A strange week in golf....The powers that be couldn't be bothered televising the event I actually wanted to watch. As for that they did show? Well, yet again, Matt Kuchar has some 'splainin' to do....
Dateline: Liverpool - John Huggan with the game story of a game U.S. squad:
In this modern era of home-team domination in golf’s oldest biennial inter-continental competition, not since 2003 at Ganton has a team overcome a first-day deficit to win the Walker Cup. But forget that little record of futility, one endured by the U.S. since 1963 at Turnberry, and step forward to the 2019 American squad captained by 1981 U.S.Amateur champion Nathaniel Crosby.
Two-points adrift overnight and still one-point behind going into Sunday afternoon singles at Royal Liverpool, the visitors eventually overwhelmed a game but ultimately toothless Great Britain & Ireland team to successfully defend the cup won at the Los Angeles Country Club two years ago. The victory takes America’s all-time record in this 97-year-old event to 37-9-1.
The final, and ultimately convincing, score of 15½-10½ also made the Americans the first Walker Cup side to win away from home since 2007. That U.S. team, containing the likes of Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson, Billy Horschel, Jamie Lovemark, Rickie Fowler and Kyle Stanley, triumphed by a single point at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland.
It remains to be seen if those on the current American squad will go on to anything like individual successes of their already prolific predecessors. What is known, however, is that this was truly a team effort, a proper collaborative endeavor. Points came from nine of the team’s 10 members (Steven Fisk the unfortunate exception), although just one, John Pak (matching earrings and all) emerged unbeaten, walking off with a 3-0-0 record.
No need to let us see something like that, as opposed to another airing of Tin Cup... This is the oldest team competition in the game, one inextricably tied to the development of U.S. golf.
Last week we had that amusing bit about U.S. captain Nathaniel Crosby playing everyone three times, to which the Tour Confidential panel devoted this question:
3. U.S. Walker Cup captain Nathaniel Crosby told the team on Friday, before the weekend event started, that everyone will play at least three times and he hadpredetermined who was sitting when regardless of results or form. (Top-ranked am Cole Hammer, for example, sat on Saturday morning, and John Pak, who was 2-0 after the first day, was benched on Sunday morning.) It’s worth noting that Crosby sat twice in the 1983 Walker Cup and has said he’s still not over it. Great Britain and Ireland led the U.S. after Day 1 but the U.S. rebounded to win big on Sunday. Any burning takes on Crosby’s predetermined game plan?
Shipnuck: Captains can choke just like players in the heat of the moment — look at all of Jim Fuyrk’s bungling in Paris. From that standpoint it makes sense to formulate a plan far removed from the emotion of the moment. But it does open up a captain to epic second-guessing, as the Pak situation showed. Since the U.S. got the win you have to say Crosby’s plan worked.
yeah, but I don't remember Alan and his mates talking much about Furyk's bungling last September. I sure did, but seems like the rest of the working golf press went awfully easy on their buddy.
Sens: The kind of Monday morning quarterbacking that goes on after these team match-play events is inevitable but also a bit unfortunate, as it so often distorts things in one way or the other by either assigning captains too much credit or too much blame. Paul Azinger will forever be known as a genius for his pod system at Valhalla, but of course those matches could have gone the other way and we’d be telling a different story. Something similar applies to Crosby’s approach — if his guys hadn’t played well, he’d be getting blamed for not thinking on his feet and making the right adjustments.
So, you're taking the Captain's side in Mickelson v. Watson? Wanna bet a little Googling would find that Josh has gushed over Phil seizing control of the U.S. Ryder Cup effort after that 2014 disaster?
Depend on Mike Bamberger for the sensible view of the event:
Bamberger: I think Nathaniel was really making a nod to the experience, what it means to play in an international team competition. He was saying the event is about the players, not the captain. That would have been true whether the U.S. won or not. Great stuff.
Yeah, they're still kids, after all.
Well done, lads.... yet, this no TV thing still rankles. Ryan Herrington commits an act of journalism, and explains why we can't just dump on Fox:
TV rights for the Walker Cup fall under the jurisdiction of the home side’s governing body, which means the R&A has control this year. When the match was held at LACC in 2017, the USGA’s arrangement with Fox Sports had the network broadcasting three hours from all four sessions on FS1.
So, the R&A controls the U.S. TV rights? Who thought that was a good idea?
Ryan got this statement from the R&A that will put it all in perspective:
“Delivering high quality, live coverage from an event such as the Walker Cup is a complex and increasingly costly exercise. We decided for this year’s match to concentrate our resources on producing compelling highlights packages for our broadcast partners and high-quality content, including highlights, player interviews and behind the scenes footage, from our social and digital media channels. We have a responsibility to spread our investment across nearly 20 amateur events throughout the year and we believe we have achieved the right balance for this match.”
Yeah, highlight packages. That's the ticket....
I get the cost issue, but why couldn't a U.S. network share the Sky Sports feed?
Wither Kooch - I didn't actually see any of it, but I'm reminded of Robert Conquest's third rule of politics:
The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.
It's not a perfect fit, as we're not really discussing a bureaucratic organization (though his advisers haven't covered themselves in glory) , but try this on for size. If one year ago, Matt Kuchar decided to do everything in his power to destroy the reputation he'd built up over twenty years, how would he have behaved any differently?
After a brief highlight reel, Shack explains Kooch's latest act of entitlement:
And now coarse waste bunker sand is a loose impediment.
The newly revised rules opened the door for the latest questionable act of sportsmanship by Matt Kuchar. Players can now move a loose impediment in a bunker. As Kuchardemonstrated, if sand is coarse enough to be a pebble in the eyes of any official, then all of the tiny particles are loose impediments.
While using the rules of golf to your advantage is wise, it’s confounding to watch someone with a once solid reputation and plenty of cash in the bank to snub his upturned nose at the spirit of the rules. Again. In the same year. On television.
Kuchar takes well over the time allotted to play a shot while we are watching— television cut away after 40 seconds of Kuchar’s trench dig — and seems to improve his lie in the “waste area.”
Video at the link... Shack is all over the guy there and at his blog, where a spittle warning is required. And this, while technically incorrect (it was actually not a bunker, but rather a waste area), nails it:
And when Monty is the voice of reason...
Are You Ready For Some Football Golf - I'm so old that I can remember when the PGA Tour wanted to avoid competing against the NFL. And yet, the 2019-2020 PGA Tour season begins this week, when I've been reliably informed that they're still playing football.
We have this from Steve DiMeglio:
2019-20 PGA Tour season: Starting off at Greenbrier, here are storylines to watch
Who said anything about watching? I've been reliably informed that it's going to be a good year for the New York football teams... What? Really? Both of them? OK, Steve, whatcha got?
Will the pace of play issue be resolved this season? Will there be any movement on slowing down the golf ball?
Is Matthew Wolff the next big thing? Or is Viktor Hovland? Or Collin Morikawa?Who joins the elite of the elite? Will there be a first-time major winner? Keep an eye on Xander Schauffele.
And who wins the Cups? The USA will be heavily favored in the land of Oz for the Presidents Cup.
And the USA is in good position to turn its fortunes around in the Ryder Cup despite coming off another embarrassing, lopsided loss in 2018 and having won just twice this century. Thirteen of the current top 20 in the world rankings wear the red, white and blue.
That second one for sure, otherwise it's hard to see any need to tune in before the West Coast swing...
Steve posits this as a reason to tune in as well:
Spieth, Day, Garcia seek to end droughts
Speaking of Spieth, he joins Jason Day and Sergio Garcia as three major champions who didn’t win last season. Spieth hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since the 2017 British Open, Day since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship, Garcia since the 2017 Masters. Three world-class players will be looking to regain their class in 2019-20.
Two of the three, perhaps, but for all the wrong reasons...
Joel Beall comes at it from the opposite side:
Distance debates, Chamblee feuds and Spieth's slump: 10 storylines we are NOT excited for this golf season
Here's his take on the first of those:
The USGA/R&A’s distance-study debate
The roll-the-ball-back cries were relatively muted this summer. Expect them to amplify with vigor upon the expected release this fall of the Distance Insights Project, a joint endeavor by the R&A and USGA into the present and future impacts of distance in golf. And it could get particularly loud if the report comes anywhere near a possible announcement that Augusta National's 13th will be lengthened.It’s not that we’re apathetic about the subject. Rather, the distance debate is golf’s version of modernized politics. Conversation has been replaced by entrenchment, each side yelling their argument without listening to the other. Whatever the report says will be used as evidence by both sides, and/or dismissed as failing to capture the entire picture. Besides, there are only so much causes to be fought, and pace of play is the bigger threat at the moment.
I don't think I agree with any of that, do you? I especially disagree with his ranking of priorities, as slow play seems like more of an irritant, while the distance debate gets at the fundamental nature of golf at the elite levels. Also always fun to catch them manipulating their data to avoid doing anything...
But I certainly beg to differ here:
Spieth’s slump
We're not so much annoyed that we keep discussing his perceived struggles, but at thenotion that, when Spieth does win, there will be a self-righteous “Spieth proved the haters wrong” indignation from the very people that have been bashing him.
If we are going to discuss his win drought, let's try to keep it in perspective. For the 2018-'19 season, he ranked second in strokes gained/putting, was ninth in Thursday scoring and first in Friday scoring, was 10th in birdie average and had four top-10s. There are issues—ranking 145th in sg/approach just two years after finishing second in the category is curious, as are his weekend woes—but he's not missing cut after cut. Funks happen, even to superstars, so to wonder what is wrong is a fundamental misunderstanding of how this sport works.
Are you not entertained? The ebb and flows of careers is to me one of the fascinating parts of our game, especially when the elite fall on hard times. Spieth is that much more interesting because he gives voice to the inner demons, and who doesn't want to be watching when his head finally explodes?
The Tour Confidentialistas got with the program with this query:
1. We hope you enjoyed your offseason. The PGA Tour starts up again this week with the first event of the 2019-20 season with A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier. Look into your crystal golf balls and tell us who will be the breakout player on Tour this season.
Alan Shipnuck: Phil Mickelson. He was a non-factor after the West Coast. Phil the Thrill turns 50 next year, the U.S. Open is at Winged Foot (site of his most epic meltdown). It just feels like he has to have one last run in him.
He does... or at least, he did at Pebble.
Josh Sens: I suppose it’s too late to call Matt Wolff and Viktor Hovland breakout stars at this point. I expect more pyrotechnics from them in 2020. But the bigger news will be Rickie Fowler, who will finally get his major.
Ship, sailed....
Michael Bamberger: Spieth! I cite the name out of rooting interest more than logic, but you can’t keep a good man down forever.
I think he probably is a good man... Just not sure how good he is at this golf thing in the present moment. I think the more pressing issue is whether Michael Greller has the same gig a year from now...
Josh Berhow: I like Michael’s Spieth pick. But Patrick Cantlay has won in each of the last two seasons and the guy is bound to explode soon. He had 17 top 25s last year in 21 starts! (And nine top 10s.) He’s so crazy consistent he’s going to start piling up the wins.
How can he be the breakout start this year, if he's won in the prior two? Next you'll be nominating him for Comeback Player of the Year.
And this:
2. At this time next year will Brooks Koepka still be No. 1? If not, who will hold the crown?
Shipnuck: Hard to vote against Koepka, who has now learned how to win everyday Tour events while also coming strong at every major. Rory is the other obvious choice but that would require him to, ya know, win a major.
Sens: Unless Koepka grows as bored with the majors as he seems to be with many of the other events, or his putter goes as cold for the season as it did for that one week at Royal Portrush, I don’t see anyone catching him.
Bamberger: I think asking Koepka to come back in the new year and do it again is asking too much. The Portrush Sunday, the East Lake Sunday, both showed mental fatigue and a window into him: it’s not as easy as he has sometimes made it look. It’s such a young man’s game now, as we have seen with Spieth and Justin Thomas. I’m going to go with Hovland. He just seems to have it all.
Berhow: My wise colleague Sean Zak has done the math and the answer here is pretty simple. Brooks isn’t going anywhere.
I certainly don't expect Brooksie to be bored at Augusta and Sandwich...
Dateline: Auchterarder - One of my favorite town names in Scotland, it's home the the host venue for this week's Solheim Cup.
Beth Ann Nichols has this take:
No one wants to be the favorite of this year’s Solheim Cup. Not out loud anyway.Betting odds overseas and in Vegas put Team USA ahead. European captain CatrionaMatthew says that according to the stats, there’s no doubt that the Americans are favorites with 10 players ranked inside the top 50. (Europe has six.)
Even though team USA has won the last two meetings, Juli Inkster says the edge has to go to Europe given that they’re playing on Scottish soil. Team USA has never won in Scotland, taking memorable losses in 1992 and 2000.
“On paper you’d have to say the Americans are going in as favorites,” said Matthew.
The reasons to watch are twofold:
- team match-play....Duh!
- Actual bad blood between these teams, mostly involving Suzann Pettersen.
Later in the week we'll have to rehash gimmegate, which to this day I'm unsure that Suzann actually understands.
4. The Solheim Cup begins on Friday at Gleneagles in Scotland. The Americans have won the last two, both under Juli Inkster, who leads the U.S. again this year. Will the Americans prevail again, and who will be the U.S. team’s star performer?Shipnuck: I think they’ll prevail in a squeaker – the Americans are a cohesive bunch who have a little more firepower than Europe. I think Nelly Korda will be the star in her
Whoa, Nelly! first Cup. She’s a fiery player and will have her big sister to provide guidance and probably a very strong partner in team play.
Berhow: The U.S. makes it three in a row and I’ll also pick Korda to lead the way — but give me Jessica instead. She qualified for the team in 2017 but had to reluctantly withdraw before it due to a forearm injury. She’ll be motivated more than ever this year.
Sens: I like team USA in this as well. Top to bottom, the Americans have the stronger lineup. And I see their best player — Lexi — leading the way.
Bamberger: I think the Europeans will win. Road games are always hard to win and you can’t win them all, and the Europeans can follow the example of the Europeans in France last year. You don’t often think of a star from a losing side, but I’ll cite Inkster here: if the U.S. wins, she’ll take no credit; if the U.S. loses, she’ll put it all on her shoulders.
Lexi? Under pressure? I do agree that the sister act might well be the most compelling part.... Should be good fun, though the broadcast times will be a challenge.
Sorry, We're Not Cleared For This Information - One last bit from the TC panel on the Tour's new driver testing protocols:
5. The Tour’s new driver testing protocol will go into effect this week at The Greenbrier. Testing will happen only on practice days and will not be announced. (Under the old system only driver heads from equipment trailers were tested during random spot checks.) Only two parties will be notified of the results: the player and a rep from the manufacturer. Does this new form of policing go far enough?Shipnuck: I guess so. Given the Tour’s bizarre obsession with secrecy it was never likely they would make the results public.
Sens: If this is enough of an issue to warrant testing, and the tests, as the Tour says, only take about 15 minutes, why not test every club?
Berhow: Seems like a step in the right direction, but I wish golf would join most of the other big-time pro sports and just announce some of these things, including fines, etc., publicly. We are all adults here.
Bamberger: The point of testing in sports is for the PUBLIC to have faith in the players, in their equipment, in their scores. The results should be public. The presumption of course is that nobody is TRYING to cheat, so it’s not as if there is a stigma attached here. The player should want his clubs tested, and be insistent that they comply. There’s something deeply illogical going on here.
Oh, it's far more damning than that, Mike... Let me work in a story from last week to illustrate:
Dustin Johnson became the latest former World No. 1 to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery, his management team announced on Thursday.According to a statement released to PGATour.com, Johnson had the "routine" operation done in Fort Lauderdale to repair cartilage damage in his left knee. The 20-time PGA Tour winner is "expected to make a full recovery before returning to competition later this fall."
You might think that this could explain his poor play during the back end of last season....
As for your humble blogger, my first instinct is to wonder whether its coke or pot this time:
Amongst golf’s inner circle, Johnson’s transgressions are hardly secretive.
Now those outside of that circle are learning this, too.
A report from Golf.com on Friday cited an unnamed source with the news that Johnson’s latest leave of absence is not self-imposed, but a six-month suspension from the PGA Tour after a positive test for cocaine – the third positive drug test he’s sustained since turning professional.
According to the report, Johnson’s first strike occurred in 2009, when he wasn’t penalized with a suspension; his second in 2012, covered up by the Jet Ski tale; and a third that came to fruition this week, ostensibly keeping him out of action until late-January of next year.
They look us in the eye and lie to us, then wonder why we don't believe them.... They want us to believe that golf is a game played only by gentlemen, but then hide anything that would challenge that perception. So, I just assume they're always lying.... It's easier that way.
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