Midweek Musings

That sound you hear is the bottom of the barrel being scraped....  I'll do what I can, but there's not much happening out there....

Punked - Shack and I tend to agree on the major issues of the day, but our paths will part on this one.  It's none other than Rory driving us apart, with this news about his 2019 schedule:

Rory McIlroy’s decision to focus on the United States from the start of 2019 marks a significant blow to the European Tour as it prepares for its season-ending event in Dubai.

McIlroy has left the prospect he will not become a full European Tour member for a year as a live one.

McIlroy confirmed on Tuesday that he has just two regular tour events planned for Europe from January, a scenario which will not change – if at all – until after all four major championships have been completed. European Tour guidelines state four must be played for full membership. While there remains scope for the Northern Irishman to feature in season ending tournaments, this is a situation the European Tour’s chief executive, Keith Pelley, could do without regarding such a high-profile player. McIlroy is now a US resident.

Shack seems to find the underlying message acceptable, only taking issue with this rationale:

“I am starting my year off in the States and that will be the big focus of mine up until the end of August and then we will assess from there,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of ‘pure’ European Tour events on my schedule up until the end of August. I guess my thing is that I want to play against the strongest fields week-in and week-out and for the most part of the season that is in America. 

“If I want to continue to contend in the majors and to continue my journey back towards the top of the game, then that’s what I want to do.”

I'm thinking that with childhood buddy Harry Diamond on the bag, contending in majors wouldn't seem to be your highest priority.  Shack took exception to the cheap shot at the Euro Tour:

I think everyone was a bit shocked by Rory McIlroy’s suggestion he’s pondering an all-PGA Tour schedule in his 2019 future to play against better competition, particularly

given how few true European Tour events he plays and that he has one win on the that tour in the last three years.

Now, saying you want to spend more time in the U.S. because you have a nice home here, the weather is better and your wife is from here would have have sufficed. But suggesting the competition element is behind your thinking when Europe just dominated the Ryder Cup and your lone win since 2016 came in the Irish Open, seems like a shot at the European Tour more than it’s a compliment to the PGA Tour.

True enough, but if Europe's best-known player will only be a member of that tour in even-numbered years, then it's not much of a tour...  And if Rory does it, then Tommy and Frankie and Ian and whoever are sure to follow.  I think he owes enough to get his butt over there for four events, no matter how comfortable he is in the States.

And it's not just his homies that he's offending from Dubai:

As the roll call continues among PGA Tour players as to who will and who won’t watch the big money match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in Las Vegas, Rory McIlroy is the latest to have other plans for Nov. 23. 

McIlroy told reporters in Dubai on Tuesday that he won’t order the $19.99 pay-per-view match at Shadow Creek, where the winner’s prize is $9 million. This is a change from earlier this year when McIlroy told Mickelson during lunch at one of the FedEx Cup playoff events that he planned to order it. 

Upon hearing McIlroy, Mickelson then apparently pulled $25 out of his wallet and offered to cover the purchase for his fellow Tour player. 

Even with the money, McIlroy is now not interested. 

“Look, if they had a done it 15 years ago it would have been great,” McIlroy said. “But nowadays, it’s missed the mark a little bit.”

At this point, he might as well commit to the Euro Tour event in Saudi Arabia, as there's no one left to piss off.

They're Dropping Like Flies -  Another strange DQ from the Euro Tour Q-School, though this guy had it coming:

Always remember to check your scorecard. Read it twice if you must, because the

consequences can hurt. Just ask Tom Murray. 

The 28-year-old English pro was disqualified from European Tour Q School for signing an incorrect scorecard, according to Bunkered. Murray had completed two rounds of the six-round final stage. 

Through two rounds at Lumine Golf Club in Spain, Murray sat at seven-under par after rounds of 66 and 70 — well on his way to a card. But then, the scorecard gaffe.

While Murray’s second-round 70 was recorded accurately, scores on two of his holes were incorrectly marked: one too high, the other too low. It still added up to the correct total, but alas.

Perhaps I sound a tad harsh above, but players are only responsible for the individual holes scores, not the math involved in totaling it up.  So this is very much a #youhadonejob moment.

Who Knew? - Yesterday was National Kindness Day, and I didn't get you anything....  I know, I feel terrible, but to celebrate Golf Digest has an item on the kindest acts in golf.  As you suspect, it's pretty lame, this being about as good as it gets:

7. Find only nice things to say about bad golf courses. “Those power lines really make for a great target.”

Perhaps peak lameness is the fact that amid our Backstopping controversy, that subject doesn't arise.  hence, a modest proposal, to wit, that we designate November 13th as Backstopping Day, relieving all players of that pesky responsibility to protect the field.  Yeah, I know it was Tuesday this year when the Tour isn't playing... Win-win, baby!

'Tis the Season - Well, it will be in a few weeks, but the Golfweek gang has begun rolling out their year-in-review pieces, and you can see that we're desperate for content....  

First up is Martin Kauffmann, covering the media beat.  His top five moments starts awfully slowly with this:

5. Bevacqua jumps from the PGA to NBC 

Who saw this one coming? In July we learned that Pete Bevacqua, former CEO of the PGA of America, would become the president of NBC Sports Group. Bevacqua got high marks for his tenure at the PGA, but his limited TV experience – the PGA holds the rights to the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup – made his selection by NBC a curious one.

And it became even more curious when Bavaqua recused himself from the negotiations and CBS extended their contract for the PGA Championship for an additional eleven years.  Except for his family, I'm unclear on who cares about Pete cashing in.  

And it doesn't get much better as we continue the countdown:

4. ESPN becomes CBS’ new PGA Championship partner 

I would rather speak ill of my late mother than say anything critical of Ernie Johnson, who might be the most decent human being ever to pick up a microphone. But few golf fans will lament the departure of Turner Sports, which will air the PGA’s early-round

coverage for the final time in 2019. 

ESPN, which already teams with CBS on Masters coverage, will marshal all of its platforms in support of the PGA, which should elevate the championship’s stature. This partnership runs through 2030, and with the PGA moving to a more favorable date in May, CBS and ESPN will be able to spend the spring promoting the season’s first two men’s majors. The lengthy extension also is an indication that CBS’ new management remains firmly committed to golf.

If I understand correctly, the fourth biggest golf media story of 2018 is something that will happen, you know, in 2019.  That photo will give away Marty's number one story....  I know, I'm shocked as well.

Alistair Tait does ultimately share his five top stories from European golf, but leads with an ode to Moliwood:

A white sign greeted European Tour players at the Sky Sports British Masters at Walton Heath. The 3-foot high, 15-foot-wide sign simply read: “Moliwood” in homage to a

phenomenon born 300 miles away on the outskirts of Paris in the 42nd Ryder Cup. 

Europe’s victory – thanks in large part to the pairing of Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood – over arguably the strongest U.S. team ever assembled takes some beating when reviewing the 2018 European Tour season. European captain Thomas Bjorn lifting the Ryder Cup pips Molinari’s historic British Open victory. 

Few would have guessed two of the humblest players on the European Tour would unite to do what no European tandem had done: win four points in a Ryder Cup. Not even the legendary, practically unbeatable Seve Ballesteros-Jose Maria Olazabal partnership managed that.

he does ultimately get to his top five stories, which are mostly a yawn to U.S. audiences:

5. Chris Paisley, Richard McEvoy and Paul Waring join Pepperell with breakthrough wins to increase English dominance of Euro Tour. 

4. Sergio Garcia wins three points out of four to surpass Nick Faldo as all-time European Ryder Cup points winner and justify his wild-card pick. 

3. Eddie Pepperell wins twice, the same Eddie P who said he’d “fallen out of love with golf” after a disastrous 2016 season. 

2. Georgia Hall wins Ricoh Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham to become first British woman to win a major since Catriona Matthew. 

1. Francesco Molinari becomes Italy’s first major winner with victory in the British Open at Carnoustie.

 English dominance?  Good luck with that....

Ready For His Close-Up - By statute, his fifteen minutes of fame has lapsed....  But, did I mention that we're desperate for content?  So, shall we dip our toe in this?

18 things to know about ‘El Tucan,’ Matt Kuchar’s Mayakoba caddie

It gets off to a promising start:

1. The caddie’s full name — three pronged, in the Mexican tradition — is David Giral Ortiz. He’s 40, as is Senor Kuchar, his boss last week at the Mayakoba Classic, which they — plural, in the old caddie tradition — won by a shot. Kuchar is four months older and one foot taller.

I don't know, seems like more than a foot:

What else do we have?

2. Ortiz, called “El Tucan” by Kuchar and most everybody else, is a full-time caddie at the Mayakoba Resort, averaging about six loops a week and $200 a day. He said, “I come every day. I hope to get out.” 

3. El Tucan, a married father of two who gets to work each morning by bus, is a trained agronomist but says he can make far more money as a caddie.

I guess he's not a reader of the Tour Confidential:

6. Asked in the interview if he knew the name Johnny Wood, Ortiz said he did not.

Although elsewhere he's quite respectful of Kooch's regular caddie... I do hope this is true:

13. Asked if he would like to continue to work for Kuchar as his caddie on the PGA Tour, Ortiz said, “No, this is my home. Matt already has a regular caddie, and he’s very special. But next year when Matt comes back to defend his title, he said, ‘El Tucan will carry my bag!’”

About the only reason to watch the event.... Catch you tomorrow, if there's anything at all to discuss.