Weekend Wrap - Empire Strikes Back Edition

Hey, kids, sorry for the one-day lag....  I had a busy Monday morning with something requiring actual thought and preparation, so better to defer to Tuesday when there's sufficient time.

My first comment is to complement the schedulers for picking Nor'easter season for the event.  If nothing else, I certainly saw a lot of the event....  Like, all of it.

I'm going to use Eamon Lynch's preview piece as my framing device, see what you think:

The worst-case scenario for the Presidents Cup is an International team upset

Well, that's certainly a hot take.....  though let's let him have his say:

The Presidents Cup isn’t among the most important projects in Brian Rolapp’s gut renovation of the PGA Tour, ranking somewhere after designing a split-level schedule, building media rights

revenue and installing a shredder for the perfumed letters sent by agents representing LIV Golf’s groveling refugees. But the matches at Medinah Country Club should remind him that the remodeling needs to go beyond the weekly stroke play product.

It’s been 32 years since the Presidents Cup was created to draft off the drama (and revenue) of the Ryder Cup, and more than 20 years since it became as stale as the offerings in a Pyongyang deli. When the U.S. was last defeated, Bill Clinton wasn’t yet halfway through his second term, the second-ranked golfer in the world was Mark O’Meara — now retired even from senior events — and Donald Trump was desecrating skylines to build monstrosities to honor his fragile little ego. Which is to say that a lot of things have changed since 1998, but not everything.

Debating the shortcomings of the Presidents Cup risks having the International team’s players and captains interpret it as an indictment of their effort. It isn’t, and it’s necessary. The Cup was intended to capitalize on a generational talent pool — Greg Norman, Nick Price, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els — but today finds itself swimming in the shallows of Si Woo Kim, Nico Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Fine players all, but not legends around whom one can market a compelling event. Many an accusing finger points at LIV for the Internationals’ lopsided losses in the last two Cups, but the exiling of Cameron Smith or Louis Oosthuizen doesn’t account for the eight successive American wins prior to the league’s launch. LIV is more excuse than explanation.

Eamon is correct that the 2026 International team seemed historically weak, certainly without anyone that might be considered a generational talent.  And yet, unlike Eamon, we have the benefit of hindsight, and we know that this band of misfits gave the Americans all they wanted...

How does this hold up?

As a competitive spectacle, the Presidents Cup is fundamentally broken, and the worst thing that could happen at Medinah is for Geoff Ogilvy’s International squad to pull off a shock victory. Sure, even some U.S. fans might enjoy a romantic underdog upset and a reversal of three decades of drubbings, but it would also embolden optimists and opportunists to hail the dawn of a new era of parity and it would set back an effort to fix things by a decade or more.

What that fix could look like is another matter.

But even Eamon knows the obvious fix isn't so....well, obvious:

There’s a good chance that by Sunday night we’ll hear the biennial cry for the Presidents Cup to become a co-ed affair, with six men and six women comprising each team. There are several arguments in favor of such. It would make it more competitive and perhaps even render the Internationals as favorites, since there are six eligible women ranked in the world’s top 10, five of them in the top six. It would clearly distinguish this event from the Ryder Cup, a lingering comparison that will always cheapen the pale imitation. And it would embrace a format that departs from the weekly fare, which the Tour has shown a willingness to do in rethinking the FedEx Cup playoffs.

But there are factors mitigating against such a seismic shift. The Presidents Cup is profitable and Rolapp likely isn’t incentivized to roll the dice with revenue when investors are watching closely. He also knows that his job is to create playing opportunities and money for his members, not for Craig Kessler’s constituents on the LPGA Tour, and that going co-ed would be dilutive to the core mission. And while it might generate social media brownie points from the woke folk, Rolapp can’t be eager to assume responsibility for marketing LPGA assets, a task that seems ever more onerous given the poor viewing ratings for the recent Solheim Cup.

It's a very funny state of affairs, but the real problem is on the ladies side.  The Solheim Cup is perfectly fine nad has the benefit of on asset the Prez Cup would die for, actual bad blood between the teams.  The structural problem is that the ladies can't mimic the men and create their own Faux-Prez Cup, because the U.S. vs. the rest of the world wouldn't be remotely competitive.  Heck, the U.S. vs. South Korea or Japan alone wouldn't be a fair fight.

But Eamon's points against are spot on, I'd only reinforce that, while the opportunity sounds great and I would definitely watch, you're limiting it to maybe six players of each gender, so it's not really viable.

While Eamon makes a perfectly valid point here, I don't think he actually has put much thought into his solution:

The other potential change is more incremental and focused on an area seldom scrutinized: ownership.

The Presidents Cup is wholly a PGA Tour product and the PGA Tour decides everything. Who captains both teams. Who’s eligible to play (or not) on both teams. Qualification criteria for both teams. How both teams are resourced and managed. And where the matches are held for both domestic and international venues. The latter might explain why two of the last five “foreign” Presidents Cups were staged within walking distance of the U.S. border, betraying a desire to keep this “global” event within North American time zones to maximize media rights value.

For an event that wants to emulate the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup does the exact opposite at every turn. Instead of cultivating a real rivalry, it feels like divisions of the same parent company meeting for a friendly off-site.

Rolapp should sell the International team, whether to a conglomeration of overseas tours, a wealthy individual who fancies being a player in the sport alongside a solvent partner, or to private equity. This is a platform with value but no direction. Let a new owner decide captaincies, eligibility, resources and foreign venues. Hanging a new shingle won’t necessarily make it more competitive, but it would at least mirror one crucial aspect of the Ryder Cup by granting the International team the self-determination necessary to give itself the best opportunity to succeed. But that would require Rolapp overcoming the control freak vapors that filter through the ducts in the building formerly known as the GloHo.

Except for the fact that there is no controlling legal authority on the other side.  There are tours in that part of the world, but this is where things are different from the Ryder Cup.  The Euros grew up through the Euro Tour and, most importantly, remain members of it.  But I'm pretty sure that Si Woo Kim isn't a member of the Korean Tour any longer, and it's hard to see how they play a role in this, even more so because you'd need to include 4-5 tours in a consortium.  Good luck with that.

I'm among the persuadable.  I'd love to see the Internationals more in control of their fate, captain, qualification and site selections most importantly.  The LIV thing certainly exposed some fault lines, and I think Trevor Immelman absorbed the worst of it, but I don't see the need to tear down the house.

In fact, I see the Prez Cup as being what the Ryder Cup has been for much of its existence, an entertaining exhibition.  Not only is the overall competitive balance out of whack, but we see the same patterns within each event, where the International rely on a handful of show ponies in order to build up enough of a lead before being worn down by the Yanks' superior depth.

So, shall we talk about the week?  We'll lede with the TC panel:

The U.S. was trailing by three points heading into Sunday at the Presidents Cup but

stormed back to win nine singles matches and tie another to claim the Cup, 17-13, for its 11 consecutive win in this event. What was more impressive: the Internationals’ play in the first two days, or the Americans’ play on the third and final day?

James Colgan: The International performance to start the Cup will stick with me far longer than the American performance to save it. Every conceivable indicator told us this iteration of the event was more lopsided than any of the (pretty lopsided!) versions we’ve seen over the last half-decade. Instead, the INTs gave the Americans everything they could handle.

Josh Sens: Agreed. Team play has a way of somehow disguising weaknesses — or, maybe, in the case of the Americans — exposing them. But when it reverts singles, and those dynamics of partner are stripped away, you’re left with talent and experience going head to head. There was nothing shocking about the U.S. comeback. It was just a bit surprising that they were down as far as they were heading into the final day.

Dylan Dethier: The U.S. comeback will stick with me because of its sheer force. When the red wave finally hit it obliterated everything in its way, crashing over each of those last seven matches, which each made it to 17 but yielded just one tie and six losses for the International side. Honestly, it was incredibly impressive but also a bit deflating — there was so much heart to the International side’s team-play performance that it was somewhat painful to see them go out in such tragic fashion.

For once, I think the writers did a pretty good job with a silly question, though my sympathies lie more with James Colgan than Dylan.  Team play is inherently more interesting, especially since we see it so seldom, so watching the scrappy underdogs school the favored Americans was a great pleasure for this viewer.

Who is your MVP for each side?

Colgan: Cam Young is quickly developing into a serial killer in these team settings. With Bethpage last year, that’s two straight events where he’s been the best player by a few miles on the U.S. side. Sungjae Im was equally brilliant for the INTs, delivering a rare Black Flag on Sunday when they needed it most.

Sens: Young was the pacesetter, to be sure. But I’d argue that Jackson Koivun came up even bigger in the rare match (against Si Woo Kim) in which the Internationals had the advantage on paper.. His comeback from two down was especially pivotal in flipping the momentum late in the day. If Kim had gone on to win that point, a couple of the other closing matches — I’m thinking, in particular, of Russell Henley against Nick Taylor, and Jacob Bridgeman against Min Woo Lee — would have taken on a different atmospheric pressure, with potentially different results.

Dethier: Tom Kim was the only man to pick up four points on the week and is my International MVP, especially after a gritty Sunday showing against Wyndham Clark. Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup are co-MVPs on the American side; when they finally teamed up on Saturday they kept the U.S. team in it.

There's a million articles grading players and separating into winners and losers, which allow for a bit more nuance.  For instance, this is one such winner offered up:

U.S. Presidents Cup rookies

The Americans' first-timers delivered when it mattered most at the Presidents Cup. Rookies Chris Gotterup, Jacob Bridgeman and Jackson Koivun all won their singles matches on Sunday, with Bridgeman providing the clinching point when he beat Min Woo Lee on the 18th green to secure his first win of the competition.

Gotterup and Koivun, meanwhile, finished the event a combined 5-1-1. Gotterup teamed with Cameron Young to get two dominating victories on Saturday and may have provided the U.S. a new formidable combination for next year's Ryder Cup in Ireland. Gotterup then outlasted Christiaan Bezuidenhout in singles to give the U.S. wins in four of the first six matches as part of Sunday's comeback.

Koivun, the 21-year-old rookie, produced perhaps the most unexpected result on Sunday when he rallied on the back nine to beat Si Woo Kim in singles. Kim entered the Presidents Cup as the International team's top player, according to the world golf rankings. Koivun didn't lose a match at Medinah, burnishing his reputation as a looming force in match play events and reinforcing the belief that he could be the PGA Tour's next star.

I think that's completely and will be way over-interpreted.  Those three rookies did great, but we've seen this movie before and results tend to be stubbornly non-linear.  Let's remember that one such rookie given an early cameo was Scottie Scheffler, whose career is compared to Tiger but who also sports a 1-9 record in foursomes.  

From that same piece, we won't be arguing against either of these "losers":

Adam Scott

Scott acknowledged before the Presidents Cup began that, at 46 years old, he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to qualify for this event. That reality made the International team's squandered lead on Sunday particularly painful, especially since he lost a singles match to American Patrick Cantlay. This was Scott's 12th consecutive Presidents Cup appearance, tying the record set by Phil Mickelson, yet he's never been part of the winning team.

Corey Conners

Conners lost five of the first six holes to American Justin Thomas in their singles match on Sunday and never was competitive in the third pairing to tee off. Thomas closed him out for a 5-and-3 win and the most lopsided result of the round and put American red on the scoreboard early to help get the U.S. comeback going. Conners was the worst putter on the course by a lot based on strokes gained, and lost more than 4.6 shots compared to everyone else on the Medinah green.

Adam's performance Sunday I found extremely hard to watch, because we wanted so much better for him (and, admittedly, he was up against my least favorite American).  I also think that, as thin as the roster was, five sessions for Adam was a big ask.

Back to the TC:

U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker weathered far more second-guessing (including from himself!) than International captain Geoff Ogilvy — and yet still came out on top. What was your assessment of how the American skipper handled his duties?

Colgan: Uhhh, poorly. He had a massive talent advantage on home soil and eked out a pretty narrow victory that appeared to be operating with little plan or bigger strategy. Just because he won doesn’t make him a “winning” captain.

Sens: I think it’s easy to second guess, but aside from sitting the best player in the world on Saturday afternoon, I’m not sure anything he did would have yielded different results. We’ve seen this over and over out of the Americans – they’re weaker in team play than they are in singles. On top of that, the Internationals got some exceptional play in those partnerships up and down the roster.

Dethier: The losing captain always takes too much flak in these things, and so I felt for Snedeker on Saturday night even though I disagreed with a couple of his decisions. But ultimately it’s a results-oriented position, and the U.S. team won by four, so whatever Snedeker did ahead of Sunday singles certainly worked.

I guess let me throw this Q&A into the mix as well:

The U.S.’s play in singles was dominant, but the team continues to struggle in foursomes, a format in which they went 2-7 this week, dropping their combined foursomes record in Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups since 2023 to 8-26. What is going on here?

Colgan: I spent a while looking into the numbers behind this yesterday, and the answer is that the Americans don’t show up ready to play in the format. Of 18 opening foursome session matches since 2023, the Americans are 1-17. Of those 18 matches, they’ve trailed after 6 holes 15 times. To me, that reflects a total lack of preparation. You can’t wait for the event to start to “turn it on.” You can’t wait for players to “get a feel for their partner.” By the time you’ve done that, you’re already in a hole.

Sens: I think James’ answer points in part to the deeper reason. If it is in fact a lack of preparation for early partner play, doesn’t that suggest that the stereotype is true: that Americans are more individualistic, more comfortable on their own, less inspired by collective action. I know it seems cliche to the point of being lazy to repeat that old saw. But I also don’t see much evidence that it isn’t true.

Dethier: You’d assume that some of those stereotypes — about Americans playing well on their own ball, but notably worse when they have to take turns — would be statistical noise. But this week seemed exaggerated on both fronts; foursomes went miserably and singles went beyond their wildest dreams. There’s obviously some randomness involved, but there’s also enough of a trend line that I’d offer next year’s Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk this special advice: make sure your guys practice alternate shot!

It's really hard to find the signal amid the noise on this issue, because it's not like the other guys play foursomes growing up.

The whole captain thing is interesting, as I found this dead wrong:

LOSERS

Geoff Ogilvy

The International team captain deserves credit for putting his golfers in position to have a lead going into the final day of the Presidents Cup, despite entering the competition as heavy underdogs to the Americans. But Ogilvy's strategy for singles ultimately didn't work. The decision to send out most of his inexperienced golfers helped the American comeback.

OK, but is the writer aware that Ogilvy had to use those players?  The criticism I assume is the order in which he sent them out, but that weakness was going to make an appearance.

It's funny to me that taking a squad of low-ranked players, absorbing a loss in the first session, he got them to go take a three-point lead into singles.  Was anyone watching Saturday when both sessions featured Americans ahead in all four matches?   I saw those teams patiently fighting back, which smells to me like a first class piece of captaining.  And don't we think he's the perfect guy for Kingston Heath?

On the other hand, can I just say that I found Brandt Snedeker to be a quivering idiot this week?  I'm sorry to be harsh, but I just felt like he couldn't get a sentence out even before the apology.  I understand he was trying to take his guys off the hook by taking blame, but it came across to me as useless blather, since we could all see their indifferent play.  If this was an audition for Ryder Cup captaincy, Hell No!

Before moving on from captains, Geoff has a post up that's mostly cautionary, but I was amused by his callout of a certain former captain:

Keegan Bradley. A year removed from an embarrassing loss where he failed the number one task of a Captain in an exhibition match—ensuring that sportsmanship prevailed—it really was something to see him at the table dictating ideas to Snedeker while covering his mouth as if anything he has to say is profound enough to steal.

Geoff, given that Furyk is getting a mulligan, how cnfident are we that Keegan won't?  Or Sneds... 

Match play, especially on such a high-pressure stage, reveals players’ character in a way that stroke play does not. What’s one thing you learned or saw in one of the 24 players this week that you didn’t know before the event?

Colgan: I learned that Jackson Koivun has the “it” factor in big moments. He was arguably the most important point all day for the Americans, and unquestionably the least experienced player in the field. Kudos to him for closing it out when it counted.

Sens: Koivun is a good call. Another telling sequence was seeing Scottie Scheffler concede what would have been a pretty much impossible par to his opponent, Nico Echavarria, after Echavarria had been heckled during his downswing on the tee. And then, moments later, seeing Wyndham Clark fail to concede a slam-dunk two-putt to his opponent, Tom Kim, that ended the match. Granted, they were different scenarios. But in terms of image-making, that underscored the public perception of Scheffler as a sporting gentleman, and Clark as, well, somewhat harder to like. Even the NBC announcers, who seemed allergic to saying anything even remotely critical all week, called out Clark’s decision as strange.

Dethier: This is about his golf game rather than his moral fiber, but still: If we’re drafting golfers for a team, I think I’m taking Cameron Young first. He was an absolute force this weekend and his tone-setting beatdown in the first singles match proved a sign of things to come.

Yeah, I'm gonna say that I learned that match play is fun, but it's really team match play that's da' bomb.

Shall we get to that elephant in the corner?

U.S. needs to follow up Presidents Cup with a Ryder Cup win

And typically they use Prez Cup and home Ryder Cup wins to assure themselves they've fixed their problems.  They beat an undermanned team, which should have alarm bells sounding about Adare Manor, but Jackson Koivun will save us.

Brandt Snedeker fires warning shot at Europeans that U.S. will 'be a problem' at 2027 Ryder Cup

 And this:

The 2027 Ryder Cup is less than a year away. Did this week make you feel better or worse about the U.S.’s chances against Europe at Adare Manor in Ireland next September?

Colgan: Worse. It showed me the Americans do a lot of talking about “changing things,” but have little to show for it in the setting where they’re worst: foursomes. Until we see some actual evidence of a shift in leadership, I predict the American alternate-shot woes will continue.

Sens: I wouldn’t say I feel better about the American chances, but that doesn’t mean I feel worse in general. I think it’s generally better for the Ryder Cup when the U.S. struggles and slips into an existential crisis. It adds more fuel to the rivalry and makes for a more exciting buildup and competition, all the while throwing water on the irritating assumption — which still lingers despite what has happened over the past decade plus — that the U.S. is somehow exceptional and entitled to win.

Dethier: Better, I’d say. These last two years have shown that, whatever their team-play deficiencies, these Americans work well enough on their own that no lead is insurmountable. I wouldn’t recommend they dig such a deep hole again, but they’ll never feel out of the competition regardless of score.

Wow, James, it's almost like you think Phil's Task Force was all BS.  

Or, yanno, maybe the guys just need to play better.

Just a couple f other hits from Geoff, items to muse upon:

The Snake Draft. The means of making matches differentiates the Presidents Cup and, because of possible strategies involved, led to some spectacular griping over the Captain’s decisions. The system of making match selections before or after the other team’s selection gives the Captain’s power to have a say in the outcome. (Assuming things go as planned…which they never do in golf). So in figuring the outcome would be close no matter what they did, International Captain Ogilvy and his fellow cart drivers chose to throw their weakest sticks to USA’s wolves and hope the stars would win it late. Ogilvy tried to take advantage of Snedeker’s curious choice to place Scottie Scheffler on the board instead of waiting to put the world No. 1 against one of Ogilvy’s best. The chess match proved so compelling that Golf Channel’s Live From crew questioned the strategy, then changed their minds after a few minutes when they practically declared Ogilvy the Einstein of team golf. And of course it didn’t work out even with Ogilvy’s left-to-slaughter guys acquitting themselves well—losing 3&2, 2&1, 1 Down—while his stars appeared to hit a wall in the same way that almost felled the Europeans at Bethpage.

It's a very different system, and in the past has been used to create marque matchups, think Tiger v. Ernie (they played each other that Sunday even before the OT holes, which one does in made-for-Tv events).

Here it was pretty interesting.  I did think the Scottie move felt odd, but at the same time I think each captain got what they wanted.  And we might want to remember that two hours in, it looked like Ogilvy had a chance of it working out.  It was an interesting way to play a bad hand, but we should remember how few face cards he had.

Dod begs to differ:

Data worship. Pundits working off of the numbers said this might be the greatest American team…on paper. “Miles better” than the opposition…on paper. The match that was the most lopsided…on paper. This, even though the International side is required to play the same Tour to be eligible where we’re regularly told anyone can win any given week. So it’s surprising how many smart people who play the game believe “win probabilities” based on stats hold deep meaning. You’d think after all these team events and data-driven declarations that the numbers would be seen as just one tool carrying a bit more weight than, say, the player’s astrological sign. So until we get daily stats that incorporate how a player is feeling after a 3 am wake-up call for a Saturday morning match, or quantification of their marriage health, or their Strokes Gained After Taking A Month Off Prior To A Team Matches, there are still only two stats that matter in pairings construction: steady ball strikers in Foursomes, and birdie-makers for Four-balls.

 And even on formats:

Four-ball needs to speed up. Modern professionals have been allowed to sully what can be a the most strategic team format. Thursday’s opening four-ball match featuring Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns vs. Sungjae Im/Min Woo Lee took five hours and 23 minutes to complete 18 holes. While there are the usual caveats created by the time it takes to get around a 7500-yard-plus course with greens Stimping over 13, the opening four-ball had no lost ball searches, no waits on tees, and no complicated rulings. They are just slow. But four-ball in all team Cup events has become a five-hour-plus affair. This is sad since the format gives us intriguing moments not seen in any other part of the sport: players hitting shots they normally would not play in the name of helping their partner. Or forced decisions in key moments based on what the opposition is up to. That’s what makes the format so much fun on a remotely interesting course. But who can enjoy it when the average hole takes 18 minutes to play? If we’re lucky.

Foursomes needs a policy tweak. I get that spread-out routings often don’t allow for this suggestion, but it’d be nice to see Captain’s Agreements in future matches to encourage the players not teeing off at the non-par-3 tees to walk ahead with their caddie as happens in proper Foursomes. And no, in walking ahead don’t have to socialize with the enemy, as golfers do in a traditional foursomes play. But when the pace tips a few minutes over four hours as it did in Saturday’s idyllic weather alternate shot play featuring great golfers hitting good shots, it’s gotten too slow.

Fact is that Four-balls have become borderline unwatchable.  The guys don't make any bogeys, so they tend toward putting contests....

I shall leave you here.  Nothing set in stone, but for the next few weeks you might see me more on Tuesday than on Monday, not that much of importance will happen in our little golf world.  Have a great week. 

Weekend Wrap - Medinah Mulligan Edition

Did anyone watch any golf this weekend?  I mean, anyone?  Bueller?

Just a few quick notes and then I'll let you get on with your week.

The Cup That Can't Shoot Straight - I know, I typically save that one for the LPGA, but the Prez Cup, which is fine if one manages expectations, just can't be what folks want from it.  The missing ingredient is bad blood, Ernie Els just not being ale to channel his inner Seve.

It's team match play with 24 great players, so it ought to amuse at the very least.  Of course, if they set as their objective to take the event to the dreariest venues possible, then I have good news for all.  Mission Accomplished!  But Medinah isn't just uninspired, it checks off so many boxes, also being the site of the U.S. team's most humiliating collapse, so I guess, "Bygones"!  And while perhaps there's a case to be made for Medinah as a gritty, old-school U.S. Open style Bataan death March, did it show itself as a worthy strategic match play venue in 2012?  Have you finished laughing?

Let's drop in with thoughts from the Tour Confidential panel:

The Presidents Cup begins Thursday at Medinah Country Club outside of Chicago, with the Americans attempting to win their 11th straight. The U.S. holds a 13-1-1 all-time record in the event and is the favorite once again. What has to go right for the Internationals to pull off the upset? And will they?

Dylan Dethier: On paper it looks as lopsided as ever — perhaps even more so than usual. But this event does have a habit of getting slightly closer than you’d expect, at least until late on

Sunday. It would be awesome for the Internationals to contend; their blueprint for getting there is channeling the energy of Si Woo and Tom Kim plus the unpredictable nature of match play. Look, they have plenty of good golfers too; why not Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Ryan Fox, Hideki Matsuyama and Co.? I dunno. I’m hoping desperately for a fun Sunday finish.

Josh Schrock: They need their top players — Hideki, Si Woo, Tom Kim and Adam Scott — to be a firewall and then hope that the match play variance works in their favor in singles. If their big names get beat up, they don’t have a chance.

Zephyr Melton: They need … a miracle? Only kidding (kind of). But without the talent they lost to LIV, along with being without stalwart Jason Day, I just don’t see a path to victory for the Internationals.

Typically we go into these things thinking there's quite a bit of talent on the International Team and, given the vagaries of match play, there's no reason they can't compete.  But as the writer's note, this year's team is, well, less familiar:

Si Woo Kim 

Hideki Matsuyama 

Ryan Fox 

Tom Kim

Min Woo Lee 

Adam Scott 

Sungjae Im 

Nico Echavarria 

Corey Conners 

Nick Taylor 

Christiaan Bezuidenhout 

Ryo Hisatsune

Doesn't blow you away at the top of the list (the first six were the automatic qualifiers), and I'll bet that Captain Ogilvy struggled a bit to come up with six names.... Of course, they're still pretty good and we keep expecting to find a chip on their shoulder....

Take your pick: Which players will be the respective MVPs for each squad, and which one player might we be sleeping on who has a big week at Medinah?

Dethier: The U.S. team will be anchored by Sam Burns, who doubles as the U.S. sleeper. We are, as always, sleeping on Sam Burns. Ryan Fox is your man on the International side; this is somehow his event debut, and I’d expect him to go all out.

Schrock: The internationals will be anchored by Tom Kim, and the Americans will lean on Xander Schauffele, who I feel is close to being back to top form. I think we’re sleeping on Chris Gotterup’s potential to have a big week and make everyone re-debate why he should’ve been at Bethpage.

Melton: U.S.: Wyndham Clark (with a hot putter). International: Si Woo Kim. As far as sleepers go, I could see Jacob Bridgeman and Ryan Fox having solid weeks.

The U.S. choices were maybe a little more interesting, but no votes for the kid?  That's got to be the pick that Sneds will be judged by, no?   Especially because of this:

'Odd man out' J.J. Spaun got snubbed, so he went to Wentworth and took down everyone, including Rory McIlroy

I'm not a fan of calling such things snubs, since Spaun didn't play well enough to lock down a spot, so that chip on his shoulder is something he is just using for his own purposes.  All athletes do this, at least all who watched Michael Jordan, but we also might not that had he found that chip earlier in the year....

Shane Ryan performs a dubious public service with this:

Presidents Cup 2026: Myth-busting the 12 most common tropes of team match-play golf

Spoiler Alert: The answer to all twelve tropes is, "Well, it depends."  

Trope 1: Always pick the hot golfer

Explanation: Captain's picks (six per side) should be used on players who have shown very good form in the past month or two.

Aquino's take: It depends on what you mean by hot. Are you just considering the last four weeks

and the guy who won two tournaments in that stretch? In that case, the answer is no. With captain's picks, you're looking at a much larger body of work, plus fit for the golf course and fit for potential pairings. If you won on a course that bears no resemblance to the course you're going to play, how relevant is that?

And you have to be so careful, because some players can be feast or famine, and you don’t want to risk catching a guy at the tail end of his feast period. Lucas Glover in 2023 is a good example. (Glover had five top-6s, including two wins, in a seven-week stretch in July and August before the Rome Ryder Cup), where even before the end of qualifying it looked like he might be reverting to the mean.

For my team and most analytics professionals, we don't put a lot of stock in a flash in the pan, even if it's three weeks before the competition. Now, if you widen the sample size to at least a full season, even a little longer, and show me sustained form and consistency over that period, we can have a conversation.

This is laugh-out-loud funny, not because it isn't a valid dilemma, current form vs. a total body of work, and I mostly come down on the latter.

The reason it's so funny is obviously when you look at where these cups are on the calendar.  Recency bias is a real thing, but there's no recency in late September, because the last real golf was in August.  Forget who the captain picks, our idiots in Rome didn't even realize the problem that none of their twelve guys had played in the last six weeks.

Trope 4: Winning partnerships should stay together

Explanation: Across sessions, formats, and even across multiple Ryder Cups, two partners who win should stay together.

Aquino's take: I think of foursomes and fourball as two very different games, so to keep guys together between formats reflexively without any regard to what wins in either format is foolish. I

remember when we got criticized for splitting up Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in '21 after foursomes, and sending Xander out with Dustin Johnson in fourball. They ended up rolling, so the criticism died down quickly, but people get anxious for some reason when it comes to splitting guys up between foursomes and fourball. But they're so different, and, also, from a practical standpoint, you have to split them up at some point if you plan to rest guys.

We've realized it's better to get guys into the matches early, get them feeling that pressure, because the longer you wait, the more the pressure builds. It doesn't help their preparation to keep them off the field. Add in the fact that guys need rest. Why even have a bench of any depth if you're afraid to use it? Another thing I can tell you is that we found a pretty firm relationship between a stressful match in the morning and not playing as well in the afternoon. I'm not going to define what we mean by a "stressful match," but you can kind of guess. And it makes the argument for having a rotation, which means splitting up even successful pairings to get fresh legs in.

I would never be dogmatic or axiomatic about whether one team's success in one format will translate to the other. It can, but you have to do the analysis.

As for keeping winning partnerships together cup to cup, it sometimes works out that way and it’s a great bonus if we can do that, but again, you have to do the analysis. Analytically, partners won’t necessarily be the same players they were two years ago any more than they will be the same players two years from now. Their fit together changes over time and as venues change. So it’s no surprise to see pairings work for a while—until they don’t.

So, no resolution of the pending Reed v. Spieth matter....

Luke Kerr-Dineen demands solutions, and he's got a couple.  Though we'll let him frame the issue:

The Presidents Cup has a systemic flaw. Here are two ways to make it fair

 Is it unfair now?  

This is going to sound like I'm being a Presidents Cup hater. But I'm not. What I am is a Presidents Cup realist.

I like the Presidents Cup … well, the idea of it at least. What I don't like is the systemic flaw in its design that means one team dominates year after year. The overall record in this match that dates back to 1994 is 13-1-1 in favor of the Americans. Even if the International Team pulls off a historic upset this year at Medinah No. 3, the competitive imbalance would remain.

I played around with a bunch of different variations, and these were the two fairest.

Keep an open mind, and let's get into it.

You are gonna love his Plan A, which is really a Plan B:

Option 1: International Team vs. USA-B Team

Again I'll give you a moment to stop laughing....

Here's his B-Team:

 

First things first. I need a volunteer to break the news to J.J. Spaun that he also failed to make the B-Team....that chip isn't getting any smaller.

Secondly, is LKD aware that this event is televised and that they're hoping to draw an audience?  Because, except for Rickie, I don't think most of us could pick these guys out from a post office wanted poster.

The second one is far more promising, although really only in a theoretical sense:

Option 2: A mixed-team event

I can already sense some executive in a suite somewhere shaking his head, dismayed at the thought of having to cut the LPGA Tour into a PGA Tour asset and make less money because of it.

But the thing is, this idea really does make sense! If you took the six highest-ranked men and women on each side, here's how the International Team would look:

It does match strength and weakness perfectly, it's just never going to happen.

Geoff is up with some thoughts on the Spaun "snub", which he attributes to a fave cause:

“It was disappointing to be left off,” Spaun said after his second-round 66 at Wentworth. “I kind of hung my hat on my experience with the Ryder Cup last year. I made it to the Tour Championship this year. I won in San Antonio. I kind of did everything I could. I was the odd man out.”

Spaun was 2-1 in his Ryder Cup debut. Presuming he was healthy and the Presidents Cup is serving as a springboard to next year’s match at Adare Manor, Spaun should have been an easy choice given his strengths and America’s dreadful foursomes play.

• Americans have gone 3-13 in foursomes in the last two Ryder Cups and are 13-24-1 in the last five matches.

• Spaun’s fairways-and-green consistency would seem like, at least to most upright golfers, a massive plus in foursomes (11th in 2026 SG Tee-to-Green) where nothing unravels a partnership faster than a wayward striker.

• Spaun has an easygoing personality that makes him easy to pair up in foursomes, another vital element in a format that can create stress between golfers not used to alternating shots.

• Spaun has two more tournament wins this year and one more career major than Cantlay.

he did WD from East Lake due to a shoulder issue, so you'd think Sneds might have hung his hat on that issue.

But it all comes down to Phil's Phucking Ryder Cup Task Force:

Snedeker may have caught a rare hybrid case of Task Force Loyalty and Youth Derangement Syndrome by picking Cantlay, Koivun and Jacob Bridgeman (who saved the Captain by winning this week’s new PGA Tour Biltmore Championship Asheville).

The latter two players are viewed as “the future” for America’s Ryder Cup hopes, and there have been rumblings that Tour leadership pushed for the Koivun pick in the name of servicing the coveted demo (Michael Thorbjornsen and Ryan Gerard had better years and would have been worthier choices if “new blood” was the goal). Snedeker’s picks may still pay dividends if the young Americans go on to make next year’s Ryder Cup team. But his decision to leave off Spaun highlights another instance of the United States trying to mimic Europe in a situation that’s not necessarily comparable (Luke Donald selecting Ludvig Aberg for the 2023 Ryder Cup).

We couldn't just let Cantlay go to LIV?  he fits in wonderfully wit that group....

Geoff covers a lot of ground here:

The sportsmanship of these “amateurs” landed in contrast to USA’s Solheim Cup team of professionals. Just a year after Keegan Bradley and others suggested Bethpage’s greens were too slow, America’s Solheim Captain seemed to insinuate that green speeds were artificially rigged against her team and that a dearth of strokes gained data hampered the effort. The other side feasted on a social media video of Captain Angela Stanford serving beer on the bus ride home to fuel another European Sunday celebration. Turns out, there were non-alcoholic options and Stanford was purportedly plying the caddies with a nice libation after the long 36-hole day. One that culminated in a stunning win driven by over 100 feet of Jennifer Kupcho putts that will forever be remembered in Solheim Cup lore.

But because organizations remain absurdly obsessed with feeding the social beast, down to showing every moment short of morning constitutionals, a Saturday night bus video showed a presumptuous team celebrating the day and an inevitable victory in Singles. Those perennial European underdogs—even with the continent 12-5 in Solheim and Ryder Cups since 2010—pounced.

The Saturday episode also served as another reminder of why the documentation of every single moment is unfair to non-USA male professionals getting paid. Cup players in the Solheim, Curtis and Walker Cups are playing for free on their own time. They deserve some element of protection and privacy when putting themselves on the line.

I love his rants, but maybe a little more focus would be useful.  I mean, a big difference between the young ams at Lahinch and the grizzled vets at the Solheim.

From a prior Geoff post, some quotable quotes:

Vice Captain Mel Reid on Europe’s win. “We’re just happy that we’re the ones now to take two crates of beer on the bus. They drink on Saturday. We drink on Sunday.”

Rory McIlroy when asked if he’d seen much of the Solheim Cup while playing the Irish Open. “I saw the Americans drinking beer and chanting on the bus on Saturday night. That was interesting. I honestly didn't, but obviously a great result for the European side, after what we did in Bethpage, what the Walker Cup guys did. All we need now is the Internationals to do it in a couple of weeks. That would be great.”

As usual, Rory has life bass ackwards.  The Prez Cup is the best thing that's ever happened to the Euros, and Rory seems to ignore what is, at worst, quite the correlation.  To me, the Prez Cup wins have given the U.S. a false sense of comfort.  The last thing the Euros should want is to face a U.S. team coming off a Prez Cup humbling....

Hopefully, it will be a fun, competitive week at Medinah.  There's a shortage of bad blood so methinks it's not likely to blow us away, but perhaps it can entertain.  Have a great week.

Weekend Wrap - Cups Runneth Over Edition

It's not like I actually watched any golf this weekend, despite there being two events worthy of attention.  I've taken to calling Labor Day Weekend a sports desert, but the week after might over-correct.  Take those two events (the Solheim Cup and the Irish Open from Doonbeg, just down the road from Lahinch), but bury them under the U.S. Open final matches and the first week of NFL games, and can we hear our game growing?

And, as I'll show below, the crazy scheduling will only get worse.... But Shack actually had some gripes about that electric Walker Cup, so stick with us.

Going Dutch - The shame is that the Solheim Cup is a pretty good event.  Not perfect, of course, it's still the Tour That Can't Shoot Straight.  As a matter of perspective, though, the relatively benign follies of the LPGA seem almost quaint compared to the viciousness of the WNBA.  At least nobody in the LPGA appears to be trying to physically hurt Nelly....So, we've got that going for us.

The Solheim Cup does require a certain suspension of belief, to wit, one has to understand that this event hasn't been able to accommodate the actual locus of power in the women's game.  But, setting that pesky detail aside, it's great fun watching the also-rans compete, mostly I think for two simple reasons.  First, team match play is just the bomb, at least when combined with a frisson of genuine ill-will between the teams.  Just the right kind of bad blood has developed over the years, thank you Annika and Suzanne....

From Geoff:

A second straight week of captivating team match play reinforced how much golf’s Olympics “grow the game” quest should have been built around miniaturized versions of the Solheim and Walker Cups. Your loss, IOC.

Because Europe’s thrilling 15-13 Solheim Cup win provided daily entertainment, drama, controversy, brilliant play, and another bit of American point-missing. Even better, it helped overshadow the slow-play-sullied Irish Open featuring a career-low sportsmanship moment from 11-stroke winner Shane Lowry.

NOTE TO READERS:  Remember my issues with embedding photos from Scotland?  They seem to be recurring, as that photo of the Euros would not embed in the usual manner, even with different file formats.  I was able to copy and paste it, but previews indicate it won't  center properly.  Grrrr!

The biggest controversy seemed to be about green speeds, where have we heard that before?

Stanford said it came down the Europeans making more putts on the slower greens and made became the second straight American captain of a professional Cup team to imply green speeds were a problem. “Apparently I didn’t get to know the superintendent as well as I should have,” Stanford said.

Nordqvist shot down the green speed claim. She pointed out that players saw the course in July during Europe’s record heat wave when the turf was lean. Rain has since slowed everything down at Bernardus. The 39-year-old Captain noted that they all play the same courses. “I’m not sure I believe a lot in setting up a way to fit Europe because these girls play the same golf courses week-in and week-out competing,” Nordqvist said.

But, lest we think this year's schedule, with three cups in 4 weeks is crazy, buckle in:

The 2028 Solheim Cup will be contested at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, September 8-10, 2028. That’s the same weekend as the Walker Cup in Bandon Dunes and a week after the Curtis Cup at Royal Dornoch. What a dreadful ask of fans to jam three of the four premier Cup events into a two-week window. This also dismantles an assertion I made to Fried Egg’s Andy Johnson last week suggesting that the organizations engage in more scheduling planning than we see publicly. Unreal.

You can see the ladies' profound strategery, picking a golf course that couldn't possible be confused with Bandon or Dornoch....  I can watch at two of the most spectacular places on the planet or, yanno, Louisville.  Perhaps the local police department will cooperate and let Nelly do a few hours in the hoosegow.

I'm probably glad I missed this bit of nonsense:

Add another to the “Already Bifurcated Game” files: when Team Europe’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen drove into the par-5 16th’s “penalty area,” partner Celine Boutier received relief from a Temporary Movable Obstruction relief because of a bridge in her way. So much for the penalty in the area. Boutier’s drop had to remain inside the hazard, but it was another example of professionals playing by a more generous set of rules and the general defanging of hazards in the elite game. No chance some mere mortal tries to pull that off in their weekly money game.

I'm assuming Geoff meant immovable, but line of sight relief from a hazard?  Geez, 

The Tour Confidential gang dealt a bit more with the actual competition:

Europe beat the U.S. to win the Solheim Cup on Sunday in the Netherlands, winning seven of 12 singles matches to break an 8-8 tie after team play and win (or retain) the Cup for the fourth time in the last five editions. What’s your diagnosis of the Americans’ loss?

Alan Bastable: It was, among other things, a reminder that the U.S. Solheim Cuppers have not

been playing well of late, period, with just two players notching LPGA wins this season. Those two players — world No. 1 Nelly Korda and No. 17 Lauren Coughlin — also happen to be the only Americans in the top 20 in the world. Rose Zhang needed a captain’s pick to make the squad; Andrea Lee came into the week off a couple of missed cuts; and Megan Khang, another of U.S. captain Angela Stanford’s picks, missed the cut in seven of her last nine starts. The Solheim Cup is not an event at which you can afford to come in searching for your game, and the Americans hit far too many loose shots. In fairness, the Europeans weren’t really in form heading into the event, either, but, as so often happens, they rode the home-team vibes and holed the putts they needed to hole. The blue wave early in singles also was a statement. Europe seemed more determined.

Josh Sens: That’s a spot-on diagnosis. It wouldn’t be a Solheim Cup without some second guessing, which we’ll get into below. Meantime, though, another constant in these team events is momentum, and the Europeans were impressive in riding that ebb and flow. After Jennifer Kupcho’s heroics late-day Saturday, the U.S. seemed prime to ride a wave into Sunday. But the wave came early from Europe instead.

Jessica Marksbury: It’s a bit of a cliche at this point, and something we seem to repeat at many international matches for both men and women, but Europe just played better on Sunday. On paper, the U.S. should have prevailed in singles. But golf is fickle, and match play even more so. It just didn’t go our way.

The U.S. is not exactly a women's golf powerhouse, and it showed in singles.

Who was your MVP for each side?

Bastable: For Europe, hard to separate the excellent play of Linn Grant and Maja Stark, considering they won three matches together, including both opening matches in the Saturday

sessions. But gotta give the nod to Grant who was a perfect 4-0, made all the more impressive when compared to her 0-4 clunker at the last Cup. Talk about a bounce back. For the U.S. side, easy: Alison Lee. Unreal week. After taking off 2025 for maternity leave, she came back in 2026 and not only earned her way onto the squad but proved to be the team’s best player. Four matches, four wins, including a singles comeback for the ages on Sunday; Lee was down 4 through 11 to Esther Hensleit and came back to win 1 up, with little Levi on the grounds, rooting on mom. Fabulous stuff.

Sens: Ball don’t lie, as the kids say. I can’t quibble with any of those picks.

Marksbury: No question, it’s the 4-0 ladies: Alison Lee for the U.S. (What a performance!) And Linn Grant for the Euros.

Allison Lee is a great story, especially given her old history with a certain non-conceded putt way back when.

Lastly:

Time to nitpick. What decision(s) from U.S. captain Angela Stanford are you second-guessing?

Bastable: The biggest question of the week was always going to be whether Angel Yin, who had been ill for much of the season and played only two competitive rounds (81-76 at the FM Championship) since June, was going to be ready for the pressure cooker that is the Solheim. Stanford could have swapped out Yin for the U.S. side’s alternate, Lilia Vu, but chose to ride with Yin. Yin said she was ready, but she didn’t look it, going 0-1-1 with at least a few untidy shots that showed her rust. Call me old-fashioned, but I also didn’t love the optics of the U.S. team cracking beers and celebrating on the bus Saturday evening. Can’t help but think that didn’t serve as fuel for the Euros.

Marksbury: The only thing I can think of is pure hindsight: I would have liked to see the U.S. singles a bit more front-loaded. I understand that you need some reserves in case it’s close at the end, but I would have put a still-recovering Yin a bit farther down in the lineup, not the third match out. Those early matches are important in terms of momentum, and the U.S. was not able to capitalize.

Sens: Yin was the big question mark coming in, and she remains the big question mark in the aftermath. Yes, she’d earned the spot, and she was keen to play, but little suggested that her game was Solheim Cup-ready. In retrospect, you can’t help thinking that Lilia Vu would have made more sense. I’m with Jessica as well, though. Among the what ifs is … what if Stanford had gone out early with the players who were in the best form.

Bastable: Regarding the Yin situation, it should be noted that Vu was a curious alternate choice. Sure, she’s a former world No. 1, but she has been woefully out of form, having missed the cut in each of her last 8 starts. You have to wonder if that wasn’t also weighing on Stanford’s decision-making. 

The Yin/Vu thing is best understood as a lack of depth to work with.  The way Vu had been playing, why not go with the lady that actually earned it.  Uncertain form being perhaps better than dreadful form, but it's the paucity of talent.

The Yin And The Yang of Shane - On the one hand, the guy won by eleven, so you'd think winning his home Open might have a fellow walking on air.  But even the seemingly affable ones seem to have anger issues.

Your humble blogger hates that an actual links event was held on a weekend where the major sporting events were stacked like cord wood, but it is what it is.  So, props to Shane Lowry for blowing the field out of the water, but see how you feel about this, as per an AI call and response:

The Incident and Reaction

• The Shot: Lowry hit an errant, hooked tee shot to the left on the par-4 18th hole at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, sending the ball toward a crosswalk area where marshals and volunteers were standing.
• The Hot Mic: After shouting a warning, he was caught on camera and mic saying, "They deserved to get hit".
• The Backlash: Fans expressed anger online, calling the comment disrespectful to tournament volunteers and demanding an apology.

 And how did he rationalize his disregard for humankind:

Lowry's Response

Lowry later addressed the frustration that led to the comment, explaining that movement by people crossing the fairway while he was trying to play a difficult shot had annoyed him. He noted that marshals have a tough volunteer job, but felt they were sometimes in the way during a chaotic round. Despite the controversy, Lowry kept his focus and went on to win the tournament by an 11-shot margin.

Oh, the inhumanity!  yes, the people that fund those outsized purses are occasionally in the way.....  Apparently line of sight relief from hazards isn't enough to keep Shane from getting cranky in the midst of an 11-shot win.  Noted.

Walker Cup Afterglow - Interesting follow up thoughts from Geoff, some a bit more critical than one might have expected.

There's a lot of great stuff in his "Champions" post, that I'll just skim for you:

The Mid-Amateurs. Stuart Grehan and Stewart Hagestad carved out a special place in Walker Cup lore thanks to their golf and classy presence. The only thirty-somethings who are supposedly

playing as token nods to the mid-amateur game, led their teams. There’s a case that they were the respective team MVP’s between their play, leadership, and example-setting. As the lone Irishman expected to thrive in his home country, Grehan was expected to play well at Lahinch. Captain Dean Robertson slotted him first out and rode him like he had Ruby Walsh on Hurricane Fly. Grehan broke slowly in all four matches but never lost patience knowing Lahinch’s reputation as a closer’s course. He was part of or directly responsible for 2.5 points, 18 eagles, and two birdies despite hitting an adrenaline wall after Sunday morning’s USA sweep. But he regrouped and won a key early point in the afternoon. America’s old war horse, Hagestad, delivered his usual intensity in Walker Cup number six. Going 1-1 in two singles matches, he seemed more introspective and served as a calming presence for an inexperienced team. While he trailed most of Sunday and never led against Eliot Baker, the 35-year-old made three birdies, one eagle and without looking nearly as good as he did the day before, still got his match to the last hole. Baker prevailed with a huge birdie. Even after a tough loss, Hagestad shared this about the crowds on Sunday night while GB&I team could be heard celebrating in the tent next door:

“I spoke to someone this morning that drove in from 2 1/2 hours away. I was blown away at how courteous and how lovely and supportive and genuinely excited to be here and excited to watch great golf. It was a lot of just moments with parents and their kids.

“That’s what the event’s all about. That’s the definition of growing the game, and I have my own thoughts on that expression as a whole, but that is -- it was really, really great to see just the sincere appreciation for the sport, for the event. Everyone was wonderful. So credit to them.”

I've always considered the mid-Am thing to be profoundly silly, but I may be dead wrong.   Our guy has become legend, although that's a rookie error, leaving me no adjectives to describe what Stuart Grehan accomplished.  It was really great, and I keep thinking back to Mike Bamberger's silliness about Tiger being a Walker Cup captain, when he refused to Captain the Ryder Cup team, presumably because there were afternoon sessions.  That suggestions seems even more ridiculous a few days later, when you see how the captains bonded with and supported their young men.

Here's one of those trademarked effortless segues:

The Captains. Dean Robertson and Nathan Smith set a bar that will forever be tough for their predecessors to match. Besides doing smart lineup work and putting out teams that performed

brilliantly, the GB&I and USA squads did it with class. Both instilled just enough respect for the privilege of playing the Walker Cup without getting excessively preachy. Both generally kept a low profile during play, with Robertson choosing to go with one match each session and Smith popping up on par-3 tees and the 18th hole Sunday to support the last player with a chance to clinch the Cup. They’re nice fellows. They didn’t overthink anything. And they didn’t need to remind you of their past playing exploits. They get it.

His cutmakers column did have some concerns, beginning with this fave hole:

The Dell. No one wanted to say it, but the wee blind hole was a bit of a snoozefest in the first three sessions. But the Golf Gods dropped a dime and Sunday singles saw some of the weirdest shots of the week after a heavy headwind turned our valiant +5’s into 15’s. We had sketchy skulls, half shanks and a few balls hitting the face of the slope. But then there was Tyler Watts playing the niftiest run-up you’ll ever see. I’m sure it’s exactly what he envisioned.

 

I thought it was maddening when early in the singles the Yanks kept coming up two clubs short.  Those chips didn't work out quite as well.

This belongs in the prior Champions post, though demerits are warranted:

Live coverage. This was the first time that American viewers got extensive coverage of the matches beyond truncated windows or weird, low-budget highlight packages. And with Sky and YouTube live streaming, the world had access to the matches for the first time as well. Using a world feed hybrid of announcers from both sides of the Atlantic, the time devoted to all four sessions amounted a long overdue change, as were elements fans have come to expect like tracers, aerial perspectives and lead voices in Andrew Cotter and Steve Burkowski who come prepared. So it’s hard to complain. Except when the coverage inexplicably seemed to think the Walker Cup was over when it wasn’t. Analyst Notah Begay began lauding America’s depth as the difference in the 51st when there were still two matches on the course with the chance to flip the outcome. Dewey defeats Truman-level stuff. The production then disastrously decided to interview match winners like Ryder Cowan with crucial golf to show. The telecast missed Connor Graham and Miles Russell’s shots into the 18th hole but oddly was showing Tyler Watts’ in the group behind the match even though the contest ahead would determine if Watts vs. Hill would even matter. Analyst Paul McGinley, who was superb given his doctorate in match play and Irish golf, could be heard wondering what was going on with Graham’s shots into 18. You know, since the Scot had just birdied the 17th to get to 1DOWN and was suddenty in reach of a huge half-point to keep the thing going. The finishing coverage was one of the great debacles in golf TV history but thankfully did not mar what was otherwise a breakthrough week where the Walker Cup finally got the airtime it deserved.

Yeah, they're idiots, but our idiots.   I was expecting two-hour windows for singles only, and never expected to see Klondyke and Dell.  So, I'll take the nonsense in return for all-day coverage (especially from these kinds of venues).

Do you know about the goats?

Maggie and Nancy. The two goats at the opening ceremony worked as stand-ins for what’s left of Tommy Walsh’s original herd, reportedly sent on a one-week vacation to mow a pesky hillside on the Amalfi Coast. And we get that having the old weather-watching herds of yesteryear is not ideal, but given how much the goat has become synonymous with the place, the Golf Loving Goats Society Of The World thinks the effort should be made to maintain the tradition, no matter how many golfers they follow, hoping for just one smoked cheddar crisp.

 No, not a Tiger kind of GOAT, a real one.

Thank God for this:

All Square. You were officially replaced in 2019 and “Tied” was used last year at Cypress Point. The R&A sent a nice message by invoking the option to still use All Square and with the Rules of Golf meetings coming up in London, might we have a chat about fully restoring Hazard over Penalty Area, Through the Green over General Area and Casual Water over Temporary Water? And while we’re at it, how about limiting the tee at two inches and reinstating that driver COR model local rule idea. I hear the kids think retro restoration is all the rage!

 Now can we work "halve" back in.....the old-timey language is an asset, not a curse.

Here's some actual architectural thoughts from Geoff, and a funny bit as well:

Lines. My only strong memories of Lahinch from being there 39 years ago were of the Dell, the Klondyke green, the goats and the large expanses of turf. Both in front of the clubhouse area and among the lower holes by Liscannor Road, the course featured connected fairways that reinforced the “St Andrews of Ireland” moniker. Lahinch at its best is wild and should have an aesthetic to match. I know the walkways are nice off the tees and won’t be going away. But fewer mowing lines and more fairway cut would only highlight its best features while driving home the wild golf sensibility. Bring back the open field look of Nos. 1 and 18. And eliminating the large swatch of intermediate cut would not make the course any easier, but it would turn the focus to the landscape a bit more without competition from too many lines on a course that should be the ultimate expression of free, unmanipulated natural golf.

 I get it, but this follows logically:

Penalty Area Lines. We know the life preserver is mandated. But did we need to use as much paint as there is water in the hazard? Don’t get me wrong, hell of a paint job on the slope. Marvelous, really, keeping the balance, etc…but it does not need to be seen from outer space.

 It is pretty jarring, though comfort is found in it being the only water hazard on the course.

I don't know if Geoff has his usual third post on the event, typically the most amusing as he names names.

That's it for now.  Have a great week.