Take That, Europe: Furyk Is The 2018 Ryder Cup Captain, Already Names His First Assistant Captain!

The task force "Task Force" Task Force probably had this one and the next four decided, but the rumor mill and Jim Furyk's continued relevance as an elite player injected a little doubt into whether he'd be selected 2018 Ryder Cup captain.

Furyk was named captain Wednesday on quite possibly the worst news day in the 21st century to reveal something, but it happens and the next Ryder Cup remains just under two years away.

Jason Sobel summed up the Furyk announcement this way:

Armed with a self-made swing and no-nonsense personality, Furyk has never been as awe-inspiring as Tiger Woods, or as beloved as Phil Mickelson, or even as admired as his predecessor Love, whom he has already named as his first vice captain.

What he lacks in affability, he more than makes up for with intelligence and sincerity and respect from his peers, qualities that should make him a strong captain for next year's festivities at Le Golf National in Paris.

Rex Hoggard talked to players about Furyk as captain.

After Mickelson, who assumed something of a playing vice captain role last year and is likely slated to captain the ’24 team at Bethpage in New York, Furyk is the most obvious choice to continue the work that began with last year’s victory (and make no mistake, those involved view the ’16 matches as only the beginning).

“Phil and Amy [Mickelson] are big time leaders and Jim and [wife Tabitha] are big time leaders as well,” Spieth said. “That really is important in a Ryder Cup team room, having both sides, having leadership together as a couple.”

In the old boys world of task forces, Furyk already named Davis Love an assistant, putting Mr. 58 on target--as of now--to be the first captain to have an assistant cart driver for every player on the team. 

Love had Furyk as an assistant and apparently wants to spend some time in Paris (can't blame him) in 2018. Or, Love missed driving his own cart at Hazeltine and is hoping to get back to his roots steering a Club Car.

From Doug Ferguson's story on the announcement:

Love will be one of his assistants in France.

"He's going to be a very tough act to follow," Furyk said from PGA of America headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. "He put a system in place. He put the players behind it. It won't make my task easier, but it makes it easier knowing there is a system in place. To have him by my side his advice, his experience, two captaincies and one vice captaincy is going to be priceless for me."

System's in place! Now it's just the captain's job to make sure those rain suits don't leak! Or does the system cover that?

Anyway, Furyk will give great press conference and not violate the most important tenets of the job, which John Feinstein and I debated on Golf Central:

Golfweek Debuts Monthly Issue, New Attitude

The bad news first: another print publication has contracted. Golfweek, the trusted weekly serving the game over 40 years, will now be published 12 times a year.

The good news: Golfweek's new monthly issue, available as a print and/or digital edition for just over $20 a year, successfully targets golfers who eat, sleep and love golf. Plus, they will continue with a weekly digital issue that keeps the "week" in Golfweek as relevant as ever.

Editor Gerry Ahern, brought on board by publisher Dave Morgan when Gannett purchased Golfweek last fall, explains the changes and new attitude in this post today. He even reaches out to readers for feedback:

Serious golfers, Golfweek is your magazine. We aim to be bigger, better and more compelling than ever. You can help us get there. Share your thoughts on the new look and feel of the print magazine, the digital magazine, the email newsletters and the website. How can we serve you better? Send your ideas, comments and suggestions to gahern@golfweek.com.

While I've gone through just some of the stories in the 82-page issue, I'm looking forward to reading this in print even more. The January issue appears to have a good blend of the traditional Golfweek franchises, only with some meatier features that might have been shorter in the weekly format. There is a sense of discovery with each page your turn and a feeling that Golfweek is aggressively trying to serve smart, core golfers who enjoy reading about the business of golf.

The table of contents:

A Donald Trump feature by Martin Kaufmann and Bradley Klein gets plenty of space, a list of the top 40 influencers in the game is sure to generate some discussion (and probably some hurt feelings). Other welcome editions include mental game coverage from Dr. Bob Winters, guest columnist Brad Faxon, a short profile of caddie John Wood, a review of Tiger's Bluejack National, an instruction piece from Ariya Jutanugarn and player profiles on junior golfer Noah Goodwin and LSU’s Sam Burns.

The design does not drift far from the current Golfweek look, but printed on higher quality paper, should provide something you can put on a coffee table. That is, if you don't mind looking at illustrated versions of Donald Trump and Tiger Woods this month.

Commish Monahan Pledges Tour Return To Miami, Shorter Playoffs

New PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan sat down with Golf Channel's Rich Lerner at Kapalua, with part one of their chat airing on Monday's Golf Central (part two is set for Tuesday's Morning Drive).

He touches on slow play at the 7 minute mark and the answer isn't encouraging given that he cites the tour's ability to sign off on time for television as a sign that things are okay.

But of more immediate note were remarks on trying to return to the Miami market, but probably not to the president-elect's Trump Doral.

“Like any relationship, we’re committed to finding a way to get back there.”

Monahan said the Tour continues to seek a new sponsor for the Miami stop, which has been a Tour stable since 1962, and that it’s “highly likely” that the circuit would return to South Florida.

But at Trump Doral? Monahan was not that specific.

As for the impact Trump’s presidency...

“We see president-elect Trump as being probably the best golfer to ever sit in office and probably the most golf knowledgeable,” he said. “For the game, that’s a tremendous thing.”

Best golfer to ever sit in the White House? They say the president from Massachusetts was pretty good.

He seemed to lower expectations for a potential PGA Tour schedule ending by Labor Day, but did confirm that if the PGA of America moves its championship to May and all other dominos fall, that the playoffs will be shortened by one tournament.

Monahan said no decisions on possible changes have been made and that the other players in the mix, most notably the PGA of America which would give up its spot as the year’s last major, would need to see the value of a possible makeover.

“It’s not as though we’re going to say this is the schedule, everyone has to adapt,” he said. “Our responsibility is to work very closely with the PGA of America and it’s got to work for everybody.”

Another piece of those changes would likely be a reduction of the number of FedEx Cup Playoff events, from four to three, and Monahan confirmed postseason contraction is a consideration. “If we were to execute the schedule that I just mentioned I think it’s likely,” he said.

Based on sponsorship contracts, that would likely mean the end of the Boston stop, leaving New York and Chicago/Midwest as the two "playoff" events.

Part one here:

Rory: "I hate that term 'growing the game'...golf was here long before we were, and it's going to be here long after we're gone."

Part 1 of Rory McIlroy's open and engaging chat with the Independent On Sunday's Paul Kimmage is worth a read, and while his comments about the Olympics got most of the attention, the grow-the-game views and his comments on Tiger stood out.

On the Olympics, he explains himself well and, in hindsight, probably would not have had to wheel out Zika if he'd just said what he tells Kimmage. Then again, his grow the game remarks might have gotten him a lecture from Mssrs Dawson and Finchem.

RM: Well, I'd had nothing but questions about the Olympics - 'the Olympics, the Olympics, the Olympics' - and it was just one question too far. I'd said what I needed to say. I'd got myself out of it, and it comes up again. And I could feel it. I could just feel myself go 'Poom!' and I thought: 'I'm going to let them have it.'

PK: (Laughs)

RM: Okay, I went a bit far. But I hate that term 'growing the game'. Do you ever hear that in other sports? In tennis? Football? 'Let's grow the game'. I mean, golf was here long before we were, and it's going to be here long after we're gone. So I don't get that, but I probably went a bit overboard.

PK: They were goading you.

RM: Yeah, but maybe I shouldn't have reacted in the way that I did. But Olympic golf to me doesn't mean that much - it really doesn't. I don't get excited about it. And people can disagree, and have a different opinion, and that's totally fine. Each to their own.

PK: There was a lot of blow-back for you afterwards. When you were asked about it after the opening round you said: "I've spent seven years trying to please everyone and I figured out that I really can't do that, so I may as well be true to myself."

RM: Yeah, I mean when it was announced (that golf was to be an Olympic sport) in 2009 or whatever, all of a sudden it put me in a position where I had to question who I am. Who am I? Where am I from? Where do my loyalties lie? Who am I going to play for? Who do I not want to piss off the most? I started to resent it. And I do. I resent the Olympic Games because of the position it put me in - that's my feeling towards it - and whether that's right or wrong, it's how I feel.

Ok, so we won't pencil you in for Tokyo 2020.

As for the tired "grow the game" phrase, it's wonderful to see a player single it out.

May I propose "sustain the game," which would allow McIlroy and others not look hypocritical when working to inspire kids to take up the game, something he clearly enjoys. Because we know the "grow" is merely a product of fear that the numbers have, gasp, flatlined.

On Tiger:

RM: I’m drawn to him, yeah. He’s an intriguing character because you could spend two hours in his company and see four different sides to him. When he’s comfortable and he trusts you — and his trust (sensitivity) is way (higher) than mine — he’s great. He’s thoughtful. He’s smart. He reads. He can’t sleep so that’s all he does — he reads stuff and educates himself on everything. But he struggles to sleep, which I think is an effect of overtraining, so I tell him to calm down sometimes. He’d be texting me at four o’clock in the morning: ‘Up lifting. What are you doing?’

PK: Really?

RM: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He's never dull!

PGA Tour May Add LPGA Winners To Season-Opening TOC?

Randall Mell at GolfChannel.com says a joint season-opening tournament of champions is one of the main revelations from an extensive Rich Lerner sitdown with new commissioner Jay Monahan.

The interview airs in two parts, Monday on Golf Central and Tuesday on Morning Drive. The key quote:

“You could see men and women here at the Tournament of Champions,” Monahan told Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner as part of a wide-ranging interview that will air Monday on Golf Central and Tuesday on Morning Drive. “That is something we are thinking about and talking to Mike and the LPGA about. We would like to see that happen. We have some interest from sponsors.”

News of efforts to rejuvenate that opening event comes at a good time, as this year's SBS at Kapalua has (so far) felt flat despite a nice field and leaderboard. Perhaps Kapalua playing soft has made the proceedings less compelling. After all, no course on the PGA Tour is more fun to watch when it's firey and players are feeding the ball to the hole.

Perhaps adding the winners of LPGA events and a second tournament conclusion could inject some fun.

Tribunal Rules European Tour Unfairly Dismissed Scott Kelly

The Daily Mail's James Dunn reports on the ruling against the European Tour and new chief Keith Pelley on the issue of unfair dismissal, but sided with the defendant on the issue of age discrimination.

A monetary reward will be decided in a February 6 hearing.

This was interesting on the topic of age discrimination:

David Mitchell, representing Mr Kelly, said the claims were 'concocted' fabrications after the legal proceedings were started, producing transcripts of emails and meetings where Mr Pelley said he wanted to employ 'millennials' and that another senior director kept his job 'with the support of two 31-year-olds - offering fresh legs'

Presiding Judge Andrew Gumbiti-Zimuto, in a reserved judgement, said: 'The reference to retirement was not any indication of the reason why his employment was terminated but a matter of positioning it as retirement for presentation only; to preserve the claimant's dignity by avoiding people knowing that he had been dismissed.'

Kelly has been described as a key figure in securing the tour's partnership with Rolex, but how much of that involves the recently announced Rolex Series events is unclear.

Trailer Released: Tommy's Honour (U.S. Edition)

As I watched a few minutes of Tin Cup today prior to the start of the 2017 season, I became wistful thinking that some day soon it will only run 20-30 times a year on Golf Channel instead of 400.

That's because Golf Channel has the television rights to Tommy's Honour, directed by Jason Connery, written by Pamela Marin and Kevin Cook and based on the novel by Cook. The film stars Jack Lowden, Peter Mullan, Ophelia Lovibond and Sam Neill.
 
Roadside Attractions will release Tommy's Honour in theaters on April 14, 2017. This newly-released trailer gets the juices flowing if you love the book or simply would like to go back in time to see the early glory days of golf.

The trailer: