Why Is Rory Escalating A Situation That Should Not Be A Situation?

As Rory McIlroy digs in on his schedule change at the expense of the European Tour’s image, it’s hard not to wonder if something deeper is at the root of his plan to give up membership in 2019. The move will be a blow to the tour and if the rules are not changed, end his ability to ever drive a Ryder Cup cart.

Paul McGinley, former Ryder Cupper, European Tour board member and host of next year’s Irish Open at Lahinch—which Rory plans to skip—penned his thoughts. When you read McGinley’s case for McIlroy essentially creating this fuss over not wanting to commit to just two more events, McIlroy is either creating unnecessary drama or has another motive in play.

From McGinley’s Sky Sports piece, not even trying to make the case for the Irish, but for merely playing twice after August.

The FedExCup finishes in August next year, so you've got all of September, October, November and December where the PGA Tour is played in Malaysia, Korea and various other places.

Is Rory going to play in those rather than play in Dubai, where he has had unbelievable success and offers the exact same prize money as those events? Or is he just not going to play at all over the last four months?

We've already reduced the number of events players have to play on the European Tour from five down to four, just to make it easy for the guys, like Rory, who are playing a worldwide schedule.

(Mercifully) RIP Soon: Caddies Lining Up Players

GolfChannel.com’s Randall Mell says goodbye to the peculiar LPGA player tendency to have their caddies line them up for a shot, a casualty of the 2019 rules of golf changes.

As most commentators have told us, no one can recall when a player was actually called off a shot by a caddie. Mostly, it just provided an annoyance to television viewers and gave some the perception that female professional golfers needed this odd crutch.

Mell writes of Brittany Lincicome’s use of caddy alignment confirmation throughout her career:

So why do it? For most players like Lincicome, it’s just reassurance. If the rules allow it, why not make sure? For Lincicome, it also has become part of her pre-shot routine.

“It’s really more like a trigger,” Pederson said. “It’s something she will just have to re-establish for next year. I don’t foresee it being a problem. She plays off weeks and in the off season without me lining her up, and she’s fine.”

Lincicome was irritated when she first learned of the rule change, mostly because it was sold as a way to speed the pace of play. Lincicome is one of the fastest players on tour.

The Aussies Care: Chalmers, Hughes Speak Out On Distance Issues

As the Australian Open gets underway, the world of golf’s attention turns Down Under where we are reminded that some players still put the game ahead of their pocketbook.

Mark Hayes reports on Greg Chalmers, two time Aus Open champ, revealing that he’s been “begging and pleading with” the governing bodies to do something. Anything. Or, as some people would call it, their job. Good luck with that!

“They always seem to be behind and I would love for them at some point, and it's probably going to happen in about 10 years, they're going to go, ‘Hmmm, I think the ball goes too far, or the clubs help to hit the ball too far’.

“So that is something that I am frustrated about because we always seem to be unwinding the clock.

“We always have to – it started with the wedges, the change in grooves, then we went long putter.

“They keep unwinding things.  Why can't we get in front of things?  That's the only thing I wish would happen, they would do a better job sometimes.”

Had they done so at some point in the last twenty years, maybe former Australian Masters winners and Presidents Cup participant Bradley Hughes wouldn’t have to write a eulogy to the golf course he loves and which no longer plays as it was intended, with him channeling the defenselessness of the design against a modern golfer.

You are going to take the blue line route to the destination.

Go ahead- say it.... I know you are. You can't hurt me anymore

You are going to dismiss my contours.

You are going to avoid my white face bunker that used to laugh at you from the tee- now you don't even see it.

That bunker recently admitted his own lonely existance to me not so long ago also. He feels betrayed too that his prescence is no longer appreciated or acknowledged.

The beautiful pines on the corner of my dogleg are now an aiming point rather than an obstruction. And yes!!! They are pissed off too!!!!

State Of The Game 84: Arthur MacMillan, Saudia Arabia And Golf Tournaments Going To Strange Lands

Rod Morri, Mike Clayton and yours truly spoke with Arthur MacMillan, Chief Diplomatic Correspondent at The National regarding the bleak situation in Saudi Arabia and the European Tour’s “monitoring” of events there.

We also kick around other topics including Rory McIlroy and a fun story to end the show! You can check it out below or wherever fine podcasts are streamed.

Save Muny Urgently Needs UT Regents To Hear From Supporters

It’s a golf course for everyone in a city center

The University of Texas Board of Regents and legislators who hold the future of Lions Municipal apparently need to be reminded again that a lot of people care about Austin’s gem of a public golf facility.

This Thursday they vote on whether to extend the Brackenridge Tract Agreement deadline for canceling the Muny Golf Course lease. An extension is needed to allow the state of Texas and City of Austin to continue negotiations on Saving Muny and the Brackenridge Tract. 

The Save Muni Instagram account offers this handy sample letter with pertinent email addresses.

View this post on Instagram

❗️URGENT CALL TO ACTION: Ask UT Board of Regents and Legislators to Save Muny! Dear Friend of Muny, This Thursday, the UT Board of Regents will vote on whether to extend the Brackenridge Tract Agreement deadline for canceling the Muny Golf Course lease and Brackenridge Development Agreement. If we don’t take action, we know that, absent UT negotiating in good faith, we’ll have more traffic and we’ll lose green space, so we need your help to contact the Regents and our elected leaders at the state to get UT to extend the deadline so that the State and City of Austin can continue negotiations on Saving Muny and the Brackenridge Tract. If you want UT and the City to negotiate a solution for the Brackenridge Tract Agreement and Muny Golf Course, then please consider sending a message, such as shown below, to let them know the importance of providing additional time to find a fair solution to help Save Muny and the Brackenridge Tract. Thank you for your help and continued support! Proposed Message (please revise as needed): Greetings Board of Regents (bor@utsystem.edu), Honorable Senator Kirk Watson (kirk.watson@senate.texas.gov), Honorable Donna Howard (donna.howard@house.texas.gov), Honorable Gina Hinojosa (gina.hinojosa@house.texas.gov): We urge you to extend the deadline for canceling the Muny Golf Course lease and Brackenridge Development Agreement so that negotiations can continue between the UT System and the City of Austin. With Austin City Council’s vote to extend the deadline from November 26, 2018 to February 28, 2019, UT has a willing partner to continue discussions, and we implore you to provide additional time for negotiation discussions to continue. The Brackenridge Tract properties are valuable and treasured assets, not only for UT Systems but also for the City of Austin. And with recent progress by the City of Austin in finding possible funding sources to fairly compensate UT for a deal to purchase and/or swap properties, there is a real opportunity to reach an agreement which provides reasonable development and compensation to UT for the properties. Please vote to extend the cancellation deadline. Yours very truly, ________________

A post shared by Save Muny - Austin, Texas (@savemuny) on Nov 13, 2018 at 4:49pm PST

Blackmar: "Is technology driving golf to a fork in the road?"

Former PGA Tour player and broadcaster Phil Blackmar has been watching the assorted technology debates breaking out in response to Brandel Chamblee’s Tweetstorm over the distance explosion and how to address the situation.

Blackmar’s worries less about the pro game and instead wonders how much enjoyment technology has brought to the game, particularly in once-passionate markets now well into golf popularity recessions as we’ve never seen better technology and science applied to the game.

As you can see, handicaps have come down 2 strokes over the past 27 years. Take a minute to consider all the tech advancements I just mentioned plus: better understanding of biomechanics in the swing, launch monitors revealing misunderstood impact relationships and launch monitors providing invaluable feedback. Then, add better agronomy, workout specialists, mental gurus, short game experts and finally the countless articles, books and videos detailing all sorts of methods and philosophies. Add all that up and ask yourself: is a two stroke gain over 27 years significant? Is shooting 86 rather than 88 that much more fun? I don’t think so either.

Rory May Cement His European Tour Winless Streak By Playing PGA Tour Full Time In 2019

I think everyone was a bit shocked by Rory McIlroy’s suggestion he’s pondering an all-PGA Tour schedule in his 2019 future to play against better competition, particularly given how few true European Tour events he plays and that he has one win on the that tour in the last three years.

Now, saying you want to spend more time in the U.S. because you have a nice home here, the weather is better and your wife is from here would have have sufficed. But suggesting the competition element is behind your thinking when Europe just dominated the Ryder Cup and your lone win since 2016 came in the Irish Open, seems like a shot at the European Tour more than it’s a compliment to the PGA Tour.

Anyway, from Ewan Murray’s Guardian story from the season-ending Dubai event:

“I am starting my year off in the States and that will be the big focus of mine up until the end of August and then we will assess from there,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of ‘pure’ European Tour events on my schedule up until the end of August. I guess my thing is that I want to play against the strongest fields week-in and week-out and for the most part of the season that is in America.

“If I want to continue to contend in the majors and to continue my journey back towards the top of the game, then that’s what I want to do.”

We discussed today on Golf Central’s Alternate Shot:

Lawrenson: New Saudi Event Elephant In European Tour Board Rooms This Week

As the news fails to improve over Jamal Khashoggi’s murder at the hands of Saudi government agents, Derek Lawrenson of the Daily Mail wonders how much longer the European Tour can monitor the situation. Since it’s a new Saudi Arabian stop initiated by Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia suspected of ordering Khashoggi’s execution, all eyes are on the European Tour’s handling.

It's not a vast leap of the imagination to suspect the Saudis are using their oil wealth to lure sport into something of a devil's pact, to present a more acceptable persona to cover up human rights abuses.

But are we in the Western world really in a position to take the high ground and dictate where sports events should be staged?

While Lawrenson correctly notes that the Western world has its violence issues, none of them were potentially endorsed or ordered by the person described by the tour as having visited London “to confirm the full-field event that will play a key part in the European Tour’s early-season Desert Swing in 2019.”

Lee Westwood Permanently Parts With Longtime Looper Billy Foster To Spend More Time Doing His Own Yardages

Lee Westwood and longtime looper Billy Foster have officially split, with the move actually happening before the former World No. 1 captured the Nedbank accompanied by his girlfriend, Helen Storey.

The split could have reverberations across the bib-wearing circuit when coupled with Matt Kuchar’s win the same week as Westwood while using a local caddy. In Westwood’s case, it was not love that drove him to make the move, but a desire to have a true luggage handler who freed him up to do his yardages and thinking. His best finishes in 2018 all came with either his son or girlfriend toting the bag.

From James Corrigan’s Telegraph account:

“Lee wanted to work differently to everything we had ever done, which basically meant me just carrying the bag,” Foster said. “I struggled to adapt to that situation as a caddie, and it created a bit of an uncomfortable atmosphere on the course.

“Ultimately it was no good for Lee and not fair on me either. So unfortunately the partnership had run its course and we both knew that.  Times change. It has been a great 10 years of my life with Lee and we had many special times and successes together.”

Suzy Whaley Wastes Little Time Cashing In On New PGA Presidency

New PGA of America president Suzy Whaley has already been lauded for breaking barriers everywhere you read pure golf fluff. She’s growing the game, revealing a desire to make golf more accessible to more people and some other stuff about a funnel.

But in her role as head officer of the PGA of America, Whaley—proud defender of DUI arrestee Paul Levy and proud scolder of “lil girl” mentioner Ted Bishop—will spend two years playing golf, nodding her head, leaping head first to any live camera and, based on the first business day of her term, cashing in.

I get it. The job is ceremonial, exposes you to some of the game’s most wanton bores, and most people won’t mind if the PGA President gives a few paid talks. Or, jack up that rate for a lesson and maybe get a pay raise at the job, assuming you have one (Whaley’s predecessor, uh, gave up his early into his term, another first for the PGA).

But on business day one announcing a $1899 junket through a PR firm and resort? Guess Whaley has to strike while the barrier-breaking proclamations are hot.

For Immediate Release:

Casa de Campo Announces ‘Women’s Getaway with Suzy Whaley’

Renowned Master PGA Professional to Host Four-Day, Three-Night December Event

(LA ROMANA, Dominican Republic) – Casa de Campo Resort & Villas – home to the Caribbean’s premier, luxury golf experiences, including the iconic Teeth of the Dog course – will host its “Women’s Getaway with Suzy Whaley,” Dec. 7 – 10.
 
Whaley, recently elected as the first woman President of the PGA of America, is recognized as one of the country’s top instructors. She was an LPGA Tour member in 1990 and 1993. Most notably, she qualified for and took part in the 2003 Greater Hartford Open, becoming the first woman since Babe Zaharias in 1945 to qualify for a PGA TOUR event. She is the PGA Director of Instruction at Suzy Whaley Golf in Cromwell, Conn.

The four-day / three-night stay-and-play is all-inclusive and starts at $1,899 per person (double occupancy). The many highlights include unlimited green fees on all three of the resort’s classic Pete Dye-designed courses and personal instruction by Whaley for the attendees at the resort’s new state-of-the-art, PGA Tour-quality Golf Learning Center highlighted by Trackman and BODITRAK technology.
 
Also featured are three nights’ Elite Room accommodations (with one cart golf per room); breakfast, lunch and dinner in all resort restaurants (SBG and Minitas Beach Club & Restaurant excluded); unlimited drinks in all hotel bars, restaurants and Oasis bar as well as beverage carts out on the courses; one massage at the Casa de Campo Spa; souvenirs; and complimentary transfers from La Romana, Santo Domingo or Punta Cana airports.

Taxes and service charges are additionally included. For more information, call 809.523.8115 or email m.leonardo@ccampo.com.do.

“When I turned 50 two years ago, my husband surprised me with a trip to Casa de Campo and had our two daughters and a number of my friends meet us down there for one of the great vacations of my life,” says Whaley. “The property is incredible, the golf is outstanding, the setting is breathtaking, and the service is impeccable.”

‘It’s a true honor for us to partner with Suzy,” says Jason Kycek, Casa de Campo’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. “We invite women to join Suzy and us for this wonderful event and discover first-hand why we’re one of the premier golf resorts in the world.”

WADA Kills Rumors Of Positive Drug Test At The Ryder Cup

Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch reports on the red-hot rumor mill that had players gossiping in recent weeks about a positive test result at the Ryder Cup. Lynch explains on the surprise (Bonjour!) test administered at the team hotels by France’s AFLD, still smarting from the Tour de France issues over the years.

Good news, everyone passed!

“All the results are in and there were no positive tests,” said Maggie Durand, a spokeswoman for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), to which the French AFLD affiliate reported its findings. When asked about the method of testing, WADA confirmed it was urinalysis. And about the players tested?

In the event of a negative test, public disclosure is up to the athlete, WADA echoed.

But drug testing is golf’s third rail that no one wants to touch. That was apparent when I asked managers for every Ryder Cupper if their man had been tested. Even a clean slate of negative results didn’t encourage transparency among the tested.

But it was interesting to see who responded to Lynch about even being tested at all.

In the end, managers for just four of the 24 Ryder Cup players were willing to directly address the events of that Tuesday evening in Paris. Representatives for Tommy Fleetwood and Thorbjorn Olesen said that neither had been asked for a sample. Agents for Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter confirmed they were among the eight men tested.

Who Needs A Pro Jock? Vice Captain's Westwood, Kuchar Return To Winner's Circle

It was a big weekend for 2018 Ryder Cup VC’s who put away their driving gloves and rode the classic Cup boost to victories. I’m not sure which is more meaningful—Lee Westwood at the Nedbank or Matt Kuchar at Mayakoba—both both pulled off their feats without full-time pro jocks.

Alistair Tait for Golfweek on Westwood’s win in a strange year for the Englishman. As for the effort of girlfriend Helen Storey...

“It was great to do it with Helen,” he said. “She’s caddied twice for me this year, and we lost in a playoff in Denmark and we’ve won here.”

The winning couple:

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Winning in style 💑🏆 #NC2018 #RolexSeries

A post shared by European Tour (@europeantour) on Nov 11, 2018 at 12:17pm PST

Meanwhile in Mexico, Matt Kuchar added the event late, gave regular bagman John Wood the week off due to his own schedule conflict, and won on the PGA Tour for the first time in over four years.

On the bag for Kuchar? Local looper “El Tucan.”

Josh Berhow with the story for Golf.com on the Kuchar mystery man who kept the bagstrap warm and the good reads coming in Wood’s place. Kuchar next tees up at the World Cup of Golf, presumably with his regular looper.

View this post on Instagram

Kuch and El Tucan, what a team. 🏆

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour) on Nov 11, 2018 at 2:33pm PST

American Golf Sounds More Interested In Golf Shacks Than Courses

Keith Carter files a fascinating read for futurists and those interested golf business looking at American Golf’s investors putting a focus on Drive Shack, a Top Golf competitor.

Besides the obvious effort by Newcastle Investments to cover its bets, some of the quotes in Carter’s story suggest very little bullishness on the future of golf compared to entertainment-driven ranges. While American Golf has been downsized, spliced and diced from its former standing as the world’s largest course operator, the new direction is still an eye-opener.

Commish Claims Improved Fall Fields About Players Trying To Not Fall Behind In FedExCup

Now, I’ve scanned Google News for players mentions of accruing FedExCup points as their motivation to play this fall and haven’t found one yet. Still, Commissioner Jay Monahan says the appearances by some big names this fall is all about FedExCup points positioning. From Rex Hoggard’s GolfChannel.com story:

“You are seeing right now at the first part of the season more top players playing and trying to get themselves in position as we flip the switch and get into the new year,” Monahan told GolfChannel.com. “It’s important not to be too far behind and to be in a solid position for the FedExCup.”

It’s important, but not nearly as important as getting into majors or winning them.

“Given where we are now with the significance of the FedExCup and now the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 and a shorter season with fewer at-bats in the playoffs, the significance of these fall events has grown. The support they get from the markets they play in and the sponsors has grown and they are as critical a part of the season as any,” Monahan said.

Hard sell alert!

Golf is still about the majors and for viewers, sponsors and players, January-July. So while the Wyndham Rewards could be the real reason Jordan Spieth is playing in Mexico this week, they likely are not given that he heard from his buddies what a great event the Mayakoba Classic is (as the story notes).

There is one disconcerting takeaway from Hoggard’s story: increased fall starts may be a response to the crowded 2019 schedule and the expected need to drop starts to deal with a compacted schedule.

Monahan concedes that the flow of the new schedule will likely create an extended learning curve for players who must now find places to take breaks in order to play their best when it matters the most at the majors. One of the likely ways players will do that is to add to their fall schedules.

So stars may subtract a stop or two during the bread and butter portion of the season when the most eyeballs are on the sport. Something to remember when the old Bob Hope Classic can’t get a sponsor or events like Bay Hill struggle to draw a star-studded field.

To put it another way, selling FedExCup sounds more important to the PGA Tour than the individual tournaments doing the heavy lifting and charitable contributions. Some events will benefit from the schedule change and shifting dynamics, but by touting the potential trimming of field quality in the prime winter/spring season to prop up the fall, the tour risks chipping away at the “product” presented when the most eyeballs are watching: the West Coast and Florida Swings.

Saudi Arabia: Tiger Turns Down Massive Overseas Appearance Fee

A much deserved narrative is forming as Tiger Woods reportedly joins Roger Federer in passing on a huge Saudi Arabia appearance fee, reports the Telegraph’s James Corrigan. The inaugural European Tour event, already on the ropes even before Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, is to be played Jan 31-February 3rd, the week after the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Yet it is understood he deemed Saudi Arabia to be an excursion too far - even for at least £2.5m - an amount that apparently dwarfs anything he has received before for an official overseas tournament.

Sources say he was first approached in the summer, after his dramatic competitive resurrection at the Open, where he led going into the last nine before finishing sixth, and then at the USPGA Championship, where he finished second.

By then the Kingdom had already signed up Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Paul Casey to play in the government-sponsored event, which has become even more controversial since last month's pre-meditated killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Istanbul.