Darren Clarke Is Prepared To Lose Friends Over Ryder Picks

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Oliver Brown of the Daily Mail goes into plenty of detail with Darren Clarke well out from the Ryder Cup, including the captain's obsessive compulisve storage of clothes depending on sizes due to his fluctuating weights (based on the photos taken two weeks ago, he's skewing back toward the Monty weight division again).

Anyway, it's not until late September and the stage for drama is already being set as stalwarts Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter look unlikely to make the team on points.

Considering that the captain has three primary jobs--finding rainsuits that don't leak, informing players when they are being benched, and not running over spectators in the captain's buggy--Brown believes that Clarke should have job #2 covered:

It is unlikely the 2011 Open champion will be scribbling potential pairings on scraps of paper during practice and trying to pass them off as a sandwich order, as Sir Nick Faldo did at Valhalla in 2008. Clarke will have a Plan A, a Plan B and a Plan C. He will organise. He will be involved. He will man-manage. He will know the characters of each of his players inside-out.

After a bunch of stuff about how he and Paul McGinley have patched things up (I know you were worried), Clarke admits he may lose some pals over his captain's picks in the name of winning.

Clarke knows he will face tough choices. Others have already wondered aloud whether he might be tempted to offer preferential treatment to old pals like Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter if they fail to qualify automatically for Hazeltine and need to rely on being among Clarke’s three wildcard picks. Clarke snorts with contempt about that idea.

‘An old pals’ act?’ he says. ‘How could I possibly do that? The Ryder Cup is much, much more important than an old pals’ act. That does not happen. Under no circumstances would I let myself... that’s not going to happen. No chance.

'I would have no problem with saying to Lee I was picking a rookie instead of him for a wildcard. Lee would be my best mate but I would have no problem. Why? Because it’s for the team. It’s not individuals. You have got to manage individuals’ egos but the team is there together."

Video: Another 6-Year-Old With A Picture Perfect Swing

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Gavin Sanchez is 6 and loves to play golf.

With a swing like this, who can blame him. A future DCP and PGA Tour star in the making...


Another keeper with his little brother, stay with it to the end...


And this comes a month after seeing Godiva Kim's amazing swing. How do they do it!

 

Rory On Rory's Play: "I've got to stop being so angry"

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Derek Lawrenson with the short take on Rory McIlroy's frustrating Bay Hill week, which included six doubles but plenty of birdies too.

The defending champion at the WGC Dell Match Play isn't too upset about his game.

McIlroy conceded he was getting too down on himself during rounds. 'I've got to stop being so angry and not let the mistakes linger, because they're clearly leading to more mistakes,' he said.

Handicappers take note, McIlroy says the kind of golf he's playing will work well in the match play.

At least this fine round left him in good spirits for the defence of his WGC-Match Play Championship in Texas this week. 'I'm playing perfect golf for that event, given I can only lose a hole for each double bogey, and I'm making bags of birdies,' he commented wryly.

Rickie Visited The King To Explain His Scheduling Conflict

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After some early week conjecture about America's top players passing up a chance to play before Arnold Palmer, "word trickled" out according to ESPN.com's Bob Harig that Rickie Fowler visited Palmer to apologize for not entering the API.

The news was confirmed reluctantly, as the idea to drive to Orlando from West Palm Beach and have lunch with Palmer was not meant to generate any publicity, but to simply do what Fowler felt was the right thing and express his reasons for having to pass due to a scheduling conflict. It was an incredible gesture, and showed an impressive level of understanding.

Or he just missed eating at Bay Hill?

I suppose this and Bubba's gesture should be admired, but why not just play the tournament? Take a helicopter. That's what the Shark would have done.