Udder Stuff

Two posts in a day?  Does that mean I get double the pay?

Ryder Cup Ruminations - John Feinstein takes his time poring over the tea leaves, first as relates to the U.S. squad:

Bryson DeChambeau made Jim Furyk’s life a good deal more complicated this past weekend. With his dominant victory at The Northern Trust—the opener of the so-called PGA Tour playoffs—DeChambeau made it pretty much impossible for Furyk not to name him as one of his four Ryder Cup captain’s picks next Tuesday.

Really?  I don't think I agree with this analysis of the status quo ante either:

The minute the PGA ended with Tiger Woods 10th on the points list and Phil Mickelson 11th, they were locks to be two of Furyk’s picks. Matt Kuchar, who finished 13th, was also a likely pick because of his experience and because he brings a looseness to the U.S team room that is desperately needed. 

Now though, Kuchar may have to play his way into the final spot during the next three tournaments because Furyk has to seriously consider Tony Finau, if only because Finau can be a birdie-making machine.

I have no doubt that Furyk would like Kooch to be on the squad, but there's the small matter of the quality of his play.  At No. 13 on the points list, there's no compelling case to be made for the guy, and T60 at Ridgewood doesn't move the needle.

That said, this does seem like the likely scenario:

Furyk will announce Woods, Mickelson and DeChambeau the day after Labor Day and then sit back and see what happens in Philadelphia before making his final decision on the Horschel pick.

Yes, though his discussion of Finau is somewhat lacking....  No question that the young man has certain very interesting skills....  It's just that his specific skills don't seem well matched to the golf course and the team.  What I mean by that last bit is that he seems perfect for fourballs, but that's pretty much the same skill set that Tiger and Phil bring.  

Turning to the Euros, this is a little curious, no?

Europe’s points list race ends this coming weekend after the European Tour's Made in Denmark tournament. European captain Thomas Bjorn will announce his four captains picks the day after Furyk announces his first three. 

Europe’s biggest problem at Hazeltine was a lack of experience: Darren Clarke had six rookies on his team and, playing on the road, most struggled. The notable exception was Thomas Pieters, who went 4-1, winning three matches paired with McIlroy and his singles match.

Yes, that Euro team feature a bunch of rookies that qualified automatically.  But left unsaid is that the veterans added through captain's picks, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, were God-awful as well.  

As of this moment, Bjorn is going to have five rookies on his team: the mercurial Jon

Rahm; Tommy Fleetwood; Tyrell Hatton; Alex Noren; and Thorbjorn Olesen. McIlroy, Francesco Molinari and Justin Rose are the only veterans who have locked up spots off the two European points lists. 

That means Bjorn must add experience with his captains picks: Ian Poulter, who has had an excellent comeback year and is just outside an automatic spot on the points list, is a lock. Poulter is one of the great Ryder Cup players of his generation and his fire was clearly missed in the European team room two years ago even though he was a vice captain.

“It’s not the same when you’re not playing,” he said. “There’s only so much you can say to guys. I NEED to be playing again.”

Must?  I think John errs in his definitions, as Tommy Fleetwood and Alex Noren aren't exactly babes in the woods.  Also misguided is Poults, as it was his play that inspired, not anything he could say.  It's also amusing that forgotten is how poorly he played at Gleneagles, it just wasn't a factor in the outcome .  

He will. So will Henrik Stenson, the temperamental opposite of Poulter, but a rock in the team room, who, like Kuchar, brings a good deal of humor to the room. He and Rose have been Europe’s most consistent team in recent years, and Bjorn is not going to break them up. 

That leaves two spots. Chances are Bjorn will overlook Sergio Garcia’s terrible summer (he did show signs of life in Greensboro) and name him to a ninth Ryder Cup team. The Ryder Cup has always brought out the best in Garcia, dating to his debut in 1999 at The Country Club as a 19-year-old—the youngest player in Cup history. 

Garcia teamed well with fellow Spaniard Cabrera-Bello at Hazeltine, which is why Bjorn will probably pick both or neither. In all likelihood, it will be both. 

The European standings could change this week and if Olesen doesn’t hang on to the last spot, he’s probably not going to be on the team. Bjorn would probably opt for a more experienced player like Fitzpatrick, Pieters or perhaps even Paul Casey.

I certainly understand the appeal of Poults and Casey, though I can't believe that either Rafa or Pieters will be left off the squad.  That I believe would be doing us a favor....

Been There, Done That -  I'll get to the more current item in a bit, but does anyone remember Ted Bishop?  I thought he was mad as a hatter during his term as President of the PGA of America, though I've actually come to see a more well-rounded man since his defenestration for ill-considered tweets.  But he had an item earlier this month that is really quite delusional:

One morning last week, I was quietly minding my own business in Indiana when a member of the golf media reached out via text from Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, site of the PGA Championship. 

“Some rumblings here the PGA and PGA Tour in merger talks…”

Say what?   Those who don't know their history.....

Funny thing is that I've been waiting endlessly for this article to emerge from behind Golf.com's paywall, detailing the two years of armed hostilities that resulted in the formation of the PGA Tour as we now know it:

The Professional Golfers’ Association of America formed in 1916 as an organization of golf pros—people who ran pro shops and gave lessons. Many clubs in the northern states closed for the winter, so the pros who toiled there would head south to pick up extra

work and compete in tournaments. The PGA began to organize the events, and by the 1930s a winter tour had become somewhat stable, with a number of annual dates and a steady stream of players. 

Still, the small purses, usually put up by chambers of commerce or resorts looking to stoke tourism, were not enough for anyone to live on, and when the weather turned, players went home to their “real” jobs. That remained true until the 1950s, when the schedule of events had expanded and the purses had grown large enough that some players decided to go out on tour full time. Suddenly, the PGA was comprised of two groups: golf pros and pro golfers. 

Through the ’60s, the gulf between those two factions grew wider, aided by demographic shifts and the convergence of two transformative forces: the swashbuckling Palmer and TV. In 1958, the total prize money available on tour sat at $1 million; by ’68 it had hit $5.6 million. Competition for that cash was Darwinian. Each year, tournament winners and the top-60 money earners from the previous season were granted exempt status, but otherwise fields were filled by one-round, top-scorers-get-in Monday qualifiers.

It's a very interesting story of course, and Nicklaus as rabble rouser will surprise many.  But it's easy to see how the club pros and the emerging touring professionals have different objectives, and really don't belong in the same organization.  So, why does Ted think this is an idea that's time has come?

Here's an example of the two organizations’ business acumen: The Tour manages more than 30 properties and nets a profit in excess of $10 million per year on its golf operations. The PGA runs two properties and loses money. 

“The PGA of America is at a huge disadvantage from a structural standpoint, whereas the Tour is set up like a business,” said Deane Beman, a former commissioner of the PGA Tour. “Without question, a single organization combining the Tour and the PGA would have more influence on the game of golf. The two together would be more effective in marketing and growing the game.”     

OK, but what's in it for the Tour?  He never really gets around to that and, in fact, argues that the only logical incentive should be taken off the negotiation table:

As valued assets, the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup actually could be major stumbling blocks in a potential merger. 

“You have to eliminate that as an obstacle,” Beman said. “The value of those should be used for the benefit of PGA members. Follow the money. Does it directly benefit the PGA member? It’s not easy. It would be a hell of a transaction, and it would take a lot of strategy. There was probably a better chance of doing this in the early 1980s than now because there is so much money involved today.”

Good luck with that....  Yes, it's never easy getting folks to agree to a deal in which the only benefits are to others...This last 'graph is laugh-out-loud funny:

As Beman suggests, one PGA organization would be stronger, and life could be better for all of its members. Many PGA members think that their association has become too corporate and less member-focused. A merger with the Tour might change all of that, plus it could put the PGA in a position in which it could have a far greater international presence in growing the game and helping golf professionals around the world.

Yeah, that's the ticket....  The cure for having become too corporate and ignoring their member sis to give them access to another pot of gold.  Profoundly silly...

While we're here, Ted is back in the current moment with another curious cure for an organization that's become too corporate:

Seth Waugh could be a game-changer for the PGA of America. Sources close to the

PGA’s search for a chief executive officer tell Morning Read that Waugh’s hiring could be a “done deal” soon, with an announcement possible before next month’s Ryder Cup.

Waugh, the former CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas, could be just the man to lead the PGA’s 28,000 members and apprentices. He would bring a wealth of business and golf experience to one of the most unique and challenging leadership positions in golf. 

Perhaps his greatest attribute is his business experience. Waugh, a former Wall Street bond executive, worked from 2000 to 2013 at Deutsche Bank. He operated the German company’s sales and trading businesses in the U.S. before being promoted to CEO of the Americas region. In 2003, Waugh created the PGA Tour’s Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. The tournament, known today as the Dell Technologies Championship, has been part of the FedEx Cup playoffs since 2007. Waugh is no stranger to big-time golf events.

He might be a good guy and he might be the right guy, but if your concern is about the organization becoming too corporate..... And as for his ability to relate to the rank and file members?  Shack confirms that he's truly a man of the people:

A member of ten golf clubs—including Seminole in Palm Beach near PGA headquarters where he spends his winters—Waugh serves on various boards and still works in the finance sector. He’s also one of the managing partners of the Pebble Beach Company.

Think how many of those 28,000 members he's known from his ten clubs....  There is one point of Ted's with which I agree:

And about that rumored move to Frisco, which seems to have been hanging out there for months: It’s hard to see Waugh wearing a cowboy hat and chaps.

Wouldn't you want to stay closer to Seminole?

Wither Rickie -  I perhaps should have included this above, but this could have larger Ryder Cup implications:

Rickie Fowler has withdrawn from this week’s Dell Technologies Championship due to a lingering oblique injury. 

He also sat out last week’s Northern Trust, the first event in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. 

The 29-year-old Fowler is 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings and already guaranteed through to the next stage of the postseason with the top 70 advancing to the BMW Championship at Aroninmink in two weeks. Of greater concern, however, could be the Ryder Cup, which is just over a month away.

Ya think?  he hasn't been playing all that well, so I'm unclear as to whether this is a bug or a feature.  But we might be back to captains placing names in envelopes..... 

Scenes From Latinoamérica - Alan Shipnuck has been talking about this assignment for  quite some time, a compelling take on the grind that is the PGA's Latin America developmental tour:

To truly understand the PGA Tour Latinoamérica (LAT), it is necessary to experience one of the ornate travel days that define this far-flung circuit. Speeding to the Montego

Bay airport, Michael Buttacovali was squished into a minivan along with a family of four. The trophy he had won with a closing 62 at the Jamaica Classic was at his feet, and a baby stroller kept toppling over and smashing into his shoulder, although Buttacovali barely flinched. “If you’re gonna survive on this tour, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable,” he said. 

At 5 a.m., the airport began filling up with players in the unofficial travel-day uniform of shorts, graphic T-shirts, hats with the logo of a hometown sports team, and fashionable sneakers, although Harry Higgs, a 6’2”, 235 lb. Dallas resident who is a bit of a dandy, was flashing tassel loafers. Near the departure gate, the Latin American players clustered around tables, daintily sipping espresso. The Yanks were slouched in the airport chairs, trading gossip about Lee Westwood’s love life and LeBron James’s free agency. Costa Rica is southwest of Jamaica, but since there are no direct flights, this motley crew was flying north to connect through Miami. (It could be worse; the following week, to get from Costa Rica to the Dominican Republic, a cash-strapped rookie named Mike Balcar would first fly to Houston and then Toronto, an absurd itinerary cooked up by Orbitz to save him a few hundred bucks.) As the players filed down the plane’s aisle, they exchanged elaborate handshakes with their seated comrades, and the few who had snagged extra legroom were hailed for their “exit row swag.”

 Not to mention "golf bag roulette" on every flight.... Oh, the glamour.  Give it a read, as it's quite the grind....

Can You Say "Tone Deaf"? - I just happened across this, which is interestingly not on any of the major golf website as of now:

The forthcoming Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson Thanksgiving 18-hole “The Match” showdown will be produced by Turner and distributed across a wide range of AT&T/Warner Media properties, from preview and shoulder programming on HBO and Bleacher Report to the actual event pay-per-view on AT&T, DirecTV, potentially other providers and B/R Live to a later reair on TNT. We now have more details on the price of the pay-per-view broadcast, with Sports Business Journal‘s John Ourand including in his in-depth report on the deal that Turner “is expected to charge viewers less than $30” and numerous people (including media reporter Jim Miller) tweeting about it being $24.99 (although ESPN’s Darren Rovell tweeted that “no price has been set yet“). If it is $24.99, that’s an interestingly-low threshold compared to many pay-per-view events in other sports, and one which may reflect some of the challenges of this event.

It may be low compared to boxing and MMA, but it strikes me as high for a meaningless exhibition in a niche sport.  It was this guy that made me aware of it:

So do I, especially at that price point.  I'm thinking that these guys are overplaying their hand.

Two long posts I assume are enough for you ungrateful wretches....  If not, feel free to reach out to our customer support team.