It does match strength and weakness perfectly, it's just never going to happen.

Geoff is up with some thoughts on the Spaun "snub", which he attributes to a fave cause:

“It was disappointing to be left off,” Spaun said after his second-round 66 at Wentworth. “I kind of hung my hat on my experience with the Ryder Cup last year. I made it to the Tour Championship this year. I won in San Antonio. I kind of did everything I could. I was the odd man out.”

Spaun was 2-1 in his Ryder Cup debut. Presuming he was healthy and the Presidents Cup is serving as a springboard to next year’s match at Adare Manor, Spaun should have been an easy choice given his strengths and America’s dreadful foursomes play.

• Americans have gone 3-13 in foursomes in the last two Ryder Cups and are 13-24-1 in the last five matches.

• Spaun’s fairways-and-green consistency would seem like, at least to most upright golfers, a massive plus in foursomes (11th in 2026 SG Tee-to-Green) where nothing unravels a partnership faster than a wayward striker.

• Spaun has an easygoing personality that makes him easy to pair up in foursomes, another vital element in a format that can create stress between golfers not used to alternating shots.

• Spaun has two more tournament wins this year and one more career major than Cantlay.

he did WD from East Lake due to a shoulder issue, so you'd think Sneds might have hung his hat on that issue.

But it all comes down to Phil's Phucking Ryder Cup Task Force:

Snedeker may have caught a rare hybrid case of Task Force Loyalty and Youth Derangement Syndrome by picking Cantlay, Koivun and Jacob Bridgeman (who saved the Captain by winning this week’s new PGA Tour Biltmore Championship Asheville).

The latter two players are viewed as “the future” for America’s Ryder Cup hopes, and there have been rumblings that Tour leadership pushed for the Koivun pick in the name of servicing the coveted demo (Michael Thorbjornsen and Ryan Gerard had better years and would have been worthier choices if “new blood” was the goal). Snedeker’s picks may still pay dividends if the young Americans go on to make next year’s Ryder Cup team. But his decision to leave off Spaun highlights another instance of the United States trying to mimic Europe in a situation that’s not necessarily comparable (Luke Donald selecting Ludvig Aberg for the 2023 Ryder Cup).

We couldn't just let Cantlay go to LIV?  he fits in wonderfully wit that group....

Geoff covers a lot of ground here:

The sportsmanship of these “amateurs” landed in contrast to USA’s Solheim Cup team of professionals. Just a year after Keegan Bradley and others suggested Bethpage’s greens were too slow, America’s Solheim Captain seemed to insinuate that green speeds were artificially rigged against her team and that a dearth of strokes gained data hampered the effort. The other side feasted on a social media video of Captain Angela Stanford serving beer on the bus ride home to fuel another European Sunday celebration. Turns out, there were non-alcoholic options and Stanford was purportedly plying the caddies with a nice libation after the long 36-hole day. One that culminated in a stunning win driven by over 100 feet of Jennifer Kupcho putts that will forever be remembered in Solheim Cup lore.

But because organizations remain absurdly obsessed with feeding the social beast, down to showing every moment short of morning constitutionals, a Saturday night bus video showed a presumptuous team celebrating the day and an inevitable victory in Singles. Those perennial European underdogs—even with the continent 12-5 in Solheim and Ryder Cups since 2010—pounced.

The Saturday episode also served as another reminder of why the documentation of every single moment is unfair to non-USA male professionals getting paid. Cup players in the Solheim, Curtis and Walker Cups are playing for free on their own time. They deserve some element of protection and privacy when putting themselves on the line.

I love his rants, but maybe a little more focus would be useful.  I mean, a big difference between the young ams at Lahinch and the grizzled vets at the Solheim.

From a prior Geoff post, some quotable quotes:

Vice Captain Mel Reid on Europe’s win. “We’re just happy that we’re the ones now to take two crates of beer on the bus. They drink on Saturday. We drink on Sunday.”

Rory McIlroy when asked if he’d seen much of the Solheim Cup while playing the Irish Open. “I saw the Americans drinking beer and chanting on the bus on Saturday night. That was interesting. I honestly didn't, but obviously a great result for the European side, after what we did in Bethpage, what the Walker Cup guys did. All we need now is the Internationals to do it in a couple of weeks. That would be great.”

As usual, Rory has life bass ackwards.  The Prez Cup is the best thing that's ever happened to the Euros, and Rory seems to ignore what is, at worst, quite the correlation.  To me, the Prez Cup wins have given the U.S. a false sense of comfort.  The last thing the Euros should want is to face a U.S. team coming off a Prez Cup humbling....

Hopefully, it will be a fun, competitive week at Medinah.  There's a shortage of bad blood so methinks it's not likely to blow us away, but perhaps it can entertain.  Have a great week.

Weekend Wrap - Cups Runneth Over Edition

It's not like I actually watched any golf this weekend, despite there being two events worthy of attention.  I've taken to calling Labor Day Weekend a sports desert, but the week after might over-correct.  Take those two events (the Solheim Cup and the Irish Open from Doonbeg, just down the road from Lahinch), but bury them under the U.S. Open final matches and the first week of NFL games, and can we hear our game growing?

And, as I'll show below, the crazy scheduling will only get worse.... But Shack actually had some gripes about that electric Walker Cup, so stick with us.

Going Dutch - The shame is that the Solheim Cup is a pretty good event.  Not perfect, of course, it's still the Tour That Can't Shoot Straight.  As a matter of perspective, though, the relatively benign follies of the LPGA seem almost quaint compared to the viciousness of the WNBA.  At least nobody in the LPGA appears to be trying to physically hurt Nelly....So, we've got that going for us.

The Solheim Cup does require a certain suspension of belief, to wit, one has to understand that this event hasn't been able to accommodate the actual locus of power in the women's game.  But, setting that pesky detail aside, it's great fun watching the also-rans compete, mostly I think for two simple reasons.  First, team match play is just the bomb, at least when combined with a frisson of genuine ill-will between the teams.  Just the right kind of bad blood has developed over the years, thank you Annika and Suzanne....

From Geoff:

A second straight week of captivating team match play reinforced how much golf’s Olympics “grow the game” quest should have been built around miniaturized versions of the Solheim and Walker Cups. Your loss, IOC.

Because Europe’s thrilling 15-13 Solheim Cup win provided daily entertainment, drama, controversy, brilliant play, and another bit of American point-missing. Even better, it helped overshadow the slow-play-sullied Irish Open featuring a career-low sportsmanship moment from 11-stroke winner Shane Lowry.

NOTE TO READERS:  Remember my issues with embedding photos from Scotland?  They seem to be recurring, as that photo of the Euros would not embed in the usual manner, even with different file formats.  I was able to copy and paste it, but previews indicate it won't  center properly.  Grrrr!

The biggest controversy seemed to be about green speeds, where have we heard that before?

Stanford said it came down the Europeans making more putts on the slower greens and made became the second straight American captain of a professional Cup team to imply green speeds were a problem. “Apparently I didn’t get to know the superintendent as well as I should have,” Stanford said.

Nordqvist shot down the green speed claim. She pointed out that players saw the course in July during Europe’s record heat wave when the turf was lean. Rain has since slowed everything down at Bernardus. The 39-year-old Captain noted that they all play the same courses. “I’m not sure I believe a lot in setting up a way to fit Europe because these girls play the same golf courses week-in and week-out competing,” Nordqvist said.

But, lest we think this year's schedule, with three cups in 4 weeks is crazy, buckle in:

The 2028 Solheim Cup will be contested at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, September 8-10, 2028. That’s the same weekend as the Walker Cup in Bandon Dunes and a week after the Curtis Cup at Royal Dornoch. What a dreadful ask of fans to jam three of the four premier Cup events into a two-week window. This also dismantles an assertion I made to Fried Egg’s Andy Johnson last week suggesting that the organizations engage in more scheduling planning than we see publicly. Unreal.

You can see the ladies' profound strategery, picking a golf course that couldn't possible be confused with Bandon or Dornoch....  I can watch at two of the most spectacular places on the planet or, yanno, Louisville.  Perhaps the local police department will cooperate and let Nelly do a few hours in the hoosegow.

I'm probably glad I missed this bit of nonsense:

Add another to the “Already Bifurcated Game” files: when Team Europe’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen drove into the par-5 16th’s “penalty area,” partner Celine Boutier received relief from a Temporary Movable Obstruction relief because of a bridge in her way. So much for the penalty in the area. Boutier’s drop had to remain inside the hazard, but it was another example of professionals playing by a more generous set of rules and the general defanging of hazards in the elite game. No chance some mere mortal tries to pull that off in their weekly money game.

I'm assuming Geoff meant immovable, but line of sight relief from a hazard?  Geez, 

The Tour Confidential gang dealt a bit more with the actual competition:

Europe beat the U.S. to win the Solheim Cup on Sunday in the Netherlands, winning seven of 12 singles matches to break an 8-8 tie after team play and win (or retain) the Cup for the fourth time in the last five editions. What’s your diagnosis of the Americans’ loss?

Alan Bastable: It was, among other things, a reminder that the U.S. Solheim Cuppers have not

been playing well of late, period, with just two players notching LPGA wins this season. Those two players — world No. 1 Nelly Korda and No. 17 Lauren Coughlin — also happen to be the only Americans in the top 20 in the world. Rose Zhang needed a captain’s pick to make the squad; Andrea Lee came into the week off a couple of missed cuts; and Megan Khang, another of U.S. captain Angela Stanford’s picks, missed the cut in seven of her last nine starts. The Solheim Cup is not an event at which you can afford to come in searching for your game, and the Americans hit far too many loose shots. In fairness, the Europeans weren’t really in form heading into the event, either, but, as so often happens, they rode the home-team vibes and holed the putts they needed to hole. The blue wave early in singles also was a statement. Europe seemed more determined.

Josh Sens: That’s a spot-on diagnosis. It wouldn’t be a Solheim Cup without some second guessing, which we’ll get into below. Meantime, though, another constant in these team events is momentum, and the Europeans were impressive in riding that ebb and flow. After Jennifer Kupcho’s heroics late-day Saturday, the U.S. seemed prime to ride a wave into Sunday. But the wave came early from Europe instead.

Jessica Marksbury: It’s a bit of a cliche at this point, and something we seem to repeat at many international matches for both men and women, but Europe just played better on Sunday. On paper, the U.S. should have prevailed in singles. But golf is fickle, and match play even more so. It just didn’t go our way.

The U.S. is not exactly a women's golf powerhouse, and it showed in singles.

Who was your MVP for each side?

Bastable: For Europe, hard to separate the excellent play of Linn Grant and Maja Stark, considering they won three matches together, including both opening matches in the Saturday

sessions. But gotta give the nod to Grant who was a perfect 4-0, made all the more impressive when compared to her 0-4 clunker at the last Cup. Talk about a bounce back. For the U.S. side, easy: Alison Lee. Unreal week. After taking off 2025 for maternity leave, she came back in 2026 and not only earned her way onto the squad but proved to be the team’s best player. Four matches, four wins, including a singles comeback for the ages on Sunday; Lee was down 4 through 11 to Esther Hensleit and came back to win 1 up, with little Levi on the grounds, rooting on mom. Fabulous stuff.

Sens: Ball don’t lie, as the kids say. I can’t quibble with any of those picks.

Marksbury: No question, it’s the 4-0 ladies: Alison Lee for the U.S. (What a performance!) And Linn Grant for the Euros.

Allison Lee is a great story, especially given her old history with a certain non-conceded putt way back when.

Lastly:

Time to nitpick. What decision(s) from U.S. captain Angela Stanford are you second-guessing?

Bastable: The biggest question of the week was always going to be whether Angel Yin, who had been ill for much of the season and played only two competitive rounds (81-76 at the FM Championship) since June, was going to be ready for the pressure cooker that is the Solheim. Stanford could have swapped out Yin for the U.S. side’s alternate, Lilia Vu, but chose to ride with Yin. Yin said she was ready, but she didn’t look it, going 0-1-1 with at least a few untidy shots that showed her rust. Call me old-fashioned, but I also didn’t love the optics of the U.S. team cracking beers and celebrating on the bus Saturday evening. Can’t help but think that didn’t serve as fuel for the Euros.

Marksbury: The only thing I can think of is pure hindsight: I would have liked to see the U.S. singles a bit more front-loaded. I understand that you need some reserves in case it’s close at the end, but I would have put a still-recovering Yin a bit farther down in the lineup, not the third match out. Those early matches are important in terms of momentum, and the U.S. was not able to capitalize.

Sens: Yin was the big question mark coming in, and she remains the big question mark in the aftermath. Yes, she’d earned the spot, and she was keen to play, but little suggested that her game was Solheim Cup-ready. In retrospect, you can’t help thinking that Lilia Vu would have made more sense. I’m with Jessica as well, though. Among the what ifs is … what if Stanford had gone out early with the players who were in the best form.

Bastable: Regarding the Yin situation, it should be noted that Vu was a curious alternate choice. Sure, she’s a former world No. 1, but she has been woefully out of form, having missed the cut in each of her last 8 starts. You have to wonder if that wasn’t also weighing on Stanford’s decision-making. 

The Yin/Vu thing is best understood as a lack of depth to work with.  The way Vu had been playing, why not go with the lady that actually earned it.  Uncertain form being perhaps better than dreadful form, but it's the paucity of talent.

The Yin And The Yang of Shane - On the one hand, the guy won by eleven, so you'd think winning his home Open might have a fellow walking on air.  But even the seemingly affable ones seem to have anger issues.

Your humble blogger hates that an actual links event was held on a weekend where the major sporting events were stacked like cord wood, but it is what it is.  So, props to Shane Lowry for blowing the field out of the water, but see how you feel about this, as per an AI call and response:

The Incident and Reaction

• The Shot: Lowry hit an errant, hooked tee shot to the left on the par-4 18th hole at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, sending the ball toward a crosswalk area where marshals and volunteers were standing.
• The Hot Mic: After shouting a warning, he was caught on camera and mic saying, "They deserved to get hit".
• The Backlash: Fans expressed anger online, calling the comment disrespectful to tournament volunteers and demanding an apology.

 And how did he rationalize his disregard for humankind:

Lowry's Response

Lowry later addressed the frustration that led to the comment, explaining that movement by people crossing the fairway while he was trying to play a difficult shot had annoyed him. He noted that marshals have a tough volunteer job, but felt they were sometimes in the way during a chaotic round. Despite the controversy, Lowry kept his focus and went on to win the tournament by an 11-shot margin.

Oh, the inhumanity!  yes, the people that fund those outsized purses are occasionally in the way.....  Apparently line of sight relief from hazards isn't enough to keep Shane from getting cranky in the midst of an 11-shot win.  Noted.

Walker Cup Afterglow - Interesting follow up thoughts from Geoff, some a bit more critical than one might have expected.

There's a lot of great stuff in his "Champions" post, that I'll just skim for you:

The Mid-Amateurs. Stuart Grehan and Stewart Hagestad carved out a special place in Walker Cup lore thanks to their golf and classy presence. The only thirty-somethings who are supposedly

playing as token nods to the mid-amateur game, led their teams. There’s a case that they were the respective team MVP’s between their play, leadership, and example-setting. As the lone Irishman expected to thrive in his home country, Grehan was expected to play well at Lahinch. Captain Dean Robertson slotted him first out and rode him like he had Ruby Walsh on Hurricane Fly. Grehan broke slowly in all four matches but never lost patience knowing Lahinch’s reputation as a closer’s course. He was part of or directly responsible for 2.5 points, 18 eagles, and two birdies despite hitting an adrenaline wall after Sunday morning’s USA sweep. But he regrouped and won a key early point in the afternoon. America’s old war horse, Hagestad, delivered his usual intensity in Walker Cup number six. Going 1-1 in two singles matches, he seemed more introspective and served as a calming presence for an inexperienced team. While he trailed most of Sunday and never led against Eliot Baker, the 35-year-old made three birdies, one eagle and without looking nearly as good as he did the day before, still got his match to the last hole. Baker prevailed with a huge birdie. Even after a tough loss, Hagestad shared this about the crowds on Sunday night while GB&I team could be heard celebrating in the tent next door:

“I spoke to someone this morning that drove in from 2 1/2 hours away. I was blown away at how courteous and how lovely and supportive and genuinely excited to be here and excited to watch great golf. It was a lot of just moments with parents and their kids.

“That’s what the event’s all about. That’s the definition of growing the game, and I have my own thoughts on that expression as a whole, but that is -- it was really, really great to see just the sincere appreciation for the sport, for the event. Everyone was wonderful. So credit to them.”

I've always considered the mid-Am thing to be profoundly silly, but I may be dead wrong.   Our guy has become legend, although that's a rookie error, leaving me no adjectives to describe what Stuart Grehan accomplished.  It was really great, and I keep thinking back to Mike Bamberger's silliness about Tiger being a Walker Cup captain, when he refused to Captain the Ryder Cup team, presumably because there were afternoon sessions.  That suggestions seems even more ridiculous a few days later, when you see how the captains bonded with and supported their young men.

Here's one of those trademarked effortless segues:

The Captains. Dean Robertson and Nathan Smith set a bar that will forever be tough for their predecessors to match. Besides doing smart lineup work and putting out teams that performed

brilliantly, the GB&I and USA squads did it with class. Both instilled just enough respect for the privilege of playing the Walker Cup without getting excessively preachy. Both generally kept a low profile during play, with Robertson choosing to go with one match each session and Smith popping up on par-3 tees and the 18th hole Sunday to support the last player with a chance to clinch the Cup. They’re nice fellows. They didn’t overthink anything. And they didn’t need to remind you of their past playing exploits. They get it.

His cutmakers column did have some concerns, beginning with this fave hole:

The Dell. No one wanted to say it, but the wee blind hole was a bit of a snoozefest in the first three sessions. But the Golf Gods dropped a dime and Sunday singles saw some of the weirdest shots of the week after a heavy headwind turned our valiant +5’s into 15’s. We had sketchy skulls, half shanks and a few balls hitting the face of the slope. But then there was Tyler Watts playing the niftiest run-up you’ll ever see. I’m sure it’s exactly what he envisioned.

 

I thought it was maddening when early in the singles the Yanks kept coming up two clubs short.  Those chips didn't work out quite as well.

This belongs in the prior Champions post, though demerits are warranted:

Live coverage. This was the first time that American viewers got extensive coverage of the matches beyond truncated windows or weird, low-budget highlight packages. And with Sky and YouTube live streaming, the world had access to the matches for the first time as well. Using a world feed hybrid of announcers from both sides of the Atlantic, the time devoted to all four sessions amounted a long overdue change, as were elements fans have come to expect like tracers, aerial perspectives and lead voices in Andrew Cotter and Steve Burkowski who come prepared. So it’s hard to complain. Except when the coverage inexplicably seemed to think the Walker Cup was over when it wasn’t. Analyst Notah Begay began lauding America’s depth as the difference in the 51st when there were still two matches on the course with the chance to flip the outcome. Dewey defeats Truman-level stuff. The production then disastrously decided to interview match winners like Ryder Cowan with crucial golf to show. The telecast missed Connor Graham and Miles Russell’s shots into the 18th hole but oddly was showing Tyler Watts’ in the group behind the match even though the contest ahead would determine if Watts vs. Hill would even matter. Analyst Paul McGinley, who was superb given his doctorate in match play and Irish golf, could be heard wondering what was going on with Graham’s shots into 18. You know, since the Scot had just birdied the 17th to get to 1DOWN and was suddenty in reach of a huge half-point to keep the thing going. The finishing coverage was one of the great debacles in golf TV history but thankfully did not mar what was otherwise a breakthrough week where the Walker Cup finally got the airtime it deserved.

Yeah, they're idiots, but our idiots.   I was expecting two-hour windows for singles only, and never expected to see Klondyke and Dell.  So, I'll take the nonsense in return for all-day coverage (especially from these kinds of venues).

Do you know about the goats?

Maggie and Nancy. The two goats at the opening ceremony worked as stand-ins for what’s left of Tommy Walsh’s original herd, reportedly sent on a one-week vacation to mow a pesky hillside on the Amalfi Coast. And we get that having the old weather-watching herds of yesteryear is not ideal, but given how much the goat has become synonymous with the place, the Golf Loving Goats Society Of The World thinks the effort should be made to maintain the tradition, no matter how many golfers they follow, hoping for just one smoked cheddar crisp.

 No, not a Tiger kind of GOAT, a real one.

Thank God for this:

All Square. You were officially replaced in 2019 and “Tied” was used last year at Cypress Point. The R&A sent a nice message by invoking the option to still use All Square and with the Rules of Golf meetings coming up in London, might we have a chat about fully restoring Hazard over Penalty Area, Through the Green over General Area and Casual Water over Temporary Water? And while we’re at it, how about limiting the tee at two inches and reinstating that driver COR model local rule idea. I hear the kids think retro restoration is all the rage!

 Now can we work "halve" back in.....the old-timey language is an asset, not a curse.

Here's some actual architectural thoughts from Geoff, and a funny bit as well:

Lines. My only strong memories of Lahinch from being there 39 years ago were of the Dell, the Klondyke green, the goats and the large expanses of turf. Both in front of the clubhouse area and among the lower holes by Liscannor Road, the course featured connected fairways that reinforced the “St Andrews of Ireland” moniker. Lahinch at its best is wild and should have an aesthetic to match. I know the walkways are nice off the tees and won’t be going away. But fewer mowing lines and more fairway cut would only highlight its best features while driving home the wild golf sensibility. Bring back the open field look of Nos. 1 and 18. And eliminating the large swatch of intermediate cut would not make the course any easier, but it would turn the focus to the landscape a bit more without competition from too many lines on a course that should be the ultimate expression of free, unmanipulated natural golf.

 I get it, but this follows logically:

Penalty Area Lines. We know the life preserver is mandated. But did we need to use as much paint as there is water in the hazard? Don’t get me wrong, hell of a paint job on the slope. Marvelous, really, keeping the balance, etc…but it does not need to be seen from outer space.

 It is pretty jarring, though comfort is found in it being the only water hazard on the course.

I don't know if Geoff has his usual third post on the event, typically the most amusing as he names names.

That's it for now.  Have a great week.

Weekend Wrap - Restored Faith Edition

As you've likely noticed, your humble bloggers has been short on blogging motivation recently, perhaps that phenomenon known in the trade as Blogger Burnout.  But, underneath the laziness is a profoundly diminished interest in the game as it's presented.  I mean, if you've seen Wyndham Clark improve his lie once, you're good for the long term....

The majors are still great and there are all those Cups, a ridiculous three in a four-week stretch.  But this weekend was quite the breath of fresh air, with the first (and perhaps best) of those Cups featured at one of my favorite places in golf, Lahinch.  The first thing you'll notice about Lahinch, or rather the first thing I noticed, is it's design credit, Old Tom Morris and Dr. Alister MacKenzie, two of the most storied names in our game, but names that rarely appear together (I did find two additional citations of course they both worked on, but neither obviously of this class.

I love that credit, but what I love most is that the Good Doctor knew what to leave alone, as per this AI slop:

Old Tom Morris laid out the original links in 1894 and created famous holes like the Klondyke and the Dell. Dr. Alister MacKenzie remodeled the course in 1927, though he left Morris's iconic 4th and 5th holes untouched.

Before we get into the dramatic Walker Cup, let me share this absurd photo I took of my TV screen.  This spectacular aerial came up as I was watching Sunday's action on tape, and I wanted to remind Theresa of these golf holes (from a 2007 trip).  Finding it later would have been a hassle, so I just grabbed a sort-of screenshot.

It's been photographed twice, so you'll have to trust me that it's dramatically flattened, those dunes being much more dramatic than they seem here (in fact, the largest dunes in links golf are found right here, on Ireland's Wild Atlantic Coast).  

The tee for the fourth hole, Klondyke, is on the water just under USA on the top left.  The hole plays directly inland (downwind) through that narrow corridor between the dunes.  It's quite a narrow fairway, though the dunes tend to kick near misses down.  Where it gets interesting is that perpendicular line of dunes, over which you play to that geeen at the bottom-middle, tucked right against Liscannor Road.  There's often a traffic cop at the top of that dune, because those shots to the green are played over the 18th hole walking path.  

Then the players turn back to the sea, facing a one-shotter unlike any other in golf.  It's called Dell, and Old Tom had them playing gutta perchas to that green nestled between two massive dunes, with a white stone placed on the fronting dune to indicate hole location.  Here's an image of the green that I grabbed:

Like the Road Hole, these are holes that couldn't be built today, but I just love that MacKenzie knew to leave it be.

I hope you watched some of it, because it was quite the thing.  It so happened that Sunday was my planned day of rest during the long holiday weekend, and that was fortunate for sure.  Golf Channel shocked me by expanding the TV window from the usual two hours per day to, well, all of it, and placed it on a weekend that has become a sports desert.

So, how did it go?

Is the Walker Cup golf’s greatest team event? It’s been making the case

They don't look like they're enjoying the event at all, so they?

The lede of that piece does dispel some of the myths:

Did you watch this Walker Cup at Lahinch, in Ireland? Maybe you were one of the 8,000 or so people on hand, watching up close. (Single-day tickets were about $50; kids were free.) Maybe you were watching on Golf Channel, with the American Curtis Cup star Emilia Migliaccio Doran and the former GB&I Walker Cup player Paul McGinley presiding. Poor McGinley, about the most refreshing voice in golf broadcasting today and an Irishman’s Irishman. He must be worn out. He was wearing his big heart on his green sleeve as he practically begged the home 10 to scratch out this half-point or that one.

In the end, his prayers were answered. In this 51st edition of the Walker Cup, the two-day event that unfolds with stunning speed, Great Britain and Ireland defeated a stacked American team, 13.5 to 12.5. Sunday afternoon, in the decisive singles play, GB&I won seven matches, halved two and lost one. GB&I won the event for the first time since 2015. It was amazing.

People will say that the GB&I golfers have more experience playing links golf. That might be true, but seven of the fellas play college golf in the U.S. In other words, they play a lot of their golf shots in the air, often hot, humid and still air, to soft and watered greens. People will say that the GB&I golfers have more experience playing alternate shot. Hmm. Nobody has much experience playing alternate shot.

I didn't actually look at the byline before posting that header, but I instinctively knew who it was form this bit, thoughts that you'd have heard from your favorite blogger:

This was golf at its best.

In case you’re groggy:

THIS WAS GOLF AT ITS BEST!

Men’s professional golf, for many years and decades, was one of the coolest things on the world’s sporting stage because the golfers really, really seemed as if this most difficult and cerebral game meant more to them than the money they earned (not discounting that as a motivation). In recent years, a small group of elite male pros have disabused us of that notion. For years and decades, the Ryder Cup, featuring the best American pros playing the best European pros, was the biggest TV show in golf — until the players, the captains, the broadcast partners and the media in general started emphasizing all the wrong things, and the heart of the matter — match-play golf — got trampled.

In its place: the rise and rise of Walker Cup golf.

I realize this next part will seem to be sacrilegious to many, many golf purists. But the Walker Cup — which will be played in even-numbered years going forward, with Bandon Dunes next in 2028 — is in a great spot to become the greatest team event in all of golf. Because the Walker Cup is all about the golfers, the golf they play, the courses where they play it.

Sure, though the Walker Cup has always been big.  It's just that the pictures Tour got small.... What Mike Bamberger is describing is that which has had your humble blogger rooting for the Euros at the last few Ryder Cups.

But, let me ask you, how can Mikey get the diagnosis so correct, yet be so off base on the treatment protocol?

This is the part some people will despise: In the name of competitive balance and some other things, the GB&I team could be expanded to include amateurs from Continental Europe, just as the GB&I Ryder Cup team became the European Ryder Cup team in 1979. The lovely and quaint custom by which Walker Cup captains are amateur golfers themselves could be lifted, too. This year’s GB&I captain, Dean Robertson, is a professional golfer, but he was never a household name as a touring pro, to say the least. The Americans have generally had lifelong amateurs as captains, including Bob Jones and Fred Ridley, as well as the late Jay Sigel, who later turned pro.

But can you imagine Tiger Woods as an American Walker Cup captain? Or Rory McIlroy as a European Walker Cup captain? With the event at Pine Valley or Bandon Dunes or Portrush or St. Andrews? With a few months of buildup on Golf Channel and in golf publications so we can get to know these players before they enter the fray?

How good could that all be?

As good as this 2026 Walker Cup at Lahinch.

Mike, if I understand you, the solution is to take the folks who ruined professional golf for you and turn them loose on the amateur game?  Ummm, put me down as a hard NO!

More importantly, can you imagine that Tiger Woods guy driving on Liscannar Road? 

As you can imagine, Geoff has a detail-rich post on the event, though his thoughts on the venue are unfortunately behind his paywall.  Here's some of recitation of the Sunday drama:

Just the way Captain Dean Robertson chalked it up in his backpack of tricks.

America, Foursomes specialists.

Great Britain & Ireland, Singles slayers.

In what instantly became GB&I’s greatest Walker Cup comeback and the most shocking turnaround in match history, the George Herbert Walker’s game-growing gift will remain on this

side of the Atlantic for the first time since 2015.

A devastating 4-0 morning Foursomes loss in what’s normally USA’s format nemesis left GB&I three points behind heading into Singles, where they’ve been 49 points worse since 2005.

With USA leading 9.5 to 6.5 at lunchtime, GB&I needed seven of ten points on offer to prevent the Americans from taking the Walker Cup home.

Geoff inadvertently ruined the suspense for me, although it was of course my own damn fault.  I checked my e-mail while watching the singles, never dreaming he'd have a post up that quickly.  Though, it provided a different slant on things.  I saw the outcome just as the Americans began their late push back, and listened to the commentators assuring us that the Yanks had a lock on matters....Admittedly, even knowing the end result, i was hard to see where the pints would come from on the scoreboard.

Robertson frontloaded his afternoon lineup in a desperate bid to put blue on the few boards around Lahinch.

Home country favorite Stuart Grehan opened slowly before closing strong just as he had in all of his matches.

“I was nearly asleep after [the morning session],” Grehan said. “I was so deflated. I have to say the lads came in -- in fairness, I think Tyler might have said, we're still in this. Once the tunes got going, I was like F it.”

Luke Poulter was next, holding off a resurgent Ethan Fang 3&1 in the second contest.

Jack Whaley, the U.S. Amateur champion, then smoked William Jennings in an 8&7 shocker given how well the impressive American played up to that point.

Tyler Weaver then knocked off Western Amateur champion and U.S. Amateur runner-up Jay Leng 4&3.

With GB&I’s Conner Graham trailing the steady American phenom Miles Russell and the final two matches featuring an injured Ben Bolton and struggling Sam Easterbrook, the focus turned to Eliot Baker leading a persistent Stewart Hagestad, Josh Hill up in his match against Tyler Watts, and Niall Sheils Donegan in the fifth match out against Kihei Akino.

Grehan was amazing, a Mid-Am holding off the best amateur player on the planet.  And it got crazy at the end, ultimately decided by a bunker shot on a par with Matt Fitzpatrik or Bryson:

With Hill in the front right bunker in two and Watts facing an 18-footer for birdie, both Captains

descended on their players. Nathan Smith, USA’s easy-going leader, typically shies away from intervening.

“I just didn’t want him to be out there on an island by himself,” Smith said. “I think that can be pretty engulfing when you feel like you’re out there by yourself and 10,000 people surround you.”

Robertson also approached Hill, who knew they were still in the match.

“Dean came up to me by the bunker, and I asked him, do I need a half point or a full point? He said a full point, so I was like, ‘all right, let’s step up and hit a golf shot, and I hit a golf shot.’”

Hill said he wouldn’t have played the shot any differently regardless of Robertson’s answer.

“I was walking through the crowd hoping that it was good, but it obviously wasn’t, but it was nice to hole the putt and have that winning moment.”

Have I mentioned that I've met Nathan Smith?

That's him shaking hands with Kent St. Charles, our old friend from Willow Ridge, in U.S. Open qualifying.  He was just the complete gentleman.

Shall we sample from the Tour Confidential gang?

Great Britain & Ireland won the 51st Walker Cup Sunday at Lahinch in Ireland, storming back to take seven of 10 points in Sunday singles to stun the Americans, win 13.5-12.5 and

claim their first victory in the event for the first time in the last six meetings. How in the world did they pull this off?

Zephyr Melton: Momentum is a hell of a thing. Winning the first four points of the singles session (in fairly dominant fashion) was huge for their self-belief. From there, they rode the momentum and energy from the home crowd to one heck of a victory.

Josh Schrock: Zeph nailed it. They grabbed “Uncle Mo,” thanks to big wins by Stuart Grehan, Jack Whaley, Luke Poulter and Tyler Weaver, got the home crowd into it and made the Americans press. Everything had to go their way, and it did. Sports!

Jack Hirsh: They flipped the script. In recent history, the Americans have dominated in singles while the GB&I team has been extremely successful in foursomes, the only team format the Walker Cup uses. This week, it was the opposite. On the strength of the foursomes sweep Sunday morning, the American team won the eight foursomes matches for the week for the first time since 2019. But GB&I were able to halve Saturday’s singles session and then pull ahead with the impressive 7-3 run Sunday afternoon.

Truly the Bizarro Walker Cup, with the U.S. sweeping foursomes and getting crushed in singles.  Love the chaos... Grehan was amazing in how he held off Preston Stout, the top-ranked amateur in the world.  I'd put it up there with Brian Barnes beating Nicklaus in two consecutive singles matches in the Ryder Cup.

GB&I held a 6.5-5.5 lead after Day 1, although the Americans won all four Sunday foursomes matches to take a 9.5-6.5 lead into singles. With the Americans winning the last five Walker Cups, did you think it was over heading into Sunday singles? What was the biggest turning point on Sunday?

Melton: It was hard not to think the Americans were on their way to yet another win. With a clean sweep in the morning, it looked as though the Walker Cup would be coming back to the States yet again. That is, to everyone except those in the GB&I team room. What a comeback from the lads.

Schrock: After the Sunday morning sweep, I thought it was over, especially with Preston Stout and Ethan Fang going out early. Even if they lost, Miles Russell, Tyler Watts and Ryder Cowan looked like an unbreakable firewall in the back. That was wrong.

Hirsh: Because of the past dominance in singles, it’s usually a safe bet

Heck, the Americans had it won with only a few matches left on the course Sunday afternoon.  They ended it as they began it Saturday morning, by losing the 18th hole time after time.  In those last two matches on the course, they needed only one halve on No. 18 to fly home with the hardware.

Hasn't this already been asked and answered?

And your 2026 Walker Cup MVP is…

Melton: Give me Stuart Grehan. He was matched up against top-ranked amateur Preston Stout in all four sessions, and came away with 2.5 points — including victories in both singles matches. That’s some heady stuff.

Schrock: It’s Grehan by a mile.

Hirsh: Can’t even debate this, Grehan. Only mid-am. Only Irishman. Goes toe-to-toe with the No. 1 amateur. This is the stuff amateur players dream of.

But, much as I agree, good luck with this:

The Walker Cup visited places like Cypress Point, St. Andrews and Seminole ahead of this year’s meeting at Lahinch, and in two years it’s heading to Bandon Dunes in Oregon. Does the Walker Cup have the best course collection of venues among all of golf’s premier events? And what could a certain organization that’s beginning to iron out details for a new, reinvented match-play postseason come 2028 learn from the Walker Cup?

Melton: Venues matter! I was at the 2021 Walker Cup at Seminole and it was one of my favorite events I’ve ever covered. When fans get a glimpse at some of golf’s most hallowed grounds, it only elevates the interest in the event. As far as the best collection of courses goes, the only event that can compete is the Curtis Cup, whose future venues include Royal Dornoch(!), NGLA(!!), Pine Valley(!!!), Cypress Point(!!!!) and Seminole(!!!!!). There are no events that can stack up with a list like that.

Schrock: Yes and the Walker Cup’s secret sauce is not caring about infrastructure or big crowds and going to small, historic venues that we don’t ever get to see and won’t host big PGA Tour events or majors. Best event in golf.

Hirsh: Agree with my colleagues here. It’s amazing how nobody seems to care what par is in a match play event. No one cared that the last two hosts are under 7,000 yards from the tips when it’s match play, despite the fact that the players on the teams are some of the longest in golf. Just take it to a great golf course and let the golf take care of itself. Nothing else. And as Zephyr brings up Royal Dornoch — a course notably shorter than 6800 yards — hosting the Curtis Cup, I would love to see it added to the Walker Cup rota, with the R&A only having selected one future venue.

The venues have been crazy great, a hug home run. 

However, a bit of cold water is called for.  The organization to whom the questioner is speaking is about to take a Prez Cup to dreary Medinah.   Draw your own conclusions...

There's always more to cover, but we have some issues here at the house that I need to jump on.  I'll wish you a great week and we'll catch up as life allows.

Weekend Wrap - Cream Rising Edition

It's not like I watched much of it....The Yankees were going medieval on the Red Sox and the U.S. Open was gearing up... yanno, actually meaningful sports events.  Ah, but I kid!

Shall we cover just a wee bit of golf before the more significant bit?

Scottie In Full - Despite all the rending of garments, the Texan still seems pretty good at the golf thing, no?

Shack has a mere single paragraph before his paywall, but it's enough to sense the electric vibe:

I’m not sure what to say about this snoozefest other than the format seemed even more mindless after the PGA Tour unveiled plans to have a new season-ending bang starting in 2028. While that one has some of the same issues as the current one—working really hard to keep everyone around as long as possible instead of saying sayonara as they do in every other sport—it can never be as unimaginative as the current “FedExCup” debacle.

It's quite the Zombie format, and it has them looking quite feeble, despite those manly poses in the Ray Bans assumed by Brian Rolapp.  They've abandoned their old, humiliating staggered start and are pointing us towards their Brave New World, but we have to pretend for another year after this.... We used to say that was so stupid only an intellectual could believe it...

The Tour Confidential panel plays it safe:

Scottie Scheffler came from three strokes back after 54 holes to win the season-ending Tour Championship on Sunday at East Lake, claim the $10 million first-place check and pick up

his third win of the season. Was this his best win of 2026? And did these last few weeks salvage his first major-less season in three years?

Sean Zak: No, the best win of his season was two weeks ago… when he won by eight. I maintain stunned by how quickly we moved on from an 8-shot victory. If ANY other golfer on earth did that, we’d pause and talk about it for an entire week. I do think, in a way, this helps his major-free season feel a lot better. He was so good all year, but the pro golf world cares about dubs. He needed a couple dubs.

Josh Schrock: Agree with Sean. I thought the domination in Memphis was his best win of the season, especially with the chatter surrounding all his near-misses. I don’t think it makes up for coming up short at the four tournaments that will define his legacy, but three wins sounds a lot better than one.

Josh Sens: Agreed about Memphis being the bigger win. As for the season, the man had three top 5s in the majors and finished inside the top 15 in all of them. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods both had multiple seasons without majors. Scheffler’s so-called “disappointing” season is a fiction perpetuated by social media chatter and assorted golf outlets trying to perpetuate a story that isn’t one.

Dylan Dethier: Memphis was more dominant, sure — but East Lake had a real door-slamming quality to it thanks to its position on the schedule. Schaffer “only” won three times this year, but he won his first start and his last. Picked up a few extra bucks, too.

The answer quite obviously has to be Memphis, where there were other players.  Don't stress yourself wondering why no one took a run at him, it's because there was no one there.  he only had to beat 29 guys...

Who won the FedEx Cup Playoffs without winning the FedEx Cup Playoffs?

Zak: Good Q. I think the answer is Ryan Gerard, who is a helluva player and has his eyes set on a late charge into the American Presidents Cup team. I’m not sure he did enough to make the squad, but he did a lot of it in the last month or two. Brandt Snedeker would be wise to give him a long look.

Schrock: Gerard played great golf and will play on the DP World Tour next week as he looks to stay fresh in case he gets the P-Cup call. I’ll go with Viktor Hovland, who had a chance to win the FedEx Cup despite still fighting his swing. He seems close to being back.

Sens: Good calls above. To add a third name to the list, how about the continued run of Matt Fitzpatrick’s brother, Alex. A player on no fan’s radar last year, now with good footing in the firmament. And another good finish this week.

Dethier: Wyndham Clark’s BMW victory added another layer of legitimacy to an elite season. Scheffler dominated Clark in every season-long statistical category — but if we’re just talking wins, there’s no beating a U.S. Open, a playoff dub and three in all.

Yasir?  Actually, I picture him as Jon Lovitz saying, I can't believe I lost to THIS!

Or, maybe Wyndham Clark, who had the good sense to be poorly enough that we wouldn't be focused on his aggressive lie-improvement program?

Is there anything else to say here?  What a snoozefest, though the Tour caught a bit of as break with Scottie reasserting his dominance.  A snoozefest with a plausibly worthy winner sure beats the other kind.

That Brave New World - About that new finals format, which admittedly has to be better, for the simple reason that it can't be worse:

The Tour announced its new postseason format that will go into place come 2028, and it includes one 90-player, 72-hole stroke-play event named the “Championship Series Finale,” with 32 players advancing to two weeks of match-play competition to name a “Tour Champion.” Do you like it? An improvement?

Zak: I think it’ll grade out as an 8 outta 10. Which is about three or four notches above where the current Tour playoffs sits. Anyone picking it apart is trying really hard to misunderstand commercial value, the share of golf attention across the governing bodies, and the desire among basically everyone for a serious match play event on the schedule. Now, the only real match play among individuals at the elite level of pro golf happens in August on the PGA Tour. That’s a huge win.

Schrock: Massive win. The PGA Tour’s postseason greatly needed a shakeup and I think having something that is easy for fans to understand and brings commercial appeal is much needed. Getting two weeks of match play at venues we don’t normally see will be a massive boost for golf’s postseason.

Sens: I think Sean is being a bit generous as to where the current playoffs sit. They’re a cash grab and a snooze. Always have been. The new format is a huge improvement and not just because the bar for getting better was so low. Match play is a great format. Can’t imagine a better change. Will it make the playoffs riveting? I’m skeptical. But it will make them miles better, for sure.

Dethier: The format change is fun — but I think the venue shift is, too. As is the potential reduction in outrageously sweaty golfers. We just spent August in Memphis, St. Louis and Atlanta, after all…

Can we agree to not credit them for venue improvement until the venues are more than just vaporware?  Granted, Memphis, East Lake and Bellerive do set an appetizingly low bar....

Shack's reference to keeping the alpha dogs around is a reference to the use of group play, as in this AI response:

The Group Stage Safety Net

•  Under the new structure starting in 2028, the top 32 qualified players at the PGA Tour season finale face a three-round group stage. [1, 2]
• Instead of a pure single-elimination knockout right away—which was the traditional risk in past match-play events—every golfer is guaranteed to play multiple matches. [1, 2]
• Critics say this design acts as a cushion for famous players. If a marquee name plays poorly or loses their very first match, they are not sent packing; they still have a statistical safety net to recover, advance, and keep marquee TV draws on-site for broadcast partners

It's an ironic shame, but not of such a magnitude that it will spoil things.  Given that they've finally reached the acceptance stage with a late-season shoot-out, it's just a slight unforced error that they couldn't give us the primal, win-or-go-home ferocity of single-elimination.

It's individual match-play, so my fear is that it will disappoint.  At best it will what I can an upside-down tournament, where the early days will be the more satisfying.  That's just the nature of match play.

Bad-Bad Golf - Is this a great story, or what?  I've been watching in horror as the folks chasing growth for growth's sake have abased themselves to the kids, seemingly without regard to the interests of the game's core constituents.  Shack goes on an epic rant about the Callaway face plant, and I think we should just let him get it out of his system:

There is grave danger in recklessly overanalyzing Good Good’s downfall.

And I would never, ever discourage anyone from taking it to extreme places.

Presuming this analysis inspires an overdue revisit of golf’s excessive post-pandemic obsession with youth pandering at the expense of golf’s better traditions.

The controversy and fallout became such an international story that it proved more compelling than early-week play in the Tour Championship. But that’s as much a product of an unimaginative playoff format designed to keep every player around to ensure corporate chalets get logoclads walking by them on the weekend Sunday. Television also needs meaningless par putts to show.

Imagine what might happen if they actually played the thing off? You know, like playoffs in every sport? Keep imagining because real cuts and real upsets are still something they’re trying to avoid starting in 2028 (but at least it’s match play and some shockers will occur).

I'm unclear as to whether Geoff is supporting or undermining his position.  Yes, the main golf products are so mind-numbingly repetitive that they leave voids in the market....

With zero on-course drama, the golf world focused on the companies and Tours cutting Good Good loose as innocent folks outside of golf wondered how such a thing could happen. Those of us in golf weren’t shocked. At least by the stupidity. It remains shocking that so many layers of people compensated to promote a brand didn’t see the problem or thought it was a funny parody. But for years we’ve watched brands and golf organizations lose touch with reality in a bizarre thirst to appeal to an imaginary 17-year-old who will buy thousands in gear, take expensive trips, and convince their doting dads to do the same. The fear of losing this tiny slice of the golf world to someone else in the coveted demo fueled an irrational tolerance of stupidity, coarse behavior, and “comedy” that wasn’t funny at all.

It’s even been part of the distance debate. “We’re growing the game, and now you want to take away distance from new golfers, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and we have a special on our new $200 kids beginner sets this week that Kai Trump loves more than we do.”

Yanno, Geoff, I could have gone the week without the gratuitous Trump-bashing....

A peculiar mix of needing to be adored by boys of a certain ilk and an acute desperation to make them customers led to Callaway taking a huge reputational hit thanks to a deal up for renewal (and probably facing absurd demands given Good Good’s success combined with the widespread Youth Derangement Syndrome vibes from all of Carlsbad). News of Callaway-Good Good renewal talks might also explain why Callaway was quick to cut ties. Though we’ll never know if Callaway would have tried harder to mop things up if they’d already inked an extension.

There has been plenty of toxic nonsense and rank stupidity from other “creators,” so it’s only stunning to anyone who has seen Good Good’s rise that they ended up the fall guys (and gals). I’m skeptical that this will extend beyond Good Good, but last week offered indications of collective golf world fatigue over the amount of money and importance given to commercial outfits just one stupid stunt away from cancellation. At times, it’s been grotesque to watch golf organizations and brands sell their soul in the name of tapping into the supposed game growers. Usually at the expense of common sense and class. Or, to see orgs tiptoe around solutions to sustainability problems in fear of the YouTuber’s wrath.

There is no point in shaming the brands and orgs that have chased crap “content” since they’re all deep in their introspective modes and still might pivot in better directions. But having been infected by Youth Derangement Syndrome—with no known cure other than bankruptcy—the “brands” should be reassessing whether otherwise (seemingly) sane adults can be entrusted with…anything.

But there is good news. We have plenty of good, good action this fall from Lahinch, Doonbeg, Wentworth, Medinah (maybe), and Kingston Heath. With a big side order of watching continued fallout from the Good Good saga.

Let’s hope the end goal of this mishegas will make the golf industry’s most insecure adults stop treating the sport like it’s some kind of embarrassment needing only the kind of validation that boys-will-be-boys behavior delivers.

It's the mindless chasing of the youngsters that wears me down.....  I've always assumed that a certain component of every generation will find their way to our game, but there's only four hundred years or so to support that premise.  It's when they feel they have to change the game to appeal to that demo that they lose me...

It's Bud Light level stupidity, although I've long thought that story misunderstood.  Commentators focus on the spokesperson hired, but the more dangerous were that woman brand manager talking about her brand's customers, and she made it clear how much she despised them.  Do we get the feeling that golf's governing organizations like and respect us?  Are you done laughing?

I think Good-Good will be a perfect brand partner with the revitalized LIV Golf, no?

The Road Ahead - Did you pick out that venue listing from Geoff?  There's fun to be had.....

Lahinch: This Saturday and Sunday, from a great venue on the Atlantic Coast of Ireland.  I'm struggling to get the TV windows, but it's likely morning coverage on Golf Channel.  Set your DVR, as I'll tempt you with some tasty photos.  As I've noted before, Lahinch started life as a crude Old Tom Morris design, updated by Dr. Alister Mackenzie before he decamped to the New World.  But the brilliance is that left two crazy golf holes undisturbed, the first called Klondyke:

It's a short Par-5 played over that dune in t he center of the phot, and over the 18th fairway as well.  When visitors are playing, there's a traffic cop on the top of the dune:

The next hole is called Dell:

It's a Par-3 that's nestled among the dunes, with most of the green not visible from the tee.  A white stone is placed on the fronting dune to indicate that day's pin location.  Unfortunately, given that these are early holes and the TV windows are not generous, I don't expect to see much action on these holes.

The following week we'll have the Solheim Cup, with the Irish Open at Doonbeg.  Add in the Prez Cup at dreary Medinah, and at least we have a few things of potential interest to watch.  

But do catch that Walker Cup, it's simply that good a venue.

Have a great week.