19th Hole
Zach Johnson shares his biggest regret after losing Ryder Cup
Zach Johnson was the latest losing captain in a long string of Americans failing to get it done on European soil. At this week’s RSM Classic, Johnson spoke about the disappointing result for the first time since the team left Marco Simone.
“I’ve got a lot of 20/20-hindsight things that I certainly think about. Arguably, some regrets. But I think again something of that magnitude, win or lose, you’re going to have that, that’s sports. And I think that’s when you care, you’re passionate about something, you’re going to have those natural feelings.”
The American team received some criticism for their lack of competitive reps leading into the event, while the European team was playing with regularity up until the start of the Ryder Cup, most notably with all twelve team members playing at Wentworth for the BMW PGA Championship.
“The common denominator that I go back to that I wish I could have changed, or not changed, I wish it would have dawned on me earlier is just the pure commodity of time and understanding that it’s precious. You know, we had the practice round trip. No regrets. Amazing. I don’t think the guys would say they had any regrets in that, at least I hope they wouldn’t. It was spectacular,” he said. “If I could have put more value into time management, I could have put my guys in a better position to play golf at a better rate early on.
Zach pondered on what would be the best balance of rest vs. competition in between the FedEx Cup and the Ryder Cup.
“Ideally you want to have some fresh guys. I don’t know if it’s the captain’s role to say, hey, you guys got to go play,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if that’s the proper way to approach it. Bottom line is the FedEx Cup takes a lot of time, energy and they need to rest, too. Some guys played Napa. There was only a couple I guess if I think back on it.”
“Yeah, there could be some truth in that. And you had their guys playing the BMW, which is one of their signature events. You had I think it was 10 or 12 that were like in the top 15, something like that, maybe even better than that, which is pretty ridiculous. You had that and you only had one time zone change for them to travel. Actually, a couple were on the same time zone. There’s some merit to be said there, too.”
Despite the European dominance at home, Johnson still believes it’s anyone’s game in future Ryder Cups.
“You never know, anybody can beat anybody at any given time,” Johnson said. “The fact of the matter is what we’ve kind of said here, I don’t think I put my guys in the best position for success. Those guys on the European side were playing great golf and didn’t have far to go.”
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According to Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal, last week’s Open Championship suffered its lowest television rating in almost a decade.
NBC and Peacock drew 3.39M viewers on Sunday for Xander Schauffele’s two-shot win in @TheOpen, down 4% from last year and Brian Harman.
That’s the lowest number for the final round since Zach Johnson’s win in 2015, which finished on a Monday on ESPN (cable) pic.twitter.com/9r7guxnfx1
— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) July 23, 2024
The final round was down four percent from Brian Harman’s win in 2023 at Royal Liverpool, which offered very little drama down the stretch. It was the lowest-rated final round since Zach Johnson’s win in 2015 at St. Andrews: and that was a Monday finish.
Stars such as Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland all missed the cut, which may have contributed to the lack of interest from casual golf fans.
This year, the Masters and The Open have decreased in ratings while the PGA Championship and U.S. Open saw an uptick. It’s fair to speculate whether the inclusion of Bryson DeChambeau deep into contention had an impact.
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- Shane Lowry says this prevalent criticism surrounding Rory McIlroy ‘makes his blood boil’
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19th Hole
‘That looks brutal’ – First photo of Tiger Woods’ leg without sleeve shows depth of injury
It’s been a struggle of late for Tiger Woods on the golf course. The 15-time major champion has only teed it up five times in 2024, finishing 60th in The Masters and missing the cut in the other three majors. He also played in the Genesis Invitational and was forced to withdraw.
Woods has many ailments, but none as debilitating as his surgically repaired leg. Since his car accident three years ago, the 48-year-old has rarely been seen without wearing a leg sleeve. However, on Monday, a fan was able to take a photograph of Woods’ leg without the sleeve.
@blakebunkersgolf IG
??? #LOOK: A photo has emerged of Tiger Woods without his leg sleeve @TWlegion
(Via: blakebunkersgolf/IG) pic.twitter.com/ppaGLdXg8X
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 22, 2024
The photo was taken at an event Tiger’s son, Charlie, was playing in by “blakebunkersgolf” on Instagram, and one of the top responses on X towards the photo was simply “That looks brutal.”
Woods has struggled with the lack of reps on the course but hasn’t given any indication as to whether his schedule will look any different come 2025.
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John Daly withdrew at last week’s Open Championship with a knee injury, but the 58-year-old was back on the links this week showcasing one of the most famous golf courses in the world for his fans.
While at Trump Turnberry, John Daly recorded a video of the 18th green.
In the video, the 1995 Open Champion shared his opinion that Turnberry is the best golf course in Scotland, even better than St. Andrews.
?????????? #BEST OF THE BEST — John Daly says Trump Turnberry beats out St Andrews for the title of best golf course in Scotland.
Do you agree?
(Via: @LGlick1) pic.twitter.com/Ya7FIJEfp2
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 22, 2024
“Hey everybody, John Daly here. I’m at Trump Turnberry today. I went out and tried to play a little bit. This place is amazing. It is the best golf course in Scotland, I think. St. Andrews is my baby, but I think I just found my new baby. I’m at the 18th green right here, this thing is unreal.”
Turnberry hosted its first Open Championship in 1977, which was dubbed “The Duel in the Sun” when Tom Watson beat Jack Nicklaus by a single stroke. The most recent Open the course hosted was 2009, where Watson almost won again, but lost to Stewart Cink in a playoff.
The course is not slated to host any Open Championships in the foreseeable future.
More from the 19th Hole
- Shane Lowry says this prevalent criticism surrounding Rory McIlroy ‘makes his blood boil’
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While you’re here, check out BK’s look at Xander Schauffele’s winning WITB.
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