Tuesday Tastings - Ryder Cup Update

People's reactions can be funny.  I was on the phone with fellow golf nut, whose view of the forthcoming Ryder Cup is that the Euro team is top-to-bottom nails, and that the home squad is at risk of being mauled.

Which to me is more than a little odd, as I would say that this header captures to changing tone in the golfing press:

Ryder Cup stock report: Are the Americans trending after the Open?

Trending, schmending, all I know is that the Americans are the home team, and my bigger concern is that we may wait a long time to see our next road victory.

Here's that case for the home team:

Oh, how the tables turn.

In mid-April, when Rory McIlroy won the Masters, the U.S. Ryder Cup nightmare appeared to be in full swing. Through the first stanza of the major calendar, the Euros had grabbed the season by the horns, with McIlroy’s three wins fullbacking victories by Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland — and arriving in the foreground of Jon Rahm’s continued strong LIV play. The Americans, meanwhile, were struggling just to tee it up. Scottie Scheffler was grinding his way back from surprise hand surgery in January, providing his first glimpse at life as a mere golfing mortal. Xander Schauffele was grinding his way back from an intercostal muscle strain that would linger for much of 2025. And Jordan Spieth was recovering from wrist surgery that appeared to have been preempted by a career low point.

Three months later, the concerns of the American internet cognoscenti appear to have quieted … for the moment. The U.S. roster is suddenly flush with form and health, and the Americans are riding victories in the final three majors of the year. Scheffler in specific has re-emerged as a force, entering the home stretch before the Ryder Cup fresh off completing the third leg of the grand slam in a blowout at Royal Portrush.

 

Yes, BUT!  Scottie is only one of twelve and, in case you've been in a coma, the history to top-ranked players in this event is, well, where is Tiger when we need him?

So, whose right?  Let's begin with the current U.S. standings (after the 3M):

1. Scheffler

2. Schauffele 

3. Spaun 

4. Henley 

5. DeChambeau 

6. English 

7. Thomas 

8. Morikawa 

9. Griffin 

10. Bradley 

11. McNealy 

12. Harman 

13. Novak 

14. Cantlay 

15. Burns

Are you blown away?  The first question that I always ask myself in such circumstances is, who is missing from this list?   Let me offer up some suggestions there:

Wyndham Clark (16)

Lucas Glover (17)

Daniel Berger (18)

Cameron Young (19)

Chris Gotterup (20)

Jordan Spieth (27)

This feature from Pravda (OK, actually The Athletic, since our favorite left-wing Commie rag doesn't do sports) reads their tea leaves and comes up with this prospective roster:

We know Bryson will be there, and we can be pretty clear that he'll be the only LIVster on the U.S. team.  It may well depend on how Jt and other play, but I've suspected that Bryson will fall out of the automatic pick, not that that changes much.

First, folks won't be over the moon about some of those dark greens, so let's see what they have to say about them:

J.J. Spaun: This is not purely somebody on a team because he won the U.S. Open. He’s been runner-up at the Players and the Cognizant this year. He’s No. 20 in the world on DataGolf, playing solid golf all year. Even if he might ultimately only be the 12th-best player on the U.S. team, you’re very happy to have him.

Russell Henley: I felt confident Henley would be on this team 10 months ago, as he thrived at the Presidents Cup and positioned himself as the perfect Scheffler pairing. Now, it’s so much more. Henley won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and has finished top 10 at four of his last six majors. He can be both a good four-ball partner, as the steady rock finding fairways while his partner gets aggressive, and he’s a great alternate shot teammate who is world-class with his irons and won’t ever put his partner in bad position off the tee. Plus, he’s a fantastic putter. It’s no longer just a nice story. He’s simply one of the best players in the world.

I agree that Henley is sneaky good, though I'm a little surprised that (but too lazy to fact check) that his iron play gets such raves.  I would guess we'll see him in fourballs on Friday and Saturday.

Same goes for this guy:

Harris English: When English won at Torrey Pines, he still wasn’t anywhere near this list. Nor was he after a T12 Augusta. Or even really when he finished runner-up at the PGA Championship. Credit where it’s due. English is fully back. Now at 35, three years removed from back surgery that stunted his career, the 2021 Ryder Cup winning player is simply killing it. Two major runner-ups and three top 20s. And the U.S. will take all the good putting it can get. Even if he gets surpassed for automatic qualifying, he’ll be on the team.

It's just that kind of team, once you get past the first two.  There's no arguing against the guys, they've clearly earned it, but they're not names that will strike fear into black European hearts.  That said, we sent a lot of those guys into Ryder Cups over the years, only to see them play like one of Jerry's kids...

But what do we think of those projected picks?  OK, I guess we should start with the captain.  No doubt he's a tenacious guy who has thrown himself heart and soul into the endeavor, but it needs to be noted that his own actual playing record doesn't support that perception.  To be fair (Ed:, why start now?), that was more than a decade ago, but still....

Since we're on Keegs, let's interject this from the Tour Confidential panel:

The Telegraph reported that U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley requested a rule change to this year’s “captain’s agreement” which would permit an appointed vice captain

to advise players if a playing-captain was in competition. European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald has reportedly agreed to the change, which might be a stepping stone for Bradley potentially playing and captaining at Bethpage Black. Although with all of the logistics and planning that comes with being a captain, is it possible a playing-captain could backfire on the U.S. and go in Europe’s favor?

Alan Bastable: Hard to fathom a scenario in which Bradley does not play. There are not 12 better Americans in the game right now — let alone 12 better Americans who bring the fire and intensity that Bradley does to the course — so the U.S. captain has little choice but to put himself on his own team. That doesn’t mean he needs to play four or five matches; it could mean playing just a couple. He should send himself out in the first match on Friday and get the place rocking. Could it backfire? It could. But I think there’s way more potential upside in him playing than there is exclusively focusing his efforts on speeches and uniform selections.

Sean Zak: It could absolutely backfire. Team Europe definitely wants Bradley pulling double duty. They want streams to get crossed and information to have to come from multiple sources instead of one. All that said, it has to happen at this point. Bradley has invested too much to pull back on his captain’s duties. And he’s too good to pull back on his playing ability. So Team USA pushes forward. I would like to think they have enough cooks in the kitchen to devise a solid strategy for this unique situation.

Josh Berhow: It’s not an ideal situation for the U.S. team but Bradley is one of the 12 best Americans and has to play. Plus, you know he wants to. He’s the exact type of player you want making birdies and hyping up the crowd and bringing the energy at a Ryder Cup. Pulling double duty is not a great situation but I also think it’s a little overblown. Yes, the other stuff matters, but let’s not complicate it — it mostly comes down to playing better golf than the other squad. I talked to Gary Woodland, a vice captain, at the 3M Open a few days ago and he said he’s extremely impressed with how Keegan is managing Ryder Cup duties and playing this well right now. It’s going to get busier for Bradley of course but… maybe he can handle it? Although I am curious if it was ever seriously discussed to completely offload duties to another vice captain and have Keegan just play and take a rain check on his captaincy.

A rain check?  That's the scenario where someone swoops in at the last moment and garbs the glory.... Gee, can't imagine who they contemplate doing that?

The over-under for my rooting interest is Saturday morning, to wit, the time at which the U.S. will have been such asshats that I'll start rooting for the visitors.  Letting Tiger swoop in, after being too busy to help out, would move that dramatic switch in affection to, checking notes, NOW!

Interestingly, Google (and it's AI enhancements) don't seem to know which format will be played in the morning on Friday and Saturday.  I picture Keegan as a perfect foursomes player, the old adage being that you want your best putters in fourballs and your best ball-strikers in the more difficult alternate shot.  If Bradley is going to play, the only real issue I see is in selecting the next session's line-ups, which is largely planned and not affected by the ongoing play.

Ironically, Bradley himself was involved in the most famous incident of a captain changing his plans at the behest of a player, and that didn't work out so well.

Back to those picks, and this on the most notorious of all potential participants:

Patrick Cantlay: Stock DOWN

It was a down year at the majors for Cantlay, who missed three cuts and generally struggled to get it into gear when the lights were brightest. He enters Ryder Cup season ranked 23rd in the world, 19 spots lower than when he arrived at Rome in 2023 as an American match-play killer.

He’s still likely to make the roster (his aforementioned match play record is unimpeachable, and he’s played sneaky-well on the PGA Tour this year), but Cantlay didn’t do much to help himself during the big ones. He’s opened up a window of uncertainty.

Really?  But he's such a team builder.....  Not like he holds himself above all his fellow players....

I'd love for this to be real, it offers the chance that I could actually root for the Yanks, but who are we kidding?  There is a zero probability of this beautiful penis staying home:

Patrick Cantlay: What are we doing here? Suddenly, there’s a strong conversation that Cantlay shouldn’t be a lock. People, he’s a lock. After decades of hearing Americans bemoan the Europeans having all these form-agnostic killers like Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood who win no matter what, now the U.S. has the best cup player of the 2020s and is nitpicking him? My goodness.

Also, he’s not even having a bad year! A poor major run, absolutely. But if we’re going off overall statistical golf, he’s been the ninth-best American. He’s played in 10 signature events this year and been top 20 in eight of them! If anything, last year was the real down year for Cantlay, and he still was the absolute star of the Presidents Cup. Stop this madness.

He may not be having as bad a year as I'd wish upon him, but he was pretty dreadful in the bigge4st event, so I'll just use that to cheer myself up.  But what do we think about this guy?

Collin Morikawa: Stock DOWN

It’s been a weird year for Morikawa, whose public relations battles outside the ropes have been overshadowed by his struggles inside of them, including multiple caddie changes and the extension of a lengthy winless streak.

The good news is that his golf still tops out as clearly one of the 10 best players alive, the bad news is that his consistency hasn’t. He’s the player on the U.S. side with the most to gain from a strong showing at Bethpage, assuming he’s picked for the team (and we’re assuming he will be, even after a seven-over finish at the Open).

He certainly doesn't look like a happy warrior at this point, though a pairing of Collin "I don't Owe Anybody Anything" Morikawa with Patrick "I'll Wear a Hat when I Get Paid For It" Cantlay seems a natural, no?  The over-under for guys in the American team room that your humble blogger hates is, maybe, 4.5.

Collin Morikawa: You are more than welcome to worry about his play the last three months. It’s been a steep dropoff. But Morikawa is still one of the five best iron players on Earth and a guy with four Ryder Cup match wins and a 4-1 record last year at the Presidents Cup. Don’t be silly.

 Gee, didn't realize I needed permission to worry about a guy that looks miserable out there....

The other positive to note about Collin is that, if he's playing like he should, he projects as a top-notch foursomes player, and we always need those.  It's just that it seems right now to be a big if...

But let me be completely candid with you.  While I can make a strong case against those two miscreants, that case is laughably suspect.  Because one can't talk about leaving a guy off in isolation, it's always a binary choice between two guys.

Say you're inclined to leave Morikawa at home.  You look at the points list and the next guy up is Wyndham Clark, and suddenly one has to worry about the lockers at Bethpage.....  

Subject to play through the BMW, I expect that Ben Griffin will be on the outside looking in, and I'm a little surprised that Brian Harman, currently in that 12th spot, isn't shown more love.  He's not the strongest player out there, but he can putt and is a bulldog, literally.

But let me share the biggest issue involved.  The FedEx Cup will finish on Sunday, August 24th at East Lake.  The first day of the Ryder Cup is Friday, September 26th.  Anyone remember the road to Rome?  Their guys played at Wentworth, our guys didn't play anywhere.....  Will any of the Americans play competitive golf in that month?  Because, yanno....

Before moving on to the other guys, let's go back to the TC gang:

Speaking of the Ryder Cup, time is running out for auto-qualifying and bubble players to make their case for captain’s picks. Which big-name player has the most to prove to Bradley to earn a spot?

Berhow: Jordan Spieth is ranked 26th but I still think has a good shot of making this team. As for Wyndham Clark, at 16th, it might be tougher. He’s had a very average year and made more headlines for some unfortunate moments, although we’ll see if this late surge is going to be enough. He tied for 11th at the Scottish Open, tied for 4th at the Open Championship and just had another good finish at the 3M Open Sunday, tying for 12th. Is it enough? We’ll see. If Russell Henley and Harris English lock up auto-qualifying spots it will make the captain’s picks even more interesting. Although a lesser-known name I’m really curious about? Chris Gotterup.

Bastable: Yeah, Gotterup (who is now 22nd on points list) is an interesting one. It takes so much for a relative “outsider” to crack the squad, but, man, he has looked good of late. Feels like he has the mettle to withstand Ryder Cup pressure. Also I don’t see Capt. Keegs falling into the trap of picking guys just because they’ve been there in the past. To me, among the bigger names, Patrick Cantlay is the biggest question mark. He hasn’t had a bad season, but it hasn’t been particularly memorable, either — and his MC at the Open Championship had to give Bradley pause.

Zak: Jordan Spieth has a LOT to prove. People forget that Spieth (along with Justin Thomas) was a part of the Ryder Cup committee put together to lead Team USA into the future. It was a small committee! Mainly because it was believed that Thomas and Spieth would be on teams for years and years and years. Well, JT snuck his way onto the 2023 team and it would take some serious sneaking for Spieth to do that this time. A really good playoffs is what he would need, but do we really see that happening?

He's in the twenties for a good reason, he hasn't played well enough top justify a pick.  I think at this point it might take a "w", though multiple high finishes might get it done.  He'll win a tie with the other options, he's just nowhere near that result at present.

I'm as intrigued about Gotterup as anyone, but feels like a future option more than a current one.  But to a large extent, the cake is baked.

Care to look at the Euros in brief?

1. McIlroy 

2. MacIntyre 

3. Fleetwood

4. Hatton 

5. Lowry 

6. Straka

7. R. Hojgaard 

8. Rose 

9. Aberg 

10. Hovland 

11. Wallace 

12. Detry 

13. Fitzpatrick 

14. J. Smith 

15. Rai

Not the world-beaters the fiend above sees, though surely some formidable talent up top.  There's at least one mega-name missing, so this projected roster seems entirely plausible:

Lots of chatter about Sergio, but I don't see room for that guy.  

I don't see to many spots for argument here, as any off the current automatic qualifiers that might drop out are blindingly obvious captain's picks.  They're not leaving Jon Rahm at home for Sergio, or quite frankly for anyone else.

The guys just beyond 12th place are a sorry lot, no disrespect to Detry or Wallace, they just don't move the needle, and the odd-man-out Hojgaard  just didn't play well enough.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the list from The Athletic will, in fact, be the Euros twelve man roster.

So, looking at those two rosters, who wins?  I think it's easy, the home team wins, because there hasn't been a close on since 2012.  I don't see it this year, though I'll be rooting for it.

It's a busy week, so not sure when I'll next see you.  But at least I gave you something to mull over in my absence.

Weekend Wrap - Haste Ye Back Edition

We are home from Scotland, facing the inevitable fact that our summer of golf has already peaked....  The good news is that it'll be so hot for the next few days that I wouldn't play without a gun to my head.  At least until Wednesday....

Hit The Deck Running - Hard to see her making a living out there, no?

Phenom Lottie Woad wins first LPGA event in her pro debut at Women's Scottish Open

It all depends upon your definition of "debut"....

Majestic. Sublime. Extraordinary. Flawless. The television announcers were running out of adjectives for the phenom Lottie Woad.

KPMG Performance Insights gave Woad a 40 percent chance of winning heading into the final round of the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open. Heady stuff for a 21-year-old making her professional debut.

Woad's magical July run continued at Dundonald Links, where the newly-minted pro became only the fourth player in LPGA history to win in her first start as an LPGA member, joining former world No. 1 Jin Young Ko (2018) and Beverly Hanson (1951).

A Sunday 4-under 68 put Woad at 21 under for the tournament, capping off a maiden LPGA victory in her native U.K., with a three-stroke win over Hyo Joo Kim. Woad becomes the 20th different LPGA winner in a season in which no player has won twice. She heads next to the AIG Women's British Open in Wales, where she finished tied for 10th last year at St. Andrews.

A bit of as head-scratcher, no?  We're using terms like "debut" and "maiden". but what is this "July run" then?  Well, there's a technicality involved:

Woad, of course, recently became the first player to graduate from the tour's new LEAP program, earning her card for the rest of 2025 and 2026. Immediately after winning the Irish Open on the LET, she missed out on a playoff at the Amundi Evian Championship by one shot. Woad turned pro last week, forgoing her final season at Florida State. She also accepted membership on the LET, which makes her eligible for the 2026 Solheim Cup.

In her last three professional starts, Woad is 55 under par with a 67.4 scoring average. She notched only three bogeys for the week in Scotland.

So, shew damn near won a major, she just didn't take the check that week.... So it's a funny kind of debut, given her success against that best women professionals in two successive high profile events.

The Tour Confidential panel took note

Former top-ranked amateur (and newly turned professional) Lottie Woad won the Women’s Scottish Open to become the third LPGA Tour member to win in their LPGA Tour debut. What impressed you most about the 21-year-old’s victory? And how much could the LPGA benefit from another up-and-coming young player challenging the stars?

Bastable: Whatever happened to easing into your pro career? Like so many other elite young players these days, Woad arrived in the game’s highest ranks ready to win — and then did just that. So, yeah, I’d say I’m most impressed by how undaunted she looks. Even when Hyo Joo Kim applied some pressure, catching Woad in the middle of the final round, Woad showed no signs of cracking. Instead, she birdied 13 and 14 and never looked back. How about this stat: In Woad’s last three pro starts, her scoring average is 67.4. If she’s not the favorite at the Women’s Open next week, she’ll be right up there.

Zak: The LPGA could always benefit from an up-and-comer. Particularly one as certain-for-stardom as Lottie. She’s got a fun name, she just beat Nelly, she’ll be comfy on the links next week for the AIG Women’s Open. Could she somehow pull off the links double?

Berhow: She didn’t make a bogey on Saturday and made just one on Sunday. That’s the weekend recipe for winning big tournaments. But if you rewatch her press conferences from the week, none of this looked too big for her. She was ready for the moment, knew her game was good and trusted it. She’s going to be a problem for the U.S. Solheim Cup squad, that’s for sure.

The LPGA, better known as the tour that can't shoot straight, needs identifiable players for their fan base to watch develop.  The last women to win her LPGA debut was Rose Zhang, and could there be a better proxy for what can go wrong for the ladies?  And dare I mention Leona Maguire?

But the ladies are headed to Royal Porthcawl, where the bride and I had quite a memorable day a few years back.  So, I may have to dig out that old post, which included quite the lesson about the origins of the Stableford.

This week's TC includes no attention to events in Minneapolis, which I'll take as permission to ignore it as well.  

Portrush Outtakes - We shan't dwell too long, but Geoff did post his usual point-missers post, leading with this still curious move by the R&A:

Eliminating The Rakers. Little traditions mean more to The Open than any other championship.

Or, it’s at least a first-place tie with The Masters. The yellow scoreboards. Teeing off from the first tee (only). Where the announcer sounds like he’s been goosed midway through a player’s name. And until this year, the practice of a certified BIGGA greenkeeper following along with each group to rake bunkers ended after a decades-long run. The practice helped keep play moving just a bit faster because Open courses—I can’t believe I’m having to explain this—feature pot bunkers in fairways where the golfer usually blasts out only a short distance. The player is then quick to their ball. The rakers used to come in while the caddie moved on with their player. Not this year. The tradition was also a nice nod to the hardest-working and earliest risers in golf. None of the excuses for jettisoning this tradition passed the smell test. The mob scene inside the ropes remained just that. Play did not get faster. Caddies did not get paid better because they were back to raking. The whole thing is silly.

Tough week for loopers in general, then combine this added work with the failure to increase purses....

Geoff did two posts on this off subject that I blogged only in passing, but it remains hard to understand:

Boundary Lines. You didn’t think they’d get better, did you? By the tournament days, the painted lines had faded due to foot traffic on the 18th, only highlighting the graffiti-like silliness of it all.

Since the club seems to be in love with something so beneath a place of its stature, here’s another angle to consider: Portrush’s first and 18th holes are as good as any opener and closer on the rota. Starts and finishes are often the least interesting design pieces on links. Not here. The first and last holes need no assistance from white stakes and paint. It’s like they’re wearing band-aids on non-existent wounds. Meanwhile, we get the safety issues out by the cliffs behind the fifth green. But the club also has one of the best short par-4s in golf it is junked up by the sheer volume of stakes vandalizing up the skyline green effect.

Which coincided with our return to the Crail Golfing Society, which is similarly over-invested in white stakes.  Things your humble blogger just doesn't understand....

Geoff, have you been to the Tom Morris Golf Shop along the 18th fairway at the Old Course?  Yanno, the hole that's named Tom Morris?  Because if you have, this can't come as a surprise:

Signage on Tees. They aren’t going away. We get it. But given the effort put into freshening up grandstands and other Open branding to give off a more sophisticated aura, the garrish onslaught

of commercialization gives the impression that two different organizations are responsible for signage. The worst part? On several tees, these billboards eliminate key spectating opportunities to watch players in The Open where many tees are placed atop dunes and fans are below the players. At some point, something’s gotta give: either prioritize corporate partnerships or ticket sales. Trying to do both is failing the people who paid to see golf shots.

We all get attached to our own issues, but needlessly squandering their tie to Old Tom and his actual workshop seems the more significant crime against humanity, at least to this observer.

Geoff takes some parting shots at something I didn't experience, having consumed the Sky Sports coverage:

NBC. Americans watching the telecast came away with the sense that Portrush was a lifeless affair. That certainly wasn’t the feeling on the ground and the reaction can be attributed to the network relying solely on the world feed without supplementing its shows with extra microphones, cameras, and course graphics that elevate a modern broadcast. It’s a particularly sad situations since NBC won The Open rights (starting in 2016) by selling the R&A on its then gold standard combination of coverage, marketing reach and love of the game. Then the network got off to a wonderful start in 2016 and dreams of NBC’s “Breakfast At Wimbledon” success seemed within reach. Then Arnold Palmer died and the Comcast slashing began, first to Golf Channel and now the network. With NBC having the Olympics, Super Bowl and year one of its overpriced NBA package net year, do not expect things to get better. Trusted voices like Mike Tirico and Terry Gannon will be key cogs in the NBA coverage. The future is also uncertain for the linear cable channel spinoff effort called Versant, which the Open broadcasts tackily pointed each day was now stitched on Rory McIlroy’s golf bag as part of his long-running GolfNow ambassadorship. What “value add” for the viewers. The whole thing is a shame for the American fans of the Open and the R&A, who took less money believing NBC could be trusted to care.

Kevin Kisner. Lead analyst duties call for hot takes and there will be misfires. But his comments on the Wyndham Clark situation—suggesting anything not kept private in a locker room is a violation of the precious players’ privilege of doing what? Damage? Forgetting to tip? Passing gas that forces an evacuation? Or whatever it is Kisner thinks is kosher behind closed doors. He point-missed on the notion of a player’s responsibility to be a good guest at a great place. Sadly, he’s delivering just the kind of forgettable, d-bro friendly, player-apologist nonsense that makes for awful television and seems to be what player-run TOURs demand. The good news? Kisner’s a Ryder Cup Vice Captain and won’t be able to offer vapid takes during September’s matches. Since Kisner blamed the USGA for somehow being to blame for leaking a photo of the locker damage induced by Clark, maybe “Kiz” should stay in the locker room and out of the announce booth.

I found Kiz an odd choice for the NBC analyst chair.  The combination of his southern drawl and his tendency to force his humor into the events led me to believe that he wouldn't age well in the roles, and I also thought, don't you already have Smylie Kauffman filling that role?

Of course, this comes from a man who was just subjected once again to the wit and wisdom of Sir Mumbles, so you might expect a higher tolerance for pain.

Geoff does at least get one hysterical bit in before diving behind his paywall:

 

I assume Jordan Spieth is in active discussions to immediately switch from Titleist to TaylorMade....  Alas, it's probably too late for Stewart Cink.

A Quick Look Back - The TC panel sdpent a bit of time on the Ryder Cup, a subject deserving more attention than I'm currently prepared to invest.  I'll just copy-and-paste this and hold back the other bits for later this hot and steamy week:

Last week, we put a bow on the men’s major season, but there’s still plenty to unpack there. What was the most memorable moment of the major season?

Bastable: Kind of cliched, but I’ll remember this year for the emotional victory walk Rory took from Augusta National’s 18th green to scoring. That outpouring of joy — and relief — was something to behold. The moment from that scene most burned in my memory bank is when McIlroy fell into Shane Lowry’s arms and Lowry bear-hugged his old pal a foot off the ground. For honorable mention, shoutout to the five-way sudden-death playoff at the Chevron, won by Mao Saigio. What a wild way for a major to be decided — just wish it had extended longer than one hole!

Zak: Who cares if it’s a cliche if it’s the truth! I’ll pivot slightly off Alan’s answer and say simply the seconds after the putt dropped for McIlroy, when he dropped to his knees. I find it funny when athletes collapse to the floor of their sporting arena — think of all the tennis stars who crumble when their opponent hits a ball out on match point — but given how up and down the day had been, it felt like perhaps McIlroy was running purely on adrenaline and nothing else. There was no more energy to sustain him when it finally went in. Every part of his body seemed to touch the green in that moment, like a focused, crying, giddy yogi. Won’t ever forget it. Also won’t ever forget J.J. Spaun’s 64-footer.

Berhow: Scottie Scheffler wins two majors and you guys don’t even type his name once. Sad! But yeah, fair, I get it. McIlroy collapsing, weeping, celebrating and then walking to scoring was one of the most memorable moments of my 10 years at this job, right up there with Tiger winning the Masters in 2019 and Spieth’s Sunday surge at Royal Birkdale in 2017. There’s so much more that goes into McIlroy’s moment that helps make it special — it secured the career Grand Slam, gave him his first green jacket and changed a narrative. McIlroy’s more recent memorable major moments (Pinehurst 2024; St. Andrews 2023) were memorable for the wrong reasons. He didn’t let that happen again (although it was close).

Hard to argue with that in one sense, though I think it may look different in the rear view mirror.  The emotional release of Rory getting it done touched people greatly.  I can't tell you how many people insisted on calling it the greatest Masters ever, whereas I thought it some thing even more compelling, but not a great Masters (hope that makes some sort of sense).

My problem is that, while the world is conferring immortality on Rory, I can't credit him too greatly with those early majors.  Does anyone remember how soft Congressional was?  Or even Kiawah?  It's about as unimpressive a list of venues as can be found, and Scottie's 2025 was quite the progress towards his own career slam, one that I expect will dwarf Rory's achievement.

There we have it for today.  We'll get to Ryder Cup stuff down the road, though I'll be evasive as to my intended blogging schedule.  Have a great week, but stay cool. 

Trip Coda

It goes by like a blur.....  We're officially in wind-down mode, anxious to get home to our little furries.

Elsie and John rolled into town on Monday, for the traditional back-end of our home-and-home series.  It's not quite the like kind exchange it seems, as they invite us into their actual home, whereas we invite them into our rental shack, which have not always been up to the standard of Eider House.  Which, of course, is why we keep returning to Eider House....

Before we get to the golf, I failed to adequately pay homage to Elsie's Banoffee Pie.  I shan't make the same mistake twice:

 

Nope, don't like it at all. To think, there's folks that believe I come to Scotland for the golf....

Tuesday and Wednesday were competition days, picking up the thread from Tain some ten days ago.  As you might recall, Elsie went medieval on us there, posting a Stableford score in the high 40's.  If she does that again, we'll be handing her a paper cup for a sample.

We ended up blessed with two fine days of weather, but only after three days of rain, which softened both course considerably.  One gets so focused on front yardages, that I'll admit it took a few holes for me to revert to American-style of golf, firing at the center of every green.  On Wednesday I quipped that I had fixed more pitch marks that day than I had in every trip here since 1979, combined.  

Soft conditions typically make an course play easier, but on Tuesday the complicating factor was the strongest winds of the trip.  The Met Office had indicated winds around 10-12 mph, gusting up to +/-20 mph, and it was at least that.  The natural remedy is the ground game, but it was a bit of a bizarro day in that the ground game was not as predictable as it usually is.

That's our ladies on the second tee above, and the 2nd green looking back towards the clubhouse.  And John off the fourth tee:

Not the worst scenery in the world, no?

That's off the fifth tee, Hell's Hole, look towards the green, though not actually the line you'll choose.

Earlier, I had an opportunity to speak with one of the grounds staff, who confirmed what I'd long suspected.  The fifth green is on property the club acquired much later, and the Par-3 6th green, which can be one's target off No. 5, was Old Tom's original fifth green.

On the eye-candy 14th, the ladies hit far better shots than the gents:

Actually, everyone's favorite moment might have been your humble blogger's tee ball on No. 7.  It's a short, downhill Par-4 that I've reached in my younger days, but one has to flirt with the eighth tee box to keep it fare enough right.  Not sure which was funnier, where it actually ended up or the overly optimistic spots where I first looked for it:

This is how one adapts to the tight lies over here....

A lovely day in which the Simpsons were not remotely competitive.  Fortunately, Elsie continued her run of dominance by nosing John out by a single, maddening point.  

Wednesday on the Craighead was a different matter entirely.  The wind had dropped, but overnight rains had it as soft as we've ever seen, but with only mid-single digit wind.  In vacation winddown mode, the camera never left my golf bag and this is all I got with my phone:

I've written of my struggles on the Craighead ad nauseum, though was quite pleased with my play on Friday drafting off of Ross (with the typical exception of the putter).  Yesterday was even better, although scoring seemed bunched after the first nine.  But, while we all partook of a sausage roll at the turn, only one of us seemed to benefit from it.  I came home in two over par for a 78, a score I suspect I won't match again anytime soon.  The putter cooperated, though about the only thing I made was a six-footer for bogey on No. 11, which helped keep that inbound nine on track.  

The day wound down with our last brilliant meal at The Dory, where we bade our favorite waitress goodbye until next summer (one hopes).  The funny bit is that we were sitting at a back table, with Elsie and John facing the entrance.  I see John's eyebrows raise, and then Elsie reacts....  A friend of theirs from Strathpeffer had walked into the Dory, about as likely as if we had seen someone from NY.  

We haven't used our outdoor space for dinner this trip, but after dinner last night we took advantage of the evening calm and took our wine glasses up there:

We love our time in Pittenweem, but it wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable without our friends sharing it with us.  We'll pack them off this morning with a fully-loaded car, and pick up the plot next summer.

Today will be another East Neuk layabout, then one last go at the Balcomie tomorrow.  This will conclude my trip blogging, unless something compelling spurs me to revisit the keyboard.  But the plan is to be back with you on Monday from the other side of the Atlantic.

Thanks, as always, for reading along with our trip.  Cheers!

Weekend Wrap - County Antrim Edition

 Any questions?  

If we fire up the Wayback Machine to January of 2025, I would have had two criticisms of Scottie Scheffler's game and record, although that might not be quite the word.  My first demerit would be that, despite his gaudy 2024 win total, exactly one of those wins was against a full field (that being the Players Championship).  The other slight nick would have been to note that he'd only won one of the four majors (and, to continue harping on field size), it was the one with the tiny field (though, admittedly, he'd won it twice).  

So, what does he do despite the slow start to his season due to that kitchen injury?  I blink and suddenly he'll be going for immortality at Shinnecock.  OK, I'm going to go way out on a limb and predict that he'll get his U.S. Open before Phil....  I know, it's a gift.

Geoff frames his coverage on the winner's failure to complete the Calamity Slam:

Hopes for a Calamity Slam died Sunday when Scottie Scheffler yanked a 14-footer at Royal Portrush’s vaunted one-shotter, ending an unfathomable run of birdies on the 236-yarder.

And that amounted to the Ulster drama Sunday when Scheffler captured The 153rd Open Championship for the first time to go with three majors. The 29-year-old is one U.S. Open win away from becoming the seventh holder of the career Grand Slam.

The final margin of victory of four strokes over Harris English was nearly a carbon copy of this year’s PGA Championship, where the former Georgia star tied for second, five behind Scheffler.

Five strokes back in third place was American Chris Gotterup, the recent Genesis Scottish Open winner playing in his first Open Championship and fourth major.

Scheffler’s dominance means the last three Champion Golfers of the Year are from America (Brian Harman and Xander Schauffele).

Of the 13 players finishing T10 or better in The 153rd, eight were Americans.

A bit surprised by Geoff's xenophobia, although technically the Yanks are the foreigners in this event.  I guess we'll just chalk it up to Geoff being depressed at absence of meaningful golf for the next eight months.  I know it's the most depressing day in golf to your humble blogger, only slightly mitigated by it being a Ryder Cup year.

And here's Geoff's take on Scottie's mid-round walkabout:

But back to Sunday’s “drama.” Scheffler started Sunday with a four-stroke lead over Haotong Li

and birdied the first hole to dash the field’s hope he had woken up and decided to become the field’s other ordained Monk.

A brief hiccup in the par-4 eighth’s fairway bunker led to his only double bogey of the week and a seven-stroke lead briefly reduced to five. A bounce-back birdie at the ninth immediately turned Sunday into a coronation. Scheffler had converted ten straight 54-hole leads. Or eleven straight if Hero World Challenge wins are your thing. But that 20-player silly season event certainly does not come with a well-deserved “Champion Golfer Of The Year” tag, a Claret Jug or a $3.1 million check.

It was a wee bit more dramatic than that, methinks.  Scottie had made a mess of the Par-5 seventh as well, though bailed himself out by making a long par putt.  He looked like the rest of us when we lose our will to live, then bounced back on the ninth and managed his way home.

More Calamity-blogging:

Scheffler separated himself from the field in too many ways to count, but six birdies in 16 par-3 chances seems especially brilliant given the difficulty of Portrush’s difficult one-shotters. He led the field with a 37.5% birdie conversion rate on the par-3’s. And not only did he avoid Calamity, he slayed the monstrous 236-yard 16th. The hole where past greats have intentionally played away from the green in fear of coming up short.

The 153rd field hit the green 200 times out of 452 (44% GIR rate). Scheffler’s four tee shots at Calamity finished a total of 48 feet from the cup:

• 3 feet 5 inches (Birdie)
• 17 feet 5 inches (Birdie)
• 14 feet 4 inches (Birdie)
• 14 feet 4 inches (Par)

About that lowly par. Scottie, what went wrong?

“I was fortunate to be able to enjoy the walk with a putter versus having to go down there into the ravine and try to hit a wedge out,” he said of his week on the 16th. “I'm very grateful for the tee shots this week, but like you said, disappointed with a par today.”

He was smiling (in case you hadn’t guessed).

Initial impression of the hole?

“The first day we played it, it was raining and blowing in out of the left, and I smoked a 3-wood to 30 feet, and I thought it was a pretty amazing shot,” Scheffler said after hoisting the Jug. “And then I was playing against Sam Burns in a practice round, and he hit 3-wood to about 25 feet and made it. I was like, shoot, just hit a great shot and I lost this hole still.”

Maybe he handled it well because he took time to smell the roses:

Scheffler’s secret to success came down to his affinity for a hole that induces heartburn in most.

“It's one of the coolest views that I've seen in the game of golf, to be honest with you,” he said. “Teddy [Scott] and I were standing there, I think it was on Friday, we were kind of looking out. It was a day in which you had a bunch of rain and there was a rainbow on the other side and you're looking out over the golf course on the right, and you've got the huge bluffs by the ocean and it's just mounds and hills, and the town is in the distance. It's a really, really cool hole.”

Or, maybe he handled it well because he's the best ball-striker of the day?  Just a thought.

Shall we dive into the Tour Confidential roundtable, where you'll not be shocked at the silly question with which they lead:

Scottie Scheffler dominated at Royal Portrush, finishing 17 under par and winning by four in what was one of the most anticlimactic major Sundays in recent memory. Scheffler, at age

29, now has four major titles, and how he lapped the competition is reminiscent of Tiger Woods’ prime. Is it premature to wonder if Woods’ 15 major titles are in reach? If so, when does that conversation need to start?

Jessica Marksbury: Tiger showed us that Jack’s major title was actually achievable — and you could argue that, given the many years of injury Tiger endured during his prime, he really should have won more than 15. But watching Scottie, it’s hard not to imagine him eclipsing Tiger — and maybe even Jack. I know there’s some recency bias at play, and there’s a lot that needs to happen, of course, to bring that all to fruition. Scottie has to avoid serious injury and somehow maintain this outrageously high level of play for the next decade-plus. But man, it sure does seem possible right here, right now.

Josh Sens: Tiger had twice as many majors by 29, but Scheffler has a superpower that Tiger lacked at that age: he seems entirely at peace with himself. Not too early to start a harmless water-cooler conversation. Assuming he stays healthy and yip-free, Scheffler’s got a shot at it, with another decade or so of golf prime ahead of him. The fact that he’s not the type of guy who will be paying attention to any of our water-cooler chatter will only help his chances more.

Josh Schrock: Scottie has a shot at it, but I think we might be discounting how many majors that is, given the current depth in men’s golf. I think four or five is a ton. For Scottie to win 11 more against this group would require an unbelievable level of sustained excellence and injury luck. It’s possible, but it’s still a massive ask, even for the guy who is the best player since Tiger.

Zephyr Melton: Scottie may be on a Tiger-like run, but 15 majors is too high a total to reach in the current era. I could see Scottie threatening double digits, but that feels like his ceiling.

Yeah, it's just human nature, no?  A man wins his fourth major and we can't help but turn our minds to his sixteenth major, right?  Seriously, what's wrong with these folks and how does Jess Marksbury keep her job?  Some recency bias?  

It's fair to say that Scottie has been playing at a Tiger-like level, but it's quite extraordinary to just concede that he can keep doing that for another decade or more.....  Dare we see how she handles the inevitable follow-up?

Scheffler has won his four majors in four years, but other pros have gone on heaters before, too. Most recently, Brooks Koepka won four in three years; Jordan Spieth won three in three years; and Rory McIlroy won four in four years. What makes you think Scheffler will or won’t taper off like this group?

Marksbury: Scottie seems grounded in so many valuable ways: faith, family, lifestyle, that there doesn’t appear to be anything in his way. He’s just so steady.

Sens: Agreed, Jess. Spieth seems similarly at peace with his life, but his game was never as well-rounded as Scheffler’s. And unlike Koepka and McIlroy, Scheffler does not appear to have any

let-up week to week. And that seems to stem from his life outside of golf. He knows that golf matters, but he also understands it only matters so much.

Schrock: You don’t need to look further than his pre-tournament press conference. He loves golf, competing, and the work required to be great. But the fact that he isn’t defined by his golf allows him to do what he’s doing. Rory once talked about how he used to think less of himself as a person if he played a bad round. His golf defined his existence. That Scottie clearly puts his family and faith ahead of golf should give him a good shot at maintaining a high level of play. Longevity is something that isn’t talked about enough; it’s the impressive thing about Rory. Scottie is far, far ahead of everyone right now and has been for two years. I’ll be interested to see how long he can continue this.

Melton: As my colleagues mentioned above, Scottie’s mindset is what sets him apart from his competitors, and that’s something that can’t be learned. In terms of on-course play, Scottie’s combination of course-management discipline and distance control with his irons is a deadly combo; it’s why when he’s playing well, it looks so boring. When you’re hitting to the correct spots with the correct numbers and rolling in a few putts, you become tough to beat.

This is the more interesting question, as the three guys cited are interesting comparisons.  To me it's pretty clear that Scheffler is the more complete player than Koepka or Spieth, although there's not shortage of hindsight in the comment.  In the moment, each of those two appeared to have unlimited upside, the subsequent arc of their careers coming as quite the surprise.

But, in the moment, whose future career would have appeared to be brighter, Rory in August 2014 or Scottie today?  That to me should be the object lesson for Jess Marksbury and every other golf fan, the fact that the ability to sustain that level of performance is the indicator of greatness, but we all get fooled in the short term.  We couldn't see ahead with Rory, Jordan and Brooksie, yet we think we can with Scottie.  Curious that.

Not that I don't agree with them about Scottie being perhaps more grounded.  Tiger was able to sustain his greatness through his blinding ambition.  Could Scottie accomplish the same by refusing to care too much about it?  I have no clue, but what a fascinating thing it'll be to watch.

Shall we talk some Rory?  Here's a sample of the reactions:

Rory McIlroy’s British Open might’ve been the greatest victory lap of his career

Sorry, but what are the other victory laps against which  this one would be judged?

And this:

British Open 2025: At Royal Portrush, it was Scottie Scheffler’s Open, but Rory McIlroy’s week

This Open Championship belongs to Scottie Scheffler. His performance was too commanding,

too complete to suggest otherwise. Four masterful rounds delivered the links title that had been conspicuously absent from a résumé lacking little else—four rounds that raise serious questions about whether golf is witnessing generational excellence or something approaching all-time greatness. Yet somehow, Scheffler felt almost secondary to a man who finished seven shots behind.

That statement sounds absurd until you consider what unfolded at Royal Portrush this week. McIlroy has long been golf's most beloved figure, and that affection always intensifies during the Open Championship. But what manifested here was more than support. Fans packed 10-deep around most holes, scrambling over dunes and through fescue, many unable to see McIlroy but desperate simply to be close enough to shout his name. In the hospitality suites, patrons abandoned their tables the moment he appeared, pressing faces against plexiglass windows like children at an aquarium. Parents hoisted kids onto shoulders for fleeting glimpses. Bleachers filled an hour before his arrival, only to empty the instant he moved on to the next hole.

The scenes grew increasingly surreal. A teenager with a bleached buzz cut—"The Open" styled into the back of his head—ducked under the ropes at the second hole, phone extended for a selfie before marshals swept him away. At one point, television cameras captured a man swimming in the frigid Irish Sea, waving a flagstick topped with an Open flag in one hand and brandishing a yellow "GO RORY!" sign in the other.

Then there were the sounds. Golf tournaments typically produce predictable audio—polite applause following good shots, disappointed murmurs after poor ones, the familiar rhythm of gallery appreciation. This was something else entirely. This sounded like a concert or football match: nonstop chants, serenades of McIlroy's name, a celebration that seemed barely concerned with the actual competition unfolding. This was a four-day festival of worship, punctuated by moments of pure sporting theater.

Saturday provided the crescendo. McIlroy, seven shots back and needing magic, delivered exactly that: birdies on three of his first four holes, the kind of explosive start that has defined his career. The sounds that followed were deafening, lasting, primal—the type that cannot be manufactured or conjured, erupting purely from instinct and emotion. The defining moment came when McIlroy's eagle putt crawled 56 agonizing feet across the green before disappearing into the cup. The eruption that followed shook the ground, a sonic boom of pure joy that seemed to suspend time itself. After his 66, McIlroy called Saturday the loudest round he could remember and cited that eagle—and the thunderous response it generated—as one of the coolest moments of his career. This from someone who had slipped on the green jacket just months earlier.

Sorry for that long excerpt, but let me push my luck by seeing how you react to this bit, especially the ending: 

It sounds counterintuitive, but it's a phenomenon experienced frequently by elite athletes—particularly Olympians who spend lifetimes working toward something that arrives only once every four years. Upon reaching the summit, they find themselves adrift with nowhere left to climb. There's also been his mounting frustration with his position in the game and the scrutiny that accompanies it. He's occupied this fishbowl existence his entire adult life, carrying a burden most of us can't fathom. Though there have been slip-ups and shortcomings, the throughline of his career has been grace. When that grace wasn't reciprocated—when criticism felt unfair or harsh—his reactions at Quail Hollow and Oakmont became understandable, if not admirable.

Admirable?  We're now rationalizing hissy fits?  Joel (Beall, the author), can you not see the throughline from here to, say, Wyndham Clark?

Hard to skip the TC panel, although they seem to intentionally frame it in the oddest manner possible:

The last time the Open was at Royal Portrush, Rory McIlroy fizzled in a disappointing homecoming and missed the cut. This time, he seemed rejuvenated, produced Tiger-like galleries, and finished T7. Will this week be remembered for Scottie’s first Claret Jug or Rory’s proper return to Northern Ireland?

Marksbury: Great to see Rory’s redemption here at Portrush, and it probably stung a bit less toMelton: It will certainly be meaningful for Rory on a personal level, but in the grand scheme of things, few casual fans will remember much from his performance this week. It was a feel-good story, sure, but Scottie claiming the Claret Jug is the only thing that matters. have such a deficit to make up, given Scottie’s lead. This major will definitely be remembered for Scottie’s first Open win, but there was no doubting who the crowd favorite was this week, and that was Rory.

Sens: Rory McIlroy is a career Grand Slam winner and a future Hall of Famer. We shouldn’t be giving him participation prizes and I doubt he’d be satisfied with them anyway. This week was about Scheffler winning another major. Rory having a nice showing doesn’t count as much of a conversation piece.

Schrock: I’m going to go ahead and zag here. I don’t think it’s a participation prize to say that Rory’s week was much better and more meaningful than six years ago. Justin Leonard spoke about the burden for Rory having to play in front of his home country with everyone trying to will him over the line. This was Scottie’s major, but he will win more, and I think the lasting image from the Open’s Portrush return will be Rory fist-pumping as he made eagle on Saturday to send the crowd into a fit of delirium.

Melton: It will certainly be meaningful for Rory on a personal level, but in the grand scheme of things, few casual fans will remember much from his performance this week. It was a feel-good story, sure, but Scottie claiming the Claret Jug is the only thing that matters.

I think the Rory stuff was great, heart-warming and something of a vindication after that bizarre Thursday in 2019.  That said, it comes after a bizarre interregnum where Rory seemed to intentionally squander so much of the goodwill he had accumulated, at a time when he should have been fat, dumb and happy.  

But this was also an important competitive week for Rory, and it's hard to ignore the disappointments in that regard.  His game was as it ever was, with that same combination of highlights and lowlights evident on the back nine at Augusta.  A great talent, but one prone to frequent large misses.

This is no doubt true:

Bryson DeChambeau climbs into top 10 at British Open, all but locking up Ryder Cup spot

So, what was the deal with Thursday?  Kinda stealing Rory's signature move there, but those last three rounds he showed an ability to stay with Scottie, though not at all the same thing when you shoot 64 on Sunday from the middle of the pack.

This to me is quite the bizarre take:

During final round coverage on NBC, analyst Kevin Kisner had an interesting take on the Clark and Oakmont debacle, which resulted in numerous golf personalities on social media questioning his comments.

"I'm not sure anybody in the situation handled it properly," Kisner said on the broadcast. "Wyndham probably could have nipped that in the bud with an earlier, or justifiable, statement, but locker rooms are supposed to be sacred. Not sure how that picture got out, USGA can help with that. I think if everyone just sat at a table face to face, that situation could go away pretty quickly."

His comments make it seem as if he's pointing a finger at the USGA for the photo getting out. No Laying Up's Tron Carter is who initially posted the photo of damage on social media. After Kisner's comments, numerous people flooded social media to post about the situation.

We love our Golfers Behaving Badly stories, but I actually have sympathy for the guys that fight a little anger out there.  But this takes me back to the era of Tim Finchem, Nurse Ratched for those who were there with us, whereby it's the job of the adults to protect the children from the consequences of their actions.

Think Clark has developed an expectation that he'll be protected?

Clark finished T-4 at the British Open and spoke with media Sunday after declining to talk Saturday.

"Yeah, so obviously I feel terrible with what happened. I'm doing anything I can to try to remedy the situation. We're trying to keep it private between Oakmont, myself and the USGA. I'm just happy we have a pathway moving forward, and like you said, I'm hoping we can get past this and move on and hope there's no ill-will towards me and Oakmont.

"Like you said, I'm just trying to get past it. I want the best for Oakmont, the USGA and myself. Like I said, I'm very sorry for what I did and feel terrible, and hopefully in a few months we're past this, and it's something of the past."

Yes, we're all hoping we can get past Wyndham, though it would be easier if he could just, yanno, stop destroying shit....  But by all means find a path forward, just like the path forward from the PGA that led to...well, the need for another path forward.  Shockingly, Golf Twitter had thoughts.

A great week for the people of Northern Ireland and a worthy champion.  Not too shabby.

Elsie and John arrive today, with golf planned for Tuesday and Wednesday.  I'll be back, though I suspect not tomorrow.  Cheers.