Weekend Wrap

And an interesting one it was....

Rahmbo Does Links - I was able to watch a bit of the first three days, but none of yesterday's dominating performance:

PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland (AP) -- Jon Rahm enhanced his burgeoning reputation by winning the Irish Open by six strokes and a record tournament score on

Sunday, shooting a 7-under 65 in a final round marked by two eagles and rules controversy. 

The 22-year-old Rahm, one of the hottest young players in world golf, holed out from 150 yards for eagle on No. 4 and strung together four straight birdies from No. 7 to turn what promised to be a tight final day into a procession at Portstewart Golf Club. 

The 11th-ranked Spaniard added a second eagle with a long putt on the par-5 14th to put more distance to his chasers, led by David Drysdale following his course-record 63 early Sunday.

We'll get to that rules bit in a.... well, in a bit, but first some thoughts form this week's Tour Confidential panel:

Zak: I feel confident saying only Dustin Johnson has played better golf than Rahm over the last six months. Anytime you can play six months of golf as consistently great as Rahm has — moving from 137th to eighth in the World Ranking — your ceiling will be No. 1 player in the world. I think he'll get there in his career, and I see him being a top 15 player for much of his career. He's just so gifted across the board. How many majors or WGCs will he win along the way? Certainly a few of each can be expected.

Ritter: It's one thing to win; it's another to win big. Rahm showed a new gear last weekend and I'm raising the bar—he looks like a future multi-major winner and Ryder Cup destroyer. I have DJ favored over him at Birkdale, but if this week he starts going by “Jon Rahm Rodriguez," I'll bump him up to No. 1.

 Jeff's point is a good one, as Tour Rabbits seldom lap the field.  That's the stuff of greatness....  Pencil him in for the next ten or twelve Ryder Cups....

So, did you see the controversy?  If not, here's a precis:

On the sixth green while playing in the final pairing with Daniel Im, Rahm had to relocate his ball mark, as it was sitting on Im's putting line and would have obstructed his 

putt. When he replaced his mark, however, Rahm appeared to fail to return it to its original location, moving the ball slightly closer to the hole.

For some media personalities and viewers at home, it was a more egregious action than the one made by Lexi Thompson at this year's ANA Inspiration, where Thompson incurred a four-shot penalty following a call-in for replacing her ball in the wrong spot.

So why wasn't Rahm penalized? Unlike Thompson, Rahm had to move his original mark a putter-head's length to get out of Im's line. Because of that action, Rahm is given a bit of latitude in replacing his ball. Moreover, a rules official -- as well as Rahm and his partner Im -- determined Rahm used "reasonable judgement" to return the ball to its original spot. That was the new standard prescribed by the USGA and R&A in the wake of Thompson's ruling regarding expectations for players when they replace a lifted ball.

"To my eyes, I put the ball back exactly where it was," Rahm said after his round. 

Vague? Undoubtedly, and it's this ambiguity -- similar to the language regarding the anchoring issue -- that will continue to raise issues in the game. But given those two sentiments -- along with Rahm lapping the field -- any assertions that the victory is stained or Rahm acted improperly are unfounded.

Sigh.  If some things never get old, this is an issue that was stillborn in it's late nineties..... A couple of thoughts....

First, did anyone understand Rahm's explanation for why he originally placed his coin to the side?  He was moving it out of Im's line in any event, so I just don't get what he was trying to accomplish.  But the way to avoid any such issue is the always place your mark exactly behind the ball....

More importantly, while no one wants to see these kinds of penalties incurred, correctly marking and

replacing your ball is not rocket science.  I'm not terribly happy with a set of rules that requires the rules officials to look into the heart of the sinner and divine his or her intent....  Sheesh, and listen to Rahm's pitch-perfect response.... Let the word go forth, just say "To my eyes, yada, yada, yada" and all will be well....

Lastly, we're now in a bit of a bizarro world until January 1, 2019.  On that date, assuming the current proposals are enacted, players will be allowed to tamp down spike marks and other imperfections caused by foot traffic.  Until then that is not permitted, but we've players on notice that there will be no penalties for mis-marking ones' ball, so we'll see quite a bit of this going forward..... Sheesh!

I guess we should let those TC guys have their say on this as well:

Zak: I'm with Brandel here. As much as it was an infraction of one inch (and probably not two), it was an infraction nonetheless. Are we splitting hairs here? That's probably what McFee thought. But this is a game of inches. I'm more curious as to why Rahm initially placed his mark on the side of his ball to begin with. That seems like the kind of move that can only result in troubling video reviews like the one we saw today. 

Ritter: I stand by my earlier comment that Rahm is going to be a major player, but this wasn't a great look. I don't think he made a sloppy mark on purpose, but he ended up an inch or two closer to the hole on a two-foot putt. The ruling was generous. Kids: Always mark behind the ball.

Well, James Comey is looking for work, and he's on record that you need to establish intent before prosecuting.....

Lastly, did you see any of Paddy Harrington this week?  If not, he's about Halfway to the full Happy Gilmore...

The X-Factor - Another young gun makes his place on the big tour:

WINNER: If you’re going to be on a hot run of play, why not add on a win? Xander Schauffele closes out his first PGA Tour victory, firing a closing 3-under 67 to capture

the Greenbrier Classic by a shot. He did it with a beautiful closing kick, rolling in a 12-footer for birdie at 16 and then stuffing his tee shot at the 18th to 3 feet and rolling in the putt for birdie. That got Schauffele in at 14 under and he would wait to see if Robert Streb would catch him. Streb missed a 12-footer for birdie at 17 to reach 14 under and then failed to birdie 18 to tie when his chip to do so ran by some 4 feet. What a culmination to four weeks of incredible play. Schauffele turned heads with a surprise T-5 performance at the U.S. Open, and he only built from there. A T-14 at the Travelers Championship followed, then a T-35 at Quicken Loans and now this win. The PGA Tour rookie was 135th in the FedEx Cup standings heading into Erin Hills, but he now is projected to move to 27th. Some more background on Schauffele? He’s a 23-year-old San Diego State grad who was once a junior rival of Beau Hossler’s in Southern California and lost to him in the final at the 2014 Western Amateur. Schauffele earned his PGA Tour card through the Web.com Tour Finals after agonizingly finishing 26th (top 25 get cards) on the 2016 regular season money list. But most of all, you need to know the story of Schauffele and his father’s lost dreams coming to life. What a win for Xander. The way things are going, this was fitting.

hard not to root for Streb, whose putting performance with his wedge the last time this event was played deserves the revisiting.

Usually we need to check in with the LPGA for our recurring Great Names in Golf feature, but with the winner and the incongruously-names Sebastian Munoz (Ancestry DNA, anyone?) we have an embarrassment of riches....

Anchors Away.... Or Not - If you missed it, the USGA had quite the Friday news dump, with statements by Bernhard Langer and Scott McCarron on their anchored/not anchored putting.  I'll let Geoff take you through it:

Bernhard Langer's recent brush with anchoring at the U.S. Senior Open prompted a pre-round visit with rules officials from the USGA. There was also overwhelming outrage on social media and coverage from Fox Sports addressing concerns of a possible rules violation. The issue summed up here by Brandel Chamblee, who coverage this week may have prompted the latest response:

At the very least, Langer is taking things right up to the edge of the anchoring ban. At the worst, he's openly resisting the rule knowing that the genteel world of golf would never actually prosecute a player of his caliber.

This all prompted an unusual Friday news dump with statements from Langer, fellow Champions Tour long putter user Scott McCarron and the USGA.

The "integrity" language here from the USGA would suggest that actually enforcing the rule is now almost impossible given the introduction of intent. With this in mind and knowing there are seniors whose golfing lives were made miserable by not being able to anchor, perhaps it's time to drop a rule that will not be enforced?

Maybe it's time to ban the broomstick?  If you're going to ban anchoring, then ban anchoring.

No Puberty Jokes -  This is just staggering:

PATTAYA, Thailand – Atthaya Thitikul, 14, became the youngest winner on the Ladies

European Tour on Sunday when she beat Ana Menendez of Mexico by two strokes in the inaugural Ladies European Thailand Championship at the Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club in Chinburi. 

Atthaya produced an even-par 72 on Sunday to finish the week on 5-under 283.

She began her fourth round one shot behind Menendez after posting rounds of 70, 71 and 70. But the Mexican player dropped four shots on the front nine, handing Atthaya a two-shot lead at the turn after one birdie and two bogeys on her first nine holes. 

At 14 years, four months and 19 days, Atthaya broke the previous record of the formerly top-ranked Lydia Ko, who at 14 years and eight months won her first professional event at the New South Wales Open in 2012. (Editor’s Note: Ko’s first LET victory came at the then-record age of 15 years, nine months and 17 days at the 2013 ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open.)

 Thailand is becoming a bit of  a ladies' golf power center...  But 14?  

Great Moments in Typos - Millenials should feel free to skip ahead to the next item, as it would take far too long to explain why this WSJ typo is a howler.  Here's the actual story:

Sergio Garcia really, really likes that green jacket he picked up in Augusta in April.

The 37-year-old Spaniard spent nearly 20 years trying to win his first major championship, and when he finally won the Masters this spring, he savored the triumph and all its attendant honors and privileges. 

Most green jacket winners don’t do much more than enjoy it in the privacy of their own homes, though Phil Mickelson did apparently drive to a Krispy Kreme wearing his once and Bubba Watson wrapped his baby in his. Former club chairman Clifford Roberts famously scolded Gary Player for leaving his in South Africa, then warned him not to wear it in public. 

For Garcia the green jacket appears to have become a staple of his wardrobe. He wore it to a recent Real Madrid-Barcelona soccer game and showed up to the BMW International Open last month in the blazer. Then Friday Garcia was courtside at Wimbledon to watch his countryman Rafael Nadal dispose of Karen Khachanov in straight sets wearing, you guessed it, the green jacket.

Don't worry that you missed something, as they've already made the correction.... But, good journalists that they are, they made my day by appending this note:

Corrections & Amplifications

An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Former Augusta National Golf Club chairman Clifford Roberts as Clifton Roberts. (July 8)

Every golf fan of a certain age is smiling at the reaction that would have garnered back in the day....  RIP, Clifton.

Torture Chambers -  Heads will be exploding at the thought, but Chambers Bay is taking steps to be ready for it's (next) close-up.  They are investing heavily in infrastructure, but this is the bit sophisticate readers will want to know about:

Since June 2015, Johnson has increased cultural inputs (mowing, rolling, fertilizer,

pesticide, water) to favor annual bluegrass establishment, and is seeding the greens with the only commercially available annual bluegrass turf—Poa reptans Two-Putt. “The good news,” he says, “is that it establishes pretty well. The bad news is that its prolific seedhead production in the first year or so gives the greens that blotchy appearance.” 

Johnson has also begun saving and analyzing clipping yields from the greens in an effort to monitor growth and make better decisions on when to cut, seed, fertilize, and irrigate. “Every-day play is our focus as a public course,” he says. “I want smooth greens as well as consistent speed and firmness.”

The 2015 fiasco was caused by unprecedented heat in the period leading up to the Open.  What people fail to understand about fescue is that it's a very fragile grass, unable to withstand golf cart or even heavy human traffic.  In this case it went dormant, and as the other strains of grass grew during the day the surfaces became quite bumpy..... 

Whether the national championship of the U.S. should be played on a links, is quite another matter, as is whether they should go to courses this new.....  But it's a spectacular site, and somebody should go there.

Blow Me Away - For the record, I discovered Ballyliffin before it was cool:

RORY McIlory’s connections with Ballyliffin golf club helped secure the 2018 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open for one of the ‘best kept secrets’ in Irish golf.

The view of Glashedy Rock, from whence the links is named.

Those who have played Ballyliffin, situated on the tip of the Inishowen Peninsula, appreciate the quality of the test on the Glashedy Links, designed by Pat Ruddy.

Ballyliffin’s golf offering includes the Old Course, giving the club a 36-hole complex set on prime golfing terrain. 

Today’s confirmation of that the DDF Irish Open goes there next year, and that the dates are July 5-8, means that Ballyliffin will finally be exposed to the world via the massive media coverage accorded the tournament.

This is just unbelievable, though I still can't imagine where folks will stay.  Our old friend John Farren is enjoying a well-deserved moment in the sun:

John Farren, General Manager of Ballyliffin spoke about McIlroy’s role.

“From a very early stage it was evident that Rory McIlroy was going to be the real deal.

“Rory first came to Ballyliffin in 2005 for our Scratch Cups and he and his father, Gerry, attended every Scratch Cup until he turned professional. 

“Rory played in a successful interprovincial Ulster inter- provincial team there in 2006, and we made him an honorary member, just prior to him turning professional and he was 16 at the time. “Rory was part of the Faldo Series, and came to Ballyliffin for a week and just coincided with the revamping of The Old Links by Nick Faldo in 2006.

Take a moment to read this old post as to how John helped me through a technical issue during our Fortnight at Ballyliffin.   That was quite the great travel story, and indicative of the welcoming folks at the club.  That was also far from the last kindness John provided to us, which is why I'm so happy for them all.....  Please, Lord, give them a great week of weather next year.

And before moving on, let me just endorse this sentiment:

The setting is spectacular, it is home to two of Ireland’s best links courses and we know that the international visitors who will come to Donegal will really enjoy the scenery and the dramatic landscape.

There is so much we love about the club, but I'll employ some self-restraint and keep my powder dry until next year.  

I'll leave you there, and pick up the outstanding items tomorrow morning.