ESPN2 Adds Coverage For Women's Open 36-Hole Finish

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For Immediate Release...

Due to the cancellation of today’s second round of the Ricoh Women’s British Open because of high winds, and the revised schedule that calls for 36 holes of golf on Sunday, two hours have been added to the telecast of the final day on Sunday on ESPN2, ESPN3 and WatchESPN.
 
Originally scheduled to air from 9 a.m. – noon ET, ESPN2 and ESPN3’s coverage will now air until 2 p.m. from the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, Liverpool, England. Coverage of Saturday’s play airs from 9 a.m. – noon, and one hour of final-round highlights will air on ABC at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

At This Rate, Davis Love May Need A Bigger Bulletin Board For The Ryder Cup Team Room

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Last bit of fun from the Golf Channel/NBC conference call to hype the Ryder Cup, were these comments related to captains and their decisions.

First, before the fun related to the U.S. team, David Feherty about the importance of the Ryder Cup to Euros and reminding us who Captain Faldo did not pick in 2008 and perhaps, why Captain Faldo did not make the pick.

DAVID FEHERTY:  They tend to put a lot more weight on a player's Ryder Cup for the record.  For instance, Colin Montgomerie is the greatest Ryder Cup player of all time.  Something really put the tilt in his kilt; you know, every time he put his Ryder Cup spikes on, he turned into just virtually an unbeatable player.  If Nick Faldo had picked him, you know, for his team, he probably would have gone past Nick Faldo's record of the most points ever won in Ryder Cup.

And Brandel Chamblee, talking about American captains and their lack of consistency which does make sense.

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE:  I think that in general, the captains for the U.S. side make mistakes.  They consistently switch up the pairings and the players.

For example, Tiger Woods played with three different partners in 2002.  I believe Jim Furyk played with three different partners in 2002, as well, and consistently the U.S. Team does that.  Whereas The Ryder Cup captains tend to find teams, and whether they have success early or they have failures early, they pretty much stick with those teams throughout The Ryder Cup, and it's worked for them.

And us switching, hasn't worked for us.  Paul Azinger I think gave the captaincy its proper due by studying the techniques of The Ryder Cup captains from Europe and employing those.  He played Mickelson with only two partners, Kim, until Mahan on Saturday.  He played Furyk with Perry.  He played Mahan with Leonard.  And I think that ‑‑ well, it obviously worked for him.
   
I think that that's the larger part of the problem, and it's not just a four‑ball that we are getting trapped in.  We also get trapped in the foursomes.  But we get trapped worse in the four‑ball.  I thought it was interesting that Paul Azinger made the decision to not open up with four‑balls for the first time since, I believe, going back to the 80s on U.S. soil.
   
So Davis Love has followed suit.  He's opening up with foursomes.  I think the U.S. side is getting let down by Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, certainly Jim Furyk.  Tiger Woods, I think it's for a different reason.  I think he just intimidates everybody that he plays with.
   
And I think he'll be different this time and I think Phil Mickelson will be different this time.  But I still wouldn't pair Phil Mickelson in the foursomes; I certainly would not pair him in the foursomes the first day because it hurts the morale.  And I would be very careful about pairing Jim Furyk and who I paired him with.

I think an assistant captain better plan on heading to Staples to pick up some pins and cork boards. We're still two weeks away and already we've got a nice stockpile of potential motivation material for the apparently hapless American squad.

Breaking: Poulter Taking Delivery On "Tailor Made"...Ferrari

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An unbylined report reveals the emotional news that Ian Poulter will finally be taking delivery on his Ferrari Tailor Made, part of "the ultimate automotive personalisation programme" and to help fill a hole in his garage that already includes, according to the story, a Ford GT, a Bentley Continental GT, and a Ferrari California.

The world's 25th-ranked golfer, who is renowned in the sport's circles for his unique personal dress sense and who has his own clothing company, IJP Design, chose a triple-layer paint for the exterior in ''Sabbia'', a pearlescent white.

And excessive hair gel absorbing head rests?

Inside, the Ferrari FF is trimmed in black Poltrona Frau Leather with highlights trimmed in the Tartan cloths that the golfer has made a personal trademark in his own fashion lines.

Red highlights are used on dashboard and instruments.

Why not blond highlights? Oh his are natural, I keep forgetting!

Feherty On Medinah: Not Great, But Not Belfry Bad

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And the hits keep coming from Wednesday's Golf Channel/NBC conference call, David Feherty:

DAVID FEHERTY:  You know, we have covered PGA Championships there, and Medinah is a long slog of a golf course, between some enormous trees, and has a couple of very similar par 3s over the water.  It's going to favor, I would say, you know, the longer hitters, that's for sure.  And you know, it's got a great finish.  We remember Sergio, I think in '99, 16, chopping it out from behind the trees on the right.  Then a couple of springbok leaps up there and then the par 3, the stare back at Tiger; a great finishing hole.

You know, it's a good golf course.  I don't think personally, you know, that it's great, but if you look at the venues that the Ryder Cup has had, at The Belfry, for instance, which was a horrible golf course to start off with, improved very slightly; it was never a great golf course, but it was a tremendous venue.  I think the crowds in Chicago will turn that golf course into something special.

Brandel: Since The Miceli Run-In, Tiger Has Become More Amiable, Even Pairable

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From yesterday's Golf Channel/Ryder Cup conference call, Brandel Chamblee talking about the kinder, gentler Tiger Woods we've seen in the second half of 2012 and how Tiger might even make a semi-decent Ryder Cup partner for someone.

Brandel on Tiger for the team room bulletin board:

And also from the perspective that I think he's become more amiable.  I think he has a different perspective now.  He's looking around, to Johnny's point and saying, what is my legacy going to be, and am I going to have relationships with these people later in life.

It's been interesting.  It's been fun to watch Tiger Woods in his post‑round remarks, maybe since the Honda when he had that little tiff with Alex Miceli.  But since then, he's been a different guy, and I think the players recognize that.

I think that's going to help him in his Ryder Cup experience, because he's going to be more of the leader that Seve was that took lesser players like Manuel Piñero and made them getter; Gilford, made him better; José, made him better.

Tiger's never done that before in a Ryder Cup.  You've [got] to make rookies better in a Ryder Cup situation.

"Melissa Reid 'can't wait for season to end' and the dawn of her new career playing in America"

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Quoting Melissa Reid extensively, James Corrigan files an emotional Telegraph piece on the eve of the Ricoh Women's Open Championship where the English golfer opens up about her completely understandable struggles with grief following her mum's tragic death in May and a tournament win in June.

The nadir came at last month’s Irish Open at Killeen Castle. It was too much to take. At the same venue the year before she had been a member of the Europe Solheim Cup team that beat America and her mother had played a full part in the celebrations.

The memories ganged up on Reid. “I was really, really struggling, she said. “I’ve always thought I’m good at blocking things out, but obviously not something like this. It was after eight holes when my caddie, Johnny, looked at me and said ‘do you want to go in’. I said ‘yeah’. And he said ‘come on let’s go, you don’t have to prove anything to anybody’.”

Reid tees off Thursday at 11:30 ET with Sandra Gal and Anne-Lise Caudal.

She is headed to LPGA Tour school this fall to try and earn her card.

Arnie Getting His Congressional Medal: "Proud of anything the House and the Senate could agree upon."

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Stephen Hennessey with the details of Arnold Palmer's ceremony today on Capitol Hill to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

John Boehner summed up The King quite nicely:

"He didn't set out to change the game. But he did. Arnold Palmer democratized golf. And made us think that we too could go out and play, and made us believe we could do anything really. All we had to do was go out and try," said Speaker of the House John Boehner, one of a number of politicians who helped honor Palmer in a cermony in the Rotunda of the Capitol building.

"You've struck our hearts and our minds, and today your government and fellow citizens are striking the Golf Medal for you."

25-1: Lydia Ko

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The braintrust at William Hill installed 15-year-old Lydia Ko at 25-1 for the Women's Open Championship, making her a joint 10th favorite.

Judging by the glowing praise from her colleagues as quoted in Alistair Tait's story, no one is counting her out.

“You can’t quite believe how good she is at 15,” said Scotland’s Catriona Matthew, the 2009 Women’s British Open champion. “Just the composure she showed on the last day. She actually went away from the field. It’s slightly embarrassing to be beaten by a 15-year-old. She’s obviously a fantastic player with huge potential.”