Now is the winter of our discontent....OK, it's not actually winter and I go to Utah to avoid the discontent thing, but we have more than eight months before golf that means anything. With one blessed, three-day exception....
So, let's start with a look at how those rosters shape up, shall we?
Team USA - Through the PGA, here are the top fifteen:
- Dustin Johnson (11,860)
- Jordan Spieth (11,179)
- Phil Mickelson (5,764)
- Jimmy Walker (5,337)
- Brooks Koepka (4,688)
- Zach Johnson (4,297)
- J.B. Holmes (4,149)
- Brandt Snedeker (4,086)
- Bubba Watson (4,008)
- Patrick Reed (3,999)
- Matt Kuchar (3,933)
- Rickie Fowler (3,768)
- Scott Piercy (3,272)
- Bill Haas (3,194)
- William McGirt (2,959)
The top eight as of August 28th automatically qualify, then Captain Love has four Captain's picks. We'll get to those in a second....
A couple of obvious points.... First, Jimmy Walker was 29th before his week in New Jersey, and Brooks Koepka was, I believe in ninth. I'm glad I waited until after the PGA to take a look...
Second, notice anything about the gents in slots nine through twelve? Yes, that's your U.S. Olympic team....Just odd how that worked out....
If the points race ended today and Davis had to make his picks, is there any doubt that those would be the four names? Along the same lines, are there any doubt that those were te four names Tiger texted to his Captain?
Now, back to those picks... here's the timing:
After the eight automatic qualifiers are announced at the end of this month (ranked 1-8), U.S. captain Davis Love III will select three wild cards on Sept. 11 and one more on Sept. 25 just before the Ryder Cup starts.
That last bit is the Horschel rule, in theory allowing Davis to pick the hot golfer who comes from nowhere to win the Tour Championship. Though my handy rule of thumb is that if Billy Horschel is the difference-maker, then it's likely the difference between a four and six-point rout.
But my guess is that Davis will ultimately find that added flexibility more of an annoyance than a help, as no matter which of the four he leaves off on September 11th, they're gonna feel dissed. But mostly I think that current one-through-twelve has a very high probability of being the final roster... Sneds is the obvious weak link in the top eight, I know, a blinding insight considering he's in eighth.
Bill Haas may have his supporters, those that over-interpret his President's Cup performance, but I would think that Sneds would have the advantage because of his putting prowess.
How do I feel about the team? Well, it's what we have....It's an experienced team, though as previously noted it's mostly experienced in the dark arts of losing Ryder Cups....There's a reasonable prevalence of gamers, guys like Spieth, Zach and Patrick Reed, that you expect to embrace the intensity of the event....But we've all been burned too often in recent years to allow ourselves to get cocky....
Team Europe - As I understand the current state of play, Brexit does not affect the European Ryder Cup team. I know, if only....
So, the Euros are always a bit more complicated, because of the two separate points systems. The first four come from the European points list:
1. Rory McIlroy2. Danny Willett3. Hennrik Stenson4. Chris Wood
Then it's the next five from the World points list, who as of now would be:
5. Sergio Garcia6. Justin Rose7. Rafa Cabrello Belo8. Any Sullivan9. Matthew Fitzpatrick
That doesn't exactly overwhelm one, does it? With Rory a head case and Danny Willett not hitting on all cylinders, they'll be dependent on a bunch of rookies to step up in a road game.
Darren Clarke has three picks, presumably from the following listed in order of thier current standing on the World points list:
- Soren Kjeldsen
- Lee Westwood
- Martin Kaymer
- Thornbjorn Olesen
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Shane Lowry
- Francesco Molinari
- Thomas Pieters
- Graeme McDowell
Conventional wisdom says that Clarke will favor experience with his picks, so we shouldn't be surprised to see Westy and Kaymer in Chaska. But one always hopes to see some encouraging form from the vets, and I'll also note that Kjeldsen is one of the better putters to be found....
Ask me again how I feel about the American team.... It's light years more impressive on paper, which will make the loss that much harder to take.
Walker, Texas Ranger - Alan Shipnuck has an engaging profile of Jimmy Walker's transition from Tour rabbit to....well, we'll see. First, did you ever wonder at Butch Harmon taking on the journeyman? I did, but it turns out that Butch had good reason:
In '12, Walker was still winless on the PGA Tour, so he cold-called Butch Harmon, swing guru to the stars. When Harmon failed to respond, Erin dashed off a pithy text message: "Look, you don't know me, I'm Jimmy Walker's wife. If you don't want to work for him, just say so. We need to move on." She adds, "He got back to me, like, five minutes later. He said, ‘Sorry, I've been busy.'"
Good call, Butch. Hell hath no fury..... Though this might have been the missing piece:
A month ago he began working with Julie Elion, Mickelson's former sports psychologist. (Jimmy and Phil are frequent practice-round foils.) At Baltusrol part of the plan was for Walker to carry himself with more cowboy swagger. When a reporter noted during the champion's press conference that he had seemed surprisingly calm during the tense finish, Walker said, "That's huge, because that's what I was going for."
He played very much under control, but of course that doesn't mean he'll always do so under similar conditions. This is Alan's takeaway:
On Sunday night Walker did call Rickie Fowler "podner," a reference to their four matches together at the Ryder Cup. If the U.S. this fall is going to win the Cup for only the second time this century, the late-blooming Walker will have to play a key role. Fowler and Spieth have had indifferent 2016 campaigns, and at 46, Mickelson will soon be riding into the sunset. Walker displayed a flair for team-building at the 2015 Presidents Cup, giving his teammates REAGAN-BUSH 1984 T-shirts. (Zach Johnson still proudly dons his.)
That Walker-Fowler pairing wasn't particularly successful, so forgive my indifference to the rose-tinted memories. But am I the only one that doesn't get the significance of the Reagan-Bush swag? Morning in America and all, but still?
Wither Rory - The lad from Holywood is quite the hot mess these days... Most blame his putting, which is fair enough, but his wedge game seems equally to blame. Of perhaps greater import, he looks like quite the unhappy camper, and his comments about the Olympics and other matters have displayed quite the unbecoming petulance.
While Rory is justifiably praised for being open and available, we have seen traces of this previously. Most notably, in the aftermath of a rules violation in Abu Dhabi when he snarked that he has better things to do than read the rules book. I'd argue not, given that he lost that event by a single shot after incurring a two-stroke penalty for failing to take complete relief from a walking path.... But reasonable people can disagree....
Brian Keough catches up with Paul McGinley on the subject, but first sets our stage:
While McGinley was among the Sky Sports pundits suggesting that McIlroy’s weak putting was not helped by some wayward ball-striking, he insisted that not only have players like Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson overtaken McIlroy, the time has come for the Holywood native to make a few moves and take some big decisions.Needing a par at worst to make the cut — the mark could have gone to two over — McIlroy left himself just over 200 yards to the par-five finishing 18th but cut his second into a heavy lie in the right, greenside rough and took three more shots to find the green, chopping his first one halfway up a steep bank and the leaving the next short on the fringe before failing to chip in.
He looked very much like he didn't care to hang around for the weekend, and that was immediately after sinking a 35-footer for birdie on the seventeenth. As Keough notes, it was quite the contrast with Mickelson, who after opening with the disastrous triple dug deep and clawed his way back.
Here's McGinley's take on Rory's play on the 18th:
"We were initially full of admiration for him at the 18th with Day and Mickelson playing so conservatively, as he took out the driver and ripped it up the middle of the fairway.The hard work was done for McIlroy on that hole and he knew that."He got a bad lie after his second, which was unfortunate, but then he really should have chopped it up to 30 feet and two-putted for par.It seemed to be one mistake after another from there and he ended up with a six, which was a huge blow for him and he'll be absolutely heartbroken by that finish.
I'm sorry, but the evidence for that is what? McGinley's premise is that younger players have passed Rory by, which is going to happen in this game when you're missing 3-footers.... He's gotta figure something out on the greens, and quick. As we've discussed previously, I've always thought he was a poor green reader, and I'd like to see him hook up with a looper that can fill that gap. But he has to be willing to take direction....
The First Rule of Golf Fight Club.... - Here's why you don't want to hit into the group in front of you....you'll have to click through to see the video, but here's a screen shot of impact:
I think the guy in orange is to far ack on his heels to hold that spine angle through impact....
Be aware that the video includes salty language....definitely NSFW.
Cheap Shots - In which your humble correspondent sensitively responds to those in the news...
Isn't That The Outfit She Wore When DJ Won The Open - Paulina continues to share he rlady parts with us:
Yanno, their son will be on social media in a few years and I'm sure he''ll be very proud....
Yeah, That's the Ticket - PETA UK Suggests Andrew Johnston Go By 'Tofu,' Not 'Beef'
I Had No Trouble Forgetting Most of These - 13 Unforgettable, Dramatic Moments from the '16 Major Season
And how does Paulina's dress, and I use that term in the loosest possible sense, not make the list?
But First, One More Moneygrab - Team USA is ready for the Olympics – but first, the Travelers for Kuchar, Reed and Watson
Just Like I Welcome Zika - Geoff Ogilvy welcomes challenge of keeping his PGA Tour card
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