The 21st Century's K Club? 2026 Ryder Cup To Adare Manor

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Apparently we’re far enough removed from the K Club Ryder Cup to have forgotten the lessons of that forgettable experience to award JP McManus and Adare Manor the 2026 event.

Harry McGee reports for the Irish Times on Thursday’s announcement plans.

I understand that cold, hard cash is all that matters in European Tour Ryder Cup venue selection. Especially these days. But this still doesn’t mean we have to be excited by yet another inland, American-style course hosting in Europe. Just one links or mildly historic/interesting venue in this lifetime would be nice. Just one!

Players Offering Thoughts On Testing For Juiced Drivers

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As I noted for Golfweek, Xander Schauffele going public with his failed driver test at The Open, and then stirring up a debate about hot drivers, has kept the incident in the news and led to some interesting comments from top players.

Jason Munz reports on player thoughts as they tee it up in Memphis this week, and while some inexplicably display life in the bubble by praising Schauffele for taking on the R&A—even after being caught playing an illegal club that was used in competition since January—there are some who don’t take this quite so lightly.

Justin Thomas says it’s on the makers to not let this happen:

“I think that’s on the manufacturers to make sure that (the clubs) are tested and that they are conforming,” he said. “Because that’s not fair to the rest of the field if guys are using some and some aren’t. We don’t have those tests just sitting in our living room (where) we can do them when we get home.”

While that is ideal, ultimately random testing is a better way to prevent a rogue player or clubmaker from skirting the rules.

Meanwhile Bryson DeChambeau tells Golf.com’s Jonathan Wall that the winner or top 5 should be tested every week and if they fail, can keep the win but take a hit elsewhere:

“If you did play a driver that was illegal, you take some FedEx Cup points away,” said DeChambeau, who has five Tour wins. “So you make your money and win, that’s great, but you lose half the points you made. It’s not like you should have the trophy taken away. That’s one way to deal with it. You putted well, you chipped well. But I think there needs to be some repercussions from using something that’s not under the conformance rules. If they want to challenge the ruling, they can go do some tests to see if it was truly over.”

Looks Like Shane Lowry Did The Right Thing Passing On Memphis In Favor Of A Homecoming Celebration

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Look at that crowd in Clara! Grandma and the Jug met on stage, too…

Video: Grandma Of Shane Lowry On Not Sleeping, Brandy For The First Time In A Decade

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From Portrush To TPC Southwind: Don't Tell Memphis This Is A Bad Thing

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Mark Giannotto gets a very long column out of a harmless, and accurate Tweet from Kyle Porter about the jarring nature of the visual eye candy that was Portrush, and most of golf’s best turning up this week at TPC Southwind.

I get the sensitivity in Memphis but his comment was clearly directed at the beauty of Portrush and not a statement about the city, state, children’s hospital or anything else. Few people are looking forward to TPC Southwind after glorious Portrush. Make that, none are.

He at least blames the tour for this scheduling oddity, which will hopefully be remedied by a new date or putting this WGC out to pasture. The latter is an unlikely scenario.

Now it should be noted that Porter’s tweet did get at one notable issue this year. If you ignored that 46 of the world’s top 50 golfers will be here this week, it’s easy to see why a historic event for Memphis is being looked down upon by outsiders.

The PGA Tour deserves some blame for that.

FedEx used its leverage as the title sponsor of the Tour to get a world-class golf tournament in Memphis that still benefits St. Jude, a cause as worthy as any in professional sports. But then the Tour mucked it all up with its new, condensed schedule this season, effectively diminishing an event considered just a notch below a major by putting it immediately after a major.

Xander Needs To Let His Driver Test Rage Go...

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From Tiger To Shane: Open Championship Overnights Down 42%

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Big lead, no Tiger making his first run at a major in years and what do you get? A 2.9 for NBC and ratings decline for the 2019 Open Championship.

From SBD’s Austin Karp:


The Skins Game Is Back! Sort Of

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Bob Harig reports news of a Woods-McIlroy-Day-Matsuyama Skins Game this fall the same week—mlitzvah!—of the new $9.75 million Zozo Championship in Japan.

The event appears to be part of Woods’ deal with GolfTV and probably seals the fate of a repeat of The Match, last fall’s day-after-Thanksgiving-AT&T synergy play.

While the dollar figures or format are not known, it’s great to see the once-successful format back. Harig writes:

How much this version of a skins game will resemble that is unclear, but this event is part of an agreement Woods has to provide content to GolfTV, an entity that does interviews and other features with Woods at international locations that at this time do not include the United States -- although there are negotiations to have the skins event televised in the U.S. market.

Could Lytham And Muirfield Be In A Holding Pattern After Portrush's Success?

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Martin Dempster of The Scotsman wonders if Lytham and Muirfield are on the endangered rota list after last week’s success on and off the course at Portrush.

Coupled with the R&A’s increased emphasis on ticket sales and fan energy, Muirfield’s membership matters and the modern gluten-free diet rendering Lytham helpless against today’s triathletes-turned-golfers, and it’s easy to envision a return to Northern Ireland before those two storied venues.

Dempster writes of the numbers:

Even before it produced one of the most popular winners ever, the Portrush event had attracted a sell-out attendance of 237,750 – the second biggest after St Andrews getting 239,000 in 2000. In comparison, the last visit to Muirfield in 2013 was just over 142,000 and, for the one before that in 2002, it was 161,000.

Is Portrush The Rota's Best (After St. Andrews) Venue?

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I say yes.

The combination of design quality, intrigue, variety and beauty, with logistical success puts this course above the non-Old Course layouts.

The players seem to agree, as Alistair Tait writes for Golfweek, with endorsements from Fuyrk, Casey, etc..

The Forecaddie tries to figure out how fast they can get back here and what needs to be done.

My wish list would be pretty short: maybe soften the back portion of the new 7th green, restore the burn currently piped under the par-5 12th green, lose a few ferns in the roughs and definitely lose the interior boundary lines at the 1st and 18th holes, along with the silly boundary line behind the fifth green.

Shane Lowry Wins The Open At Royal Portrush, Your Reactions

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A performance and scene that we’ll all remember capped off a magnificent week for Portrush, the R&A and Irish golf. Shane Lowry never displayed more than a brief ounce of feeling the immense pressure that was placed on the golfers who knew Portrush and mean so much to this part of the world. He won by six strokes.

We’ve got full coverage coming at Golfweek, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new Champion Golfer of the Year, the broadcasts, the course and anything else related to The Open’s triumphant return to Northern Ireland.

Poll: Who Looks Worst After Xander Schauffele's Driver Fails R&A's Random Testing?

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While you were sleeping, there has been some lively debate here at Portrush following Xander Schauffele’s revelation of a failed driver test earlier in the week.

For his part, Schauffele admitted to what happened in post-round questioning and as I write here for Golfweek, merely was upset at the idea that only 30 players are tested.

Most here seem conflicted about the news, particularly when it comes to blame and impression of what is the first known COR test failure at a major championship. Is the player ultimately responsible for making sure his equipment is on the up and up, or the manufacturer? And is the R&A or any other five family member in their right to be testing early in the week at a major?

So here’s a poll, if you don’t mind voting…

Who looks worst after Xander Schauffele's driver exceeds COR test?
 
pollcode.com free polls

Stanley Doesn't Yell FORE! Caddie's Mum Struck, Playing Partners Let Him Have It

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Martin Dempster reports for The Scotsman on Kyle Stanley’s tee shot striking the mother of caddie Greg Milne, on the bag for Scotland’s Robert Macintyre, who opened 68-72.

She’s fine, but Macintyre was not pleased at Stanley forgetting to yell FORE! and leaving the task to others.

“It hit Greg’s mum. So I told him how it was. I said I wasn’t happy – and he didn’t really like my response. He’s the only one I’ve seen do that. It was straight into the crowd. It was into the crowd from the word go. And we’re expecting him to shout fore. She’s all right, I think, but it’s not what you want. “

Players on the PGA Tour have a habit of not shouting ‘Fore’ but MacIntyre did not mince his words as he confronted Stanley. “Aye, there were harsh words,” added the left-hander, who was pleased to make the cut on his Open debut. “It wasn’t too pleasant. But you’ve got to tell him it’s not right. He didn’t take it well at all.

“Shout ‘Fore’. That ball is going straight into the crowd, you know from the word go it’s going into the crowd. Just shout. We shouted, me and Beef [partner Andrew Johnston], as it was coming down.