Thursday, September 16, 2021

Introducing Napoleon and Tate

Employee No. 2 and I were very grateful for all of the expressions of support when we lost our Chigger.  We still miss our boy terribly, not to mention his brother Ray, but life must go on.

We began our search for new kitties almost immediately, contacting the local pet rescue agencies and completing their applications.  That's where it got a bit interesting because, unbeknownst to me, Theresa has been following Beth Stern's Instagram page for years.  Beth Stern, nee Ostrosky, will be known to most as the wife of Howard Stern, but her dedication to four-legged creatures is the real deal.  From Rolling Stone Magazine:

Stern began working with the Animal League fifteen years ago, when she was working as a model and was asked if she could do a runway show at the organization’s annual luncheon. She
didn’t leave until every puppy was adopted. “They recognized my passion for it, and I started volunteering and going to the shelter,” she says. “And then came out that I was Howard Stern’s girlfriend at the time.” From there, she began doing television appearances and became the organization’s spokesperson.

The Sterns, who married in 2008, have been fostering cats in their Long Island home for five years. “It’s really my purpose in life,” Beth says, noting that almost a thousand cats have come and gone through their house — roughly 200 a year. “I wonder if I had all thousand cats and kittens right now in one room, would I be able to figure out who was who?” she wonders. “I think I would be able to.”

There's lots of interest in that interview for pet lovers, but the coup was placing her kitties with the hubby in the cover photo:


Ironically, one of the subjects Beth discusses is dealing with the Howard Stern fans pretending to be pet lovers.  In our case, Howard is a bit of a negative, though watching him with her kitties does at least make us keep an open mind.  

Theresa's respect for the work Beth does was unknown to me, another instance where the husband is the last to know.  Beth places some very troubled cats, and Theresa has long followed and admired that process, as well as the obvious love that she showers on her wards.  I had no objection to adopting from Beth, I just worried that the queue would have thousands in line in front of us, which fortunately turned out to not be the case.

Neither the bride nor I are social media tyrpes, but Beth's use of Instagram is pretty compelling.  For instance, this might have been the first posting of our boys on Beth's Insty account:

Who could resist, right?  Then came this one, and if viewed the post on Instagram, you'd see that the bride told Beth we'd love to adopt them.  

That got a fairly quick response from Beth's assistant Cindy, whereupon the process started that resulted in our expanded family.  We were in limbo for a few days, assuming the worst, but the call finally came last Wednesday, which just happened to be the day they were spayed (and that this adorable video was posted:

But the post that really tugged at our heartstrings was this that popped up on Theresa's phone on Saturday night:

That's our cue... And this from the drop-off

The orders came from Cindy to set up an Instagram account for the boys, which Theresa fumbled her way through, and to tag the account back to Beth (I think that's the term the kids use).  That put us in Beth's ecosystem, and our boy's Instagram account, which as of a couple of hours ago has its first post, has 2,580 followers.... I personally know at least two of those.

Theresa and I are absolutely over the moon about our boys.  We've watched them get over their initial fear of their new circumstances, and become increasingly affectionate on an hourly basis.  They loved each other from the beginning, that was apparent in Beth's posts, but they're now comfortable allowing us to pick them up and pet them, and we just allowed them their first exploration outside the back bedroom in which they have been situated since their arrival.

Here is that first post, video that Theresa captured:

And a few snaps:

First, Napoleon's original hiding place:

An after-dinner nap:
 

They have endless energy, quite the shock to us old-timers, so Napoleon At Rest is a rarity:


In case you're curious about the names, I am responsible for Napoleon's name, and Theresa named Tate.  In case you don't get the name, I'm sure you'll see the resemblance:


Admit it, you see it.  Behaviorally the name might be more ironic than anything, as Tate seems to be the alpha cat as of now.

Tate seems to immediately grasp the concept of cocktail hour:


Theresa and I are completely besotted by the boys, and I'm sure you can see why.  

That's a partial explanation of the lack of blogging this week, though regularly scheduled programming is expected to continue tomorrow morning.

One last curious bit from Googling their names, from AussieBiz.com:


Although the Tate & Napoleon website seems to be defunct.  Hopefully that will result in the absence of any intellectual property claims.
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, September 13, 2021

Weekend Wrap

So, how's your PGA Tour offseason going so far?  Glad to hear, because it's pretty much over....  We do have a little weekend action to wrap, though that action is more interesting as an amuse-bouche for that late September event....

A shocking result from the European Tour's flagship event:

It was wild. It was wonderful. And it was ultimately ironic. As the endless intricacies of the European Ryder Cup qualification played out in the background, the BMW PGA Championship was
claimed by an American, Billy Horschel. He won it well, too. The wedge Horschel hit to Wentworth’s par-5 18th green finished so close he didn’t need to take a proper stance before tapping-in. It was the Floridian’s 24th birdie of the week, closing out a seven-under 65 and took him to 19-under 269, just good enough to beat a trio of runners-up, Laurie Canter, Jamie Donaldson and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

Horschel is the first American to win the European Tour’s most prestigious title since Arnold Palmer in 1975. His winning smile was matched only by those on the faces of Bernd Wiesberger and Lee Westwood. The Austrian and the Englishman clinched the last two automatic qualifying spots on the Old World side that will defend the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in two weeks.

I could make a joke about it always being shocking when Billy Ho wins, but that would be needlessly snarky.  It's hard to win out there, and credit the man for making the trip, though I didn't realize he's made something of a habit of it:

Still, that Horschel should play so well over the iconic West course at Wentworth—and move up to second place on the European Tour's season-long Race to Dubai standings—is no real surprise. Two years ago, Horschel made the trip across the Atlantic to the European Tour’s flagship event and was rewarded with a T-4 finish. Two rounds of 65 were the highlights of a 15-under-par 273 that left him alongside compatriot Patrick Reed, five shots behind the winner, former Masters champion Danny Willett.

Iconic?  I'd think formerly iconic would be more accurate, after Ernie's desecration of the joint.  Still one of my favorite stories that I've blogged over the years, but I need to not be distracted by shiny objects this morning.

It's far from uncommon to see these guys manufacture grievances for motivational purposes, though this one sounds even more juvenile than most:

There was one discordant note. On the back of a mediocre run of form after winning the WGC-
Dell Match Play title earlier in March, Horschel wasn’t expecting a call from U.S. Ryder Cup skipper Steve Stricker to tell him he had made the team. But he didn’t get a call to tell him he wasn’t in either. Which was disappointing.

“It sucks not making the team,” Horschel said. “I didn't play consistent enough and well enough after I won the Match Play to warrant a pick or to get enough points to be an automatic selection. But I was a little gutted I didn't get a call this week. I didn't think the call was going to say I made the team, but I was a little gutted that I didn't get a call to say, ‘You didn't make the team.’ I thought I would at least get that. There was a little more added motivation this week after that.”

I though it was nice of captain Stricker to make clear that it wasn't you, it was him.... But, seriously, how many also-rans is the captain required to call?  I know there was a little boomlet of support for the guy when he won the match-play, but that seems a galaxy far, far away.  This is his record since:


The finniest part of Bill Ho making a thing out of this?  The Captain seems to have opted for the over-communication strategy:

“I felt like they deserved hearing it from me,” Stricker said. “You know, throughout this whole process I was keeping in touch with 20 to 25 guys throughout this whole deal. I probably called another five or six guys I think just to touch base with them to let them know where we stood.

Doesn't seem like Billy was in Strick's Top 30, so he might want to just enjoy his win and leave it at that...Billy seems a little at sea about how one gets along well with others, because calling out Stricker for not delivering the news seems at odds with this pipe dream:

Question: Going back to The Ryder Cup, there is obviously some injury, maybe doubts about Brooks Koepka and if Steve Stricker did make the call, I presume you might not be so ticked and you'd be there straightaway?

Horschel: Listen, I don't know what's going to happen. I know Brooks had to withdraw last week at The Tour Championship. He's an unbelievable player and it would be a big blow to the United States team if he's not able to play. If somehow a phone call comes my way that says Brooks had to withdraw and I got picked, I'd be over the moon. I mean, I'd be up there faster than, you know, the speed of sound to get there.

But we'll see what happens. Like I said, I haven't — there's rumors and sometimes you can't always believe the rumors but as far as I know they have got 12 guys that are healthy and ready to play golf and I'm ready to sit on the couch and wear my red, white and blue and support the team.

OK, I think he needs to keep his phone charged and nearby... But I'd suggest that he park himself on that very couch as he awaits Captain Stricker's call, just so he won't have far to go on the off chance it never rings...

Now the more significant aspect of the weekend's results is the impact on the Euro Ryder Cup team, beginning with the finalization of automatic qualifiers:

Of course, they were playing a golf tournament at Wentworth this weekend. However, the BMW PGA Championship doubled as a game of Ryder Cup musical chairs. Five of the nine automatic
qualifying spots for Team Europe were already locked up (Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey and Viktor Hovland) before the week started, with the other four to be decided by how the rest of the contenders finished in the European Tour’s flagship event.

Truth be told, two of those remaining places had essentially been sewed up, too, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick safely on captain Padraig Harrington’s team even after the former missed the cut in his title defense.

Confusing? Perhaps. But exciting, too. Not to mention nerve-wracking.

But lest you think this will result in a Darwinian, seize the day kind of moment, reality is far more muddled:

On Sunday, Wiesberger played solid if not spectacular golf, shooting a closing even-par 72 that left him in tied for 20th place for the tournament, enough to get the 35-year-old Austrian inside the top five on the Euro points list and securing a place on his first Ryder Cup team.

Lowey, trying to make his first Ryder Cup team, similarly couldn’t get many putts to fall in his final round. Needing a finish somewhere in the top six to pass Westwood on the points list, a one-under 71 left the 2019 Open champion in a T-17.

That meant Westwood picked up the last automatic qualifying spot despite a horrendous final round. After making birdies on the opening two holes, the 48-year-old Englishman went bogey-double-double to finish the front nine in three over. On the 11th, he then made a triple-bogey 7 and stumbled home to a 77 and a T-71 finish.

Which left Shane Lowry on the outside looking in... Though not for long:

Team Europe has finalized its Ryder Cup squad. Padraig Harrington announced in a press
conference Sunday afternoon that Shane Lowry, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter will round out his team of 12 that will travel to Whistling Straits later this month.

“I have a great team,” Harrington said. “I have a great team of ball-strikers — probably the best team of ball-strikers Europe have ever sent out in a Ryder Cup … They’re good enough to deliver”

Garcia and Poulter were thought to be the most secure captain’s picks for Harrington as the two have anchored the European side for the last two decades. Garcia is the all-time European points leader with 25.5, while Poulter has served as the emotional spark for Team Europe, going undefeated in singles play in six Ryder Cup appearances.

Lowry, who just missed out on automatic qualification, bolstered his resume with a win at the 2019 Open Championship, and has been a steady player on the PGA Tour since. The Ryder Cup rookie had four top 10s and 10 top 25s in 21 starts last season as he missed just two cuts.

Two pints to work in here.  My sense is that the results from Wentworth resulted in one change to the Euro team, that will now feature Bernd Wiesberger in lieu of Justin Rose (who I assume would have gotten Padraig's last pick had Lowry qualified).  Not earth-shattering, especially since Rose has been lost in the wilderness since forever. 

Secondly, quite a bit of whining from Lee Westwood over the schedule:

But now, some prospective members of Team Europe are sounding the alarm over what they see as inequity in the Ryder Cup — an issue they say might actually be costing them in the long run. The problem surrounds the qualifying process, and in particular, the European side’s current lack of roster clarity. While the U.S. roster was finalized shortly after the completion of the Tour Championship last weekend, the Europeans have until the completion of this week’s BMW PGA Championship to confirm the majority of their selections, giving those in the field an extra week to push for a spot on the team.

“You can see how players are reacting to it out on the golf course,” Lee Westwood said. “You know there’s people right in there, and they are shooting scores where clearly they have got other things on their mind. Yeah, there’s so many variables, as well, with the way we’ve set up the qualification this time around.”

I can certainly see his point.  Why would you want to see how the guys hold up under intense pressure?  After all, no pressure to be found in a Ryder Cup away game, right?  This event finished on September 12th and the Ryder Cup kicks off on the 24th, that's not enough time?  I guess Lee should sit on Day 1, no?  

So, shall we see how these unsurprising picks played with Golf.com's Tour Confidential panel?

3. On the other side of the pond, Sunday’s final round of the BMW PGA Championship finalized the nine automatic picks for the European Ryder Cup team, with Paul Casey, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Lee Westwood and Bernd Wiesberger making the team. Afterward, captain Padraig Harrington went with Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry and Ian Poulter as his three captain’s picks. What’s your takeaway from the team? Did Harrington make the right picks?

Zak: Yes! Correct captain’s picks on both sides of the pond. My takeaway from that team is they are going to be very good. Probably the deepest Euro squad since 2012. This thing is setting up to be really, really good.

Melton: The Euros have a solid team that is laden with experience. Although the Cup will be contested in hostile territory, don’t expect the blue and yellow to be rattled easily. Harrington should feel extremely confident with the team he’s taking to Wisconsin.

Sens: Agreed. Like the US team, a great mix of youth and seasoning. Who were Harrington’s other options? Maybe you could make an outside argument for Justin Rose, based on past accomplishments, but not on recent form. Alex Noren? Nah. No second guessing of Harrington here.

Bamberger: My takeaway is that Harrington has an outstanding team, with outstanding picks, and an outstanding captain. The Europeans are the favorites, in my book. If they don’t win it’s a surprise.

Dethier: As much as I yearned for the 20-year-old Hojgaard twins to team up, there’s plenty of time for that in the future. Harrington essentially had no choice but to go back to the same formula that keeps working for Team Europe. At some point, this group of golfers won’t be the best available. But it doesn’t feel like we’re at that point yet.

As always, Captain's picks are not good or bad in isolation.  One can only judge them in comparison to the alternatives, and in this case that's quite the sorry lot.  In this case the header tells all.  When Stricker named his picks, Golf.com had an article on those that were snubbed.  In this case, the S-word was eschewed:

Once past the aforementioned Rose, for whom that case would have to be entirely historical, this is the next entry:

Victor Perez

On points alone, Perez was next man in. In the European points standings, he was eighth (ahead of Victor Hovland, who plays more of a PGA Tour schedule), and on the world points list, he was 12th (ahead of Poulter). But since the WGC-Match Play at the end of March, Perez has had just two top 20s and five missed cuts.

Of course, in golf’s lone match play event, Perez finished fourth.

Robert MacIntyre

Only 25, MacIntyre will make a few Ryder Cup teams before too long. Vice captain Graeme McDowell even said as much, telling the Courier: “Robert makes a lot of birdies. You know, he makes mistakes, like we all did when we were young. It is very hard to have the full, polished, finished article, but he is very close.”

MacIntyre’s finishes in this year’s majors say as much: a tie for 12th at the Masters; a tie for 49th at the PGA Championship; a tie for 35th at the U.S. Open; and a tie for eighth at the Open Championship.

A month ago I expected both these guys to be on the team, though logically they're of a stature that requires them to automatically qualify.  In reality, Padraig was never going to Wisconsin without Poults and Sergio.

But how do we rate this roster?


Here's the thing about the experience play, it works until it doesn't.  Sergio, Westwood and (especially) Poulter have broken our hearts far too many times to recount, but color me skeptical that there's much left in the tank.  

The Euros said all the right things about their opponents, including this from Sergio:

“Yes, it's a good side, I'm not going to lie, a lot of new faces,” he said of the Americans. “I'll be expecting a lot of energy on their behalf,” he said from his Texas home. “But like I said, mostly -- most of the times we are underdogs, and it's the right thing because on paper, and when it comes down to World Rankings and stuff like that, they are a little bit stronger than we are. But we have a lot of heart. We have a lot of great feel between us, and that's something that that is difficult to putt on paper.”

It's strong on paper for sure, even historically strong:


How is that OWGR number even mathematically possible?  If you had the top twelve players in the world on your roster the average would be 6.5...

Which means, don't you think, that the U.S. team will go down hard?  At the very least, let's hope that Stricker doesn't introduce his guys as the twelve best players in the world.

Before we head for the exit, let's see how that TC panel like Strick's Picks:

1. On Wednesday, Steve Stricker named his six captain’s picks for the U.S. team that will play in next week’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, choosing Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Harris English, Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler. Which pick do you think will have the most impact on the U.S. side?

Sean Zak: Spieth. He’s (surely) going to be paired up with Justin Thomas and his wobbly putter. The Spieth magic on the greens coupled with elite ballstriking from JT should be as formidable as any duo at Whistling Straits. Could easily see them playing together four times. Just need to figure out what to name them … The J&J?

Ummm, have you actually looked at Jordan's record in these team comps?  The man has never won a singles match in either competition.  My assumption is that by Sunday he's gassed (Sergio has had a similar issue), and that the one thing Strick should absolutely not do is play him in all five sessions.  Given that Jordan is a marginal candidate for Foursomes, I'd pair him with JT in Fourballs and sit him in alternate shot.

Zephyr Melton: Scottie Scheffler. The kid is not afraid of the big stage — as evidenced by his play in majors — and he’s long enough off the tee to really take advantage of Whistling Straits. Call me a Texas homer, but in the words of another Longhorn great, “I have a good feeling about this.”

Josh Sens: Spieth is a good call. Next up, my gut goes with the gutty Daniel Berger. I’ll borrow from Zephyr, who’s borrowing from Ben Crenshaw, when I say I’ve got a feeling about him. One of those bulldogs who is going to be really hard to shake.

Michael Bamberger: I only consider Harris English, Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler as true captain’s picks. Of that group, Scheffler. He seems the most big-time to me, or big-time in the making.

Dylan Dethier: Schauffele. He and Cantlay, alongside JT and Spieth, feel like the American tandems that will play the most matches and ultimately determine the result of this one.

And the ones that got away?

2. Among the players Stricker did not pick for the team were Patrick Reed, Kevin Na, Will Zalatoris, Webb Simpson, Sam Burns, Jason Kokrak, Billy Horschel and Kevin Kisner. Stricker admitted to losing sleep over the Reed selection. If he had an alternate 13th pick, whom would you advise him to take, and why?

Fair enough but, given the Koepka injusry situation, isn't this more than just a hypothetical? 

Zak: If he was being honest about losing sleep over Reed, then he should probably go with Reed in that hypothetical. I understand the easy argument against Reed, but if he was considered so thoroughly, I’m not sure why anyone else would merit it more in Stricker’s eyes.

Melton: Kevin Na was in superb form coming down the stretch, so if you want to add a hot player, he’s your guy. However, we know Patrick Reed performs his best with a chip on his shoulder. What better motivator than getting passed over the first time around?

Sens: Most of us lose sleep over irrational things. In the plain light of day, not picking Reed, given his recent health issues, to say nothing of the chemistry problems that arose last time around, makes perfect sense. I have no beef with Stricker’s picks, but Na would be my next call if I had to make one — such a gritty player who has been in such great form.

Bamberger: Perfectly said, Josh. I’d take Na in a minute, because he’s a superb putter under pressure, he’s annoying, he wants it, and it’s his last best chance, in all likelihood.

Dethier: My instinct is Burns, but the more I go ’round and ’round on this I keep coming back to Reed as the proper fill-in. If you and a bunch of buddies were going in on a beach house together for the summer, you’d really want to focus on group chemistry. But the point of this team is to win one weekend. Gimme the wild card who irrationally wants this — maybe he’ll light a fire under more docile teammates.

I think team bonding and chemistry are way over-rated, but Stricker has taken a first step towards reinstating public hygiene and I'm really hoping that he has the courage of his convictions.  Because PReed had a typically matures reaction to not being chosen:

Patrick Reed likes tweets ripping ‘coward’ Ryder Cup captain after snub

Yes, the man hiding behind Justine and burner Twitter account likes when the Ryder Cup captain is called a coward... Sheesh, do we have any standards at all?

Before we go, that Shipnuck mailbag we featured yesterday has a couple of bits relevant hereto:

You’re Captain Stricker … who do you pair with Cantlay on Day 1? @HofSpillane

The great thing about Cantlay is he has the game and demeanor to play with anyone (except apparently Beefy Boi). I like Cantlay as a steadying influence on Jordan Spieth in fourballs. In foursomes, how about a killer combo with Collin Morikawa? It can’t be fun to play against two guys who never miss a shot.

I have assumed all along that the Cantlay-X-Man Prez Cup pairing would be reprised at Whistling Straits, but Alan is far from the only guy that considers that an open issue.  They will play foursomes in the morning, so perhaps Alan took this in the wrong order.  It seems to this observer a mortal lock that Morikawa and Cantlay will both play that session, I'd just be slightly surprised if it's in each other's company.  

This is the perfect exit bit:

Why can’t Americans putt? #AskAlan @masmacho

They can … but only during stroke-play events with bloated purses.

Coupled with the fact that Euros that traditionally struggle on the greens, from Montgomery to Garcia, do a spot-on impression of Bobby Locke in the Ryder Cup, that explains decades of "upsets".

 I'll leave you here.  The next couple of days will be tough for blogging, but we'll continue to flood the zone with Ryder Cup coverage.

Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, September 12, 2021

The Solheim Cup - An Appreciation

I promised you some bonus weekend blogging, and I'm at the keyboard to deliver thereon.  I thought the event was great, and several of our favorite ink-stained wretches agree.  

One of those writers is, of course, Geoff Shackelford, who devoted an entire Quadrilateral newsletter to the event, amusingly leading with a comparison to that soulless money grab in Atlanta:

The worst team match is better than 99% of stroke play.

That was confirmed again as the Solheim Cup proved far more compelling than the stale conclusion to the PGA Tour season.

It wasn’t a fair fight:
  • Match play over stroke play.
  • Passionate play over a net stroke play champioship.
  • Inverness over East Lake.
  • Cool season grasses full of contrast over East Lake’s grayish Bermuda.
  • Controversy over…no one caring enough anymore to even complain about the FedExCup format.

Yeah, I had it Solheim Cup 5&4.

Perhaps we should get the obvious parallels to the Ryder Cup out of the way early:


Though America had five of the top 17 players in the world to just one for Europe (No. 16 Anna
Nordqvist), it was the favored home team that always seemed to be playing from behind. At least that was the case after the first morning foursomes session on Saturday when Europe stole a late 1½ points for a three-point lead it never lost. The Americans never seemed to recover from that psychological blow, let alone the actual blow on the scoreboard.


“I think we got behind the eight-ball the very first foursomes, and that's just … we fought our way back,” U.S. captain Pat Hurst said. “It's still pretty close, but it's not good enough.”

“It's probably one of the best European teams I think I've seen,” said U.S. assistant captain Stacy Lewis, a four-time player. “They're just really, really a lot of great putters—not good putters, great putters—and when it's tight like that, it's a putt or two here and there.”

Last we visited with Stacey Lewis, she was making the case that the women are as good as the men, so good to know that motherhood hasn't tethered her any closer to reality.  This was far closer to the worst Euro team ever, at least to the extent that world rankings can measure such things.  

Not only was this Euro Team historically weak, but it was an away game on steroids:

In addition to America’s seeming advantage in the world rankings, the Europeans had to overcome a gallery that was more heavily in favor of the home team than years past. Though a
record 130,000 fans attended the matches, the usual contingent of European supporters didn’t make it to Inverness Club because of the ongoing pandemic and travel restrictions. And who knows how many more stayed away in anticipation of coming to the United States in a few weeks for the Ryder Cup in Wisconsin.

“We had to lean on each other this week, and I'm really proud of everyone for believing in themselves and for pulling through,” Nordqvist said.

“We knew it was going to be tough this year with really no European fans, and they just dug in deep,” Matthew added. “Especially yesterday even when the crowds were getting pretty wild, really hung in, came out with a great finish yesterday, and then today great to start with and then it kind of looked a little dodgy, but great play and just so proud of them.

Fortunately, fans of women's golf have not been encouraged to Live Under Par™ and, to the best of my knowledge, there were no screams of "Brooksie" all week.  We should only be so lucky in a couple of weeks...

Now, as I've noted previously, this event delivers for two principle reasons.  First and foremost is the power of the team match play format, that surpasses anything else in our game.  The second reason is the frisson of bad blood between the teams that has us awaiting the next rules or etiquette imbroglio, and we sure didn't have to wait long for that thanks to that thanks to Madelene Sagstrom and Nelly Korda.

Geoff continues his comparisons with that soulless money grab in extolling the restored Inverness:

🔥 Inverness was superb. Even without going against East Lake’s lifeless Reestoration(s), it would have hit a home run. But this year’s Solheim Cup play accentuated the vital role played by the course improvements. The putting surface expansions, unusual green shapes, and tricky slopes all asked players to pick a line, place an approach accurately, and work until their last putt.

That is, unless someone picked up your ball prematurely.

What a contrast to East Lake’s ovals that are also light on internal contouring.

The contrast in Donald Ross touches could not have been more evident. So it was a positive to have the events going head-to-head!

Inverness delivered the perfect performance by giving players the opportunity to display skill under pressure while the design played a key supporting role. Kind of like a key character actor who just adds some comic relief or necessary sophistication in an otherwise straightforward story.

He cites the tree removal as well, but this would seem to be the most important bit:

⛳️ Firm, seamless approaches are a beautiful thing. High rough is never ideal but it’s a lot more palatable when you have open entryways to propel the ball forward. It was a joy to watch players to use the approach and green contours to their advantage, and equally as satisfying to see shots bound through the greens by not landing it shorter.


I do wonder if the Europeans, more used to the ground game than the Americans, gained some advantage thanks to this feature of Inverness?

I won't even make you click through, here's the shot referenced above:

There is simply nothing more exciting in our game than watching the ball on the ground....

 I'm on record on this subject as well:

🔢 Don’t get cute with routings. Normally we get re-routings in team matches to accommodate corporate hospitality. They flipped Inverness’ 9th and 18th to make sure more matches played the club’s famed short-par 4 finisher. Naturally, a whopping nine matches went to the 18th before Sunday singles, where another four finished at the last hole.

Lesson to be learned: just leave the course as the architects designed them, please? Otherwise, the Golf Gods will screw with the “percentages” used to justify the switch.

As at Liberty National, it's usually justified by the concept of having every match play the best holes (whatever that might mean).  But I've always argued that the higher priority should be having the close matches decided on the best holes, because who cares if that 5&4 beatdown plays your signature hole?

Now I'll begin to work in some Alan Shipnuck from his latest mailbag feature:

The Solheim Cup was incredibly interesting. Should it happen every year? @robmillertime

Nah. One of the great things about these events is that the two-year gap allows for intrigue and interest to build. In a world of instant gratification, having to wait so long is torture, which makes each Solheim (and Ryder) Cup that much more delicious.

Well, the delay also makes each installment that much more important, and agonizing when you end up on the losing end.  But, yeah, that's exactly the point.

But the most underreported aspect of this great event has to be the woeful U.S. team, no?  You're supposed to win your home games, especially when you have the clearly superior roster.  Here's Dave Shedloski's kid-glove treatment from that first linked piece:

It didn’t help that arguably America’s four best players—Lexi Thompson, Danielle Kang, and Jessica and Nelly Korda— combined for only 5½ points. Thompson was 1-2-1, Kang 1-3-0 and the Kordas, unbeaten two years ago, were 1-2-0 and 2-2-0, respectively.

To say the least....  Nelly redeemed herself a bit in eking out that singles win, but when the best player on the planet is only 2-2, that's a problem.  But when you're depending upon Lexi, heartbreak is guaranteed.

By now you've learned how your humble blogger's mind is wired, and this from Alan's mailbag is spot on:

Now that the U.S. has lost two Solheim Cups in a row, should the women form a task force? @BobRoge321

I loved the spirit of this U.S. team, but the bottom line is the resumes of the bottom half of the squad are pretty thin: Brittany Altomare, Mina Harigae, Meghan Kang, Jennifer Kupcho and Yalimi Noh came into this Solheim with a combined zero LPGA wins, and Lizette Salas’s last victory came seven years ago. Some or even most of these players may mature into Solheim stalwarts, but you can’t hide that much inexperience. I don’t think structural changes are needed to the selection process; Team USA just has to get more talent in the pipeline. It would certainly help if the putative team leaders—the Kordas, Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson—played better.

Exactly.  Thank God there's no woman on that team that can be as big an a*****e as Phil. so we're spared that nonsense.  But, just on the off chance that Phil is watching and taking notes, this is how you lose one of these things.  You congratulate the winners and you shut your pie hole...

This is a bit silly, as Alan makes clear:

Where has Leona Maguire been all these years? Amazing Solheim performance. #AskAlan
@GuyRWhitehead @dleect

Well, she spent 135 weeks atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking from 2015 to ’18. She won a couple of Symetra Tour events in 2019 to earn her place in the big leagues. Maguire (top) has had a bunch of good finishes on the LPGA Tour this year, including a T6 at the Evian, to crack the top 50 in the World Ranking. In short, she has slowly and steadily been building the career that has made her an overnight sensation.


It's true that she's been a little slower to get traction at the professional level than her amateur career might have portended, but it's not like this is from the blue.  The better question is whether this is a springboard for her individual career...

Zephyr Melton filed an engaging notebook dump from which I'll grab a few bits, this one focusing on one of those Big Four:

6. Solheim struggles

Danielle Kang didn’t have her best stuff in Toledo, evidenced by her 1-3-0 record, and after her Saturday foursome loss, she was out on the range grinding through a bag of balls. Being the intrepid reporter that I am, I wandered out to watch and try to see if I could figure out what she was ironing out. I kept my distance and took some videos from the shade while she and her caddie worked. But when Kang noticed me in the distance, she instructed her caddie to ask me to leave, so I took the opportunity to go cool off in the media center. We were both just trying to do our jobs, and sometimes that puts us at odds. Here’s to hoping she has a strong finish to the season.

Don't they call that journalism?  It's been so long I can hardly remember...

The only real point here is that American Women's Golf would have seemed to be on an uptick, what with four ladies qualifying for Tokyo and one of them grabbing the gold.  But this was really a devastating wake up call,  and eerily reminiscent of so many U.S. Ryder Cup no-shows.

So, we have a U.S. women's team that's prone to underperform and we have this off-year event that's never really found it's footing.  We're also overwhelmed by the woke mafia, so this from Geoff makes far too much sense to ever be allowed to happen:

🏆 Presidents Cup redo redux. The idea of reinvigorating the Presidents Cup by adding women came up after Golf Digest Joel Beall suggested a joint Ryder and Solheim Cup. I’d pass on that idea to spread the team match play wealth. But it was a reminder how a mixed Presidents Cup could feature 16 players on each side, advance the women’s game, and reinvigorate the PC.

This sure looks appealing, especially with a few mixed team sessions:

 

As a bonus, you can offer the ladies equal prize money....

OK, just a few more bits for you, including a couple that I liked from Zephyr's notebook:

1. Flag bearers

For each match at Inverness, there was a group of flag bearers following along with red and blue flags. Once shots were hit into the fairway, rough, bunker, etc., they would walk over and hold the corresponding flag in the air. It might seem trivial, but it made the live viewing experience MUCH easier. No more guesswork on whose ball was whose, or where a ball was when it was not visible from outside the ropes. This should be standard at every golf tournament.

Haven't seen it before, but if it enhances the live experience it should be a keeper.

I just liked this bit:

3. “You want me to sign what?”

Speaking of autographs, there were a few well-served patrons who had some interesting items to get signed. One fan made it his mission to get as many players as possible to sign his beer can. When I saw him coaxing Austin Ernst into giving her John Hancock on the empty vessel, he had quite the collection going. But worry not, he made sure not to allow his mission to interfere with the kiddos surrounding him. “Make sure you get to all the kids first, Austin. I’m just being silly.” Well done, sir.

I'm not a fan of drunken louts, but it does help when they have trace elements of self-awareness....

I'll close with a sobering note for all of us, the TV ratings from ShowBuzzDaily:


That middle column is the total viewership, the one to the right is adults aged 18-49.  These audience numbers are tiny to begin with, and miniscule when you carve out the old folks (though, really, who else is gonna buy the Cialis being hawked).  It was, in your humble blogger's opinion, a great event, yet not even a million people tuned in on Saturday or Sunday (I haven't seen ratings for Monday's singles, when they had no sports competition).

I'll leave you there and likely catch up on other golf news tomorrow.

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)