Fans attending the Ryder Cup are encouraged to wear red clothing on Sunday at Medinah to show their patriotic pride, while fans watching from home are encouraged to the same.
With the captivating documentary War By The Shore, core golf fans will have one less thing to bemoan about Golf Channel's neglect of the game's rich history. In yet another shining example of the Comcast/NBC merger benefiting golf fans, this artfully produced film takes full advantage of NBC's original 1991 Ryder Cup footage and intermixes the highlights with historic photos and an extensive mix of interviewees to relive one of the most thrilling events the game has ever witnessed. Beyond retelling the story of an epic match, the 51-minute Ross Greenburg produced documentary makes an open-and-shut case for this as the transcendent event in the Ryder Cup. And maybe even in golf's place in the network pecking order.
Directed and edited by George Roy from a script by Steve Stern, the first nine minutes are devoted to the Jack Nicklaus-inspired 1979 switch to a competition against a team from Continental Europe. By 1987 when the Europeans dominated at Muirfield Village and Jose Maria Olazabal broke out in a celebratory dance across Muirfield Village's 18th green, there was "bad blood" and the arrogance was viewed as an "affront" to the Americans, Paul Azinger says in the film. A 1989 tie was remembered mostly for Captain Ray Floyd's "twelve best golfers in the world" remark at the opening ceremony. Throw in a testosterone boost from the Gulf War even though the U.S. and Europe were allies, and the stage was set for the 1991 event at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course.
The early week antics recalled in the Peter Coyote-narrated film are many, from footage of the opening dinner (everyone had so much hair and Sir Nick had such lovely highlights!), the Steve Pate limo accident (didn't need to see Pate shirtless though) and even the traditionally-diplomatic President George Bush giving a pro-American taped message shown at the dinner (he refers to the bi-annual matches…nice job presidential speechwriters!). It all eventually pales compared to the on-course dramatics: Seve Ballesteros coughing-in Chip Beck's backswing, the ball compression controversy between Azinger and Seve, and even Azinger suggesting teammate Corey Pavin's ode-to-the-troops camouflage hats "crossed the line" (now we know why the two eventual Captains weren't sharing many notes in 2010!). The combination of rarely seen footage, fresh memories and a nice cross section of players and media interviewed, makes for terrific television. (Included is Curt Sampson, who has a new book on the matches. Excerpt here.)
One pleasant surprise to even this viewer--who was glued to the whole thing live and still has VHS copies of all three days--was the reminder that this was a breakthrough television event. The first Ryder Cup aired on network television, NBC's Dick Ebersol made a bold decision to stay with Saturday's Fred Couples/Payne Stewart v. Olazabal/Ballesteros match a whopping 90 minutes into American prime time. The resulting match, played in stunning late light on an Ocean Course that was firm, infinitely more fascinating and aesthetically rugged back then, set the stage for Sunday's singles while introducing a new audience to emotion-fueled golf like no one had ever seen.
For the final day, the film glosses over the decision by Pate to not play due to the car accident injury and instead focuses on the two matches everyone involved will forever remember: Mark Calcaveccia's meltdown against Colin Montgomerie and the finale between Bernhard Langer and Hale Irwin. We learn that Monty was going to concede a short putt to Calc after the "smother top" into the par-3 17th hole's lake, but then something urged him to resist and Calc missed, sending the match to the home hole. Then there was that unforgettable finish between Irwin and Langer which, while getting the full treatment, doesn't feel quite as dramatic as it did in last Tuesday's re-airing of the original telecast. Still, it's a minor quibble as the Greenburg team packed a lot of into 51 minutes of gripping and never dull Ryder Cup memories.
War By The Shore airs Tuesday, September 25th at 9 p.m. ET on Golf Channel. Here's a preview:
Overnight Nielsen ratings for the Tour Championship: 2.2 Saturday (up 100%!) and 2.2. Sunday. It was the best Sunday for the TC since 2009 (3.3), and stands as the 3rd best TC final round overnight in ResetCup history (since 2007/3.3).
Even better, Strege answers one of the great mysteries in golf: who the heck is Peter Millar? And you say this blog doesn't lead you to life changing information?
Only natural the subject of the Tour Championship would arise.
So, Tucker, you think I can beat Rory today?
Tucker Anderson had been involved in a near fatal car accident in Florida two weeks ago and was transferred to the Shepherd Center for treatment of a traumatic brain injury. The teen can’t speak yet. But as Snedeker relayed later, Tucker answered him with a wink.
“That’s all I needed,” Snedeker said.
C’mon, how you gonna beat that?
Bob Harigfeels Snedeker's clean victory in the Tour Championship made his ResetCup win better too because the algorithms stayed out of the affair. Those poor calculability codes and rolled up Oxfords in PVB that couldn't bring the attention off the golfers and onto the suits!
The fact that Snedeker won the Tour Championship by 3 shots over Justin Rose and kept the typically contrived and confusing points scenarios to a minimum makes for a nice bow on that FedEx package. Even Rory McIlroy, who finished second to Snedeker in the final FedEx standings despite two playoff victories, a major championship and a total of four wins this year (to Snedeker's two), was left to give a golf clap to Snedeker while having to "settle'' for his $3 million bonus.
"I'm a little disappointed, but at the same time, Brandt really deserves to win," McIlroy said. "If you look at his stats the whole way [throughout] the week, he played the best golf out of anyone. He knew what he needed to do. He needed to come in here and win. He controlled his own destiny, just like I did, and he was able to come and do that. Because of that, he really deserves it."
For those of you counting at home, the aggregate scoring concept for the Playoffs would have finished this way:
Rory McIlroy, 41 under (-1) -42 Dustin Johnson, 36 under (-1) -37 Tiger Woods, 34 under (-2) -36 Brandt Snedeker, 25 under (-10) -35 Ryan Moore, 24 under (-6) -30 Phil Mickelson, 31 under (+1) -30 Louis Oosthuizen, 34 under (+7) -27
And for those of you favoring the "Plus One" concept endorsed by Brandel Chamblee and Johnny Miller last week, that means the final foursome after the Tour Championship play would have been McIlroy, Woods, Johnson and Snedeker, playing either one round or 36 for the $10 million prize.
It's the day we've all been waiting for, the last PGA Tour round before the Ryder Cup!
I'm sure the algorithms will work themselves out and at some point there will be a chance for a statistical tie, forcing NBC's Steve Sands to hit the white board. Goosebumps just thinking about those permutations and data matrixes.
Karen Crouse travels to St. Simons Island, population 13,000 and branded by a headline writer as the "new capital for U.S. golf." She tries to understand what it is about the wealthy enclave that is spurring so many successful Americans including the Captain and three Ryder Cuppers.
The players were drawn to St. Simons, part of the Golden Isles chain of barrier islands along Georgia’s southeast coast, at least in part by Love, a 20-time PGA Tour winner whom they affectionately refer to as Uncle Davis.
“He’s everything from a plumber to an electrician to a hunting guide to a fishing expert, not to mention a pretty good chef when we grill out,” Snedeker said. “He’s kind of like everybody’s safety net.”
Hunter had no chance!
Matt Kuchar feels at peace with the oaks.
“It has beautiful low-country scenery with the reeds, the marshes and the oceanfront property as well,” said Kuchar, who moved his family here two years ago. “I think one of the things that I may enjoy the most is seeing these big oak trees. Something about going down a drive with just big old oak trees canopying a place puts me at peace. And then having the ocean; something about the natural ebb and flow of an ocean adds an unreal, peaceful rhythm to the place.”
I tried to watch some of the Tour Championship today but with playoff chases in baseball, some decent college football games and those Web.com Tour-sized galleries splattered amidst that distance-diffusing East Lake setup (a 16-yard wide landing area?), the ResetCup was relegated to a distant third on my priority viewing list.
Even then, I tended to land on a commercial break whenever I flipped over.
The Ryder Cup can't come soon enough.
Because as Mark Lamport-Stokes reports, Captain Davis Love's selection Brandt Snedeker is playing super heading into the Ryder Cup and even has a chance to win $10 million Sunday.
Snedeker described his third-round 64 in breezy conditions on a fast-running layout as one of his best displays this year and he has targeted something similar for Sunday.
"I actually won't look at the leaderboard all day," he said with a smile.
Don't worry Brandt, all you'd miss are a lot of ads and recognitions of the host pro, The First Tee and high fructose-laden corn syrup soda pop.
"My goal tomorrow is to shoot as low as I possibly can. If that's 63, it's 63. If it's 72, it's 72.
"Whatever it is, it's going to be everything I've got on that golf course tomorrow. The biggest thing tomorrow is going to be how patient you can stay because this golf course eats guys up that don't stay patient."
Or find those under-20 yard wide strips called fairways!
The PGA Tour's highlights:
For fans of Gary Van Sickle's proposed aggregate stroke play for the playoffs, I've updated the scores of the only remaining contenders based on Jim McCabe's item from after the BMW Championship. So here are the scores heading in, with this week's scores in parentheses and the overall total. As it should be, Rory McIlroy has opened a commanding lead. It wouldn't make for exciting viewing but it would also be a win free of resets and based on a playoff consistency.
Rory McIlroy, 41 under (-5) -46
Tiger Woods, 34 under (-4) -38
Dustin Johnson, 36 under (-1) -37
Louis Oosthuizen, 34 under (E) -34
Brandt Snedeker, 25 under (-8) -33
Ryan Moore, 24 under (-6) -30
Phil Mickelson, 31 under (+2) -29
Oh and Luke Donald hit a super second shot at 14 Saturday, thankfully posted on YouTube so we can see it:
What is there to say? Oh I know...over/under on first Steve Sands session with the RussertBoard to tell us of a scenario that might happen, only to have that scenario wiped out by a birdie by the 10th place player?
Golf Channel has early coverage until 2 p.m. ET, then NBC picks up the coverage.
I'll go with 2:17 ET as the over/under. Place your bets!
First of all, who knew Greg Norman was on Facebook?
Of course, his URL is facebook.com/thegreatwhiteshark, which might be enough for most to roll their eyes and move on. But not John Strege, who thankfully Tweeted this link.
Got off the plane from Beijing this morning and my Iphone just blew up with emails and voicemails regarding my interview with Robert Lusetich of Fox Sports.
No WiFi on the jet Gregster? I bet the 737 woulda have had WiFi. Sorry, go on…
It seems that everyone from Charles Barkley (no Charles I was not referencing or comparing Tiger's record to mine) to John Doe has weighed in on my quote regarding intimidation.
Uh, you did say that you took the baton from Jack Nicklaus, winner of 18 majors to your two wonderful Open Championship wins. But keep digging…
I stand by my comments and for those that choose to read the full article and not just "grasp" and "react" to one word will notice that the headline and byline were inconsistent with the content of what Robert wrote.
Not really, but we'll throw you a bone and let you off the hook. For now.
When you look at my comments in the full context of the article, you will see that it provides a more balanced view of my sentiments on this topic. Which is, since the PGA Championship Tiger has not made any impact on the weekend in passing Rory for the title.
What title would that be?
This has not happened in his career prior to this run by Rory. During the PGA Championship broadcast I spoke at length about Tiger and I maintain that no one has swung the club better in the history of the game, especially during the year 2000. At the end of the day, Tiger is a great athlete and a great student of the game and he will continue to win, but we are seeing a transition away from his dominance. Rivalry and parity is great for the game of golf.
Parity is great? I don't know, I think Greg Norman winning nine majors would have been pretty swell. But if you say so…
Unfortunately for Rory, I think that the trademark for “The Intimidator” is already registered with Dale Earnhardt.
Charles Barkley wants Tiger to get some "blackness" in him, wants him to stop taking the high road and best of all, wants Tiger to get into a public spat with Greg Norman over recent comments and indeed it would be the kind of spat we need, though preferably after the Ryder Cup. Shane Bacon with the comments and audio.
I would like for him to just blast Greg Norman … That situation gave everybody a chance to dump on you, and (Tiger) still tried to take the high road. I'm not a high road guy. I want him to come out and really blast Greg Norman. I wish he would go ballistic on Greg … I wish I could put some of my blackness in him … like toughness … (I've been) arrested eight times for fighting … just because I'm Charles Barkley, you can't disrespect me … you just can't say anything to me anytime you want to …
Oh I can. In this case, you're an idiot! But I do welcome the sentiment and hope Tiger takes your advice. If he still speaks to you.
Geoff Shackelford
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning Drive, is co-host of The Ringer's ShackHouse is the author of eleven books.
From the Team USA portion of RyderCup.com--yes we're still splitting the website into teams--an unbylined report on the PGA of America encouraging a "Red Out" to make Sunday look like a Nebraska Cornhuskers tailgate party.
