Weekend Wrap - Dog Days of Fall Edition

What would you like to talk about?  Sorry, trick question, as there's precious little to mull...

Solheim Cup Preview - It's a fine event that literally hundreds of people will enjoy.  It's got team match play and a healthy frisson of bad blood between the teams to sustain it.  That may not be enough to overcome the fact that, well, it's women's event and excludes the primary baskets of talent in the world, but why focus on the negative?

Golf Digest tees it up with this header:

What's on the line at the Solheim Cup? Analyzing what feels like a 'must' win for the Americans

 Gee, why the drama?

The U.S. Solheim Cup team travels to just outside Washington, D.C., on an historic cold streak, winless in the biennial match-play event in the last three meetings. American assistant captain Angela Stanford has had enough of it. The fiery six-time Cup veteran as a player was definitive when asked what was on the line in this year's competition.

"There's only one way this can go," Stanford proclaimed. "I mean, we have to win."

Well, why start now?

The only thing stopping Stanford from pushing this mantra onto the team? Her captain, Stacy Lewis, asked Stanford to reel it in until they reached Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., this week for the three-day Solheim Cup that begins on Friday. With a second playing of the Cup in 12 months as the competition moves to even-numbered years to avoid going up against the Ryder Cup, the Europeans are coming off a 14-14 tie in Spain in 2023 that allowed them to retain the Cup.

Both rosters are much the same as a year ago—19 of the 24 players return, along with Lewis and European captain Suzann Pettersen. Here's a look, then, at what's on the line at the 2024 Solheim Cup:

I thought I had read somewhere that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect different results....  Of course, they pretty much have to send the same team, because the bottom of the barrel doesn't have much in the way of scrapings left.

What happened last year?

A simple question that, oddly, would get you a different answer from each of the team captains. The 14-14 tie at Finca Cortesin was a first in Solheim history and a chance to set a precedent. The

Ryder Cup has had two 14-14 finishes that counted as ties in the record book, with the previous winning team "retaining" the Cup. The Solheim didn't deviate from the Ryder, so the Europeans kept the Cup in ‘23, thanks to their win in 2021.

Pettersen refers to this week as a chance for a Euro four-peat. Lewis mentions trying to get the Cup back for the first time since Europe started its streak in 2019, opening and closing her press conference for the Americans captain's picks with the unofficial slogan of "unfinished business."

I've never loved the "retain" nonsense, but you can tell from the photo that the Euros are calling it a win....

How much pressure is Team USA under this week?

Oddly, this is the photo running right under that sub-header:

I can see that they have their game faces on.

An immense amount. Beyond losing once again being the on-paper favorite, with the team averaging 26.8 in the Rolex Women's Rankings compared to the Euros at 40.5, the winning drought has already had a pervasive effect on the American program. The team is running out of past Solheim winners. The only two returning veterans who have won are Lexi Thompson, competing in her seventh Solheim, and Alison Lee, who won in her rookie Solheim in 2015 and hadn’t played on the team since.

If the U.S. doesn't take the Cup back this year, they could conceivably field a team with no past Solheim winners heading to the Netherlands in 2026. There are no clear corrective steps for the team to take after this year either. Lewis already pulled the lever of bringing analytics into her pairings decisions, thanks to having KPMG Performance Insights lead analyst Justin Ray run statistics to maximize the on-paper odds.

One could argue for more captain’s picks, with the women’s American program only using three compared to the men’s six, but there isn’t a fair roster construction philosophy question to really answer because of the lack of American depth. The only real decision Lewis faced was choosing between three-time Solheim veteran Angel Yin and Sarah Schmelzel. If there was a Justin Thomas equivalent (17-7-4 combined team record), he would never be left off the women’s roster like he was for the President’s Cup.

 Yeah, the bench is weaker than the Yankee's bench...

Not that the Euros are fielding Hall of Famers, it's just that they're not fielding Lexi....

Shall we see if the Tur Confidential panel has anything to add?

The 19th playing of the Solheim Cup gets underway Friday to Sunday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va. Last year, the U.S. and Europe tied for the first time in the event’s history, allowing Europe to keep the Cup for the third straight meeting. Who wins this year, and why?

Josh Sens: Team USA. Partly thanks to home-crowd advantage, but also because– with Lexi

playing in what is very likely her last, and Korda coming off an epic season, and the team having a nice balance of youthful fire and experience–it just feels like the way the spirits of the game would want it scripted.

Sean Zak: Wow, Josh Sens — big spirits guy! Put your tarot cards down and look at who is playing well. As much as Charley Hull, Esther Hensleit and a few Euros may be flashing at the moment, the best player is on Team USA, and so is the second-best player in Lilia Vu. Andrea Lee played great in St. Andrews and Rose Zhang is on the cusp of another great run herself. Not to mention the dawgs that are Lauren Coughlin and Ally Ewing. Team USA is going to win, and I fear it may not be close.

Sens: Sorry. I promise to ditch the ‘shrooms before our next roundtable and stick strictly to shot data.

Zephyr Melton: I like the Euros to continue their dominance. The Americans may have some solid form, but that hasn’t helped them much the last few times around. When the lights shine the brightest in these team events, the Europeans always seem to come up clutch.

And when the lights shine brightest, Lexi runs for cover....

I love that Josh Sens rationale.... Lexi is playing he last for, well, reasons, and while Nelly had a season, the good parts of said season seem like they were during the Carter administration.  

Last year it was Spain’s Carlota Ciganda who stole the show, finishing 4-0 and beating Nelly Korda 2 and 1 in singles play. Who will be the most important player for each side come next week, and who will be the event’s MVP?

Sens: For additional feel-good purposes, I’d like to say Lexi. But I’ve got a sneaky sense about captain’s pick Jennifer Kupcho, in a fiery bounce-back from her rough showing in Spain. (The caveat is that records in this format can be deceptive, as they’re largely dependent on how both your partner and your opponents play. For good reason, the MVP is often the lead point earner, who isn’t always the player who performed the best or meant the most to their team)

Zak: Most important? Lilia Vu. She’s capable of winning five matches, and is in good enough form to do it. She went 1-3 last year, during the same season where she won two majors. That’s not cutting it. MVP is going to be Nelly Korda, who will play five matches and be favored in every one of them. She’s on the right path back to dominance after a weird summer, and it may all click this week.

Melton: Gimme Leona Maguire from Team Europe. She’s had an uneven 2024 thus far, but she’s been an absolute stud in this event the last two playings. I like her to continue that trend and improve on her 7-2-1 Solheim Cup record. As far as the Americans go, it’ll be tough for them to come away victorious unless Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu play well.

Zak with the tip-in.  If the U.S. is to show up, Lilia Vu will need to be in the heart of it.  The girl can actually putt and seems to embrace the pressure.  I have no clue what to expect from Nelly, though match-play could be helpful there.  As for Lexi, I expect she'll have a few moments early and she'll crave her Suzann Pettersen moment, then do a Rory impression at crunch time.  Sorry, as per that old adage about the scorpion, it's in her nature.

But it's a good event with some actual bad blood, so beats the hell out of any other golf that will be on the telly.

LIV Stuff -  In case you've not intuited it, we're not going to be here long.  Two LIV-infused items for your delectation, then the exit beckons.

There's a new version of The Match™ on tap, only we're not calling it The Match™:

Golf fans will finally get their first PGA Tour vs. LIV showdown.

As first reported by Golfweek and confirmed by GOLF.com, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and World No. 3 Rory McIlroy will team up as PGA Tour loyalists to face reigning U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau and five-time major champ Brooks Koepka of LIV Golf in a made-for-TV match in Las Vegas later this year.

The match will air on TNT, which broadcasted the previous nine editions of “The Match,” an exhibition series that started in 2018 with a matchup of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and most recently saw McIlroy take on Max Homa, Rose Zhang and Lexi Thompson this past February.

Per Golfweek, the match will be produced by Bryan Zuriff’s BZ Entertainment, the developer of “The Match” series and EverWonder, although GOLF has learned the matchup will not be aired under “The Match” branding.

Two things jump out at your humble blogger.  First, nothing promotes a golf competition quite like this explication of branding strategy.... the amusement coming from the knowledge of how God-awful those Matches™ have been, yet they're reluctant to sully their brand with this one.  perhaps not quite as compelling as it sounds in their little bubble.

The second reaction is about those participants.... Hmmm, Rory?  So, I guess we can conclude that Xander didn't care to play?  

Then there's this:

"We're leaning towards making it more like a Ryder Cup to develop it into a series that's completely separate from The Match," said Zuriff, whose producer credits also include the TV series "Ray Donovan" and the film "Steve Jobs."

Although the format is still being finalized, Zuriff anticipates elements from the Ryder Cup, which incorporates four-ball, alternate shot and singles matches. While he says The Match may still continue as more of a celebrity golf series, this new brand will be very different.

"This is intense, real golf," Zuriff said.

I guess Rory is hoping that everything inside three feet will be conceded....

Back to the TC gang:

Golf’s next made-for-TV match will see Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler face off against Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka in December in Las Vegas. What do you think of this matchup? And will the PGA Tour vs. LIV angle help with ratings?

Sens: It better help with the ratings because, really, is there any other reason for the match? This is designed to feed directly off golf’s civil war, and –outside of the majors, with a deal between the two tours nowhere in sight—it’s as close as the two circuits are going to get to giving people what they want. It helps, of course, that you’ve got four mega-names with lots of subplots/tensions in their relationships. But more than anything, this is an extension of the ongoing battle in the men’s pro game. Fans and media alike will assign all kinds of fabricated meaning to it as well, using the results as some kind of proof of which tour is more worthy. Birdies will abound. Ratings will be high. And people who already have a lot of money will make more of it by entertaining the masses with an event full of manufactured ‘meaning’. A perfect confection for our times.

Zak: It really is a compelling matchup, putting two of the Tour’s three best against two of LIV Golf’s best. You’ve got Mr. Entertainer in Bryson, Mr. Jock in Brooks, Mr. Worldwide in Rory and Mr. Best-Since-Tiger in Scottie. It’s as compelling a product as you can field without the names Woods, Mickelson and Spieth. I’m sure it will be marketed as a war of sorts, but I hope that isn’t the case. Because these guys don’t dislike each other. I hope it’s a proving ground for many things. Ultimately, it’s probably just 12 or 18 holes of fun match play.

Melton: I’m certainly intrigued by the event, and having a LIV-PGA Tour angle should do a great job adding hype to the match. Will that be enough to generate some much-needed high ratings? I’m dubious.

Mr. Worldwide?  Sheesh,  how about Mr. Missed Three-footer?  I'm going way out on a limb and predicting that this event will suck, if only for the practical reason that they always suck.  And if they're expecting it to work because of banter and trash talk, they've picked badly.  This may be the first of these Made-for-TV matches where they elect to not mic-up the players....  

Does the PGA Tour vs. LIV tie hint that the sides might be coming closer together on a deal? Or at least learning how to co-exist? How valuable might mini treaties like this be for the future of pro golf?

Sens: Does anyone, even the main actors themselves, have any idea how far or close they are from the deal? With so many moving parts and parties to appease, I get the sense even those directly involved aren’t sure what a final deal would look like. Meantime, a match like this does seem like a search for ways to profitably coexist. Purists might not see it as a great sign for pro golf, but if you look at the game purely as an entertainment product, it strikes me as a savvy way to go.

Zak: Let’s call this a mini-treaty then. I think it’s valuable in the sense that ratings will be improved from the last match: a skins game featuring Rory vs. Lexi Thompson vs. Max Homa vs. Rose Zhang. I think it’s valuable to put LIV Golfers on the same playing field as Tour stars in the month of December (when they might normally be absent from public eye). I think it’s valuable to do it all in a non-major championship setting, too. Will it bring any “nos” from the boardroom closer to “yesses”? I don’t really think so.

Melton: I’m a bit exhausted analyzing every little thing in golf in the context of the Tour vs. LIV battle. The truth is no one knows what’s coming next other than a select few on the ins of the negotiations. I’m not putting too much stock in this event being a harbinger of things to come.

More likely that the PGA Tour, which gets a slice of all this stuff, needs to be generating revenue to service that $1.5 billion investment.

But before we get all hyped-up that this means somethin g in relation to the ongoing PGA Tour-LIV discussions, here's one final LIV note:

LIV Golf announces first four events of 2025, but when they're scheduled says a lot

Late Tuesday night, LIV Golf announced its first four events of the 2025 season, which will be the fourth for the league. The four tournaments all have international flair, but it’s where they fall

on the calendar that paints a bleak outlook for what’s to come in the journey to have all of the best players play together again in more than the four major championships.

Seeing LIV Golf announce events for the 2025 season should be no surprise, as there has been hardly any traction toward a deal to bring the top players in the world back together to play on one tour, but the dates of LIV’s events are a stark contrast to anything seen in the first three years of the league.

LIV Golf has normally played its events opposite of the PGA Tour’s top tournaments, having some crossover but often doing what it can to avoid spots on the calendar like signature events.

Not next year.

LIV Golf Riyadh will be contested the same week as the WM Phoenix Open. Then, LIV Golf Adelaide will go head-to-head with Tiger Woods’ event, the Genesis Invitational.

Fast forward to March, LIV Golf Hong Kong is the same week as the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and LIV Golf Singapore will go head-to-head with the Tour’s flagship event, the Players Championship.

If a tree falls in the forest.... You know the rest, as even the author of that linked piece acknowledges:

It’s important to note, with all four LIV events playing essentially a day ahead and overnight live in the United States, they won’t be competing directly with the Tour events. Nevertheless, the more and more time goes on, it seems less and less likely there’s traction for the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to come together.

The schedule release for LIV Golf in 2025 shows the league doesn’t care what’s going on in the PGA Tour world.

Fair enough, though I'd add that, given LIV's ratings, PGA Tour world has shown an impressive lack of concern for anything LIV-related.

The TC panel had these deep insights:

Speaking of LIV Golf, it released its dates and venues for the first four tournaments of 2025, and while all of them will be played internationally, they also all will be played during the same weeks as some of the PGA Tour’s biggest events — the WM Phoenix Open, Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship. Why would LIV Golf schedule these to compete directly with the Tour? Does it matter?

Sens: On the face of it, you could read it as a flex by LIV, especially going up against the hard-partying Phoenix Open, which is probably the closest the Tour offers to the atmospherics of a LIV event. But I don’t think it’s worth assigning too much meaning to any of it, other than to underscore that LIV is soldiering on, propelled by an endless budget, and that those dates on those venues fit well enough. As a serious competitor for the Tour’s main audience, it doesn’t seem much more than so much spit into the wind.

Zak: LIV can’t compete with the Tour for eyeballs, but I suppose it can try to put a dent in the ratings the Tour is most proud of? It can also stage the best events it can and produce social clips of players drinking beers out of shoes during weeks where the PGA Tour is cool, calm and relaxed at Riviera. It won’t matter, ultimately, to field tournaments during these weeks because the international time zones where LIV will be playing means they won’t actually compete directly. And at the end of the day, there’s about 10- to 15 golfers at LIV who fans really want to watch. And there are at least twice to three times that on the PGA Tour.

Melton: Truth be told, it doesn’t really matter when LIV schedules their events as it relates to Tour events. While Tour ratings might be down, they still dwarf the number of eyeballs drawn by LIV. I’m sure there’s some deeper meaning to this scheduling decision, but ultimately it doesn’t change the fact that LIV doesn’t move the needle.

It's all cone of silence stuff.  But, Sean, could I have that list of 10-15 players?  Because my list goes maybe three deep.

That's have to keep you sated for today.  I'll be back later in the week, Thursday looking most probable.  Have a great week.