Friday, July 22, 2022

Your Friday Frisson

Lots to talk about, beginning with a significant omission from my most recent post.

Mea Culpa - I was vaguely aware that the Senior Open Championship was being taken to Gleneagles, the spectacular Perthshire resort that hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup, most famous for it's post-match presser.  That's not important now, but you might have noticed that I tend toward cynicism, so I naturally assumed that the round bellies would play the generic Ryder Cup course.  Imagine my delight when I discovered that the powers that be acknowledge golf history and architectural merit, and the event is being played on the delightful Kings Course, a 1919 James Braid design that looked spectacular in the hour I was able to watch yesterday.

It's one of only two inland courses I've played in Scotland, although so long ago that I barely remember anything.  TV airing times aren't convenient for the U.S. audience, but it's worth a look if you love timeless design and great vistas.  You'll not often hear me touting inland golf in Scotland, in fact this one of only two inland courses I've played in our many trips.  But it's a special place, and I'm delighted they're using it for this event.

LIVid The Eighth Stage of Grief - If anyone can think of any other words using the sequence "LIV" for punny headers, please forward to your humble blogger.  In actual news, more names have dropped:

More PGA Tour winners are taking their talents to LIV Golf.

Tuesday the series announced 45 of the 48 players who will tee it up at its upcoming event at Trump
National Golf Club Bedminster on July 29-31, but three spots were left to be filled “in the coming days.” A day later the Greg Norman-led, Saudi Arabia-funded circuit announced Jason Kokrak and Charles Howell III would be making their debuts alongside Henrik Stenson, who broke the news himself earlier in the day after he was relieved of his captaincy of the European Ryder Cup team.

Kokrak, 37, is a three-time winner on Tour, all in the last two years. Howell, 43, also has three wins, most recently in 2018 and previously in 2007 and 2002. Stenson, meanwhile, boasts six PGA Tour and 11 DP World Tour wins over his career.

Calling Chucky Three-Sticks a PGA Tour winner is a good one, technically true but ignoring the pesky fact that his career is defined by his inability to win.  But isn't the bigger surprise their continued demand for washed-up has beens?  It seems like they've signed one hundred of those guys, weird given that some big fish are allegedly on the way and that only 48 can peg it each week.

The Stenson bit can use some additional explication, but we'll begin with Henrik's own prevarications, in which he is found to be trying to jam that square peg into a round hole:

“As many of you have already seen, unfortunately my decision to play in LIV events has
triggered Ryder Cup Europe to communicate that it is not possible for me to continue in my role as Ryder Cup captain,” the statement says. “While I disagree with the decision, for now it is a decision that I have to accept.”

Stenson explains in the statement that he had made prior arrangements with LIV Golf so that he could continue to fulfill his duties as Ryder Cup captain. However, according to Ryder Cup Europe, Stenson’s newfound allegiance to LIV Golf will make it impossible to fulfill his contractual obligations.

“I have huge respect and admiration for the Ryder Cup and those individuals behind it who I know are doing their utmost to act in the best interests of the historic event,” Stenson said. “I want to thank everyone I have worked with to date to prepare for Rome 2023. I am hugely disappointed to not be allowed to continue in my role but wish you all the best in your ongoing preparations.”

Gee, Henrik, for twenty-five years I had the impression you were a pretty good guy, but I've noted your clarification.   Forgive me for being a stickler, but you were told in March that you could do the one or the other, but not both.  You decided to be a Ryder Cup captain and signed a contract precluding your act of treason, but now you can't understand why they won't let you do both?

This was Henrik in March, putting aside the controversy:

“I am fully committed to the captaincy and to Ryder Cup Europe and the job at hand,” he said.

He added that “The Ryder Cup is golf, and sport, at its very best. I got goosebumps every time I pulled on a European shirt as a player and that will be magnified in the role of Captain.”

He noted that the captain signs a contract with Ryder Cup Europe.

Don't fret, he's still getting those goosebumps, only now it's from the number of zeros on the wire transfer.  But that solemn photo will not age well.

Forget my biting commentary, Henrik's former mates seem to get it.  I mean, you think I'm cynical?

Not sure that, if tested, they'd find more than trace levels of the H-word:

This did cross my mind:

The guy passed over for Henrik was Luke Donald, who would now seem the obvious choice.  But that assume he'll do it, as it would be hard to construct a worse scenario for taking on this job.  Not to mention the pesky detail that the Euro Tour is in implosion mode, and the roster didn't exactly overwhelm  even before players defected.

But, as it so happens....

 Like Phil, Henrik is the one guy that perhaps has some level of need for the money:

From the beginning, he was an easy target for LIV Golf, which provided a sudden chance for Stenson to regain much of his personal fortune. First, he was a victim in a ponzi scheme in 2009 by his sponsor Stanford Financial. Golfers rejoiced when Stenson won the 2013 Tour Championship and FedEx Cup and was financially secure once more, but then he got bamboozled again and so one of the most fascinating elements of the Saudis showering obscene amounts of money for over-the-hill golfers came down to what did Stenson value more: money or the chance to be Ryder Cup candidate?

Adam Schupak, whom I've been excerpting, has this premise:

Schupak: Henrik Stenson will regret walking away from Ryder Cup captaincy for money

Well, that seems more hope than fact at this juncture, but are we at all curious at the price for treason? 

Of all the flip-flops, this is the toughest one to swallow because Stenson effectively admitted that the money – a reported $40 million up front – is worth more than his legacy and the prestige of being captain for the one event where money is never the concern.

So that's what 30 pieces of silver is worth in these inflationary times... 

Eamon Lynch uses Henrik's history to suggest that Europe chose poorly:

Of course, it's Eamon so the pleasure is in the body count:

For a sport that prides itself on values like honesty, honor and integrity, golf sure seems over-
populated with people whose word is worth about as much as a phlegm sundae on a sweltering day. ’Twas always thus, of course, no matter how energetically the PGA Tour marketed everyone as being of admirable character and charitable bearing. Thanks to Greg Norman’s ongoing abuse of the Clown Prince’s checkbook, at least now less work is required to identify the game’s most hollow charlatans. Just lob a dart at the LIV Golf line-up. And don’t feel the need to aim carefully.

Dishonesty and cowardice are two traits common to many players who have decamped to LIV Golf. They lie about their intent to join the Saudi-backed outfit and continually compound that by refusing to admit they did so for money, cowering behind codswallop about growing the game (they’re not) or setting their own schedule (they can’t). It’s an expanding roster of golfers who once insisted they’d never do exactly what they did whenever the Saudis found the inflection point in their spines, where cash trumps conscience.

A phlegm sundae?  Just gonna let that one pass, but I do agree with his larger point.  The a*****es and money grubbers are self-identifying, so good to know.

As for today's vocabulary lesson:

You're welcome.

Here's the nut of Eamon's thoughts:

Most everyone on the DP World and PGA tours knows Stenson has more than once been the victim of large-scale embezzlement, so European Ryder Cup bosses must have understood that anyone offering him money would get a hearing. They would also have surmised that the dollar amount the Saudis were dangling would only increase with his assuming the captaincy. In the crude currency familiar to the Saudi regime, the head of the Ryder Cup captain is an attractive trophy to brandish. So what might seem an impressive coup for LIV Golf is really just an acknowledgment of Stenson’s financial history.

It was a risk Ryder Cup Europe chose to assume. It was a mistake common among many organizations and individuals who have had dealings with LIV players—trusting them, thinking their word was a bond rather than a tactic, assuming their signatures on contracts had standing. In the event LIV gained traction during Stenson’s tenure as captain, no one was more susceptible to FOMO—fear of missing out—on the cash. In the current environment, he was always a risky bet, but one that cratered even more rapidly than the Old World decision-makers could have imagined.

Was Luke a safer bet?  I agree this is a coup for LIV, though it's a curious business strategy to show your principal assets, the players, in such a disagreeable light.   And is it any more than a one-day victory?

The extent to which the Ryder Cup will be impacted by Stenson’s firing is likely less than LIV enthusiasts will claim. The U.S. rout last year in Wisconsin proved that Europe is caught between generations of talent, so there’s little clarity on who the continent will field 14 months from now in Rome. None of the veterans who signed with LIV—Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell—were serious candidates for a spot on the squad. They are all yesterday’s men, as surely as Stenson is yesterday’s skipper.

Great, we got Henri Stenson.  But is that actually a good thing?  Is there a single human being that's actually interested in seeing Henrik with a club in his hand?

Eamon also makes this argument which leaves me very cold, not that they have a wide range of choices:

In pondering options for his replacement, Europe should take the opportunity to dispense with the revolving door that has governed the captaincy for a quarter-century. Some of Europe’s greatest successes came under Tony Jacklin and Bernard Gallacher. Jacklin led four consecutive teams, followed by Gallacher for three. Two men held the captain’s job from 1983 until 1997, when Seve Ballesteros assumed the role for the match in Spain. That’s when Europe’s ‘Big 5’ of the 1980s and ‘90s was maturing into management, so the specious idea took root that even a winning captain had to make way simply because it was someone else’s turn.

Paul McGinley was an excellent captain in 2014, but was replaced in 2016 by Darren Clarke, who wasn’t. Thomas Bjorn led Europe to a decisive victory in Paris four years ago, but stepped aside for Padraig Harrington, whose team was battered at Whistling Straits last September.

Wait, don't tell our Task Force!  

As much as we love the Ryder Cup, it's hard to look past this year's Presidents Cup, where the International Team might well feature Gary Player and Jumbo Ozaki playing.  Just to amuse, I found the International Team point standings, but I'm not sure whether its' been scrubbed: 

None of the defcting South Africans show up, yet Abraham Ancer does.... But the effect of the Cam Smith, Hideki and Leishman rumors is quite obvious.  Not even sure how you hold the event at this point, but Trevor Immelman didn't see this coming for sure.

Frustratingly, Golf Digest has two pieces up that would logically be of interest, but both are behind their newly-established paywall.  The first seems late:

With $2 billion to spend, I don't think Jay is underestimating them at this point.  But I'd be mildly curious as to Max Adler's thoughts, because to me Martin Slumbers is about the only guy to actually criticize LIV's product, which I think is a horrible model for our game.

 This one would be even more interesting, at least to your humble blogger:

Dan Jenkins turns over in his grave to assess the Saudi tour

That's a voice that I miss in these troubled times, a void that I find Eamon Lynch partially fills.  But I'd love to here Dan's thoughts, channeled through Editor Jerry Tarde.  

I've been wrong about pretty near everything, but will enough people pay Golf Digest for their content?  Color me skeptical....

Time to cleanse the palate?

Way Too Early - This is profoundly silly, but what the heck:

Way-too-early 2023 golf major championship winners

OK, so whatcha got?  Though, after last weekend, we all knew this one was coming:

The Masters

When: April 6-9, 2023
Where: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler
Winner in 2023: Rory McIlroy

Besides Scheffler, who picked up his first major by winning a green jacket this past spring, no one has played better and more consistently this season than McIlroy.

McIlroy, a four-time major champion, has now played eight full seasons since winning his last one (the 2014 PGA Championship). He has endured so many near-misses during that stretch, finishing in the top five in majors nine times during that span and 17 times in the top 10, the most by any player since 2015.

At some point, the drought has to end, and there wouldn't be a better place for McIlroy to do it than Augusta National. By winning a green jacket, he would become only the sixth player to complete the career grand slam during the Masters era. Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen are the only ones to accomplish the historic feat. In 2023, it will be McIlroy's ninth attempt in trying to join them.

I've become a Rory skeptic, and have long predicted that he'd never complete the career slam.  He's played some of his worst golf when he wanted it most, think Augusta, Portrush and the Ryder Cup, and last year's second place seemed to this observer to just be an enhanced version of his patented back door top ten move.

Next:

PGA Championship

When: May 18-21, 2023
Where: Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, New York (East Course)
Defending champion: Justin Thomas
Winner in 2023: Cameron Young

Young all but wrapped up PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors when he eagled the 72nd hole at the Old Course on Sunday. That shot secured him solo second place, 1 shot behind Smith.

Young is only the second player since 1958 to finish in the top three in his debuts at both the PGA Championship and The Open. He tied for third at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, finishing 1 shot behind Thomas. Collin Morikawa won the 2020 PGA Championship at Harding Park and the 2021 Open Championship at Royal St. George's

Young is going ti win somewhere soon, though is he a fit for Donald Ross greens?  Don't' have a clue... 

Always interesting to pick a winner at a venue no one knows:

U.S. Open

When: June 15-18, 2023
Where: Los Angeles Country Club (North Course)
Defending champion: Matt Fitzpatrick
Winner in 2023: Xander Schauffele

With Smith having won the The Open at St. Andrews, Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Norway's Viktor Hovland will head into 2023 as the best players in the world without a major championship. Schauffele did win a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Schauffele, 28, also has been pretty good in the majors, too. He has nine top-10 finishes in majors since 2017, including a pair of runners-up at the 2018 Open at Carnoustie and 2019 Masters. He missed the cut at the Masters, but finished in the top 15 in the other three majors this season.

Seems like he's just picking the usual suspects...

The Open

When: July 20-23, 2023
Where: Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Merseyside, England
Defending champion: Cameron Smith
Winner in 2023: Jon Rahm

Rahm is one of the best ball-strikers in the world, which will come in handy if the winds are blowing hard on the west coast of England next year.

Royal Liverpool Golf Club, which will be hosting The Open for the 13th time, is considered one of the most difficult courses in the rota. In 2006, when Woods won his third Claret Jug, he famously hit his driver only once in four rounds, instead hitting irons off the tee and mid and long irons into greens.

Seems like he's just going with guys that are due, although will they still seems as due (not to mention on-form) nine months from now?

Enough on that....

The Trip - Care for a couple more photos of Pittenweem harbor?  I know, of course you do:


You'll find us walking here every evening after dinner....

There's a different kind of walk to be had when the tide is out:


More to the point, the lead item on Golf.com as I type is this on a nine-holer in Anstruther, the next town over from Pittenweem:

The hole is called The Rockies, and it's considered by many the hardest hole in Scotland:

Like most avid Scottish golfers, Birrell knew of the hole’s fearsome reputation. If he didn’t, there was a reminder right there on a silver plaque by the tee box, which trumpets an honor bestowed upon the 5th by a British golf magazine in 2007:

Voted by Today’s Golfer
Britains (sic) Hardest Par 3

Tipped out, the hole plays 245 yards to a narrow fairway that works left to right but also awkwardly pitches hard left toward out-of-bounds stakes and the rocky waters of the Firth of Forth. A bluff flanks the other side of the hole, at the end of which the half-blind green is tucked around a corner. The Rockies, as the hole is called, might sound more like a short par-4, and, in effect, it is — or at least that’s the sensible way to play it. The green is virtually impossible to hit, and if you do manage the feat, your ball is likely to catch the right-to-left slope and trundle off.

Then again, what fun is laying up?

The gentleman cited is a low-handicap amateur, and feel free to read Alan Bastable's account of  his play on the hole, which involved much ammo and gallows humor.  I'll just show his scorecard:


Good of him to share his misfortune.  They have a restaurant, so I'm thinking a late afternoon nine holes followed by a pint and dinner.... It does play as Par-4 for the ladies, so we'll have to figure out how to accommodate that in our matches.

Have a great weekend and we'll catch up on Monday.

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