Dubai Duties Free: Rory Spreads Host Role To Other Irishmen

There was a point you'd have to figure a player in their prime like Rory McIlroy would tire of the duties involved in hosting a professional tournament.

Thankfully for the Rory-rejuvenated Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, the host will be handing duties off to a rota of Irishmen. In some cases this could be problematic, but given the charisma of Paul McGinley, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell, the event should keep the momentum going. McIlroy's Foundation will still be the Irish Open's charitable beneficiary.

Brian Keogh reports for the Independent on what the move means for Rory's career thinking and includes this from 2019 host McGinley.

"He has certainly helped regain the momentum of the Irish Open and he has done his bit. He wants to remain involved going forward but the Irish Open was a weight of responsibility.

"Even though he has won it, he has missed the cut for four of the last five years. So while his commitment to playing will remain, it is a question of handing over responsibility and we are happy to take on the mantle.

"We owe Rory a lot for where the Irish Open has come from and where it is going. So it is only right that we take responsibility off Rory's shoulders and let him do what he does best."

One last request this year Rory before you hand things off: put that call into Tiger! He needs some links golf under his belt!

The Perth Super 6 Returns, Format Intrigues And...

I still feel like this something curious about this second year event. Perhaps the (lack of) ease in explaining to a regular fan how it works?  Though really this is a just a normal golf tournament until a Sunday shootout via match play, with byes given to the stroke play leaders.

Anyway, in support of fresh formats, I give you the European Tour's FAQ page and infographic to explain the event start Wednesday evening on Golf Channel:

Q: What’s the bottom line?
A: - 156 players start for three rounds of strokeplay
- A standard cut to the leading 65 pros (and ties) will be made after 36 holes
- A further cut after 54 will reduce the field to 24 players for a final day of match play action
- If there are any ties for 24th position, a sudden-death play-off on the 18th will determine the qualifiers
- Sunday will bring five rounds of six-hole match play battles – Super 6
- The top eight players after 54 holes will receive a bye into the second match play round
- Any ties for the top eight will be decided by a score count back based on the last 18, 9, 6, 3 and 1 holes
- In Super 6, any results not determined after six holes of match play will be decided by playing a shootout hole
- The shootout hole is a purpose-built par three using the 18th green, but played from a new tee box positioned around 90 yards from the green on the right of the 18th fairway.
- Only one man will be left standing

PGA Tour Going Against The (Sports) Grain On Pace Of Play

The European Tour introduces a shot clock tournament this year in response to a growing sense the pro game takes too long. And while we have not seen the slow play "personal war" predicted by Chief Executive Keith Pelley when he took the job in 2015, the European Tour continues to suggest that it sees where the world is headed: toward shorter, tighter windows for sporting events.

Major League Baseball is working desperately to shorten games. Bold proposals will be floated at the upcoming owners meetings, even to the point of experimenting with radical plans for extra innings. This comes after the first wave of pace initiatives did not go far enough.

The NBA has already limited timeouts at the end of games and cut TV timeouts. The end of a game moves better.

The NFL attempted to address fan concerns about their long games but only made a half-hearted attempt at picking up the pace. At least they tried.

Even professional tennis is experimenting with a much faster product for the "NextGen".

The PGA Tour avoids enforcing its pace of play rules and, as we saw at Sunday's 6-hour Farmers Insurance Open that was tainted by J.B. Holmes, this is a tour rallying around a player who openly defied (paying) fans, his playing partners and common sense. He knew he could not be penalized so why rush?

We could blame the PGA Tour's slow-play apathy to now-retired Commissioner Tim Finchem's disdain for penalty strokes and his obsession with vanity optics (such as players taking off their caps to shake hands). Those concerns of the Commissioner's office about a player's brand taking hit made enforcement impossible for the tour's referees, who also face pressures in moving fields around from faster greens and distance-driven log-jams on half-par holes.

There was hope new Commissioner Jay Monahan would follow the progressive lead of colleagues like Adam Silver (NBA) or Rob Manfred (MLB) and realize that younger fans are far more interested in action sports that take less of their time. But forget the kids. Who can watch a sport that takes over five hours and featuring players who have no regard for anyone else but themselves? Imagine paying $55 to watch a guy not play ready golf and playing only when he absolutely feels ready.

By signaling this week he sympathized with the supposed plight of Holmes, Monahan confirmed he will not use the power of the Commissionership to speed up play. All Monahan had to do was suggest that with high winds and pressure, it was a tough spot but the fans were right to believe this was a less-than-ideal look for the sport, particularly at a time millions of non-golf fans had tuned in for the Grammy's.

Instead, Monahan made it hard to believe his tour is interested in gaining new fans or in addressing the concerns of longtime fans that some of today's players are just too slow to watch. The Holmes incident captured on camera what paying fans all-too-often see during a PGA Tour event: a player taking much longer than their allotted 40 seconds.

Meanwhile, the European Tour is forging ahead with pace-related initiatives on multiple fronts designed to draw in new fans and intrigue those bored with the sport. While some of the measures are extreme and a middle ground with the PGA Tour position is the ideal, at least the European Tour is building off of the prevailing view after golf's 2016 return to the Olympic Games: the professional sport is woefully ill-equipped to compete in the global sports marketplace at its current pace, scale and preferred format. The pro game will fade into irrelevance if it does not adapt in a world that loves sport more than ever, just in smaller doses.

Video: Chief Executive Pelley On State Of The European Tour

Nothing groundbreaking is revealed in this sitdown with Golf Channel's Todd Lewis, but after watching it I think you have to give European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley credit for doing a lot to re-position the European Tour.

Now, some of the ideas might be excessive and the Rolex Series' long-term ramifications unclear, but he has people talking about the tour and viewing it as a true rival to the PGA Tour.

6'9" Leukemia Survivor Thomson Earns European Tour Card With Birdie-Birdie Finish

It's sounds cinematic on many levels, and if you're a Telegraph subscriber you'll undoubtedly get a great read from James Corrigan about 21-year-old Jonathan Thomson.

For those of us not behind the paywall, there is this AP story on the incredibly tall, amazingly courageous golfer. The Englishman endured five years of chemotherapy.

The 21-year-old Thomson was diagnosed with a strain of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at the age of 7, and went into remission after five years of chemotherapy. He represented England in tournaments at youth level and turned pro in September 2016, spending this season on the EuroPro Tour – the third tier of European golf.

Thomson shot 67-72-68-67-71-69 at Q-School to qualify with two strokes to spare.
“I know who will be leading the driving distance stat next year,” said European Tour player Tyrrell Hatton, a good friend of Thomson’s.

Guardian: "Golf sponsors happy to pay but appearance fees can distort sport"

Appearance fees seem like less of an issue than they used to be for the European Tour.

But as The Guardian's Ewan Murray notes in dissecting their current place in the game, still very much on the minds of some and having an impact on schedules or motivation to win the Race To Dubai.

Nonetheless, the situation raises questions. It seems fair to ask what standard of field would participate in Turkey were enticement not given to stellar names. If the answer is that the competition would become the domain of only lower-grade golfers, does that not undermine its Rolex status? There is also an ethical argument regarding why golfers, or any sportspeople of a certain financial level, should be paid simply to appear. In many ways, this surely contradicts the ethos of sport, albeit that such a point could be applied to money’s tight grasp of football, tennis and so many other enterprises.

Is Rahm A Controversial Winner Of The European Tour's ROY?

That's the question posed by Ryan Herrington at Golf World, and while I'm loathe to even argue the merits of an award that is essentially inconsequential, I think it's a worthy post to consider.

And not because Rahm is undeserving as he's an incredible young player who was deserving of a PGA Tour ROY but was not eligible. Nor should we necessarily be rewarding tour provincialism as a pre-requisite for consideration, but as Herrington points out, Dylan Fritteli was a genuine European Tour player with 28 starts to Rahm's 12. Both won one event. The European Tour's press release said Rahm clinched the award Sunday based on money winnings, but why this week's season-ending championship is not included, is unclear.

Herrington writes:

Yes, Rahm played in 12 officials European Tour events in 2017, claiming one win at the Irish Open and four top-10s in 12 starts while earning €2.8 million to put him fourth in the Race to Dubai entering this week’s season finale. However, of the 12 events, eight were either major championship or WGC tournaments that also counted toward his PGA Tour numbers. Is playing only four regular-season events native to the European Tour enough to be deserving of the honor?

At first glance, the answer feels like a definite maybe.

In the past, the Henry Cotton Award was said to come from a committee of European Tour, R&A and Association of Golf Writers and if they are still voting on it, they certainly rewarded a nice year by Rahm. But given all that's going on with efforts to give the European Tour a boost, the lack of reward for the tour's most devoted (and maybe best rookie) seems like an idea worth revisiting.

Pelley: '18 Ryder Cup Will Be Bigger Show Than Ever Before, But Draws The Line At Smoke Tunnels!

I'm guessing the teams will not be suspended from harnesses and dropped into the proceedings. They will, however, be subjected to over-the-top antics. Cue the pyro!

In talking to Adam Schupak for one of three New York Times items tied to the Race to Dubai/Rolex Series, European Tour Chief Keith Pelley has given us advance notice: expect Ryder Cup pomp x 100.

Our first tee experience at the Ryder Cup is going to be sensational. The opening ceremony, it should be a show, right? It’ll be much more of a show in France than it’s ever been before. I can guarantee you it will be. Still, we’re not bringing the players out in smoke tunnels, right? You’ll still have that aura that golf has, that majesty that golf has, but there will be a big entertainment element, absolutely, no question.

Lawrenson: "Rolex riches are thwarting hopes of hitting the big time"

The Daily Mail's Derek Lawrenson points out a troubling trend for the European Tour's ability to develop new talent though its Qualifying School: the Rolex Series may be making tour card retention more difficult.

As the DP World Tour Championship finishes up the European Tour season in Dubai by assembling the top 60 players, Lawrenson points out that only one Qualifying School graduate from last year--Eddie Pepperell--will be at the season ending championship.

In all, a record low of just three players — the others were Englishman Ashley Chesters and 2010 Ryder Cup member Edoardo Molinari — kept their cards for next season from the 30 handed out 12 months ago.

Contrast that to the nine who kept their cards the previous year and the 12 who retained their privileges in 2015.

Why has the success rate plummeted so alarmingly? Ironically, the prime reason is the Rolex Series: eight events that have added wealth and prestige at the top end of the European game but have skewed life horribly for those seeking to make their way who don’t gain access to them.

Lawrenson goes on to look at specific examples of players who graduated, played seemingly well enough to retain a card, and instead are heading back to qualifying school. Including Tom Lewis, who made a run at The Open a few years ago.

The main issue appears to be the divide between purse size in the seven Rolex events versus typical European Tour weeks.

Add John Paramor To The Anti-Green Reading Books List

Legendary European Tour rules official John Paramor, who restored order during the chaos of Jordan Spieth's errant Birkdale tee shot and who has no patience for slow play, talks to Golf World's John Huggan about his four decade career. Among the topics are rulings he's given, rules he'd like tweaked and his input on the upcoming rules revision.

He offered this on green reading books, which have generally been a pace of play nuisance.

Then there are the so-called “green books” you see people using when putting. Paramor has opinions there, too. “I recently asked Phil Mickelson what he thought about them. He feels they are a good thing. They are good for pace of play. They clear up a lot of the questions a player might have. Which is a valid point.

Actually, I don't think it is but go on...

"But I have to say I think they are a de-skilling of the game. Part of this game is making your own judgement about how your ball is going to roll across a green. It’s not for you to find that out on a piece of paper.”

I've seen two instances now of players blaming the books for a putt not breaking as it was supposed to on paper and it's more satisfying to witness than I ever imagined!

So as long they take 45 seconds or less, let them keep staring at the paper I say.

Henrik: Stop Blaming HSBC For My Mangled Ribs!

Everyone in the pro games loves the money HSBC pours into golf and appreciates their efforts to convene industry folks to discuss business of the sport issues.

Which may explain why Henrik Stenson is trying to absolve them of blame for his rib injury sustained at the WGC HSBC Champions. After blaming the stunt for causing sore ribs and his need to take a break, Stenson took to Instagram asking for forgiveness of the global bank.

My comment about not being Superman was a sarcastic way of saying that I am susceptible to injury like any other athlete and sometimes these things happen when you least expect them. I was pleased to help promote the HSBC Champions and to continue my string of success at the event and I was never forced to do anything. HSBC is a great sponsor to golf worldwide and I am not happy to see them being made responsible for my withdrawal. The plan as of now will be to participate in the DP World Championship if my body is back to 100%.

He's not happy seeing them made responsible, but Stenson also does not cite any other way he might have gotten hurt. Oh to have seen the communications that led to this plea! 

I’m disappointed to have to pre-emptively withdraw from the Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player, I was looking forward to this important year-end event on the European Tour. At this point I am back home in Orlando waiting to do a scan on my ribs and get the necessary rest. I am still hoping for a quick recovery and have not ruled out playing in Dubai next week at this point. My comment about not being Superman was a sarcastic way of saying that I am susceptible to injury like any other athlete and sometimes these things happen when you least expect them. I was pleased to help promote the HSBC Champions and to continue my string of success at the event and I was never forced to do anything. HSBC is a great sponsor to golf worldwide and I am not happy to see them being made responsible for my withdrawal. The plan as of now will be to participate in the DP World Championship if my body is back to 100%. H

A post shared by Henrik Stenson (@henrikstenson) on Nov 7, 2017 at 11:05am PST

Behind the scenes @hsbc_sport #HSBCChampions

A post shared by Henrik Stenson (@henrikstenson) on Oct 24, 2017 at 9:09am PDT

Chubby On The Rebound: European Tour Challenge Tournament With Par Putting Banned!

John Huggan of Golf World talks to beleaguered 10-percenter Chubby Chandler as the ink dries on his divorce from longtime pal Lee Westwood and other players (Willett, Fox) who left the ISM stable.

While Chandler likens the Westwood split to a divorce--with confidentiality agreements in place to ensure we never know why--Chandler is moving forward and one of his passion projects involves a European Challenge Tour event where par putting is not tolerated.

By way of example, next year’s European Challenge Tour is expected to feature an event that Chandler has a hand in in which par will be every player’s “friend.” In a bid to finally win the seemingly never-ending battle with slow play, every competitor will be banned from putting for par. As soon as a birdie has not been achieved, it will be ball-in-pocket and on to the next hole.

“It won’t just be that par doesn’t count. The players will be banned from putting out once they haven’t made a birdie,” Chandler says. “That way they will all be round in three hours. We will have two points for a birdie, five for an eagle and eight for an albatross. That’s been done before. But no putting for par, which counts as zero. So you can’t knock it out of a bunker to four-feet and putt for par. Not allowed. And that’s where things will speed up.”

Players will also get double points if they hole-out from off the green, and all points will double on the last three holes. “Everybody is in with a chance right to the end,” Chandler says. “That might all turn out wrong. But it could also be really exciting. We’ll see. We’re not changing the game that much. We’re just making it quicker and getting rid of the dull bits. No one really gives a bleep about eight-footers for par.”

 And yet, that's semingly all we ever see. So bring it on!