Report: European Ryder Cup Team Had Last Minute Issues With Their Balls

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You’d swear this couldn’t be real but then, we know Ryder Cuppers and their (golf) balls can be an issue, particularly when players are with different companies.

Still, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of pairings changed up last minute over golf balls of the same brand. That this took place on Ryder Cup Wednesday suggests the “plan” was not so ironclad.

From James Corrigan with the Telegraph exclusive:

However, Telegraph Sport has learnt Harrington’s best-laid plans were ultimately forced to be ripped up on the Wednesday, the penultimate day of official practice, when it was discovered that Lee Westwood and Paul Casey played different balls and, so too, did Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland. Harrington felt obliged to make a hasty switch in the quartet of duos he named 24 hours later, with Westwood partnering Fitzpatrick and Casey teaming up with Hovland. Both partnerships lost.

Hovland and Casey did not appear together again, but Westwood and Fitzpatrick also went out in the Saturday foursomes, which they again lost. 

“Maybe they should have thought about the ball issue earlier, as it is always part of the equation of putting two players together in a foursomes,” an insider said. “But all four play Titleist and you might have thought it would be fine. Yet there are different sorts of Titleist balls.” 

Yes you’d think they’d have (A) worked this out on Tuesday…of the BMW at Wentworth, (B) could suck it up and make a 2019 ProV work when the other guy is playing the 2021 ProV, (C) been content to go with the Ryder Cup rule using the rule allowing players to switch balls at the end of each hole.

Here’s the best part of this first world folly: the Europeans were acting like…Americans. Even our most spoiled would get on the Trackman and figure it out. But not these Euros!

Next up: Brexit is somehow to blame for the 19-9 loss.

Speaking of…that’s going well.

Quardilateral: Old Course Green But Still Grand

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R&A's Seve Documentary, Exhibit And Book Debuts

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Based on the reviews and track record of the R&A’s recent film efforts, the new Seve film, exhibit and book of David Cannon images sounds like the fitting tribute his epic career deserves. While I think the 2014 film Seve is fascinating mix of documentary and re-enactment scenes highlighted by Jose Luis Gutierrez’s performance as the young Ballesteros, a pure documentary was needed.

The debut screening took place this week in St Andrews where Javier Ballesteros, playing in the Alfred Dunhill Links, and sister Carmen were on hand to watch and participate in a Q&A.

From TheOpen.com story:

Supported and co-produced by The R&A and directed by David White and Joss Holmes, SEVE tells the story of the three-time Champion Golfer through interviews with members of his inner circle and peers, and never-before-heard audio clips and footage of Ballesteros himself.

As well as capturing the joyous highs of Ballesteros’ career, including his trio of Open wins, two successes at the Masters and his revolutionary impact on the Ryder Cup, the film also examines the tough times the Spaniard faced as he battled injury, a dramatic loss of form and ill health.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “Seve was an inspiration to so many of us in golf and we wanted to celebrate his life and show just how much he meant to the sport. Working with Seve’s family and other key contributors, this landmark documentary chronicles the life and story of this charismatic, flamboyant and inspirational golfer who is without doubt one of the greatest of all time.”

The story says the film can only be screened in Europe as of now, with efforts to secure an international distributor underway.

The exhibit will be on display for 18 months, coinciding with the 150th Open at St Andrews.

Martin Dempster wrote the film for The Scotsman and while I don’t agree with his assessment of the prior Seve film, I’m glad to see such a rave review

It wasn’t all sweetness and light for Seve, of course. From a very early stage in his career, he suffered chronic back trouble while he also suffered from depression.

To try and counter the latter, his manager, who, incidentally, reveals he was taking a 25 per cent cut, set up a phone chat between Ballesteros and the great Muhammad Ali.

Wife Carmen shares some great memories, as do his three children - Javier, who has followed in his footsteps and is playing in this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Carmen and Miguel.

Efforts have been made in the past to try and do justice on the big screen but failed. Not this time, though.

Bryson Steals The Long Drive (Streaming) Show

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Let’s call it the Golf Channel bounce.

In its transition to an all-PGA Tour focus all-the-time, the long drive property built-up by NBC and Golf Channel was abandoned a couple years too soon.

A weird, almost security-camera vibe to the streaming coverage didn’t stop the coveted young demographic from enjoying Bryson DeChambeau’s terrific showing (final eight) in the post-Golf Channel, re-imagined-on-a-shoe-string-budget World Long Drive Championships

Golf.com’s James Colgan covers the backstory of how long drive reached the point and is now resurgent thanks in large part to Bryson DeChambeau’s performance this week. Heck, maybe there’s a sports network out there that’ll take a chance on them? Cheap content!

When you have drama like this, who wouldn’t want to put this on TV:

Challenge Tour's Alejandro Del Rey Posts 14-Under-Par 58

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An unbylined EuropeanTour.com story has all the details on a historic round given the Tour in question and the score in relation to par by Alejandro Del Rey. Playing in the Swiss Challenge he made eight birdies and three eagles for the 58.

Del Rey joins an exclusive club of golfers who have carded rounds of 58 on major tours adding his name to the list alongside Jim Furyk (PGA TOUR, 2016), Stephan Jäger (Korn Ferry Tour, 2016), Ryo Ishikawa (Japan Golf Tour, 2010) and Kim Seong-hyeon (Japan Golf Tour, 2021) – all of their rounds were 12 under par on par 70 golf courses.

In the European Challenge Tour’s 32-year history just two rounds of 59 had been carded, with Adrien Mörk and Nicolò Ravano reaching the magic number in 2006 and 2016 respectively, while on the European Tour, a score of 59 has been achieved just once – by Oliver Fisher in 2018 at the Portugal Masters.

He closed with an eagle at the 9th:

Unofficial Partner Podcast With Richard Gillis

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State of the Game listeners will know Richard Gillis from several appearances to discuss the business side of golf. So it was the least I could do in talking about the Ryder Cup, the state of pro golf business, gambling and newsletters with Gillis, author of The Captain’s Myth and the Unofficial Partner podcast.

The show has recently featured soccer journalist Grant Wahl and English golfer Meghan McLaren. So if you aren’t subscribed give it a shot.

The Unofficial Partner is also now on Substack as a free newsletter.

Here’s a preview of the show that you can find on all the major podcast players:

Lowry: "Cantlay pissed me off a little bit"

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Nice spot by GolfWRX’s Gianni Magliocco to catch Shane Lowry’s post-Ryder Cup comments.

As I noted in the Quadrilateral Sunday wrap and Monday awards, Shane Lowry seemed peeved at the end of his singles match with Cantlay, and overall came off a little over amped at last week’s event. Well, there was a reason.

Speaking on a Paddy Power Instagram Live chat, Lowry explained.

“Yeah, he (Cantlay) p****d me off a little bit on the 8th, to be honest. I was lining up my putt and he was riling up the crowd which I didn’t think was great. In Rome, we’ll hopefully win and win in a different style, that’s how I’m looking at it.”

Game on!

During the interview, Lowry revealed that Cantlay wasn’t the only U.S. player who got under his skin in Wisconsin and took aim at both Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau for their demonstrations on the greens over a couple of short putts not being given.

“For a start Bryson Dechambeau’s putter shaft is about four feet long so it was definitely not a gimme. Justin Thomas did the same thing and then I did the same thing but purely because Justin Thomas did it. 

“They made me hit a putt from literally 18 inches on the first so I did the exact same thing as Thomas did just because I was annoyed with the picture I’d seen of him that morning.”

Lowry went on to admit he and Tyrrell Hatton did not give putts—yippee—but at least we now know what irked him so.

Cookie Jar On The Kummel Crisis

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There’s a headline from deep sleep dream. And while crisis might be a strong word given other options for post (or gulp, pre-round) sip of Kummel, Cookie Jar Golf’s Sam Williams has filed a lengthy explanation about the possible end of Wolffschmidt’s version of a stout beverage that’s been the preferred option for a long time at the UK’s most famous clubs.

In recent weeks, reports have been coming into us from all corners of the U.K. that clubs are unable to secure orders on further stock of Wolfschmidt, amid rumours that the Danish company has ceased production. Despite a lot of phone calls and various efforts to establish contact with the brand, no official statement has been received however we can confirm that future orders on the product are no longer possible. 

Whether that is due to a decision by the company to remove distribution in the U.K. or if the product itself is no longer to be produced at all is not known, and the details behind it seem to be extremely vague. 

Multiple conversations with stockists in London & Edinburgh, as well as calls to some of the clubs who are the biggest consumers of the product have failed to yield anything concrete as to why the decision has been taken, however it is apparent that future orders will not be possible.  

From Herbert Warren Wind’s New Yorker story about the President’s Putter (thanks reader D for the tip):

When I entered the big room, shortly after one o’clock, perhaps thirty members of the Society were wearing the club tie—two narrow stripes of light blue bordering a wider stripe of dark blue on a field of grass green. Everyone seemed to be in a merry, chaffing mood. For example, I heard a man near me say to a friend, “I gather putted very frequently this morning.” The rejoinder went: “I’m lying doggo. Watch me when it counts.” I was digesting this animated scene when Gerald Micklem, the current president of the O. & C.G.S. and one of my oldest friends in British golf, came striding into the room en route from the ninth green to the tenth tee, and threw down a fast kummel. (Kummel has long been a favorite drink of English golfers, because there is an old wives’ tale to the effect that it is the best antidote in the world for shaking putting.) Before hurrying out to continue his match, Micklem greeted me with his invariable hospitality, barking out his welcome in quick, peremptory phrases. Then, just as I noticed that he was wearing only a medium-weight sweater and no hat, he surveyed my goosedown trail jacket and the rest of my sub-Arctic outfit. “Think you’ll be warm enough?” he asked, and, with a little laugh, stroke out into the cold.

Bones Is Transitioning...From Announcing To Justin Thomas's Bag

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Surprising news on many levels, but Jimmy Johnson’s backup has been promoted to carry Justin Thomas’s bag. Jim Bones Mackay will be missed on NBC broadcasts where he’s become established as a reliable on-course reporting voice entrusted with some of the network’s biggest assignments.

First reported by Golf Central’s Twitter account:

Ferry Point: NYC Selects Homeless Shelter Operator To Replace Trump*

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The City’s Claudia Irizarry Aponte reports on the no-bid awarding of Trump Ferry Point’s operations contract to CORE, a concessionaire working for the city on homeless shelters, who have teamed with Atlanta’s Bobby Jones Links.

The Trump Organization has been ordered to vacate by November 14 but is vowing to fight the move, a byproduct of the January 6th insurrection inspired by then-President Donald Trump.

Ken Caruso, an attorney representing the Trump Organization in the pending suit, said de Blasio is off course.

“The city has no right to award the license to another operator,” said Caruso. “The Trump Organization’s long-term license for this property is legally binding, enforceable, and remains in full force and effect.”

He called the contract cancellation “a mere pretext that Mayor de Blasio used as a cover for his political retaliation.”

And Caruso said Trump would do combat with the new golf course operator, too.

“The city’s position has no legal merit and we will continue to vigorously defend our right to possession and control of the property for the remainder of the 20-year term, against both the city and anyone to whom the city purports to issue a replacement license,” Caruso added.

It’s the latest twist in a saga that once had the Ferry Point site under consideration for major tournaments. The current website remains the (glorious) same, and a look at tee times suggest the course is pretty busy on weekends.

*Seems the above report led to the homeless shelter operator WD’ing from the deal, reports Aponte in a follow up story.

Quadrilateral: The Ideal Ryder Cup Course And Major(s) News & Notes, September 30th, 2021

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Long Overdue Concession To The NFL: PGA Tour To Finish Saturday Before NFC/AFC Championship Sunday

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The PGA Tour, Farmers and CBS have wisely decided not to fight the behemoth that is the NFL, moving up the Farmers Insurance Open to a Saturday finish. In previous years the NFC and AFC Championship games finished the Sunday of the Hope/Clinton/Phil/Chrysler/Humana/Careerbuilder/AmEx. In one of the many mysteries to rule the day in Ponte Vedra, that event stubbornly stuck to its Sunday finish and rarely saw much of a final round audience.

With the NFL’s expanded schedule for 2020-21, the Championship games have been pushed into Farmers weekend, the traditional start of CBS’s broadcast schedule.

The full press release and note the initials NFL never appear:

2022 Farmers Insurance Open® will feature Saturday finish on CBS

CBS Sports’ 2022 kickoff event to run Wednesday-Saturday including evening finish

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA, AND SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – The PGA TOUR and Farmers Insurance® – title sponsor of the Farmers Insurance Open since 2010 – announced that the Farmers Insurance Open will shift its tournament competition days to Wednesday-Saturday – January 26-29, 2022 – at Torrey Pines Golf Course. With a crowded sports weekend, the PGA TOUR, CBS, Farmers Insurance and the Century Club are excited to shift to a Saturday final round that will result in a Friday and Saturday evening viewing on the East Coast with finish times of 8 p.m. ET both days on CBS.

Golf Channel will carry the opening two rounds on Wednesday and Thursday (January 26-27). The final two rounds will be played Friday and Saturday (January 28-29), with more than six hours of coverage on CBS. Lead-in coverage on Friday and Saturday will be broadcast by Golf Channel.

Additionally, the diversity-focused Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour’s (APGA) Farmers Insurance® Invitational, now in its third consecutive year playing, will expand to two rounds, with round one being played on Saturday, January 29, on the North Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course. The final round will be held Sunday, January 30, on the South Course and will be broadcast live on Golf Channel, marking the first time an APGA Tour event will be televised. 

“We appreciate Farmers Insurance’s collaboration and innovative thinking with this shift in competition days,” said PGA TOUR President and EVP Tyler Dennis. “The PGA TOUR’s first network event of 2022 wrapping up on Saturday combined with football games the following day will create an action-packed weekend for sports fans. Farmers Insurance has also shown extraordinary commitment to diversity in our game, and we are thrilled with the expansion of the APGA Farmers Insurance Invitational which will include Golf Channel coverage of the final round.”

As a California-based organization, Farmers Insurance initially committed to sponsor the 2010 tournament just 10 days before the opening round and just months after arriving in the San Diego community in response to devastating wildfires.  Nearly a decade later, disaster resilience continues to be an important component of the business and community efforts of Farmers®, while the focus on diversity and inclusion has grown. 

“Over the course of more than 10 years serving as the Farmers Insurance Open’s title sponsor, the Farmers team has worked with the Century Club and PGA TOUR to evolve and grow the tournament’s impact on the game of golf, and in the San Diego community,” said Farmers Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Joye. “As we approach the 2022 event, we’re proud to continue our sponsorship and look forward to hosting the APGA Tour’s first-ever nationally televised event.”

“The teamwork, flexibility and creativity exhibited by the PGA TOUR and Farmers Insurance to adapt the schedule for a Saturday finish was outstanding,” said Dan Weinberg, Executive Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports. “For over a decade the Farmers Insurance Open has launched our season. Thanks to our terrific relationships, our viewers are in for a fantastic sports weekend on CBS with golf, football and college basketball.” 

“There is tremendous interest and momentum on the APGA Tour as we continue our mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf,” said APGA Tour CEO Ken Bentley. “Farmers Insurance has been a founding and consistent supporter of our efforts for several years. The opportunities, connections and exposure that we already received through the Farmers Insurance Invitational being held the same week at the same venue as the PGA TOUR were already tremendous for the development of our Tour and our players. With today’s announcement of a 36-hole event with a final round on Torrey Pines’ South Course that includes our first live broadcast on the Golf Channel, we couldn’t be more thankful and grateful for the effort and support from the Farmers team, the Century Club, the PGA TOUR and Golf Channel. The Farmers Insurance Invitational will be a fantastic showcase of the talented players on the APGA Tour and their stories of perseverance and determination.”  

“We’re proud to present the first-ever national telecast of an Advocates Pro Golf Association Tour event with the Farmers Insurance® Invitational next January on GOLF Channel,” said Tom Knapp, EVP, Partnerships and Programming, NBC Sports. “NBC Sports and GOLF Channel are committed to growing the game of golf and utilizing our platforms to help the sport become more diverse and inclusive. We’re excited to showcase the competition on the APGA Tour and provide a national platform for the Tour and its players.”

In collaboration with Farmers, the Century Club has contributed more than $15 million to deserving organizations benefiting at-risk youth through the tournament since 2010. Patrick Reed, who claimed a five-stroke victory in 2021 at the Farmers Insurance Open, is expected to defend his title in 2022.

Ryder Cup Ratings Up From 2018, Down From 2016

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Television ratings for the 2021 Ryder Cup are in and they’re solid given a number of factors.

  • These were the first matches played this century without Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson

  • It was Sunday runaway going up against some stellar NFL action

  • The Friday to Sunday broadcast windows were all 11, 10 and six hours

  • Plenty of cords have been cut since the last domestic playing and almost all ratings are down

Final day audiences increased from the 2018 edition at Le Golf National where Europe won handily.

Sunday’s final day at Whistling Straits drew a 2.14/3.5 million total audience. That’s up from a 1.8/2.67m in 2018 but down from a 2016 final day 2.7/4.27m.

The 2012 final day at Medinah drew a 3.8/5.5 million average viewers) over a similar six hour window as recent Cups.

Showbuzzdaily.com has all the numbers here.

The Friday increase for Friday’s action is solid given the decline in homes reached for Golf Channel compared to five years ago:

Friday in 2018 on Golf Channel averaged 765k viewers but also started at 2 am ET.

In 2016, previously touted as the most watched weekday for Golf Channel, Ryder Cup coverage posted 1.3 million average viewers per minute and a 0.94 rating in 11 hours of coverage, nearly identical to this year’s .93 but can attribute the 16% rise presumably to additional streaming numbers.

Not so hot was Thursday’s Opening Ceremony, which drew a .13 and average of 209,000 viewers. So not far off from a fall PGA Tour final round.

Quadrilateral: Straits Shellacking

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