Poll: Let's Help Davis Love Make His Ryder Cup Picks

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I do not envy the task of Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love as he faces some tough decision with his four selections for the 2012 Ryder Cup team.

Here's a nice breakdown on Sky Sports of the dilemna he faces and a John Huggan infused take on the state of the teams heading into Tuesday's announcement press conference.

I voted first and went with Stricker, Watney, Snedeker and Johnson, going with the youthful guys who are playing well. Furyk is a tough veteran to leave off, but it's time to give a younger guy some more experience and let Stricker do the Tiger babysitting.  

You can select up to four...

Make four Captain's selections for the 2012 Ryder Cup team:
  
pollcode.com free polls 

Gil: “We just wanted to create a little more interesting finish."

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Rex Hoggard talks to Gil Hanse about being called a rooster Luke Donald's 18th green complaints and the TPC Boston rebuilder makes clear that interest was emphasized over difficulty.

For the week, the 18th is playing harder statistically. Last year the hole played to a 4.50 average with 19 eagles, 165 birdies and 23 bogeys. Through three rounds this year the hole has a 4.650 average, 14 eagles, 106 birdies and 28 bogeys.

“We just wanted to create a little more interesting finish,” Hanse said. “If that translated to the hole being harder, fine; and if it was easier that was fine. It was never the goal to go out and make the hole more difficult.”

Golf Channel's Before-After Shot of TPC Boston's18th

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Finally, a visual look at the change to the TPC Boston's home hole green courtesy of Golf Channel's first round broadcast of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Not a huge change from afar but several details standout: the approach area over the wetlands allowing for a shot to land and release, the short grass area to the rear, and the loss of green left where most players bailed out.

2011:

2012:

They Don't Call 'Emselves Wozzilroy For Nothin!

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I'm all for Caroline Wozniacki hopping up to Boston after her first round loss in the U.S. Open and I'm sure no one minds seeing her walking inside the ropes during pro-am play clad in skin tight pants, all the while telling Sirius/XM's Doug Bell that the walking makes her gluteous hurt.

But I guess no one had the heart to tell Sweet Caroline that the Deutsche Bank Championship tee markers are for branding, not sitting? Especially while your man is competing? I know it's a pro-am but still...


And in case you think this is a swing drill to ensure Rory doesn't take it too far inside, here's the video:

Gosh I can't wait to see where Caroline goes during the Ryder Cup!

Cheyenne Wood Notches First Win, Q-School Next

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Thanks to reader Ken for this unbylined report in the Daytona Beach News Journal on Suncoast Series win.

Woods earned $3,000 for the win, and like many players in the field, she was using the event as a tuneup for next week's Stage I qualifier for the 2013 LPGA Tour. That tournament, the first of three stages for the LPGA's qualifying, is scheduled for Tuesday through Friday.

TPC Boston's 18th: “I don’t think it’s a bad change or a good change, but it’s a hard change.”

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There's an excellent unbylined Golfweek.com story about the new 18th at TPC Boston (I'm presuming a McCabe authored piece) and as you'd expect, the players are not too jumping for joy about change that makes their jobs tougher. Defending champ Webb Simpson:

“I think with the old green, it was a wide target, but the left half of the green was small because it wasn’t that long in depth.”

It was clear for Hanse and even the million amateur architects who are out there that was there was a simple way for the big boys to play the 18th – drive it into a wide fairway and then launch your second shot from anywhere between 190 and 230 yards. If you were wide left or long, no worries; you had a basic wedge shot out of thick rough and getting it up-and-down was hardly needed for creative talents.

No more, not with shaved-down areas left and long and when balls bounced through the green or wide of the green, you will have a number of style options – putt it, try and flop it off a tight lie, or pitch it into the slope and get it on that way.

But if the homework was done during practice rounds, players know that the swales are steep – especially left.

“We can’t bail out left,” Tiger Woods insisted. “That swale is going to be (a challenge). We’ve got to figure out where the spot is to miss it.”

Chances are, many of those in this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship field will figure it out. After all, we can’t sue for false advertisement because indeed, these guys are good. But Hanse knows when a group of tour players gather, they can’t come to a consensus on what day it is, so don’t expect universal agreement on the work done to the 18th green.

We'll find out Friday in round one of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Initial Isaac Reports Positive For Golf Courses

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John Strege talks to Kelly Gibson about some of the first observations for the Louisiana area and while it was no Katrina and the levees are working better, Isaac has definitely left several golf courses under water.

"One course I'm personally concerned about is Joe Bartholomew Park [in New Orleans]. "We spent $8 million renovating it. They had received 12 feet of water for almost a month or so from Katrina and [Hurricane] Rita. We designed it to accommodate a substantial amount of rain."

Gretchen Bradford, the president of the Pontchartrain Neighborhood Park Association, reported that Joseph M. Bartholomew Sr. Municipal Golf Course survived intact.

"We had very minimal flooding in our neighborhood," she said. "We were very blessed. I'm not a golfer, but from what I see [of the golf course] it looks like it's OK. It has tree limbs and stuff around, and it probably did get saturated, but it wasn't flooded out."

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Audubon Park Golf Course in New Orleans "was inundated with standing water."

Mississippi is another story. Stay tuned.