JUNO BEACH, Fla. — They were all smiles huddled in the gloaming on Sunday, the 12 men representing the United States mugging for the cameras around their handsome prize outside thedistinct pink stucco clubhouse at Seminole Golf Club. When you look at the pictures of the celebration five or 10 years from now, you’ll have no idea from their expressions just how difficult it was for this group to take possession of the Walker Cup, what the means to this end truly involved. That, instead, will be something they can tell their friends and family over beers.The short version will go something like this: The heavily favored Americans hung on for a 14-12 victory in the 48th playing of the biennial competition against their rivals from Great Britain & Ireland, the outright win not secured until in the 26th and final match. Entering Sunday singles with a surprisingly slim one-point lead, the U.S. team scratched out 5½ points, securing a third straight victory in the matches and the seventh in the last nine contests when 30-year-old Stewart Hagestad, the oldest competitor on either team, defeated Ben Jones, 4 and 2.To do so, however, required a gut-check, literally. In the run-up to the two-day sprint, seven of the 12 Americans (including the team’s alternates) were hit with a stomach bug that also took out seven players on the GB&I side. No one dreams of their Walker Cup experience including a visit to a local hospital to receive IV fluids, but that will be one of the usual memories for several of the victorious Americans.
Yes, but have you noticed that they still haven't told us the source of this mysterious virus?
Here's a bit on the relative roster strength of the two squads:
Indeed, the Americans arrived in South Florida expected to make quick work of the visiting side,GB&I captain Stuart Wilson already facing a massive challenge. Consider that the average World Ranking of his starting 10 for the GB&I was 67.6, with only one player (Alex Fitzpatrick at No. 12) inside the top 20. By comparison, the Americans average ranking was 12, with nine of the 10 inside the top 20.Then there was the fact that matches were being played in May (a first for a Walker Cup contested in the U.S., in order to be able to host the event at Seminole for the first time), offering very little time for GB&I players who were part of college golf teams in the U.S. to knock off any winter rust, which was seemingly extra thick after COVID-19 wiped out most of the 2020 amateur golf schedule.
Not only would you have not guessed that the GB&I team could keep it that close, but you'd be further shocked that they could do so with their best player, the aforementioned Alex Fitzpatrick, throwing up an 0-4 bagel.
Julie Williams has some takeaways from this event, beginning with those world rankings:
At the end of the day, WAGR is just a number.
There was never a head-to-head match at Seminole Golf Club where a GB&I player out-ranked his opponent. The Americans were wildly ahead according to the rankings, but if we’d all paid attention to those, and awarded points accordingly, this thing would have been over before it even started.
The closest Sunday singles match, according to the WAGR, was the one between Alex Fitzpatrick (No. 12) and Pierceson Coody (No. 2). Coody birdied the 17th hole to close out Fitzpatrick for the second day in a row.
Ranking doesn’t account for much in Fitzpatrick’s mind – especially not in match play. In fact, a better ranking might even create more pressure.
“The chances are that the higher ranked player is probably a better player, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to win,” he said.
As we've discussed often in this context, 18-hole matches aren't any more likely to follow chalk than a coin flip...
And this, which will remind of another team match event:
What was GB&I’s secret sauce?
Windy conditions with firm, fast greens seemed to play a bit into GB&I’s hands this week, but the close outcome wasn’t so much about what GB&I did surprisingly well, as Wilson noted, but where they played solidly. There was no keep-it-close mindset, and GB&I displayed that all week.
Ultimately Wilson felt a few loose shots cost his team the victory, and took that all the way back to the foursomes sessions.
“Maybe let the Americans get away with a little but too much and a few slack shots here and there,” he said.
And this, focusing on the unique, make-it-up-as-we-go aspect to the week:
What if the alternates were always in play at the Walker Cup?
As a Walker Cup alternate, it would be hard to bring a better disposition to the occasion than the one Cooper Dossey brought to Seminole. He found out three weeks before the matches that he would serve as an on-site alternate, a decision made in light of COVID.
As a stomach bug ripped through the team, Dossey had a real chance of playing. Ultimately, his fellow alternate Mac Meissner got into the opening four-ball session, but Dossey only spent the week outfitted with an earpiece. He appeared on the first tee with the team and walked most of Sunday afternoon with an ailing Tyler Strafaci.
“I got here on Saturday and that’s what really intrigued me was they have treated me like I was on the team from the get-go,” he said. “I’ve played every practice round with them, I’ve gotten every piece of gear they’ve gotten, my own hotel room. It’s been pretty sweet.”
For one thing, they wouldn't be alternates any longer... Julie seems to be arguing more for an expanded, 12-man team, though she might want to consider which side that might benefit.
I thought Seminole was an almost perfect host, and those aerial shots were to die for. Geoff had this cryptic remark about the venue:
Mercifully, everyone was able to play and perform admirably on magnificent if overcooked Seminole.
C'mon, Geoff, when has the USGA ever botched a set-up? No question it was close, but it's far less of an issue in match play....
Folks being folks, they can't help trying to improve the event, though beware those good intentions. The Tour Confidential panel spared this one question for this event:
The U.S. defeated Great Britain & Ireland 14-12 at the Walker Cup at dreamy, windy Seminole, meaning the Americans have now won seven of the last nine editions of the biennial amateur event. Would you like to see the GB&I team expand to include the rest of Europe?
Sens: Yes. I can understand the sentimental attachment to tradition, but think of all the fine amateurs we are NOT currently seeing in what broadcasters this weekend took pains to call the greatest showcase of amateur golf talent in the world. That may have been the case when the event was born. Not anymore.
Bamberger: Yes. It’s a great event but closer outcomes would make it better yet.
Dethier: For sure. The Ryder Cup for amateur golfers? I’m all the way in.
Colgan: I’ll admit, with this being my first Walker Cup in golf media, I had to pause to research why, exactly, the event didn’t include the rest of Europe to begin with. History and tradition are awesome, but a closer contest would be even better.
It'd be a shame to give up the last vestige of that GB&I moniker, no?
This seems too obvious for it not to happen eventually, though it's a bit of a strange moment for it to pop up. A woefully under-manned GB&I team damn near held one of the strongest U.S. teams in recent memory to a near-draw in a road game. Who are you calling uncompetitive?
Of perhaps greater import, Alistair Tait writes a love letter to the event's current format:
One of the Walker Cup’s charms is its brevity. It’s a sprint, not a marathon. And it’s all the better for it.There have been calls in the past for the match to be extended to three days like the Ryder and Solheim Cups. That way a four-ball element could be added to the format. The Curtis Cup went that way in 2008. Many feel that played into the hands of the United States, since U.S. players are generally stronger when playing their own ball, while foursomes should suit Great Britain & Ireland players more. The jury is out on that point. The U.S. has won four of the six matches since four-ball matches were introduced.
I’m glad the R&A and USGA have retained the two-day format. Yes, it can mean the match is effectively over if one team has a great first day, but one of the great aspects of the match, what makes it stand out, is its quick format. That’s not something you can say about professional golf tournaments, which can sometimes be snooze fests.
I do think he's on to something here, as I watched the entirety of the Golf Channel coverage and still wanted more. By the end of a Ryder or Prez Cup I'm typically too burned out to even do the Weekend Wrap on Monday morning.
As Tait alludes, the shorter event likely helps maintaining the competitive balance. Anything that involves larger teams or a greater number of matches will ultimately play into the hands of the deeper talent pool. And that doesn't even touch on the problematic fourball format, which has become almost unwatchable in those professional Cups. And not merely unwatchable, but slow to the point of challenging the ability to play two sessions per day.
One last bet that amused this observer. If you took in the event you'd be aware that Seminole's club caddies were assigned to the players through a blind draw. Mid-Am Stewart Hagestad is 6'5" tall, so you can anticipate my reaction when he drew a looper that's well over four feet tall:
Hard to tell from this angle, but he might actually be taller than the staff bags...
A great event at a storied venue... I do hope you caught some of it.
He's Back - Rumors of his demise were apparently overstated:
In the four weeks since his unceremonious Friday afternoon departure from Augusta National,Rory McIlroy pounded ball after ball on the driving range. Sometimes at Jack Nicklaus’ Bears Club, sometimes at Michael Jordan’s Grove XXIII, but always on flat ground with a perfect lie. When you’re trying to groove swing tweaks, that’s what you do.So, of course, the shot that sealed a slump-busting win was the type you never, ever, ever practice.
McIlroy had one hand on the trophy when he made his worst swing of the day, a pull-hooked 3-wood off the 18th tee at Quail Hollow. His TaylorMade “RORS 22” ball somehow came to rest just above the stream that guards the left side of the hole, inside the hazard line but playable. At least in theory. After examining his options for a solid two minutes—chip it back into the fairway? Play left, onto the hillside?—he settled, with some coaxing from caddie Harry Diamond, on the un-sexy option: taking the drop he was entitled to.
I've not been a Harry Diamond fan, though admittedly my issues have always been more with his supervisor. But Harry finally showed an ability to slow his man down:
Then came the decision-making. McIlroy’s ball was still on grass, but there was a mound directly behind the ball. He could try chipping back to the fairway, but that would risk leaving the ball in trouble. He could play further up the hill to the left, but that would introduce a potentially awkward stance and an unpredictable approach.
That’s when his caddie Harry Diamond stepped in, urging McIlroy to consider all his options — including a drop.
“Harry was awesome out there today, especially that decision on the last,” McIlroy said. “I was ready to get in there and try to play that with a lob wedge and he was sort of like, ‘Let’s take a step back, let’s think about this. Where’s the best place you’re hitting your third from?’ So he sort of calmed me down and slowed me down a little bit and said, ‘Pal, let’s just think about this a little bit.'”
After some deliberation, McIlroy listened to Diamond’s encouragement and took a drop just outside the red line marking the penalty area, directly at his point of entry. From there he hit a clutch 8-iron onto the green, pin-high right. After the round, he called it the most important shot he hit all day. Finding the green helped justify the drop.
The Tour Confidential panel bit at the absence of galleries being the issue:
The crowds at Quail Hollow were as big as we’ve seen at any PGA Tour event since therestart last May, which was not lost on McIlroy. “To bring the best out of myself, I need this,” he said of the fan support. What do you make of McIlroy’s dependence on the galleries to fuel him?
Sens: Rory’s not like Tiger. Not the kind of guy to put his blinders up and block the world out. He’s always seemed attuned to what’s swirling around him and sensitive to it. It’s a big part of his appeal. A strength but also at times a vulnerability.
Dethier: I’d argue Tiger also thrives with a crowd, though…
Bamberger: I think it speaks to his love of football, tennis and other games in the arena. It makes you feel like an athlete, to feed off the crowd. That’s part of Rory’s makeup.
Ixnay, Mike. Here we've got that heart-warming photo of Rory's beautiful family and you have to go and mention...tennis? The statute of limitations has yet to lapse on that ill-fated engagement.
Dethier: To his credit, McIlroy talked about feeling flat all last summer when the Tour returned fan-free. Some people criticized him and said he was using that as an excuse. But I think this is a pretty solid counter-argument.
Colgan: Crowds matter…except when they don’t. The point being: it depends on the player, and also on the scope of the moment.
So now it was all the absence of drunks screaming "get in the hole?" Nothing to do with chasing speed to keep up with Bryson? Though I'm guessing that the putting lesson from Brad Faxon was a bigger factor than all of the above, though these putting streaks seem to run their course pretty quickly.
There's little doubt that the aforementioned Bryson provided the laugh of the week:
Late Friday afternoon, Bryson DeChambeau shot 74 to miss the cut at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C.
“I made triple on 7 and then chipped in on 8 for birdie. I thought I had to make birdie on the last and I didn’t, missed the putt, and I was like there’s no way I’m making [the cut, I’m in] 90th place,” DeChambeau said Saturday. “So we just said, all right, let’s pack up, let’s go.”
And, as happens all-too-often in the telecommunicatively challenged world of air travel, by the time they reached cruising altitude, things had gone remarkably awry.
“Halfway through the flight my agent texted Conner [Olsen] and he’s like, ‘Hey, you’re 68th now,'” DeChambeau said. “I was like, ‘What? No way. There’s no way I’m still — I’m not going to make it, there’s no way.”
Way.
Actually, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. I do remember that, when the PGA Championship at Baltusrol in 2005 was hit by a wild storm and deferred until Monday, Tiger, who was within hypothetical range for a playoff, flew home to Florida. I had visions of them calling his name on the tee to start the playoff and...
He made it work for him by going 68-68 over the weekend and grabbing a backdoor Top Ten. Strange game.
Redemption Song - This one won't get much play due to the overnight broadcast window and the crowded calendar. But who doesn't like a comeback, especially when it involves such an appealing young lady:
In 2013, Ariya Jutanugarn arrived at the 18th hole at the Honda LPGA Thailand with a two-stroke lead. Jutanugarn was 17 at the time and on the cusp of a dream victory in her native Thailand.
She walked off with a triple-bogey 8 and a broken heart.
This year was distinctly different.
Jutanugarn began Sunday’s round at the same event five shots back, at the edge of contention. But she roared out to a hot start with birdies at each of the first three holes. Then she birdied 6, 7 and 9 to go out in six-under 30. Birdies at 10 and 12 got her to eight under for the day. The key to her torrid start, Jutanugarn said, was commitment.
“I think it was the first round in the last two years I played without thinking about the outcome,” she said afterwards. “All I wanted to do is have good commitment, making sure I’m proud of the shot I hit.”
Ariya also had a famous meltdown at the Dinah after that, though she seems to keep picking herself up. This finish worked out better than that 2013 version:
There was plenty to be proud of. Jutanugarn held steady down the stretch, making pars on her next five holes before arriving, again, at the pivotal par-5 18th.
“I will say on the 18th hole I had so much going on, something in my head about 2013 when I made 8,” she said. “Before I hit the shot I told myself, you know what, even if I make bogey, miss the tee shot, whatever, just do your best and whatever happens, I can take it.
This time, she made birdie, capping off a round of nine-under 63 that sent her into the lead by a single shot.
Followed by an agonizing wait, which included a lightning storm that delayed play for a bit. I did like this look behind the curtain:
After she finished, Jutanugarn had to endure a long wait while the groups behind her sat through a lightning delay and then closed out their own rounds. She practiced nervously, awaiting news. She sat on the driving range with her sister Moriya, listening to music. Then she made her way to the putting green where, at her caddie Pete Godfrey’s insistence, she didn’t watch the last groups coming in but waited and putted instead.
“I grab my phone and I look at my caddie and I’m like, ‘I shouldn’t turn on my phone, right?'” she said. “He’s like, ‘No, don’t turn on your phone.'”
Kids, I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure you never turn on your phone...
More Premiere/Super League Stuff - Eamon Lynch has a piece up on the rogue league(s) that has a few interesting bits, including this lede:
A friend who knows him once told me that there are two Jay Monahans. “There’s Golf Jay and Hockey Jay,” he said of the mulish Boston native, “and you don’t want to meet Hockey Jay.”
It sounds as though it was Hockey Jay who addressed a meeting of PGA Tour players this week in Charlotte, at which the commissioner laid out in unambiguous terms the sanctions awaiting anyone who joins either of the splinter circuits promising gaudy sums in a bid to upend professional golf’s established order.
Multiple sources had Monahan reiterating his long-standing position: It means an immediate suspension from the PGA Tour and likely a lifetime ban. For the handful of players who thought their ship had come in with offers reported at $30 million, it must have been sobering to realize Monahan is bent on ensuring that ship – the seaworthiness of which is decidedly unproven – will have no life raft.
I don't know, hockey? Maybe if it were Rugby Jay?
But clearly Eamon is going with the tough-guy bit...so if hockey doesn't move your needle, how about this reference:
At the 2020 Genesis Invitational, there were rumors around Riviera that a prominent star might announce his support for the Premier Golf League concept. There was a contiguous debate at Tour HQ about the response should the player do so. Only two options were tabled: boot him immediately or wait until the tournament had concluded out of respect for the sponsor, much as Michael Corleone delayed whacking his brother-in-law Carlo until his kid was baptized.
I've read elsewhere that the guy that was ready to jump back around Riviera was DJ, but obviously the Ponte Vedra Beach Social Club isn't about to let that happen...
Eamon's big suggestion isn't likely to move the needle, though he does do a pretty fair job of identifying the core weaknesses:
While it’s clear the Tour is taking seriously the existential threat posed by these rival groups, it remains to be seen how it shores up the two principal vulnerabilities these concepts have exposed with the precision of, well, a bone saw. One involves fan perception (they don’t see the best golfers face each other often enough) while the other is a grievance among elite players (they deserve a lot more money).
The problem, of course, being that both those perceptions are highly suspect.
You say you want the best players going head-to-head more often? Then you must have loved that first Tiger-Phil match from Shadow Creek? Really, well then maybe folks ought to think about what matter sin all this, because Tiger v. Phil is the basic business plan of the PGL.
But the more intractable problem is that, the more exclusionary your events are, the more it precludes the normal changing of the guard in our game. I find it amusing that the PGL's efforts are focused on players like Tiger, Phil and Henrik Stenson. Not only are they ignoring the natural process by which new talent arrives on Tour, but they seem to have gone out their way to pick guys who are way past their primes.
And this is what passes for a big idea from Eamon:
Both quandaries share an underlying issue: too many rank and file dregs cluttering up the PGA Tour product. That’s a thorny dilemma in a member-based organization, but there is a pathway to placating both constituencies. More than two decades after their creation, the oft-maligned World Golf Championships can finally serve a purpose.
These WGCs can be reimagined to address the twin issues exploited by the Premier and Super league conceits. By engineering elitism – if you’re not in the top 50, don’t expect an invitation – the Tour can not only showcase top players competing against each other more frequently, but use WGCs as a vehicle to bestow yet more riches upon them. It’s guaranteed money by another name, divvied up among the Goliaths while the Davids make rent at an opposite-field event.
Dregs? Some of them, sure, but it also includes tomorrow's breakout stars.... One of the best things in golf is the emergence of young talent, so naturally we'll need to take every available step possible to eliminate any chance of that happening... Then Phil can hop out there with his cane...
Has Jay considered the possibility that the entity most at risk from the PGL is the senior tour?
That's all for now, kids. Not sure of the blogging schedule for the week, but we'll make sure to cover the important stuff. Have a great week.
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