The Ryder Cup began today with the first group of foursomes teeing off at 7:20 a.m. In the week or so just ended, the golf press has been filled with speculation about pairings and debate over which team is the stronger of the two. That specul
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ation and debate attempts to divine meaning from statistics, historical Cup performance and course set-up in order to predict the winner. Inevitably too, the lead up to The Cup included the biannually-regurgitated theory that the reason the Euros have won so many of the recent Ryder Cups past is because of their camaraderie and team unity.
While all that is of interest to Ryder Cup fans and golf junkies like me, in the end I really don’t care. I don’t care because the Ryder Cup always seems to come down to putting. The team that putts best wins. And why wouldn’t that be the case? The 24 golfers assembled at Medinah Country Club are among the best in the world, featuring 9 of the top 10 and 17 of the top 20. The second worst Official World Ranking among all 24 is Martin Kaymer, a Major champion and former world #1. So you’ll forgive me when I place little credence in speculation about team unity, desire and other nebulous concepts, particularly the stuff about ball-striking. While there’s a difference even among these guys in pure ball-striking ability—give me Tiger or Rory any day versus Ian Poulter in that category—such, as we might note from Tiger’s 13-14-2 Cup record versus Poulter’s of 8-3-0, doesn’t necessarily translate to Ryder Cup success.
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Jose Maria Olazabal finalized the European Ryder Cup team Monday by announcing Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts as his two Captain’s picks. In the end, there was no drama regarding these picks, and no real choice to be made, as both Poulter
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and Colsearts were obvious. It couldn’t have been easier for Olazabal.
In contrast, US Captain Davis Love might be feeling a bit confused this week. Thanks to the rule changes made by the PGA at the request of Paul Azinger when he captained the squad in 2008, Love has until September 4, the day after the Deutsche Bank Championship concludes, to select not just two but four Captain’s picks to add to his team of eight already qualified via points. The idea was to give additional picks, and additional time, so the US Captain could load up on hot players going into the Cup. That was a great idea, but it has to be making Love lose just a bit of sleep–at least it should.
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There was great news this week for fans of the Ryder Cup, scheduled to begin September 25, 2012. Sergio Garcia, with his win at the Wyndham championship, locked up his spot on the European squad. That’s not great news for fans of team USA necessarily, particularly coming on the heels of Ian Poulter’s finish at the PGA. Both Sergio and Poulter will in all likelihood be playing for the European team and both clearly love and excel at that event.
Sergio missed making the team in 2010, but such was his desire to be involved that he agreed to serve as an assistant, a position usually reserved for a veteran, past his prime. I don’t know about you, but I missed Garcia at the Ryder Cup. Whether you love him, or love to hate him, it’s always been clear that Sergio cares passionately about the Ryder Cup. So in 2012, a year when he made some curious comments that sounded suspiciously as if he’d given up trying, it’s good to see that the Ryder Cup at least continues to stoke his competitive desire. I think he will be formidable.
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Making predictions about who will play well in a golf tournament is such an exercise in nerd-dom that I’m embarrassed to say I now do it before each event. I fear this is the beginning of a very unhealthy addiction that may eventually lead to participation in a fantasy league and calling sports talk radio shows. I may require an intervention.At any rate, here we are just a day in front of the British Open and I’m feeling like rolling the dice with some guesses on who will perform.
Incidentally, I know that it’s called “The Open Championship” and that for some strange reason TV announcers and golf writers everywhere have caved in recent years to the R&A’s demand that we refer to it as such. But I grew up calling it the British Open, as did every other American, in order to distinguish it from our national championship. If I should ever go to the tournament, I will call it the Open in deference to my hosts, but not otherwise. As far as I’m concerned, we stopped taking orders from Great Britain when we told King George to pound sand, so I see no reason to erase 230+ years of defiance in deference to a golf tournament. I don’t think it’s disrespectful. The tournament is in Great Britain and it’s open. It’s the British Open. I guess the R&A wants some acknowledgment from the ugly Americans that their event is not only the oldest tournament, but has the international flavor of a truly multinational championship. I’ll give them that, but they really need to quit with the insistence that the winner be proclaimed the “Champion Golfer of the Year.” Inasmuch as that designation implies the winner is the best in the world, the R&A adheres to something that hasn’t been true for quite awhile. I mean, they give exemptions to players from the Japanese, Asian, Australian and Sunshine Tours, for goodness sakes. Nevertheless, I love the British Open.
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Dylan Fritelli, recent University of Texas graduate and first team All America, entered the professional ranks last week as the newest addition to the Nike Tour Staff. Fritelli, you may remember, sank a 20 foot birdie putt on the 18th hole of famed Riviera Golf Club earlier this month to win his match and secure the NCAA Divison I Championship for The Longhorns. After signing with Nike last week he immediately justified his professional potential with a tie for 33rd place at the BMW International Open in Cologne, Germany.
Fritelli plays a complete set of Nike VR Pro clubs from driver through wedges and trusts a Nike Method putter as his flat stick of choice. On tournament days he tees it up wearing head-to-toe Nike Tour Performance apparel and Nike Lunar Control Golf Shoes.
Check out Dylan’s equipment, apparel and other Nike products, all of which are available here at DGW:
• Driver:
Nike VR Pro Limited Edition 8.5-degree
• Fairway Wood:
Nike VR Pro Limited Edition 3-wood/15-degree
• Hybrid:
Nike VR Pro 19-degree
• Irons:
Nike VR Pro Combo (4-PW)
• Wedges:
Nike VR Pro 52-, 56- and 58-degree
• Putter:
Nike Method 004
• Apparel:
Nike Golf Tour Performance Collection
• Footwear:
Nike Lunar Control
You might also want to take a look the DGW “
What the Pros Play” page to see what Phil, Tiger, Ernie and a host of other PGA Tour stars are featuring in their bags in 2012.
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Day one of this year’s US Open is in the books and the only prediction that appears at all prophetic in retrospect was Tiger’s statement from his Tuesday press conference wherein he suggested the conversation between he and Phil would be less than scintillating. I wasn’t there, but I imagine there were the obligatory first tee greetings, followed by 18 holes in which both ignored the other—easy since Tiger played the course and Phil played, well, somewhere in California—then the obligatory 18th green handshake during which Tiger suppressed a smirk and Phil looked, for once, genuinely humble.
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DGW congratulates Quincy, Illinois native and University of Illinois golfing standout, Luke Guthrie, on his T 19 finish in his professional debut at the Fed Ex St. Jude Classic. Those of us who watched Luke grow up and have followed his career with interest are not surprised that his entry into the ranks of big time play-for-pay professional golf began with such a stellar performance, as we’ve witnessed him elevate his game at each successive level of development. From the time he was a young junior only just then beginning to wax the older guys at Westview Golf Course, through to the end of an illustrious college career, he excelled. And it’s been fun watching.
The talent level in big time amateur and Division I Golf and the nature of limited media attention paid to but a few individuals is such that, unless you’re from Luke’s hometown, or an avid follower of college golf–or maybe an agent, or a manufacturers’ Tour representative–you’ve probably never heard of this kid from Quincy, Illinois. So you might be wondering, “Just who is Luke Guthrie and why should we care?” Well we will try to answer both parts of that query.
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It seems strange that I was talking with Matt Kuchar on the Wednesday of The Wells Fargo Championship, remarking how he was having a really good year, but kind of flying under the radar just a bit. He said he was playing well, hitting the ball great and felt it was only a mater of time before he won again. Based on his solid performance at the Zurich Classic, I predicted that he would win The Players Championship. He laughed. A week and a half later he does just that.
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The so-called Fifth Major, the Players Championship, begins today, and we’re all really excited, right? Yeah…maybe not. I refer to the Players as the “so-called Fifth Major” because, try as it might, the PGA Tour has never been able to generate quite the level of enthusiasm for this event necessary to justify the “Major” tag. Despite having a deeper field than any of the four Majors, and despite playing at the same very tough TPC venue each of the last 30 years, and despite the Tour Commissioner’s entreaties to the public, we have said, simply: “Uh, not a Major.”
The reasons are as varied as there are opinions on most any topic involving sports, but it really boils down to the fact that while it’s entirely possible in these TV and social media-driven days to manufacture enthusiasm for something, even something entirely worthless– like the Kardashians–you can’t elevate that something to a status not attained by merit. The Kardashians, for instance, may be famous at the moment, but they’ll never be even remotely interesting. I have a great idea for ending terrorist threats, by the way. We should send the Kardashians over to meet with Iranian and other extremist Muslims to negotiate on behalf of the American people. After an hour or so, the terrorists would send them back with a note saying they won’t bother us again. We’re not worth the effort. I digress.
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There’s a new blogger in town. Me. You don’t know me, so you may wonder what qualifications I possess that allow me to presume to offer opinions, observations and information about all things golf, which is the purpose of this blog. First, let me tell you that I am known as “The World’s Most Knowledgeable Guy in the World”…about everything. Ok, that’s not true. But I love golf, and I know a fair bit about it, even though I am not a former pro, a former golf equipment executive, or even a traditional golf writer. If I were any of those things, I would be… really, really boring and that would make this blog like, well, oh so many golf blogs.
Instead, I will try to entertain, even as I attempt to inform. Sometimes, I might irritate or annoy. I apologize, because that is not my purpose, and I’m very certain it’s not my boss’s purpose. He would like you to buy stuff from Discount Golf World, and because he wants that, I want that. So when I irritate you (sorry, Boss – it will happen!) I want you to click right through and shop extra hard. Spend more than you can afford. Spend your mortgage and car payment. Do so that I might continue to write this blog. You owe it to society. Do not deprive the world of my gift.
So here’s the deal. I love golf and think about it with a frequency and intensity that some might find unhealthy. You won’t find my obsession unhealthy, of course. I mean let’s face it, you’re reading a golf blog, so, you know…. Anyway, here are my golfing bona fides, in no particular order:
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