McGinley Gets Another 2014 Ryder Cup Endorsement

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Karl MacGinty of the Irish Independent slips in some fun details about the cutthroat battled to be Europe's next Ryder Cup Captain while endorsing Paul McGinley for the 2014 job.

Meantime, reporters at last week's BMW Masters in Shanghai were advised before Clarke's pre-tournament press conference that he would not be taking any questions on the Ryder Cup captaincy. Wise move.

And the endorsement of McGinley...

The Ryder Cup is the financial powerhouse which drives European golf, so one understands why the Tour executives might consider it vital to have someone of Clarke's charisma to focus support in the run-up to a home match.

Yet the staggering atmosphere at Medinah showed how irresistible the Ryder Cup has become to the corporate sector and golf fans, making it utterly futile to waste one of the most naturally gifted team captains Europe is likely to produce.

Over the weekend, McGinley was endorsed by Luke Donald.

Eavesdropping On Rory And Tiger: Were They Aware They Could Be Heard?

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Mind you, I'm not complaining. But since the streaming feed of the Rory McIlroy vs. Tiger Woods "Duel at Jinsha Lake" wasn't streaming, I never heard any of the banter.

Thankfully, Ryan Lavner did, and recounts all of it.

The most awkward revelations:

On the 10th hole, Woods admitted to “struggling with Sean (Foley),” his swing coach, saying, “I’ve been hitting my short irons so (expletive) far.” He went on to explain how he rarely took a divot with his short clubs under former coach Hank Haney, but now, though, “all of a sudden, I’m thinking divots.”

Whoa Nellie!

Woods said he lost eight pounds last week in Kuala Lumpur, and that the heat was so suffocating, “it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I had sweat dripping off my shirt when I was over the ball.” Apparently, he also lost his pin sheet on Saturday, which could help explain the third-round 69 that dropped him off the pace. (He eventually finished joint fourth.)

They couldn't get him a replacement pin sheet?

They talked scheduling. Woods noted that this was his first full season since 2005; that he likely will dial back his number of events next season; and that, post-British Open, U.S. players are plenty busy – maybe even too busy – with the FedEx Cup and all of the late-season jet-setting.

Problems, problems, problems!

First Sandy Storm Surge Photos Surfacing

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Hurricane Sandy's track appears ominous with flooding for a massive area expected, but in the near term coastal storm surges are the primary concern. Including for some prominent golf courses. Not as dramatic as the fake photos making the rounds, but serious stuff.

Brian Benedict of Seawane Golf And Country Club posted these on Facebook:


Rockaway Hunt Club, near New York's Kennedy Airport, courtesy of reader Jim. I'm told this shot of the 15th normally looks like a dogleg left golf hole:

The Final 25 Web.com Graduates Who Earned A PGA Tour Card The Easy Way: Without An Algorithm Interfering

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Next year the Web.com final event will be turned into a three or four event playoff merged with a field of elite non-top 125ers from the PGA Tour. Algorithms will be dictating status of those who get in a few fall "calendar year" 2013 events before the first "re-shuffle" makes it all meaningless.

So soak up the final 25 Web.com grads, with notes from Sean Martin. And Bill Nichols' wrap-up of Sunday's event in the Dallas suburbs that included a heartbreaking finish for Adam Hadwin and joy for Justin Bolli.

Augusta National Planning Clubhouse Work

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Steve Crawford of the Augusta Chronicle reports that a site plan has been filed with the city by Cran­ston Engineering Group to demolish the existing kitchen area and an adjacent building to make way for a new building.

The inevitable jokes will arrive that they need more closet space and women's bathrooms, though it sounds more like updating outdated food preparation area.

Not as fun or sexy, I know! Still, nice Rick McKee cartoon in the Chronicle from a few months ago after they admitted their first female members.

Belly Putter Rant: "The course designers are the ones who have lost sight of the spirit of the game."

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I had such high hopes for Dr. Craig Farnsworth's plea to save the belly putter and anchoring, figuring he was going to make the straightforward but certainly valid point that some everyday golfers would be discouraged if you took away something that has made the game more enjoyable for them.

Farnsworth's point is built around the "spirit of the game" argument cited by anchoring antagonists and he takes the governing bodies to task for not defending the spirit of the game by allowing a hot ball.

And you know who is to blame for violating the spirit of the game? The architects!

So far, the ball is so hot -- let alone the equipment changes -- it has made many courses obsolete for better players, especially PGA Tour players. One answer for this dilemma is to make course changes. That's why we're seeing courses at 7,600 to 8,000 yards. In addition, we can add more bunkers, design greens with multiple sections, and make other adjustments to strengthen the "challenge."

It's no wonder that amateur handicaps have changed little in decades. The course designers are the ones who have lost sight of the spirit of the game.

And therefore anchoring should be allowed to offset the evil work of the architects.

Can't we get some sanity back when it comes to the game -- the spirit of the game -- by starting to realize that present course designs are ridiculous at best? Modern green complexes scare the average player because when they are on the green, they are relegated to a three-putt, at best.

At best, no.