Monday Mishegoss

Considering that absolutely nothing is happening in the golf world, it's a bit troubling how far behind I am in blogging...let's try to catch up, as I'm off to that great land called Utah again tomorrow.

Roryworld - Alex Ferguson is the legendary manager of Manchester United, and he seems to have developed a bit of a mancrush on World No. 1:

“There are geniuses in life and Rory produces shots that he shouldn't try,” Ferguson said

Alex and Rory at the Ryder Cup.

in this story. “He’s got the ability to do it and sometimes they don’t come off but his imagination is such that he can do these shots. And when they come off you say to yourself ‘How did he do that?’ and he’s got that in his locker. He’s an exceptional, exceptional player. He’s without doubt, I think, the most gifted golfer that I’ve seen. And he’s got the personality too. And he’s a United fan as well - that helps.”

Guys, get a room!  Meanwhile, John Strege caught this semi-cute vignette:

One pertained to McIlroy’s appearance at the Ulster-Connacht rugby match. At halftime, the BBC was interviewing him, when the Neil Diamond song, “Sweet Caroline,” was played over the public-address system. 

“McIlroy responded by smiling sheepishly, looking down at the ground and exclaiming 'Oh dear,’ reporter Tony Jimenez wrote.

A word to the wise, young man, you might want to turn down any invites to Red Sox games.

Let Baegones Be Baegones -  Two-time PGA Tour winner Sang-Moon Bae faces a problem we don't see every day on tour:

According to Yonhap News Agency, Bae has been denied an extension for his overseas travel permit, which expires at the end of the month. Unless something changes, Bae would be required to return to South Korea, where he would face military conscription.

South Korean law requires men ages 18-35 to serve in the military for approximately two years unless they are living overseas on a permit. Bae, 28, could face criminal charges if he doesn't return to his home country within 30 days of his visa expiring. 

The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) can extend a person's permit to stay overseas for up to three years if they have acquired permanent overseas residency and have lived for at least one year in that country. However, if that person hasn't spent more than six months (non consecutively) of the past year in South Korea or three months consecutively.

 Apparently Bae has spent some 133 non-consecutive days in South Korea in the last twelve months, making this a jump ball.  Ironically, the Presidents Cup is in South Korea in 2015 and Bae will not want to have to wear a Groucho mask.

Irish is the New Black - Forgive the potentially racist header, as the Bride and I have just finished the first season of Orange is the New Black.  But the Irish Independent had this long celebration of these heady days in Irish golf, including this about Paul McGinley:

America had gone the opposite way with Watson. Their aim was to end 'captaincy by

consensus', erroneously thought to be a factor in the stunning reverse suffered by Davis Love and his team in 2012. 

One didn't have to wait until Sunday and Phil Mickelson's post-match criticism of his captain to realise how much out of touch Watson was. Key errors with his pairings said it all. 

Ironically, with five current Tour stars on the 11-man Task Force, the PGA of America now clearly acknowledges the importance of working with the players. It was a lesson hard-learned.

McGinley seems like a perfectly fine and competent fellow, but since when do you become genius by leading a heavily-favored team to a win.  Apparently McGinley will lead the Irish team at Rio, though with no pairings and no team competition I assume he'll be brilliant at bringing Rory a water bottle.

Rio Loco, Part XXVI - Since the hook for the above is that Ireland is going to rock at Rio, you might want to glance at this page which lays out the field based upon current world rankings.  You weren't expecting to see Tiger or Phil, were you?    That's actually not an issues, as world ranking points are awarded on a two-year rolling basis, the import being that virtually none of the points that will get you on the team have been awarded.

The problem comes with the hard cap of four on any one team, so if the planets return to alignment and Tiger and Phil play themselves back into the top 15, then two of Bubba, Jordan Rickie and Furyk are out.  Alas Poor Furyk, no soup for you!  How many bloggers are talented enough to include Shakespeare and Seinfeld in the same reference?  Just askin'...

But you'll enjoy meeting Prom Meesawat, Wu Ashun and Mohd Rahman.

Joseph Shumpeter, Call Your Office - MyGolfSpy.com is an interesting website if you're into all things related to golf equipment, and it's often the source of first-looks at new sticks.  John Barba has posted the first of a three-parter on Wilson Sporting Goods, once a go-to brand that made some regrettable decisions:

So what do businesses do when they start losing both money and market share? They

tend to make shortsighted decisions that haunt them for decades. Wilson started trimming its Tour staff and, much to the chagrin of Pro Shops (who still sold most of the balls and equipment back then. Ask your Dad), jumped in bed with Wal-Mart. At that time Wilson’s Ultra was one of the best selling balls in golf, giving Titleist a run for its money. In a quest to meet sales goals and secure end-of-year cash bonuses, management cut a huge deal with Wal-Mart for the Ultra. Wal-Mart could sell the balls for roughly a dollar more than what the Pros could buy them for. 

Reaction from the pros was about what you'd expect. 

Now let’s fast forward to 1997. Wilson’s sales are still strong at a round $350 million but, according to Clarke, the division is still losing money by the barrel. MacGregor, doing even worse, is dumped by Amer Sports. 

In ’97 Tiger makes history at the Masters with a hot new Cobra driver and later bags Titleist irons. Adidas buys Taylormade, and TM staffer Ernie Els wins the US Open. Ping and Callaway are still flexing, and what does Wilson come out with?

Fat Shaft.

It's a fun read for those of us old enough to remember Wilson's glory days, and I'll be interested to read the next two installments.  My only quibble is one of tone, as if there's something extraordinary about Wilson's mistakes.  It was no doubt a time of rapid technological changes and of course distribution would be radically upended, and to some extent newcomers would prove to be at an advantage.  But this is the beauty of a free market, and I'm wondering if anyone has flown Pan Am, bought somehting at Woolworth's or driven an Oldsmobile lately...

If you're unfamiliar with the reference in the header, read this.  We'll turn you into a free marketeer yet.

What Are You Doing New Years Eve? - I wasn't a fan of the place before this, but this as an awful story:

Six people suffered stab wounds during a New Year's Eve celebration at the Belfry

Resort in Warwickshire, England.

According to a report by the BBC, police arrived at the Bel Air nightclub on resort grounds and found a man with a stab wound in his chest. Three men were arrested in relation to the stabbings.

"While police were at the scene, further incidents took place, both inside and outside of the nightclub," a spokesperson said. "These resulted in a further five people sustaining injuries, believed to be stab wounds. Four were taken to hospital and one, a 28 year-old man, is in a critical condition."

Gotta say, that's some seriously ineffective police work, given that the vast majority of the incidents took place after they were on the scene.   Maybe they should be armed...just askin'?

Our Joe - Loyal readers will know that one of my great pleasures in my craft is taking Travelin' Joe

Friar's Head

to the woodshed, and it's only in part because I covet his gig.  To be fair, most of his travel pieces are fine, it's just that his answers in the weekly Tour Confidential are needlessly long-winded and typically off kilter.  Joe comes up because he's posted his wish list of courses to play in 2015, and it's as curious as ever.  Of course he's got good ones on it, such as Friar's Head, Kingston Heath and Barnbougle Dunes, which any of us would kill to play.  But how is it that Joe has never played Bethpage Black, that has to be journalistic malpractice, but the killer is Medinah No.3.  So good it's always on the list, but every time they take a major event it's been completely revamped... but really, it's the Patrick Reed of golf courses.

For those keeping score at home, my list is far shorter, The National, Pine Valley and Askernish, though I'd be happy to be Joe's fourth at Friar's Head...