Friday Fun

I wasn't sure that I'd have anything for you this morning, but Dottie Pepper made attendance mandatory...

A Shoot The Messenger Story - I wasn't completely happy with my reaction to the Jaime Diaz piece yesterday, so I'm pleased to have a mulligan.  Diaz is a wonderful writer and equally fine analyst of the game and those that play it, but I do think he mid-fired in turning his attention to the ladies.  Let me explain...

The gist of his premise can be found in this excerpt:

Among U.S. players -- perhaps in self-defense -- there’s an increasing drift toward style

over substance. Instagram accounts, good looks and general buzz seem as important as performance, if not more so. 

Media outlets -- including Golf Digest -- have played an important part in encouraging the trend. It’s understandable. More than their predecessors, American female golfers can make real money in endorsements. 

The U.S. pattern of becoming a star without commensurate results breeds entitlement and competitive softness. Inevitably, Americans women are getting outplayed by golfers who have placed substance over style, and simply want it more.

Ar heart I believe his premise is wrong, as I think most of the women golfers carry a huge chip on their shoulders about their lack of exposure and commensurate financial rewards.  Most importantly, I don't think that THEY think they're making "real money" from the endorsements and the like, especially as compared to the male of the species....

And the one female golfer for whom that might be true, poster-child Michelle Wie, garnered her money less for glamour than for golf skills....admittedly skills of a limited nature.  Hey, we all know that chicks dig the long ball....  But let's try to be fair here, Wie captured our imagination because of truly wonderful things she did on the golf course, including contending in multiple majors at a very young age.  

Yes she was guilty of not winning anything and the playing against the guys thing got old in a hurry, but it was the actual golf that got her the Nike contract.  But while we're trashing the girl, let's all agree that a U.S. Open isn't, you know, nothing... just sayin'.

At the risk of repeating myself, sometimes players just don't play very well, and I thought that Jaime was particularly ill-served by using Stacey Lewis as an example.  Lewis has had an extremely disappointing 2015, but her frustration is evident through the TV screen and unless you feel some perverse need to see her pair a striped blouse with a glen plaid skirt, I don't think you can make the case that it's because she's given in to the glamor police...

So, today Dottie Pepper shares her thoughts on the Solheim Cup, and she conjures up some wonderfully-evocative memories:

As members and captains of the inaugural Solheim Cup teams for the USA and Europe in 1990, we were each given a scaled-down version of the Cup. Eighteen miniature Solheim Cups were created by the Waterford Crystal company and the mold was destroyed. It was a week for the Americans where the simplest things meant the most. It was a team bound together by the newness of the event and the respect we all had for captain Kathy Whitworth, her experience and her words of wisdom. We were motivated by the sheer privilege of playing not only for our teammates, families and fans but even more for our country.

Good stuff, no?  Wait, there's more:

Some of my very favorite Solheim Cup memories are made of the abnormalities of the week: washing and ironing the entire team's white shirts on Sunday night with Judy Rankin at Muirfield Village because we had run out of short-sleeved shirts during the weeklong heatwave in 1998; being dragged out of bed in my pink, one-piece pajamas by Nancy Scranton for a Sunday night afterparty while she was in nightclub attire in 2000; Betsy King playing night golf at Dalmahoy after our loss in 1992; helping to pull Brandie Burton out of the worst-smelling creek EVER during that same week at Muirfield Village; and Pat Bradley dancing the Macarena on top of a pool table after the USA had come from behind for victory in 1996.

OK, we'll all agree that the pink onesie is way TMI, but I think we can appreciate her point, that there's special memories from a team event that she continues to treasure.  

Alas, no sooner do I finish touting Dottie's work as a commentator than she steps in it again...And again, where are the editors to ask her whether she really wants to be yet again banished from polite society.

But before we go there, let me assure the reader that I've done a CONTROL:F and that no form of the verb "Choke" or reference to canine life forms is to be found in this item...so we've got that going for us.  Anyone unfamiliar with that reference should read this to catch-up, but the ladies were justifiably quite miffed at our Dottie and Meg Mallon took some heat for naming her a vice captain in 2013.

Given the history, no one is going to credit her for her glowing words about the event above, but will rather dissect these two 'graphs:

As an assistant captain, I saw an American team two years ago that was completely outplayed by a brilliant team from Europe, but the stage was set, I believe, by an attitude of privilege -- the negative and synonymous descriptions listed above -- by some key players. Players who needed to set the tone for a let's-get-the-job-done week, rather than an attitude of inconvenience and entitlement. It's not about face paint and time set aside for team manicures, or whose stilettos cost more and are a quarter-inch higher, or hair stylists and makeup artists.

It's about conserving energy for a weeklong marathon, being positive about preparations, carving out the time to make sure you understand the intricacies of the golf course and the rules that will be in play that week. It's about doing what your captain asks, even if it means staying off social media during a weather delay. It's about doing things that are not normal -- not your own selfish routine -- because the Solheim Cup is anything but normal.

Dottie, you might as well have named names, 'cause I wouldn't sit by the phone waiting for that call from CBS.  But that 2013 team is the 2015 team, the only change is that Lizette Salas replaces Jessica Korda.  

But like Diaz I have to question whether her premise is correct.  Don't get me wrong, they stunk up the joint and criticizing them is fair game.  But if the American men are encouraged to play ping pong, is a group manicure a bad thing?  

And that second 'graph os a whole heaping mess 'o contradictions....did the manicures sap endurance for the marathon?  And what are these "Rules that will be in play" that you speak of?  And that last bit is way curious, as you don't need to be a highly-respected and widely-read golf blogger to understand why in a week that is anything but normal a player would want to maintain vestiges of their "selfish", albeit successful, routine.

But without some specifics of who didn't do what the captain asked, and if it's only a Facebook update during a rain delay that seems a tad trivial, this is a rather nasty piece of work and doesn't speak well of Ms. Pepper.  While it's entirely consistent with her prior gaffe, a written item is far more significant in terms of intention.

It's also ironic in that it speaks more negatively of the administration of that team than I think she realizes, including herself of course.  If the team wasn't properly focused, who's job is it to recognize that and take the necessary actions?  But Meg Mallon went out on a limb to include her, and she just put a shiv in Meg's back...  Not nice and I wouldn't expect a long line to give her further opportunities...

And if Dottie is anti-manicure, her head will explode when she sees this.

Present Company Excluded, Of Course - The best name in golf journalism is of course Shane Bacon, because....you know, bacon.  Today Shane asks an existential question, why haven't we gotten behind Lydia Ko?  What do you mean by "We" buddy, as I've done my share despite the glasses...

Anyway, here's where he's going with this:

She's already the greatest teenage golfer, male or female, in the history of golf, and now

she's winning the biggest of the big with final rounds that match what Johnny Miller did at Oakmont back in 1973. 

We as golf fans, and sports fans, need to do better on this front. Ko is making history. It's our responsibility to start paying attention.

Shane, have you seen the ratings fro women's golf?  Doesn't the question answer itself?

I will tell you that Shack agrees that she's the greatest teenager the game has ever seen, and adds that Jordan Spieth is also a nice guy for an old man.  But let's let that porkmeister finish his train of thought:

I asked people on Twitter this question Monday. They mentioned the start of the NFL season (OK, fine), the fact that the event was played overseas (still not totally buying that, but I get the time difference), and even gave predictably disappointing answers like she's not American or the fact that it's "women's golf." 

To me, none of these answers is acceptable. Who cares if Ko isn't American?! Rory McIlroy isn't American, and when he wins we put him on the cover of our sports magazines and compare his stats to those of Tiger and Jack. When Jason Day won at Whistling Straits, we anointed him one of the new Big Three and discussed whether he might sneak off with Player of the Year honors ahead of Spieth, especially if he closes things out well in the playoffs. 

To me, not being an American shouldn't be an issue in 2015. We love athletes who can do amazing things. Usain Bolt catches our attention. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic capture the national media in a U.S. Open final, and Ko is winning major championships at age 18.

What's missing from those three 'graphs?  Yup, not a single one of the comps includes a human being with indoor plumbing...  I love the women's golf game more than the average bear but one point must always be conceded, there will always be a far greater appeal for following the best at what they do.  

Secondly, is being the greatest as a teenager even important?  Weren't we all just discussing Michelle Wie?  It's a freakish category that in and of itself tells us little about a career arc...  I do think the public has embraced Lydia in a manner proportional to her accomplishments, as that is ultimately constrained by the popularity of the trade in which she toils.... is there anyone that really believes she should be on the cover of Sports Illustrated?

Best Week in Golf - Van Cynical - A rip-roaring Q&A this week and our Gary was on fire.  Let's share much of it, not least because I have this copy-and-paste thing down to an art form:

If the U.S. wants to win the Ryder Cup, why not make Donald Trump our Ryder Cup captain? -- Michael O'Connor via Twitter 

I assume you mean the 2018 Ryder Cup, Mannix, since Davis Love is already on the case for 2016. It would be quite a precedent for Trump, a sitting U.S. President, to also captain the Ryder Cup team while he was in office. I'm not sure he'd have time for the gig. That's a record that would stand at least until 2024, when Phil Mickelson will be elected U.S. President. (After his stint as Secretary of State during Trump's second term, he was a shoo-in.

 Yes, because what golf needs is more Trump.  Shall we move on?

Serena Williams losing to Vinci this week is a big upset. What was the biggest upset in golf? Fleck over Hogan? Yang over Tiger? -- David Troyan via Twitter 

Francis Ouimet over Vardon and Ray is a candidate. Yang over Tiger at Hazeltine, in some eyes, was the start of the Fall of the House of Tiger. Even Hogan didn't see Fleck's win coming. But due to the game-changing nature of the win and basically announcing the arrival of golf in America, I'll go with Ouimet. Honorably mention: Shaun Micheel over Chad Campbell?

I find it interesting that a guy that knows how to send Gary a question doesn't know Ouimet.... Frances changed the golf world, no one else can make remotely the same claim, though I eagerly await the Chad Campbell biopic.

For this one I like that Van-Man acknowledged the question was too good to top:

Cynical Zenmasters, Jay Haas said everyone wanted Phil on the Prez Cup team. Is that because he's playing poorly and they want to win back some Tuesday-game money? -- Kevin Montminy via Twitter 

Thanks for providing the question and your own punchline, Mini-Mont. That allows me to just tread water here in the lava pit and let the laughter wash over me. Seriously, Phil is a walking wall of positive vibes. That's a good thing to have in the team room. Less seriously, Matt Kuchar needed a Ping-Pong opponent who could put up a fight before losing.

I'll just add that Monty's suggestion is the only remotely credible explanation of the pick I've heard yet.

And before we go, this brief bit from Cam Morfitt:

Pity poor Jay Haas, who will lead the Americans into battle at the Presidents Cup on Oct. 8–11 in South Korea. Maybe nobody told him the awful truth, that being the captain of a U.S. Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team is the worst job in sports this side of mixed martial arts mop man. 

No one gets rich; plenty get embarrassed.

I think that's half-right.  There's upside to a Ryder Cup captaincy, just ask noted genius Paul Azinger...  but for Jay the good news is that if he foes down no one might notice.