Weekend Wrap

I'm thinking that if I dive right into the wrappage you won't even remember my Friday absence.... It was all in a good cause, as I received a last-minute invite to go play Mountain Ridge, an exceptional Donald Ross track.  Bygones?

Safeway Shenanigans - Early yesterday evening Employee No. 2 heard a groan escape from the man-cave...  She asked if it was my Yankees, to which I responded that Shack's bllod pressure had just spiked 10 points.

First, the game story:

Brendan Steele is the Safeway Open champion! (No, this is not a copy and paste.) 

The 34-year-old fired a 3-under 69 Sunday in Napa to go from two behind to two ahead. Steele won this tournament last year with an 18-under total, this time needing 15 under to get the job done. Maybe he couldn’t match the score, but Steele earns back-to-back wins at this event. This is his third career PGA Tour title and he of course has now captured the Tour’s season-opening tournament each of the last two seasons.

Leading the 2017-28 FedEx Cup points standing....  Too soon?  

Here's the background on Geoff's frustrations:

Finau was trying to chase down Brendan Steele when he pulled his approach to the 12th

hole at Silverado Resort and Spa, plugging into a greenside trap. The subsequent blast appeared to be racing past the hole but it collided with the ball of Jason Kokrak, who had just chipped to within a few feet of the hole from 30 yards off the green. 

Instead of facing a lengthy par putt, Finau's ball instead stopped just 2 feet away and he easily converted the save.

The word you're searching for is "backstopping", the increasingly prevalent practice of leaving balls unmarked on the green when their position can only help one's playing partner.

Over to Geoff:

During Sunday's Safeway Open final round we had yet another example of the backstopping practice prevalent only in men's professional golf (here, here and here for 2017 samples). In case you haven't been watching, this is the now-regular practice where golf balls are left down on a green unless it's in the path to the hole, with various motives and theories as to why this has become practice instead of players simply marking their ball to protect the field. Speed of play is cited as the reasoning.

Watch the video at either of those two links and you'll quickly grasp the concept.  As is often the case, every time a player opens his mouth on this subject the hole deepens.  First, today's beneficiary of the "luck", Tony Finau:

"Funny thing is, I forgot he hit. I was so focused on what I needed to do and how hard my shot was," Finau said. "I hit a perfect shot, but it was still going to go about 25-30 feet past. It was a bonus to hit his ball. I used the rules to my advantage, I guess, not knowing."

You forgot?  But if I may, isn't there a little tell in there, as though he senses that he might have ceded the moral high ground?

But filing an amicus brief on behalf of Mr. Finau is none other than Player of the Year Justin Thomas, who also seems to be dealing with moral ambiguities:

You got that?  It's a God-given right to take advantage of another player's ball on the ball, and anyway it only happens FIVE times a year.  To paraphrase Groucho, these are my principals.  If you do't like them, I have others....

It's the tone deafness that's amusing me so.... Were the players to openly conspire to assist each other in this manner, the remedy would be disqualification of both.  So it's done with a wink and a nod and justified as being for God and country and pace-of-play.....Shall we let Geoff rant on?

While many don't see this practice as a major issue, I do not agree for the very simple reason that professional golf's success is built on the integrity of its players. Corporations pay handsomely to be part of professional golf because they view the athletes as the most honest and upstanding in all of sports. Many fans follow the sport and love it because the athletes have such integrity. 

Having a top player openly confessing to taking advantage of a ball on the green to possibly better his chances of finishing near the hole, is not great. If we found that his peers knows he does this and leave the occasional ball down to help him, we'd have the makings of disqualification for violating the rules. That this is even a "thing" speaks to a cultural shift and behavior that, if it becomes commonplace, could cause some to question the integrity of the players. Or, at the very least, make fans question if the players are legitimiately competing or colluding for peculiar reasons.

You might find this analogy a stretch, but I was flipping back and forth to the Cowboys-Packers game and I find the players inability to understand how this looks to the rest of us similar to the NFL's reaction to player's taking the knee during the anthem.

Everyone has grievances and everyone thinks the way they do about things, but at a certain point one needs to be able to walk to the other side of the table for that perspective.  For the NFL, pissing off half your fan base is just simply bad for business, whatever the underlying merits of the protest might be (and they're at heart pretty much all about virtue-signalling).

But Justin Thomas sounds every bit as whiny and privileged as Colin Kaepernick, and golf will suffer from that comparison....

Linksy Excellence - I caught just a bit of the final few hole from The Old Courses, this being the takeaway:

Ross Fisher was left to rue a missed putt on the final hole after setting a new course record at St Andrews in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. 

The 36-year-old carded a final-round 61 to finish second, three shots behind defending champion Tyrrell Hatton after threatening to score a magical 59. 

Fisher required an eagle on the final hole to close on 59, but left himself a long, uphill putt that finished five feet short and then his birdie putt rolled narrowly past.

He kinda gagged on that putt for 60, but I'm only surprised that this didn't happen sooner... 

But it's the combination of Fisher's round with this that has the Twitterverse apoplectic:

Having welcomed an addition to his family last week, Tommy Fleetwood so proudly

added an entry to his rapidly-expanding CV on Friday. A course-record 63 anywhere is impressive, but at Carnoustie it verges on the remarkable. 

Dubbed the “Beast of Angus”, the links is widely regarded as one of the toughest courses in the game, having claimed many scalps of the decades, most infamously that of Jean van de Velde at the 1999 Open. But For Fleetwood it was not a case of “Carnasty”, but “Carnicey” as he waltzed around with nine birdies and nine pars, including a three on the 18th where the Frenchman took that treble-bogey seven 18 years ago.

Carnicey?  That's a new one...

Given the nature of the event, a Pro-Am for all four days, this is inevitable in a week with only a wee breeze.... Shack has all of the reactions here, and I've nothing to add.  With our governing bodies abdicating the case for bifurcation couldn't be clearer, I just can't see who will take it on and save is from the madness...

'Tis the Season - No, not THAT season.....  Lord knows, I think we have another month before we start tormenting ourselves with Christmas carols...

But it is the season that we play the "Leaf Rule", meaning of course that conditions are not optimal.  Remember Matthew Southgate?  He took it on the chin for a leaf rule that's actually a rule, but I like his reaction to it (a review of the incident and video can be found at the link):

“It was poor from me to not know the rules of a game I’ve played since I was two. I take full responsibility. ­People say it’s bad luck but it’s not bad luck because I should have replayed the shot and could have made four. But I didn’t and it became nine, and that ­became me missing my card. I’ve only got myself to blame. I’m not annoyed with anyone else.” 

The best wishes of his peers have not assisted much either; and neither has their collective ignorance. I asked 10 different pros at the Dunhill Links if they were aware of that particular rule and all admitted they were not.

Selection bias, perhaps?  There being no trees in linksdom, there are accordingly no leaves... 

I'd just like to contrast that reaction with Rory's from Abu Dhabi a few cycles back, where he petulantly informed us that he's got better things to do than reading the rule book.

And contrast this bit with JT's reaction above:

“And people also say I was unlucky because I had the cameras on me at the time. But if they weren’t, I’d have a PGA Tour card and I would have it by breaking the rules. And imagine 10 years down the line when a leaf hits someone else’s ball and I’d see it and think, ‘that’s what happened to me and I shouldn’t be here’. How bad would that feel?”

Perhaps a reporter might note this reaction and contrast it with, oh, I don't know, Tiger's?

Amateur Doings -  This was announced last week, and color me skeptical:

For nearly 30 years the U.S. Mid-Amateur champion has received an awfully big spoil for his victory: an invitation from Augusta National to play in the Masters. Now a 

Poster child Stewart Hagestad.

victory in the premier amateur event for players 25 and older will come with a second major carrot. During Thursday’s evening reception for the 264 players competing in this year’s U.S. Mid-Am, which begins on Saturday at Capital City Club in Atlanta, USGA president Diana Murphy announced that the winner will receive an exemption into next year’s U.S. Open. 

Similarly, the winner of the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur next month at Champions Golf Club in Houston will get into next year’s U.S. Women’s Open. Additionally, the winners of the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls’ Junior this past summer, Noah Goodwin and Erica Shepherd, will get exemptions into their respective Opens as well.

Second prize is an exedmption into two U.S. Opens....

Before I weigh in, I'll let you know that Shack is favorably-disposed to the move:

While some might see this as chipping away at qualifying spots for the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open--because it is--the move seems like a smart way to validate the importance of other national championships. Given that these winners get to the Sectional stage and many have qualified for the Opens anyway, it will give the events and amateur golf just a bit more of a boost.

I think the Mid-Am is the more justifiable of the two, although there's irony to be savored.  The fact of the matter is that the Masters is such a get for these guys, that the marginal buzz from a slot in the U.S. Open will get lost in the shuffle...

But sending a Junior to the U.S. Open is just silly...  It's a complete waste of a spot in the field of our national championship.

Fan Behavior - I've previously noted that the 2024 Ryder Cup scheduled for Bethpage has me concerned about fan behavior.  Last week Audrey Leishman, she of the near-death experience, filed this blog post about fan behavior at Liberty National:

The rest of the week didn’t get much better nor did the insults. Someone yelled

“Blooming Onion!” to Marc. Check yourself and your facts because that’s not Australian in the least. Another yelled, “avocado!” at him. I feel sorry for you because if you don’t understand how delicious an avocado is, then you are living a sad, sad life. “You eat cereal with a fork!” Oh friend, maybe that’s actually you who does that, because how would you even think to say that? I understand that this was not every fan. In fact, I believe that most of the people acting that way were not actually golf fans. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that they were the loudest and that the people around them did not ask them to stop.

I didn't know that Audrey is American and I'll note that listening to fans screaming at one's husband is likely a difficult thing, though there are far worse things than "Blooming Onion" for sure....  In fact, i smiled a little when I saw that...was that wrong of me?

What's hard is that she takes exception with some of the language used, such as this:

After the first day, the Internationals were obviously down. I was watching the Golf Channel and heard Brandel Chamblee say, “If you’re Captain Nick Price, what do you do when you’re looking at a massacre?” Well, Mr. Chamblee, after the devastating tragedy in Vegas this week- I want to ask you: Was that kind? Necessary? True? I don’t think it improved upon the silence.

I'm sorry, but I think Audrey is just being a little over-sensitive here....  yes, Brandel could have used the word "rout" instead of Massacre, but let's remember that the Las Vegas shooting hadn't yet happened when Brandel spoke those words.

Now our Tour Confidential panel took this issue on, but appropriately focused on last year's Ryder Cup:

1. Marc Leishman's wife, Audrey, wrote a blog post criticizing American fansfor the way they treated International players at the Presidents Cup. She said she was "thankful my boys weren't there to see the way people were treating their daddy." Rory McIlroy also had a fan kicked out at Hazeltine during last year's Ryder Cup (he probably deserved it for his expletive-filled rant), and Sergio Garcia called the way that same Ryder Cup crowd acted "quite poor." Do we have a problem here? 

John Wood: Absolutely. I am working on an essay about this exact subject, and it's much too long to write here, but hopefully in the next few days it will be ready on GOLF.com. Stay tuned. 

Jeff Ritter: John, that was a masterful way to request a deadline extension on your essay! A seasoned journalist couldn't have done it any better. And I agree. It's not the majority, but a few knucklehead fans have popped up in the past two U.S. team events and had a negative impact. Gotta clean that up. I'm just not sure how.

Reminds me of the Gabby Gifford shooting, a direct result of Sarah Palin's martial imagery....  Except that it wasn't.

Things that are competitive will never be free of martial imagery, nor should they.  We can, however, expect and demand civility from a crowd of golf spectators. though the enforcement mechanisms are a challenge.

I'm profoundly worried about Bethpage, though that's a few years off.

Gotta run, but I promise more tomorrow.

Thursday Threads

I'm going to savor those precious last few minutes of the off-season....  Just a couple of items for your day.

Inside The Ropes - You know John Wood by now.  Best known as Kooch's luggage handler, but also from his engaging commentary with the Tour Confidential panel and as the guy that NBC/Golf Channel really should have hired in lieu of Bones....

Woodie spent some time with Golfweek's Dan Kilbridge talking about that epic Sunday at Birkdale:

The symphony builds steadily throughout a Sunday morning at a major championship. 

It’s a distinctive sound. Almost therapeutic.

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. 

One well-struck range ball after another. 

The melody wanes into mid-afternoon quiet, and suddenly a caddie is left with the realization there are just two players left on the driving range and a 2:30 p.m. tee time to make. He doesn’t know what the next 18 holes at Royal Birkdale will hold, but he knows one absolute truth. 

“Four hours from now, something great is going to happen to one of you two,” John Wood said.

Nice lede....  This, though, is the part most folks want to relive:

Wood heard the reaction but never saw Spieth’s tee shot. 

The tee shot. 

“You kind of look up, and when the guys hit a drive you have a visual window where the ball should be somewhere in there,” Wood said. “I looked up and I honestly had no idea where the ball went.”

None of us did, John...

Kuchar and Wood waited nearly 20 minutes while Spieth and his caddie, Michael Greller, located Spieth’s errant tee shot and tried to figure out how to drop and play on. A big screen left of the fairway gave Wood a vague idea what was going on as they waited. He doesn’t recall any specific conversations during that time. Kuchar probably talked about his kids. Wood might have discussed a book he was reading. A bit of normalcy amid the chaos. 

“At a certain point we just started laughing,” Wood said. “That’s all you could do. You’re going, ‘This is a funny situation. I’ve never been in something like this.’ … (Kuchar) didn’t get frustrated by it. He just kept calm, and we were sitting back there telling stories and laughing. That was the best way we could handle it, really.”

What do you think?  Best day of golf in 2017?  Certainly the most exciting Unplayable Lies we've ever seen, yanno, except for this blog...

There Will Be Blood -  Rex Hoggard on the Tour finally reaching the 20th century in one important regard:

The PGA Tour introduced its anti-doping program in 2008 under the guise that golf,

although widely believed to be free of the doping scourge that had tainted so many other sports, needed to show the world that it was “clean.” 

For years, the circuit has pointed to its testing record – with only a handful of low profile and largely innocent violations – as proof the game is above doping, but there was always a hole in the Tour’s anti-doping policy. 

Since the program began, the Tour has only used urine to test for violations, which detects the vast majority of drugs a player may use to gain a competitive advantage, but not every drug.

One can only evaluate the effectiveness of a program by comparing it to the program's objectives.  The drug-testing regime of Commissioner Ratched was specifically designed to perpetuate a myth, and in that regard was quite successful, including the requisite small sample of sacrificial Tour rabbits.  

Rex's piece is interesting in that it still seems unclear when the blood samples will be taken, with even a suggestion that blood might be taken prior to a round.  Given that there are folks from whom the drawing of blood can be an issue, I would think that Sunday night might make the best sense.

Paul Casey is the most-quoted player, and had this suggestion:

“Why can’t we do hair samples, because then you can actually trace further back?” asked Casey, who is also an amateur cyclist. “There are certain drugs that are flushed out of the system within a day or two days, hair actually holds that drug in the follicle longer.”

Interesting....  I mean, who knows doping better than a cyclist?  They learn how to mask their doping as they're transitioning away from training wheels...

But on the flip side, good luck getting a hair sample from Furyk or Cink....  And if you want one from Jordan, time is very much of the essence....

We have our fun with this, but this is a good and important move by the Tour.  Let's just hope it's rolled out in a serious manner.

That Name Is Taken -  Jay Monahan has sent out his Save the Date notifications:

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Tiger Woods’ tournament outside Washington is still talking to potential title sponsors, including Quicken Loans, which did not renew. But it’s on the schedule for the new season as The National, and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan says it’s not coming off.

Jay, I'm mostly a fan of your work, but THE National is an historic golf course at the Eastern end of Long Island, not a second-tier Tour stop.

”We made the commitment,” Monahan said. ”Our players are going to be showing up there and we’re going to be playing for that amount of money ($7.1 million).” 

The tournament, run by the Tiger Woods Foundation, originally was scheduled to return to Congressional for 2018. But with uncertainly over title sponsorship, the PGA Tour decided to opt out of its contract with the club for 2018 and 2020.

Has anyone spoken with the nice folks at Bridegstone?  They seem to think that Tiger is worth more today than in the glory years....

Also amusing about this is that Tiger doesn't seem to be all that interested in this event either....  He couldn't be bothered showing up, and added to the absence of a venue it's all a bit amateurish.  But contraction is coming, and this event has a bullseye on its forhead.

 Shinnecock In The Spotlight - Brad Klein tells us what to expect:

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y – When the world’s best players tee it up here for the 2018 U.S. Open June 14-18, they’ll confront a golf course that is substantially different than the one they last faced in 2004. 

The course has been stretched, sculpted, and restored to more of its original character as designed by architect William S. Flynn, whose plan for the course from the 1931 rerouting into the present configuration now hangs prominently in the clubhouse. Fairways have also been reshaped on the edge and in some cases, narrowed.

Jeff Hall, managing director, rules and open championships for the U.S. Golf Association, said that a decision to narrow the fairways marginally came upon reflection about the experience of the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, where uncommonly mild winds made the wide fairways readily accessible to players, diminishing the importance of skilled driving as a crucial element of championship golf. 

“We want to make sure accurate driving is still part of the test, especially if the wind lies down,” said Hall.

As I understand things, the club went through a restoration process and widened the playing corridors.  However, after Erin Hills, the USGA said Holy Crap, Batman, and decided to narrow the place again....  

I also know that my caddie at The National a couple of weeks ago went on quite the rant about the USGA ruing Shinny....  Perhaps Mark W. will enlighten us to what he's seen, assuming he made a trip out there this summer, or has heard from Costello.

There's more of everything except time....Can we do this again tomorrow? 

Midweek Musings

Just a few items for y'all today, as we should all savor the final day of the off-season...  It seemed to really fly by, no?

Lemons, Lemonade - OK, people will rationalize things but were I a Bridgestone shareholder, the sell order would be in at the open:

Tiger Woods is more valuable as an endorser than he is as a player, Angel Ilagan, Bridgestone Golf CEO, told CNBC in a recent interview.

I know, I'm usually heavy-handed with the excerpts, but that's a statement so insane that it could only come from a college professor.... OK, I'll give you some more:

In December 2016, Bridgestone Golf signed the golf legend to a multiyear deal to exclusively play with its Bridgestone balls. Yet as a result of ongoing back surgeries,

Woods hasn't played a single game since the deal (and was also arrested on DUI charges). 

Still, Bridgestone still saw record growth for the first half of the 2017 year.

"Tiger Woods has been very positive for the game. As you know with golf, we've been experiencing declines in the recent years, but with Tiger on board, it's bringing a lot of consumers back to the game and excitement to the game and to Bridgestone," Ilagan said on CNBC's "Power Lunch" last week.

We don't know the details of Tiger's contract with Bridgestone, though we've been told that TaylorMade at least had the good sense to base it upon tourney starts.

It's inconceivable that this deal is looking too smart right now, especially with even Tiger conceding that he may never  peg it again.  

He added that Woods is "the Michael Jordan of golf" and "the single golfer who's had the greatest impact of bringing consumers into [the game]."

Ilagan's suggested that as long as Woods is around (on or off the green), the golf industry is safe. 

"I think the industry is in a little bit of panic, although it really need not be," he added.

No word on the anxiety level among Bridgestone shareholders.... 

Drama Queens - Thank God that the Tour ensures that no one has to see things like this:

As the Web.com Tour Finals wrapped up Monday, the tense final holes featured both joy

and heartbreak for those players battling on the PGA Tour bubble at Florida’s Atlantic Beach Country Club. 

After missing two consecutive cuts and sitting at No. 66 on the money list, Jonathan Byrd considered not even playing the final event. After a pep talk from his wife, he said, he drove down to Atlantic Beach—and proceeded to win the event by four shots. 

"I had nothing to lose this week," he told the Golf Channel, "and that helps." The five-time PGA Tour winner shot a 24-under 260 to book his ticket back to the big Tour.

You've got a mix of kids and grizzled vets like Byrd fighting for their professional lives, perhaps you'd cede them the stage?  Nope, wouldn't be prudent....

There was action all the way down the leaderboard. Byrd and four other players: Shawn Stefani (t-2), Matt Jones (t-5), Cameron Tringale (t-5), and Tom Hoge (t-12) all moved from outside to inside the 25 on the Finals money list. In doing so, they secured their Tour cards for the 2017-18 season that begins in just two days at the Safeway Open. 

Hoge played his last 12 holes in seven-under, capping off his round with a 15-footer for birdie on his 72nd hole. 

And Stefani, who shed tears of joy after putting out on 18, shared runner-up honors with Sam Saunders.

And then there was this unfortunate lad:

The amount of heartbreaks suffered by minor leaguers in pursuit of their PGA Tour card are so plentiful that books have been dedicated to the subject. Add Matt Harmon's tale to

this mountain of misery. 

Harmon entered the Web.com Tour Championship in 29th place in the circuit's Finals standings, with the top 25 earning a PGA Tour card for the 2017-'18 season (which, coincidentally, starts this week at the Safeway Open). He put himself in position to gain status through three days at Atlantic Beach C.C., in 16th place starting the final round. And through 16 holes, his ship was steady, two under on his round with just two holes to go. 

However, Harmon missed a chance to get to three under on the 17th, missing a three-footer for bird. His putting woes continued on the 18th, as the Michigan State grad three-jacked for bogey. Harmon finished one under on the day, a score that moved him outside the Finals top 25.

Coincidentally?   Sorry, had to interrupt the excerpt because that is the funniest thing I've read in a while....

What the GIF stops short of showing is Harmon snapping the offending putter in half before walking to the scoring area.

OK, I'm of mixed minds here...  I of course would never condone violence against defenseless golf clubs, but certain putters have it coming....

I'm favorably disposed to the Presidents Cup, but it stole the audience from this drama-rich event, myself included.  But how much more interesting was this than that which will unfold in Napa starting tomorrow?

The State of the Game -  This was not a particularly well-kept secret, especially as I was there twice this season:

Developer RXR Realty is seeking to purchase the historic 138-acre Engineers Country Club in Roslyn Harbor, the head of the club said Tuesday.

The iconic Two-or-Twenty Green.

On Monday, members of Engineers Country Club, which owns the 18-hole championship golf course, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposed purchase by Uniondale-based RXR, said Cliff Saffron, president of the club. 

The developer proposed buying the course and building a luxury residential project on a portion of the property. A price was not disclosed. 

Of the club’s 84 equity members — those who are entitled to a vote — 81 participated in the voting, with 77 in favor and 4 against the RXR proposal, Saffron said. The club has more than 200 members.

In lamenting this news, Shack has some ill-considered comments about the club:

Besides being a sensational course (reviewed here by GCA's Ran Morrissett), it's been a vital part of golf history with its 2 or 20 hole and other bold features. The course has enjoyed restoration efforts by Gil Hanse and Tripp Davis. Apparently, however, the membership has other priorities beyond stewardship of an important early American design.

What membership, Geoff?  They have 84 equity members, not half of what you'd need for the club to be viable....

Way Coul -  An update from the Scottish Highlands:

Nearly two years ago, Bandon Dunes domo Mike Keiser made headlines with his bold intentions to build a course in northern Scotland—"intentions" being the operative word. Keiser and co-developer Todd Warnock had proposed teaming with golf's greatest 

An oddly featureless photo of the site.

current design duo, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to craft a seaside layout just north of fabled Royal Dornoch, to be called Coul Links. At the time, we called the prospects for the Scottish Highlands course "tantalizing." The mere dune-flecked, beachside setting alone had course connoisseurs salivating. Inevitable, however, were the fierce protests from the anti-development factions, of which there were many. Fast forward to September 29, 2017. The site is still without golf holes, but the door has creaked open ever more slightly. 

As reported by The (Aberdeen) Press and Journal, Keiser and Warnock have spent two years modifying their original proposals, and on September 29, they submitted a planning document to the Highland Council, proposing to move forward with the construction of the 18-hole championship course in the town of Embo.

Not to worry, this will be epic:

Coul Links would occupy hallowed golfing ground, on rumpled seaside linksland less than two miles north of Royal Dornoch, ranked Number 15 in GOLF Magazine's Top 100 Courses in the World.

Coore told Keiser that the land was spectacular—perhaps the best ever. That's saying something, as Keiser is no stranger to jaw-dropping on-the-ocean spreads, having created or co-created Bandon Dunes, Cabot Links, Cabot Cliffs and Barnbougle in Tasmania. 

While the groundbreaking appears to be at least a year away, you can't help but anticipate greatness, given the site and the development and design teams. Royal Dornoch occupies some of the most remarkably varied terrain ever made available for golf. It combines that variety with unparalleled vistas.

Mike has amassed quite the resume.... But this is a Joe Passov item, so they'll be nonsense included:

Regardless of how it winds up comparing to Royal Dornoch, Coul Links will undoubtedly provide one more compelling reason for tourists and purists alike to make the pilgrimage to the region. As recently as the 1960s, Dornoch was considered too remote to be worth the bother. With the recent re-discovery of hidden jewels such as Brora and Golspie, and with the addition of Trump International Golf Links Scotland and Castle Stuart (both with second courses in the planning stages) to the south in Aberdeen and Inverness, respectively, northern Scotland is poised to be a breakout destination all its own.

Yes, this adds to to appeal of the journey North and, while it's a bit of a drive, I'll concede him castle Stuart (and he could have added Nairn).  But Aberdeen, including Trump's course, is nowhere near Dornoch and the other courses he cites.  Sheesh!

Kaching - It isn't often that top-ranked amateurs don't chase the filthy lucre, but this guy at least head-faked in that direction:

The final pieces to the professional puzzle are in place for Maverick McNealy. 

Just two days before his pro debut at this week’s Safeway Open, the former Stanford standout announced several sponsorship deals. McNealy, 21, will play Callaway clubs, ball and glove, wear Under Armour apparel and display KPMG on the front of his hat. 

“The only criteria for me was what’s going to make me play the best, now and for years to come,” McNealy told Golfweek. “Based on the trajectory of the Callaway equipment the last couple of years and how good it is now, it was a pretty easy decision that I want to be a part of that going forward.”

I completely get how KPMG will help you play your best....This interview is also interesting, as like your humble correspondent he's a big fan of the Mack Daddy wedges....  I'll just share this slam of his more-famous father:

OK, final question and most important one: Has your dad started asking for free clubs yet? 

Yeah, except mine are way too stiff for him now. They have right trees written all over it for him. But we’ll work on that.

 These kids today...  No respect for their elders.

'Dis & 'Dat

A melange of items for your delectation this morning....

Wrap-around Follies - Forget the Yanks v. Twins, are you approaching fever pitch for the start of the 2017-18 PGA Tour season?  I know, the off-season really dragged....  It was only an hour and a half, but it seemed more like three.

How might the suits in Ponte Vedra Beach come to understand the absurdity of that which they've created?  This might help:

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — Heavy rain Sunday postponed the final round of the Web.com Tour Championship at Atlantic Beach Country Club until Monday. 

Five-time PGA Tour winner Jonathan Byrd shot a 7-under 64 on Saturday in rainy, windy conditions to take the lead in the last of the four Web.com Tour Finals events that determine 25 PGA Tour cards.

Those "lucky" 25 guys have an early tee time Thursday morning in the Napa Valley....  Their off-season is literally measured in hours.

Shack goes on a first-rate rant on this subject:

Meanwhile the feeder tour that has been designated as the only way to the PGA Tour played its final and arguably most important event against the Presidents Cup. Even more amazingly, the Web.com Tour Finals finished the week prior to the start of the next season.

Asking Web.com players to compete for their livelihood over two months, then turn around and play for their new status before the PGA Tour's eligibility re-shuffle in November is not a rational way to develop new stars.

Oh, is that its purpose?  Because much of what I see looks more like a protection racket....  But it gets worse:

While the PGA Tour brass and some players will continue to defend Tim Finchem's"wraparound" vision for the PGA and Web.com Tours as the proper proving grounds, the emphasis has lost sight of what makes most sense for all parties. 

Besides developing talent, the Web.com Tour is also a tour that should help serious golf fans get familiar with emerging players. Playing against the PGA Tour Playoffs and Presidents Cup certainly won't help on that front. When the PGA Tour had a week off during the playoffs, so did the Web.com Tour. Oy. Vey.

And our Shack doesn't "Oy Vey" lightly, though I do recommend an exclamation point for emphasis.

 I do think Geoff is ill-served by combining the end-of-season fatigue issues (which I especially noticed in Korea in 2015) with the silliness of the wraparound season.  The guys that ran out of gas at the Prez Cup have a legitimate gripe, it's just not related to the Fall portion of the schedule.

Geoff gets at it with this:

The many compelling card-chasing stories we would have learned via the old Fall Finish race or Q-School are getting lost. (This year there was a traditional heartbreaker of a finish for Matt Harmon that was covered because he missed short putts coming in, snapped his putter and missed out on a chance at his card). 

The wraparound was created to save the fall events at the expense of the PGA Tour's very attractive natural January beginning. I just can't see how, given some of the signs of fatigue, the wraparound's impact on players from both circuits is offering a logical ebb and flow for anyone. Nor is it working for anyone but the fall events that get to say they are offering FedExCup points.

I'll begrudgingly concede that the one positive of the Phil Mickelson Ryder Cup Task Force has been to strip these events of Ryder Cup points...  And you thought it was all about the pods.

More importantly, while it's of course important to sponsors to have big names in the field, it's more interesting to a potential viewer such as your humble correspondent to have the guys playing for something important.  That was more the case back in the Fall Finish days, with lesser-knowns playing to bootstrap themselves up into enhanced playing privileges....

Even with the NFL trying to make its appeal increasingly selective, no one will be watching regardless.

A Bad Hair Day - The LPGA had its own epic fail, though since they were playing in New Zealand you might have missed it:

The conditions in the final round of the McKayson New Zealand Women’s Open

produced plenty of drama, and not in a good way. 

After a series of stops and starts Sunday at Windross Farm Golf Course, play was suspended for the day at 5:16 p.m. local time. But some competitors felt that the handling of that final delay potentially put them in danger. 

Heavy rain halted play for two hours early in the day and dangerous weather made for a nearly two-and-a-half-hour delay in the afternoon. Play would then resume at 4:53 p.m. local time before being shelved for the day 23 minutes later. 

What was the issue? The moniker “dangerous weather” was fitting. Brutally high winds began whipping across the course, dislodging signage and forcing players to duck and huddle for safety.

The girls were not amused, as debris was flying all over the place.  I'm sure the organizers were pressing to try to finish on Sunday, but still...

Prez Cup Leavings -  Lots to ponder in the aftermath of the "Romp by the Swamp", including this fine bromance:

Much has been made of the alleged simmering rivalry between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods over the past two-plus decades, but you certainly wouldn’t know it by their actions this week. 

As an assistant captain to Steve Stricker, Woods attended this year’s Presidents Cup in a supporting role—and support he did. 

There he was, smiling and raising his fist in celebration when Phil drained a clutch putt on the 18th hole on Friday afternoon to win his four-ball match against Marc Leishman and Jason Day 1 up, with partner Kevin Kisner. 

He was there again when Phil put away Adam Hadwin in his Sunday singles match, 2 and 1, and this time it was with a warm congratulatory embrace.

Winning cures almost anything, and there's little doubt that it's in both their interests to make nice while the U.S. is on a roll.  It doesn't mean we have to buy all of this:

"Tiger and I have been good friends and have gotten along very well in these team events for many years now," said Mickelson. "Just because it doesn't get reported or shown, is irrelevant. We've worked very well in these team events, and to share in our success has been really fun for us." 

"I think the press has made it out to more than what it has been," Tiger added, referring to his supposedly acrimonious relationship with Phil. "We've been friends for a very long time. We've gotten very close by being on these teams. We've played against each other a lot down the stretch, and we have both enjoyed it."

You can't make the other guys uncomfortable, and it's not hard to make nice when there's winning to be done...  We'll see how it plays out when they take one on the chin.

But in writing the piece Jessica Marksburry's coda reveals her inner ignorant slut:

Well, count me among those still holding out hope for a Tiger/Phil four-ball pairing in Paris in 2018.

Sigh!  I know she's young, but has she even heard of Hal Sutton?

Moving on, Shack begrudgingly writes that LIberty National "worked" as a venue for the event:

Match play served up a miracle cure for Liberty National.

The Bob Cupp-Tom Kite design, once so loathed by pros that it finished last in a 2012 PGA Tour player course ranking, succeeded as a match-play venue. The course Tiger Woods cracked wise on eight years ago in the first of two PGA Tour hosting gigs, made an international name for itself at the 2017 Presidents Cup. Just don’t ask the International Team to recount fond memories after a 19-11 drumming. 

Granted, the resurrection didn’t happen easily. There were the millions spent to execute 74 changes in 2011, including three green rebuilds and a rethinking of the course setup. A successful 2013 Barclays – now the Northern Trust – helped, but a bold re-routing of the course this time around still meant uncertainty as a serviceable venue in spite of the magnificent conditioning by superintendent Greg James’ crew.

Errr.....OK.  It's not so much that I disagree, it's just that the course is utterly forgettable at best.  But the energy of being in NYC, the spectacular visuals and the team match play format were the winners of the week, despite the lopsided result.

Shall we let Geoff go on?

Turns out, the effort paid off and Liberty National will be remembered for more than just the mesmerizing views. 

“I think the course is a great match-play course,” U.S. captain Steve Stricker said. “There’s reachable par 5s, some good par 3s, great setting with the Statue of Liberty in the background.” 

The new routing was introduced with an eye toward getting most matches to reach the club’s waterside 18th with a mid-course stretch of risk-reward holes. Envisioned by John Mutch, the PGA Tour’s advance official in charge of the Presidents Cup, there was also input from PGA Tour Design’s Steve Wenzloff, overseer of tweaks to Liberty National for the Presidents Cup and perhaps again in advance of the 2019 Northern Trust.

You see how low Strick set the bar?   Especially since there aren't too many Par-5's the guys can't reach these days.... 

The Barclays Northern Trust returns here in 2019.  We'll see how we feel about the joint then, but I'm guessing lukewarm at best....

The Fix is In - Everyone and his brother wants to fix this event, but does it even need fixing?  Will Gray has one of the bleaker assessments:

It’s a common goal, one shared by the other 16 men sitting at the podium who at times 

Why the long faces?  Oh, yeah....

seemed helpless in the face of an American juggernaut that won 19-11 and nearly clinched the biennial matches a full day in advance. The International team’s overall record now drops to 1-10-1, and 21 years will have passed since their lone victory the next time the cup is up for grabs at Royal Melbourne. 

In all likelihood, it’s also a goal shared by many PGA Tour executives. This event, after all, is the Tour’s property, created as a complement to the PGA of America-run Ryder Cup. Blowouts like the one seen this week do little to alter the perception that this event pales in comparison to the high-octane spectacle played in the even-numbered years.

But while the goal is shared by several parties, creating productive change for the International squad is easier said than done. 

Consider the uphill battle Price faced simply to get the total points trimmed from 34 to 30. It took nearly two years of lobbying to Tour officials before the change was administered for the 2015 matches, leading to a narrow American victory. It appeared to be a step in the right direction for an event desperate to create any hint of a truly back-and-forth rivalry.

The Prez Cup was created out of frustration at the ill-conceived decision to leave ownership of The Ryder Cup with the PGA of America when the organizations split up, but that was done because at the time it was a worthless exhibition.

Nick Price does hit on the one advantage the Americans have:

Reflecting on his third straight loss as captain, Price went back to familiar refrains: shortening the available points, putting lineups in secretly rather than allowing captains to plot one matchup at a time. 

“We play these team events every second year, and the U.S. team plays every year. So they are a little bit more, I don’t want to say prepared, but they kind of – there’s not as big surprises on their team,” Price said. “I think to put pairings together with a very diverse group as we have, is our challenge.”

Well, that's the major structural advantage.....  I think they also benefit from it being a lower-key, less pressure-filled event than The Ryder Cup.  I'm not sure what can be done about this...  Who would these guys play in even-numbered years?   Though I once jokingly suggested that if the U.S. loses the Prez Cup then the International team should play the Euros....

Karen Crouse proposes a solution that will delight the editorial department in her Eighth Avenue offices:

The solution to this uneven competition is obvious: Make the Presidents Cup a

combined-gender event in which the top six men and the top six women from the United States square off against their International counterparts. No need to change the format of foursomes, four-ball and singles. 

This year’s competition was threatening to be the most lopsided of the biennial event’s 12 editions, with the United States nearly clinching Saturday night before any of the 12 singles matches had been put down on paper — much less played out at Liberty National Golf Club.

Any volunteers to explain to Karen the misogynistic facts of life, that the only programming that draws lower ratings than men's golf is, you guessed it, womyn's golf.  

I noted yesterday that I love that idea, just that it won't and can't happen in this lifetime....

But Karen wrote for her Sunday paper, obviously before the singles beatdown that the Americans endured.  It just seems that folks are way too quick to interpret the rout from the team competition, no?  Golf is a strange game and, while the Yanks were going to win this year for sure, Sunday was a predictable regression to the mean.  

Jaime Diaz is the voice of reason on this subject, as he so often is:

It doesn’t need much fixing or even tweaking. There was enough of that when captain Nick Price finally got a reduction of 34 total points to 30 points, arguing that it gave the Internationals a better chance. And Price’s likely successor, Ernie Els, dropped some

hints that he will be asking for some adjustments to the rules. But more concessions based on the presumption that one team isn’t quite good enough undermines the reason for having the matches. 

What the Presidents Cup most needs – as much as the present moments might scream for something drastic - is the golf audience’s patience to let it evolve. 

In our “what’s next” culture, 1994 – when the first Presidents Cup was played - might seem like an eternity ago, but it’s not long at all in golf years. It’s easy to forget that it took the Ryder Cup nearly 60 years before it got really competitive, or that many of the previous 11 Presidents Cup matches were hotly contested and were excellent theater.

It's hard to imagine this event ever having the intensity of that other one, given that the International team is an artificial construct.  Though perhaps a few years of losing will create an edge that will increase the intensity of the event.... 

But the event is a pleasant exhibition that showcases our game in a range of formats, is that really so bad?

Though this from Brandel Chamblee seems an over-reaction:

I'm very much on board with Brandel Chamblee's suggestion that the Internationals, as hosts, propose a home-field change to the order of play. Given their recent success in singles, Chamblee suggested presumed-captain Ernie Els propose opening with singles to prevent a huge early points deficit. 

It's also a gamesmanship play. The Presidents Cup has generally lacked the chippiness that makes the Ryder Cup so compelling. By using the home field advantage, the risk and potential reward could be enough to turn the tide for the Internationals.

So would better play.

Singles first?  No, that's just all wrong...

What Dat? -  I have to get on with my day, so just a quick item to go out on...  Can anyone identify what this is?

I thought it was the stuff of fiction, like Nessie and the Yeti.  But that, my friends, is an actual foot wedge....  From Greg Chalmers, who found it in the bag of his Pro-Am partner.

Prez Cup Wrap

It was all over by Saturday Thursday evening, so I'll not even bother with a game story...  Though the funniest moment was NBC trying to inject drama into the moment when the Cup was secured, Steve Sands suggesting at one point that the video of Daniel Berger going dormie with Si Woo Kim would be on an endless loop:.  

Daniel Berger earned at least a half point in his match versus Si Woo Kim when he went 3 up with three to play (he later won 2 and 1) to push the Americans' point total to the 15.5 threshold it needed to beat the International team at Liberty National. 

The U.S. entered Sunday with a 14.5-3.5 lead, needing just one point to secure the victory. When it was all over, their margin was 19-11. 

Kevin Chappell and Marc Leishman led off singles matches Sunday, and they both made pars on the 18th to halve the match and earn a half point per side. 

Needing only a halve or a win to clinch, Berger, a Presidents Cup rookie, finished it. He was in the fourth pairing Sunday.

If you tuned in Sunday, and I suspect we'll hear that not many did, it wasn't for the drama...

Now I'll not pretend that this wasn't an unfortunate set of circumstances, but sports can be like that.  The Euros took it on the chin in the opening foursomes session, sleeping Thursday night with a 3 1/2- 1 1/2 deficit.  They proceeded to avoid winning an actual match until that last group out in Saturday's afternoon session, not a winning formula for sure...

Late Saturday Alan Shipnuck posted this mission statement:

We can pretend no longer: the Presidents Cup is dead. I'm sorry to have to deliver this painful truth. It is, in theory, a likeable event, bringing together most of our favorite golfers in a tried-and-true team format. But for years (decades?) the Presidents Cup has been a dreary slog, and this playing has been the most boring yet. 

Quite simply, a sporting event is not fun when the outcome is preordained. The Internationals never had a chance against this powerhouse U.S. squad and they looked defeated from the opening match on Thursday; this thing was all but over on Friday evening, with the U.S. holding an 8-2 lead. That has left us with two soul-sucking days of meaningless golf, during which fans, players and reporters will make a token effort but ultimately fail to convince anyone that they care.

Dead?  Doesn't that imply the existence of life at some point in the process?  So bear with me a second, because two years ago if a professional golfer, one of those guys with his name on his bag, makes a 3-footer then the Internationals would be the defenders and the narrative would be revenge.

I'll circle back to Alan's item, but our Tour Confidential gang did a daily quickie, and this was their Saturday night offering:

The Americans didn't let up on Saturday at the Presidents Cup, and it's simply a matter of time before they clinch on Sunday. In fact, this U.S. squad has been so dominating, we have to ask—is this the best golf team, ever?

 The answers mostly played to type:

Alan Shipnuck: Time will tell. It certainly has the potential to be. But this is like

winning the NFC Championship game—gotta dust the Euros next year in golf's Super Bowl and then we can have a serious discussion about it.

Josh Berhow: It's good, but you need a bigger sample size. And, nothing against the International boys, but they just haven't brought much this week. That makes it much harder to draw a comparison. That said, if you want to be a dominant force, you can't just squeak by the teams you should beat—you have to make a statement. And that's happening this week. So it's a good start.

But when I say playing to type, that was really setting up the great Travelin' Joe Passov:

Joe Passov: For the greatest golf team of all time, this old-timer is sticking with the 1981 Ryder Cup team, which included Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Raymond Floyd and Hale Irwin. Oh, and throw in multiple major winners Ben Crenshaw, Larry Nelson and Johnny Miller, plus past and future U.S. Open winners Jerry Pate and Tom Kite, respectively, and that year's British Open winner and player of the year, Bill Rogers, and you have the ultimate team. Bruce Lietzke was the 12th player—and he had already amassed three victories that season, on his way to 13 lifetime wins. It's no wonder they thumped Europe 18 1/2 to 9 1/2.

I think we can all agree that Joe is getting good value from his Premium membership in Google, because I for one had expunged the estimable Bill Rogers from my memory bank.

But, with the passage of 24 hours can we perhaps dial back the accolades, because the best team evah doesn't get dusted 7.5 - 4.5 in singles....  Evah!

Those same lads circled back to a similar question Sunday night after it was all over:

1. The U.S. thrashed the International side to win the 12th Presidents Cup, 19-11, marking the U.S.'s 10th victory in this competition in 12 tries. Was the rout more a

result of a superior American team or an underperforming International side?

Jessica Marksbury: I think it was a mix of both. The Americans were completely unstoppable in team play, and it seemed like they slowed down a bit in singles. Granted, the Cup was pretty much already in the bag on Saturday night. 

Jeff Ritter: Agreed, Jess. The Internationals couldn't match the U.S. energy over the first three days, and it felt like for every spectacular shot the US pulled off, the Internationals would suffer a lipout or some other bad break. That said, if they staged this match 10 times, the Internationals might win once. 

Alan Shipnuck: Not even once, Ritter.

There's no disagreement that this American team came in deservedly heavily-favored.  In one of our preview posts I noted that the Internationals had lost the one that they really should have won, two years ago in Inchon.  Not only did they suffer from a lack of depth, but virtually none of their top players seemed to come in on form...  Think Hideki, Scott and Day in particular.

So, heroes and goats for anyone?  First, the TC guys:

Ritter: DJ won the most points and JT brought the most fire, but I'll give MVP to Phil, the team's heartbeat. Several options on the Internationals for goat, but Hideki Matsuyama's performance was the most out of line with expectations.

True enough, but then Hideki took down JT on Sunday.... Phil, of course, had quite the charmed week, especially the birdie on No. 18 on Thursday that might have been the most significant of the week.  Mind you, I thought the play in that match was particularly spotty, but a "W' is a "W", right?

And this:

Marksbury: Great pick, Jeff. It's always awesome when a captain's pick really delivers, especially when that guy happens to be Phil. I'll go with DJ, though. An undefeated performance deserves all the accolades. And as for the lower-case goat … I guess you have to go with poor Emiliano Grillo, the only player to be completely shut out of even a half point.

Sigh!  Why pick on the guy from whom nothing is expected and was only picked because Captain Price didn't know how to pronounce the names of the other contenders?  Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama played poorly enough to get themselves benched,  but pick on the guy from the place where no one plays golf.

Alex Myers takes his shot at winners and losers as well:

Winner: Phil Mickelson

Remember when Phil called out captain Tom Watson at the 2014 Ryder Cup at the most awkward press conference in golf history? Well, since that time, he's now a ridiculous 8-1-3 in team competitions following his win over Adam Hadwin on Sunday. If this is the 47-year-old's last Presidents Cup, he went out with a bang. And he got a great family photo on the 18th green to use as this year's Christmas card.

Don't go there, Alex....  By all means credit the man for his play, but that presser was disgraceful....

But this?

Winner: Liberty National

Yes, you probably got sick of NBC showing shots of the NYC skyline and the Statue of Liberty. And if you were playing a drinking game around that, you definitely got sick. But you can't deny that it was a spectacular setting all week. Or that the often-critiqued course presents a compelling match-play venue with a variety of holes and a plethora of water hazards. We just hope the next time Liberty National gets a crack at hosting a team competition that both teams actually show up.

Really?  OK, the views were spectacular, especially since the weather was so good...  I thought the TC guys got this one about right:

Ritter: It took nothing away from the show, and there were some fun holes, especially

the opener where guys frequented the pond. The par-3 closer wasn't bad, either. 

Marksbury: I never got tired of those skyline views. The course looked awesome on TV, and the weather really cooperated. I loved the driveable par 4 and closing par 3. What more could you ask for from an exhibition match-play event? 

Shipnuck: At the majors (and every stroke play event), the players are battling the course. At the Cups, you're trying to beat the other guys, so the course takes on less importance. Liberty National was a perfectly fine venue and I agree it looked awesome on TV.

 But this one from Alex I find bizarre:

Winner: Rules situations

In a week devoid of drama, the Presidents Cup delivered odd rules scenarios on a daily basis. There was Anirban Lahiri being DQ'd from a hole for taking a practice shot on Friday, Jordan Spieth having to concede a hole for scooping up an opponent's moving putt on Saturday, and then there was what happened to Kevin Chappell on Sunday. The American managed to find a TV tower with his tee shot on No. 10, wound up dropping in a hazard, and then being assessed a penalty for grounding his club in said hazard, which prompted a spirited conversation with rules official Steve Rintoul.

He's pulling our leg, right?  I fear that if these guys ever learned the rules that my blog would go dark....

So back to Alan and his miracle cures for the deceased event:

1. Take the Cup on the road. Permanently.

I'm thinking Mongolia, Siberia, Greenland and places like that. If the point is to grow the game, let's be more creative in the venues. Because the only time the Internationals have a chance is when the Americans are forced to fly halfway around the world to play golf for free, which seems to have a dispiriting effect on these capitalists.

Yeah, but we tend to forget that those International players all live in Orlando and Scottsdale as well.  I get that their win and tie (and also 2015's near-miss) all came in home games, but time zones are a bitch in the world of TV ratings...

6. This is the Presidents Cup, so let's gerrymander the teams

Clearly the rest of the world is not enough, so let's give the Internationals two wild-card picks from Europe; how much more fun would this be with Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter in the mix?

There's so much wrong with that last bit, including his lack of civics knowledge, as it's Congressional districts that are gerrymandered....

I was going to channel my inner Jack and suggest that we let them include Continental Europe  as well.  But while he's having fun with it, he missed the most obvious fix, and his TC colleague put in the rebound:

Ritter: As Shipnuck wrote Saturday, anything and everything should be on the table. Gotta say I like the idea of making it a coed match, with six men and six women on each squad. Coed partners for foursomes and four-ball would be cool, wouldn't it? And the Korean women could swing the balance of power back to the International side. At the very least, the powers that be should shave off one day of competition and a few matches in an effort to keep it closer entering Sunday.

That would actually be fun, but we shouldn't hold our breaths....

 Jeff Ritter gives the guys letter grades, some of which deserve comment:

JORDAN SPIETH (3-1-1) – A

Never gave an inch while partnered with Patrick Reed. Raised game even higher Saturday after goofy rules controversy. 

PATRICK REED (3-1-1) – A

Captain America improved to 8-3-1 when paired with Spieth in team events. The legend grows.

Quite the team for sure, but can somebody please explain where they were on Sunday?  I think the biggest question after this week is whether you send these guys out in all four team sessions in Paris?

But clearly we're grading on the curve:

KEVIN CHAPPELL (1-1-1) – B+

Came off bench on Friday with hair on fire, making three birdies in first nine holes. Halved singles match to guarantee U.S. would keep Cup. 

BROOKS KOEPKA (2-2) – B

Indestructible with DJ but didn’t offer much else. 

CHARLEY HOFFMAN (1-2) – B-

Other half of cool “bash brothers” celebration with Chappell. Went bananas after Saturday chip-in. Failed to clinch Cup in second Sunday singles match.

How many balls did Charley put in the water on Sunday?  But this guy deserved a better grade for sure, and I was very happy for him:

ANIRBAN LAHIRI (1-1-1) – B-

Sure, he suffered a disastrous 6-and-5 Friday loss (with Charl Schwartzel), including a rules gaffe that had him DQ’ed from playing a hole. But saved face by drilling key late putts to win a Saturday point, preventing his team from enduring the humiliation of losing the Presidents Cup on Saturday. Picked up another .5 point against Kiz on Sunday. Not bad for a much questioned captain’s pick.

In a curious way, that Saturday match reminded me of the Poulter-McIlroy match at Medinah.... I know, but it set the tone for Sunday, which our clueless commentators couldn't see coming.

And this might have been the best player on their team:

JHONATTAN VEGAS (1-4) – C

Played with passion but dragged down by poor partners. Beat Spieth Sunday. Better than his record. Did Venezuela proud.

His 0-4 record in team play is the most distorted record to be found, as he played well for most of the week.  

Unfortunately we can't leave without a couple of Tiger stories....  Did you see the arm candy?

While golf fans are familiar with many of the wives and girlfriends of the U.S. Presidents 

Cup team, assistant captain Tiger Woods has been accompanied by a lesser-known face this week. 

Erica Herman, 33, was spotted walking alongside Woods Thursday and Friday at the Presidents Cup wearing a “player spouse” credential, which is generally reserved for a wife or girlfriend of the event’s players and captains. In February, a post on tigerwoods.com identified Herman as the general manager of The Woods, a Woods-branded pop-up restaurant at the Genesis Open.

other reports characterize her as Tiger's girlfriend, and I'll just note my relief that she doesn't conform  to his type.  Nice to see some personal growth...

6. During the assistant captains' press conference, Tiger Woods said he "definitely" could see a scenario in which he doesn't return to competitive golf. Could you see that scenario? 

Ritter: If it wasn't possible, I doubt Woods would even open the door. He'd obviously be missed on the course, but there are many ways he can still have a huge impact on the game in an elder-statesman role. Weeks like this one are the tip of the iceberg. 

Shipnuck: I'm sorry to say but I think we're already there.

Well, can't blame Alan for being down, as Mike and he are working on the sequel to The Swinger....  But a brunette and some actual honesty, not a bad week at all...

Time for you to get on with your day....  Mine involves an outing to Stanwich, so please don't hate me.