By Ben Alberstadt with Gianni Magliocco.
For comments: [email protected]
Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as the fallout from the Ryder Cup continues. |
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1. Stick around, Luke!
AP report…”European captain Luke Donald was delivering his Ryder Cup victory speech in front of a giddy crowd at Marco Simone when his celebrating players standing beside him started a chant that quickly swept through the grandstands.”
- “Two more years” was the cry, seemingly led by Rory McIlroy and drawing a broad smile from Donald.”
- …”No one has captained Europe in back-to-back Ryder Cups since Bernard Gallagher did so, three times in a row in fact, in 1991, ’93 and then ’95. Back then, that wasn’t rare, with Tony Jacklin and John Jacobs having also repeated before Gallagher.”
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2. Rory: The angriest I’ve been in a long time
Tom Morgan for the Telegraph…”When asked what had annoyed him most, he added: “The fact that on the 17th green and 18th green I’m trying to get the crowd to quieten down to let Patrick hit his putt. I was trying to afford Patrick the opportunity to do what he did, which is great. And then I’m trying to read my putt on 18 and he’s standing directly in my way. So I don’t feel like I was afforded the same opportunity to make my putt as Patrick was. I was trying to do the right thing. And that was exactly the wrong thing to do. And that’s not the way the game should be played. Especially by a caddie. Well, caddie, player, whatever. I just thought it was completely disrespectful. That’s the angriest I’ve been in a long time.” |
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3. LPGA seeking investment
Karl Matchett for the Independent…”Over the past two weeks, the sport’s centre stage has been on the team environment rather than the more frequent solo play tournaments, with first the Solheim Cup and then the Ryder Cup both providing thrilling drama and exceptional storylines across the course.”
- “But while the men’s event pitching golfers from the USA against the best Europe has to offer was reportedly shown for over 100 hours across US television channels, the women’s event – the Solheim Cup – had only 25 hours across cable TV and streaming, report the Financial Times.”
- “As such, the LPGA is keen to take advantage of the growth in popularity the sport is enjoying, with the FT further reporting the organisation’s commissioner, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, confirming that a “strategic planning partner” would soon be appointed to oversee opportunities around external investment. That comes on the back of a commercial partnership agreed two months ago with the owners of Liverpool FC and the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Sports Group.”
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4. Stefan Schauffele, too
GolfWRX Staff…”Speaking to The Times, Xander Schauffele’s father, Stefan, has sensationally claimed that his son’s spot in the side was in jeopardy up until just a few weeks ago.”
- “Before the biennial contest, players sign a player participation agreement. However, per Schauffele’s father, both Xander and Patrick Cantlay had requested amendments made to the contract drawn up by the PGA of America.”
- “Amongst these amendments requested was denying a Netflix camera crew entry into the US locker room (which players would not directly benefit from financially.)”
- “Per the report, the issue was eventually put to a vote by Zach Johnson, and the players voted unanimously in favour of denying Netflix access to their team room.”
- Speaking to The Times, Xander Schauffele’s father sounded off on the PGA of America, saying:
- “The PGA of America were not willing to even talk to us about [the three amendments]. It was very late in the schedule right before the team came here [to Rome] to practice because they had moved the deadline and they said, ‘If you don’t sign it by then, you’re off the team’, but they never gave us the contact information of their legal counsel.
- “Saturday morning of Labour Day weekend [September 2], finally, the head of the PGA of America got wind of this, because it was not him that was blocking it, and put our lawyers in contact with the PGA of America’s general counsel, and then it took a few hours to hash it out and it was fine. Then I received a message that Xander was back on the team. That you can quote. That’s the extent of this and I think it’s shameful.”
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5. Kneecapping home-field advantage?
Via Golf Channel…”It’s also time to create a neutral setup. Although the Marco Simone layout wasn’t nearly as extreme as Paris in ’18, it clearly favored the Europeans with slow green speeds and narrow fairways lined with thick rough. It was a similarly biased setup in ’16 at Hazeltine National, with virtually no rough and PGA Tour-quality green speeds that clearly favored the home team.”
- “Instead of Ryder Cup Europe and the PGA of America being in charge of Ryder Cup setups, it would likely even the playing field if a neutral party handled those duties. For matches in the United States, let the USGA set up the course; in Europe, it could be the R&A’s responsibility.”
- “Officials should also give the visitors more flexibility in building the right team by allowing the captain 12 picks, with the home captain getting six. Instead of being hamstrung by automatic qualifiers who might not fit the team, the course or the team room, give the visiting captain complete autonomy to bring the appropriate 12 players.”
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6. Calendar adjustment for better form?
Ed Carruthers for the Daily Mail…”Apart from a practice trip to Marco Simone earlier in September there was little opportunity for the American team to come together, never mind play competitively.”
- “If you asked us when we would like to play the Ryder Cup relative to our schedule, I think we would probably say, give us a week after the Tour Championship or two weeks after and then go, instead of five,’ said Spieth.”
- ‘It’s hard for me to speak for the rest of the team. For me personally, I’d like to feel pretty sharp going in and obviously individually, I did not have the opportunity to even play any of those events where I may have.
- ‘But that’s just how I feel. Some guys come off a few weeks off, go through some prep and play great after more time off.
- ‘I can only answer that question individually, and this year, it wasn’t going to happen.
- ‘If it were tighter to our Tour Championship and/or even if it were later and we had more of an opportunity to get a little rest and play more of an event or something then it helps a bit.
- ‘If you look at how that played at the BMW, which is one of the bigger events of the year, and 10 of the 12 finish in the top 15 or something they were in great form.
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7. Azinger: Tiger vs Sergio in 2025?
Bunkered report…Tiger Woods has been tipped by former Ryder Cup winning skipper Paul Azinger to lead the United States at Bethpage Black in 2025.
- “When Azinger’s co-commentator Dan Hicks speculated that “there’s a guy named Eldrick available,” in relation to the next captaincy, he replied:
- “Yeah, I think he might be the next captain.
- “Bethpage Black would be a perfect matchup for he and Sergio Garcia actually. Who you never know, two years from now, where we’re going to be.” He then called that rivalry a possible “all-timer.”
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8. Rory: Absence of LIV pros allowed team to flourish
Ewan Murray for The Guardian..”Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry believe the absence of high-profile LIV rebels from Europe’s Ryder Cup team allowed younger members to shine.”
- “Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Sergio García – all icons for Europe in the biennial event – missed out on the 16½-11½ victory against the US in Italy after their switch to the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit. Ludvig Åberg, Nicolai Højgaard and Robert MacIntyre featured in the winning team as rookies with McIlroy among the more experienced members in the camp.
- “They’ve had unbelievable Ryder Cup careers and they’ve made their choices,” McIlroy said of the LIV contingent. “They’ve done what they’ve done and no one can take away the impact that they’ve had for the European team over the years.
- “But I feel like this week not having those big personalities in the team room let other guys have that chance to flourish and to shine: Viktor [Hovland], Jon [Rahm], myself; there wasn’t a ton of space taken up in that room by some of the other big personalities and that just let the rest of the team flourish. It’s a young team. We can all grow together. I could potentially be the oldest person on the team next time. It’s a new era and it’s a pretty good one.”
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9. Sanderson Farms Championship photos
- Check out all of our galleries here
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Peter Sallis
Mar 31, 2023 at 2:46 am
LIV players sound nice and healthy just like some weird cult. At least they can rely on James Corrigan for PR.