Sweden Folds 2018 Ryder Cup Hand, Declares Action Too Hot To Handle

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The search for the best package deal and undoubtedly the worst possible golf course to contest golf's most thrilling biennial event includes one less country now because of this:

The Swedish Golf Federation said it was impossible to find sponsors to host European events at Senior Tour, Main Tour and Challenge Tour levels in the years leading up to 2018.

"A signature on a scorecard is an endorsement of integrity, not just a scrawl on the end of a piece of paper."

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Colin Byrne details an incident at the Open de Andalucia that led to two DQ's. Not often you hear about this kind of thing...

Borja Etchart from Spain was disqualified from the first round of the Open de Andalucia for failing to add two penalty strokes for playing a ball from a wrong place on two of the last three holes of his round. Which, reading between the lines, would suggest that he was replacing his ball on the greens in a “careless” manner on previous occasions too.

If you see a playing partner doing something inappropriate on the course you have a duty to take action. The trouble is that, as a competitor, accusing a fellow player of incorrect actions will probably lead to some discussion and maybe a little bad feeling. As we all know, the game is difficult enough without any such contretemps. The right thing to do is take action. The easiest and wrong thing to do is ignore an action by a fellow competitor that you know is wrong. You are protecting yourself, your fellow competitors and the integrity of the game.

Etchart’s playing partners were Andrew Coltart and Erik Tage Johansen. The Norwegian, Johansen, was marking the accused’s card. Coltart and Johansen reported to the tournament committee after the scorecards had been returned that they had seen Borja incorrectly replace his ball on the 16th and 18th greens.


2010 Arnold Palmer Invitational Final Round Comments

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It's looking like an Ernie Els run-away victory and an impressive second straight win as we inch closer to the Masters. And since just about everyone on the planet would like to see him win that, it's exciting stuff. Nonetheless, I won't be watching live. Then again, neither will you be since the round is tape delayed to get in before possible inclement weather.

But feel free to post your various thoughts here on any and all things Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"Arnold Palmer wrestled with Cherry Hills for three rounds and then strangled it"

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Bill Fields files a must read feature on the late great Bob Drum for Golf World's Backspin issue. Naturally, I loved this story of a lede gone lost, all in the name of front page conformity:

Motivated to prove Drum wrong, Palmer drove the 346-yard par-4 first hole that had flummoxed him for three rounds and two-putted for an easy birdie. He birdied six of the first seven holes and shot 65 to emerge the winner.

"Drum came up with a real snappy lead, something like 'Arnold Palmer wrestled with Cherry Hills for three rounds and then strangled it,' " remembers Giffin, forced to tinker with the beginning of Drum's story after an editor decided it needed a few more facts if it was going to run on the paper's front page. Moreover, on the biggest story Drum would ever write about Palmer, his byline was inadvertently left off.

DENVER, June 18 --Arnold Palmer, who had wrestled with the Cherry Hills golf course for three rounds, caught it in a stranglehold on the final 18 today and pulled off one of the most unbelievable victories in National Open history.

Drum soon made an important point.

The sensational victory moved him over the second hurdle in his bid for present-day golf's Grand Slam.

There's also a nice web exclusive video worth watching...