Perthshire Perorations

You know what week it is, so let's dive into all the Ryder Cup conjecture, commentary and claptrap....

Alternate Shot - In general I'm a Johnny Miller fan, if for no other reason than he's not Sir Nick.  But if you have issues with the Desert Fox, you have an alternative:

Golf Channel’s Ryder Cup Alternate Shot Telecast Features Additional View with

Host David Feherty, Former Ryder Cup Captains and Players, and Golf Channel’s Gary Williams ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2014) – A first-time, exclusive collaboration between NBC and Golf Channel at the 2014 Ryder Cup, Sept. 22-28, will present 71.5 hours of unprecedented coverage designed to bring fans closer to the action of one of the world’s most exciting sporting events. Debuting this year will be Golf Channel’s Ryder Cup Alternate Shot coverage, which will feature a different view of the action that complements NBC’s live weekend coverage.

Now all we need is a Friday alternative to that mother-of-all-unmanned drones, Sir Nick Faldo.  But if there's an event made for David Feherty, it would be this one.  And while Feherty is always the first to disparage his own playing career, not only was he a member of the Euro team at the Kiawah War at the Shore, but he beat Payne Stewart in singles that week.  Not quite the stiff or choker he makes himself out to be...

Fighting Trim - James Corrigan with the startling news that Lee Westwood is a shell of his former self:

It is a good job that Lee Westwood has returned to what he calls his “fighting weight” in

time for the Ryder Cup next week because Paul McGinley, the Europe captain, fears the American underdogs could pack a mighty punch at Gleneagles.

Westwood is one of four members of McGinley’s team who today tee it up here at the Wales Open and will do so at around 14st, which he revealed was “almost exactly the same weight I was when I got to world No 1 in 2010”. In his three-week ‘break’ since he was handed a wild card, the 41-year-old was clearly active in preparation for his ninth Ryder Cup appearance.

“What have I been doing at home? I’ve been vanishing,” Westwood said. “I’ve lost 23lb, doing double gym sessions – cardio in the morning and weights in the afternoon. I’ve been off the alcohol and been watching my diet.”

 Luke Kerr-Dineen follows up with the obligatory before and after photos:

Two observations about fat golfers (not that Westy quite meets that definition even at Peak Jowl).  First, one of my favorite golf stories of all time is when rotund Carl Petterson lost weight and discovered that it negatively affected his weight.

My second favorite fat golfer anecdote comes from my days as a newbie consultant at Touche Ross back in the mid-1980's.  I played at an outing with a partner from the Washington office who had a spare tire befitting a front-end loader.  He bemoaned his golf game by explaining that if he put the ball where he could see it then he couldn't hit it, but if he placed it where he could hit it then he couldn't see it.

Last note, the weight loss certainly didn't help Lee at the Euro event in Wales, although we all understand that that means precisely nil.

This Week in Bromance - Graeme McDowell penned a piece for the BBC in which he had this to say about his relationship with Rory:

Yes, it has been a rough time over the last couple of years on the business side of things

for both me and Rory because he has been involved in a lawsuit with my management company. 

And it certainly has put a stress our relationship, but we have put those things behind us this year. If anything, our friendship has been strengthened by what we have experienced. 

We have talked about it and we would certainly love to renew our partnership again.

It seems he's being reasonably candid about the strain of the ongoing litigation, though if he felt more strongly it's doubtful that he would choose to share that with us, especially in advance of the Ryder Cup.  But the fact that he wants to be paired with Rory, the best player on the planet, is about as surprising as the fact that the sun rose in the East this morning.

But before we leave this point it's not as though they've been a juggernaut, as their team play record is an uninspiring 2-3-1.  They may well be paired, but especially if they struggle out of the gate it wouldn't surprise me to see Rory with Ian Poulter, to reprise the pairing that yielded single most important Euro point at Medinah.

And in an interview with Rob Doster, Graeme has this to say about the golf course:

Doesn't matter if there is lots of rough or no rough. Long, short. Doesn’t really matter. Beautiful, not beautiful. Match play, the golf course is less relevant than it is at a major championship. I’m all for the Ryder Cup being at iconic venues. But it’s more about the people and the atmosphere and the experience and the matches.

Ugh, where do I start with that one?  Perhaps just to acknowledge that he had to say something and couldn't very well trash the course.  And the fact that he mentions the dreaded Dove Mountain (reviled previous host of the Accenture WGC Match Play event) in his answer is not at all off-putting....really it's not.

But the Ryder Cup has become the premiere event in golf despite the dreadful choice of venues, bot because of.  I watched Shackelford respond to this on Morning Drive this morning and he made the obvious point, which is, to paraphrase, how do we know what a Ryder Cup at a great links could be?

Now the links point is a bit of a red herring, much as I'd love to see a Ryder Cup on The Old Course or at Royal Portrush.  The bigger point is to choose interesting venues that afford match-play options for the best players in the world... In the alternative, we can just continue to sell it to the highest bidder.  

As for links, my point there would be if you're going to Scotland or Wales, don't you want to play one of the better golf courses in that country?  As a secondary point, Scotland and Wales are both known as countries not unfamiliar with rain, and parkland golf course are going to be prone to flooding, as happened at Celtic Manner.  

This Week in  Haircuts - If you haven't seen this yet, you'll no doubt be overwhelmed by his team spirit and love of country: