The Bubba Backtracking Begins! To Practice With Team USA

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I'm not sure if Davis Love finally realized that he could go to Hazeltine National with no headaches or a giant, throbbing one, it seems he's warming to Bubba Watson as his last captain's pick.

Tim Rosaforte reported that the world no. 7 and third highest-ranked American will join six members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team for a pre-Ryder Cup Hazeltine practice session this weekend.

Love said Watson is "the opposite of that," Rosaforte reported, and is a popular presence in the team room. "He's quirky, but so is Phil [Mickelson,]" Rosaforte said Love told him.

"I told Bubba after the Olympics, remember, there's a pick after the Tour Championship," Love said he told Watson.

That's a weird one given that Watson finished ahead of Rickie Fowler, who has already been picked.

The full report:

Love does have quite the notecard collection to stare at Bubba's name amidst the options:

 

 

"Proposal suggests revamped Yale golf course"

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Daniela Brighenti reports that Yale University and the city of New Haven have a proposal before them by Yale grad Roland Betts to transform the Country Club of Woodbridge and restore the Yale University course.

As you can see from Ran Morrissett's 2008 profile of Yale, the CB Macdonald, Seth Raynor design could be one of the world's great courses with a full restoration.

The plan would also include a partnership with the University in which Redan would restore and operate the Course at Yale as well as construct a lodging facility of approximately 80 rooms on its nearby land. According to the proposal, hotel operations would be provided by The Study in New Haven.

“The Redan Reserve concept is an intriguing one that is of significant interest to our Board of Selectmen and many of our residents,” Woodbridge First Selectman Ellen Scalettar said. “[Woodbridge] awaits news from Redan Reserve regarding Yale’s interest — and the city of New Haven’s interest — in the Redan Reserve project.”

According to Redan’s proposal, which is expected to cost $3.5 million, the restoration of the Course at Yale would be “faithful” to its original, historic design, while the revamped course in Woodbridge would be “entirely modern and unique.” Both courses would be open to the general public and built with the explicit intention of being ranked among the top 100 courses in the world, according to the proposal for the course.

Meanwhile In Irish Ryder Cup Drama Rekindled, McGinley & Clarke Won't Be Exchanging Lineup Thoughts Anytime Soon

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Not surprisingly, one of the brighter minds in golf was on Feherty this week and it was the engaging, easy going chat you'd expect for two big personalities who've known each other a long time.

David Feherty asked 2014 Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley what he and Darren Clarke fell out over, and McGinley still isn't sure.

Samuel Ryder would be so happy to see how his little gold cup brings people together!

Undercover Pros: What Ryder Cup Players, Caddies And Coaches Really Think Of Each Other

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I finally set aside some time for the catty backstabbing and other brutal assessments of Ryder Cuppers by those involved in the matches.

If you were an alien who just landed and knew nothing about Ryder Cup participants, you'd think after reading this that no one will break 80 in the matches.

Still, it's entertaining reading even if you come away thinking no one can putt, chip or do much of anything under pressure. You'll also find out who has the wedge yips...apparently just about everyone but Mickelson and Spieth.

John Huggan and Dave Shedloski got the folks to talk from both sides of the Atlantic for the September Golf Digest.

A sampler:

"If there is a worse lag putter in the game," said one, "I've yet to see him." Another player is known for this: "He enjoys pissing the other team off." Dealing with another opponent's gamesmanship? "You have to give it right back to him or ignore him. And if you do give it back to him, it can affect him."

The individual assessments will be of most interest if you haven't already read it between the print pages. Considering Bubba Watson has not made the first cut despite just missing the team on points, the assessment of his game and attitude seems especially pertinent.

EUROPEAN TAKES: "His head is his weakness. He talks a lot about 'energy levels.' He has to feel energized to perform. And because of his personality, he finds that difficult to do. In a Ryder Cup, where you play multiple matches in a short period and there's a lot of pressure, you can see him getting mentally fatigued quite quickly. And so his performance level drops off." ... "His driving is long but wild. So there is always the potential for him to hand a hole to his opponent. He can go out and beat you, 5 and 4, but you could do the same to him. I wonder how much fight he has in him when he's 2 down after five. Is he coming back? Probably not. He'll more than likely fold up." ... "He's easily upset, too. The crowd can get to him. He doesn't like being touched. So he has so much vulnerability."

So keep your hands to yourself. We can work with that!

AMERICAN TAKE: "If he's into it, if he loves the golf course, he isn't easy to beat, but the question is, can you get him into it? Attitude is everything with Bubba, because he has all the shots. If I'm Europe, I'm pointing out all the trouble at Hazeltine and letting Bubba chew on that."

I suppose Bubba could make a scouting trip to Hazeltine this week and declare his love for it, and really cause Captain Love a headache!

NY Post: Dick's Sporting Goods Eyeing Bankrupt Golfsmith?

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Thanks to the great Lou Brown for this Josh Kosman NY Post story suggesting that Golfsmith's bankruptcy filing has hit a snag and may lead to a completely collapse of the retailer, with Dick's Sporting Goods eyeing a takeover.

Kosman writes:

Private equity investor Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System owns Golfsmith and shanked the 2012 investment by acquiring it in a $97 million leveraged buyout, which put the company in deep debt at the same time interest in golf waned.

OMERS combined Canada golf retailer Golf Town with Golfsmith, and now the company’s stores are almost evenly split between US and Canada.

“There’s just too much debt,” a source said, adding that the company would be profitable if it did not have interest payments on roughly $200 million in loans.

NFL Strikes! BMW Third Round Outrates Final Day Coverage

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As NFL numbers hit 7-year lows on the first weekend, the PGA Tour's recent run of down ratings continued the cord-cutting era trend, only in more spectacular fashion.

Sports Media Watch reports that the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick drew a 1.2 final round. Without NFL competition and a weak slate of college football games, the third round actually out-drew the last day (1.3/1.9 million viewers). SMW looks back to 2012 for comparisons after last year's was a rain-delayed event. There was also this for the BMW...

Sunday’s 1.2 rating is tied as the second-lowest for final round coverage of the tournament since the FedEx Cup began in 2007.

Playoff fever! Opt-out time! Ca--chingnotsomuch.

The numbers are fascinating since conventional wisdom would suggest this could be the worst possible time for the PGA Tour to opt out of its network deal, presumably in search of more money thanks to additional bidders (ABC? FOX?).

However, that seems unlikely given that the sports rights bubble has burst. Although the numbers could set up an opt-out discussion that allows the next Commissioner to reimagine the playoff schedule timing. Maybe one that ends on Labor Day? Dan Hicks touched on this possibility on ShackHouse this week.

I still contend that trying to jam the playoffs into the post-PGA Championship, pre-NFL window will not work and that a fall finish to the season, with a restart in January gets the playoffs away from football when people are most excited about it, while also giving people a chance to catch their breath after a busy summer schedule.