Weekend Wrap

Wrappage-Lite this week, methinks, as I'm still recovering from last week's flood-the-zone Phil-Phest.

The Bubbameister - Didn't even know he was in the field, though it's not as though I much cared.  But let's first give props to Jason Sobel and/or his headline writer, who posted this Saturday night when a certain Englishman had a four-shot lead:

Sobel: 5 Reasons Paul Casey Isn’t a Lock to Win the Travelers

That's easy...it's Paul Casey.  A good player who won from behind earlier in the year, but is known to spit the bit when leading.... 

Brian Wacker will have heads exploding with this header:

Bubba Watson adds another impressive win to what's evolving into a Hall of Fame career

If you thought Freddie belonged, it's hard to argue that Bubba doesn't.   

Last year, Watson made a dubious change in golf balls, going from Titleist to Volvik, and battled undisclosed health issues, losing 20 pounds in the process. His results suffered,

too. Watson registered just three top-10 finishes and missed more cuts (seven) than he had in nearly a decade. His World Ranking plummeted as he dropped outside the top 50 and eventually to 117th earlier this year. 

Then came the Genesis Open in Feburary. Healthy and back to playing his previous golf ball, Watson ended a two-year winless drought and joined Ben Hogan as the only players to have won three times at Riviera and twice at Augusta National.

Got an e-mail from friend of the blog and  Professor of Entrepreneurship Glenn Emanuel yesterday asking about the ball change, which I strongly discount.  I think the health issues are more likely to blame, or just the random arc of careers.  

The weekly Tour Confidential panel dealt with this query:

Ritter: A little of both, but you have to tip your hat to a Sunday 63, capped by a stuffed

wedge on 18 when Bubba knew he needed it. It was the type of close you'd expect from a future Hall of Famer, which Watson looks like from here. 

Bamberger: Of, for sure Bubba won. Because if you look at the list of finishers, Bubba's name is first. Plus, leads are hard to manage. 

Passov: Hats off to Bubba — simply phenomenal golf from a phenomenal talent — but Casey lost this one. With all of those low scores coming in, from Cink's 62 to Bubba's 63 to a smattering of 64s and 65s, Casey's two-over-par 72 looks terrible by comparison. All he would have needed was a 68 to get the W.

Unsaid is that if you're coming to the course on Sunday with a four-shot deficit to make up, your attitude will undoubtedly be affected by whose name tops the board.   Casey is a name you want to see, as are Hoffman, Howell and a few others whose careers have been defined by not winning.

Say this for Bubba...  He's a wildly inconsistent golfer, no surprise when you look at how he plays the game.  But when he's in the mix he has a better-than-most record of closing.

Weird Item of the Week - Bryson DeChambeau marches to a drummer whose siren song I can't hear, so we'll just add this to the list:

CROMWELL, Conn. – Bryson DeChambeau’s reliance on science to craft his play on the course is well known, but he took things to a new level this week at the Travelers 

Not just a compass, but also a protractor...where's the pocket protector?

Championship when television cameras caught him wielding a compass while looking at his yardage book during the third round. 

According to DeChambeau, it’s old news. He’s been using a compass regularly to aid in his preparation for nearly two years, dating back to the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in October 2016. 

“I’m figuring out the true pin locations,” DeChambeau said. “The pin locations are just a little bit off every once in a while, and so I’m making sure they’re in the exact right spot. And that’s it.”

I am absolutely clueless as to how a compass helps one determine that, but rock on, Bryson.  Perhaps if he were in the desert it might tell him which way lies Indio, but otherwise it seems, well, merely eccentric.

Bamberger: I'm surprised to learn you can use a compass in competition. I'd prohibit them. Are anemometers (devices that measure wind direction and speed)? I think they are not, and they shouldn't be. I'd say the same for the compass.

Dethier: This is impossibly, comically on-brand. I knew a couple of guys on the Canadian tour who would pace off the pin locations while we were playing the hole just to have something extra to grouse about after the round if the locations were a yard or two off (I was hitting the greens with such rarity that this wasn't much of an issue for me). Follow the rules, I guess — I cannot bring myself to care about this any further.

I had the same thought as Mike about the anemometer, but wasn't sure they're like-kind devices.  Shack had this tying together loose threads from the last couple of weeks:

Jimmy Walker announced (in writing) that he leaves a ball down as a backstop to help someone he likes or someone he feels sorry for, then Phil Mickelson hit a moving ball and said he'd been waiting to do it in competition for a long time. He was not, as far as we know, punished. 

But a pro golfer employs a compass and protractor--a device at least 50% of the players could not identify by name, much less use--and Ponte Vedra is investigating. Strange times indeed.

I think by far the most amusing aspect is that Bryson has been doing this for almost two tears and the Tour is "investigating".  Perhaps their 125 suits can convene and render a verdict by Christmas?  No hurry, guys....

We Have a Winner - Somebody named Matt Wallace won the BMW event on the Euro Tour, but who really cares?  But submitted for your approval is the craziest swing ever seen from a guy with his name on his golf bag.... Introducing Hosung Choi:

But wait, there's more...  How about this arty B&W still of him nailing the dismount:

And, per the video here, he uses that signature move when he puts as well....  Only a poor Sunday kept him from qualifying for the Open Championship....  How do we think that swing holds up in a wee breeze?

I'm not the only one to notice, see this nice homage from the web.tom tour.

Ryder Cup Update - That TC panel needs to move on...from Tiger, that is.  I think we can all agree that this lead question is far from a pressing concern:

1. The last two times we saw Tiger Woods play he struggled with his putter, the second of those starts resulting in a missed cut at the U.S. Open. He's back in action this week at The National (a tournament he's won twice), where Rickie Fowler is the only top 10 player in the field. This will be his 11th start of the season, but will it also be his best chance to win.

Jeff Ritter: Well, his best chance to win so far in this comeback was in Tampa, where he 

tied for second and missed a playoff by one. Given the soft field and two-week break, I absolutely expect Woods to show better than he did at Shinnecock. Win? Not yet. But if his health holds up I think he'll get there eventually — maybe even at season's end, at the Hero World Challenge in December.

Michael Bamberger: Agree with Ritter. Tampa was there for him. Tiger putts Florida greens better than other surfaces. He can of course contend. What he has to show himself is that he can close. Nobody can help him with that. A reminder of how lonely the game can be, even when everybody is screaming your name. 

Joe Passov: I'm not quite as worried about Tiger's prospects, given how close he has already come on several occasions this year. Some weeks his putting has let him down, in others, especially early on, it was his driving. Yet, he came THAT close at Valspar, was one yanked drive away from a similar finish at Bay Hill, was solid at the Honda and hit the ball as well as ever at the Players. Heckuva Florida swing. But he did play well at the Memorial, too. Yes, he has to put it all together and relearn how to close, but he isn't far off. I'm not sure it's this week, but I like his chances at straightforward Bellerive at the PGA Championship in August.

Silly.  The underlying issue right now is how to interpret his declining play since Florida.  Secondarily, this is apparently the only event in which he plans to play before Carnoustie....  I guess he doesn't need more reps to get back his golf feelz, though we can all agree that it is what it is....

But, let's go another direction, shall we?  How are those Ryder Cup rosters looking?  First, for the good guys:

The information below is from the official Ryder Cup website, and while they give us the rankings down to No. 162, some bloke named Tom Whitney, they can't be bothered providing actual dates.  Accordingly, this obviously reflects the U.S. Open though I suspect it also includes Hartford:

A few surprises for sure, including:

1. Bryson has been playing well, but shocked to see him in that last qualifying slot.  He'll need to hold onto that for sure, as he's not likely to get much love from Cap'n Furyk.
2. Despite his win in Mexico, Phil is on the outside looking in as well, though far more likely to be selected.
3. Wither Rickie?  You'd have had him as a mortal lock at the start of the season, though he seems to be going the wrong direction.
4. Ditto Jordan!  Is it remotely conceivable that Jordan isn't on the team in Paris?

Tiger has been called a "mortal lock" by some, but currently resides in 39th place.  Yes, there's still quite a bit of golf to be played.  But right now you'd have to think that Phil and Kooch would be the obvious picks.... Does Furyk make two legacy picks, and Kooch might make it three.....

It obviously profiles as a strong roster, though there's nothing that screams unbeatable to me...Strong at the top for sure, as the U.S. roster always seems to be....

So, how do the other guys look?  Their qualification process has become even more complicated with the addition of the Rolex Series (and other changes), but the Euro Tour list looks like this:

The next four come from the World Points List, which I don't have readily on hand.  But if I substitute the next four in the official World Golf Rankings, we get the non-controversial names as follows:

Rahm

McIlroy

Casey, and

Stenson.

To which, we can add the following likely picks:

Noren

Garcia

Cabrero-Belo, and

Poulter.

Anyone thinking this sets up as a walkover is kidding themselves.....  Should be a fun week in Paris.

Loose Ends - Just a couple of quickies....  Rory had a so-so week in Hartford, the opening 64 proving unsustainable.....  But he certainly didn't deserve this level of disrespect.  But, upon further review, even the squirrels are #livingunderpar these days.

Are you one of those that can't get enough of The Living Brand's ESPN The Body Issue photo shoot?  I hate to disillusion you, but apparently there was a body double involved:

It's like they were separated at birth or something....  I might have been tempted to add a white golf glove to the photo on the left, because that's my favorite little detail.

Catch ya down the road....