Nothing like Ryder Cup for drama and emotion
Ryder Cup provided some great theater
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Golf offers no package quite like the Ryder Cup. It overflows with passion, emotion, and fiery competition, the only place where you'll see Steve Stricker offer a fist pump and an outrageous scream.
Steve Stricker!
Once you wade through the insufferable marketing campaigns (I believe it will be announced in 17 weeks what color socks Team US will wear in 2010), the unnecessary opening ceremonies, the useless closing ceremonies, the team captains riding around in carts urging on fans like they were some sort of military leaders, and the galas, dinners, and social festivities for officials . . . well, it's great theater.
Which reminds me:
1) Sure, Ian Poulter's performance vindicated captain Nick Faldo, but it never was his talent that his European colleagues questioned, but his methods. Had he played in Europe the last two weeks of August and earned an automatic spot, it would have been huge for the team. He could have bumped Soren Hansen or Oliver Wilson off the roster and allowed Faldo to pick Darren Clarke. Instead, Poulter selfishly played two weeks in America and in effect tied Faldo's hands.
2) It was stunning to see how little life Padraig Harrington's game had in the weeks following the PGA Championship.
3) Paul Azinger did a wonderful job, but he's receiving far too much credit and Faldo too much blame - which means the Ryder Cup aftermath is as it always is.
4) Oh, yeah, the final ingredient to US success was to get Tiger Woods into surgery and onto the sideline. And Ernie Banks was the reason the Cubs never won all those years, too.
5) So if Woods is such a bad influence, explain America's 3-1-1 Presidents Cup record with Woods aboard and start with that playoff against Ernie Els in South Africa. As for being part of winning sides at the 1994 World Team Amateur and twice at the World Cup, was that before he became poison?
6) Praise Poulter all you want, but give me Graeme McDowell.
7) For a guy who gets alignment help from his caddie on 3-footers, J.B. Holmes sure does miss a lot. Which makes me wonder if he's considered the possibility that his caddie's alignment is seriously lacking.
8) It's too late for Vijay Singh, who couldn't care less what people think of him. But Sergio Garcia can be saved. There's too much talent, too much flair, too much personality to see him have such a disconnect with fans. If he doesn't think it exists, he must not have heard the jubilant cheers when he hit two balls in the water in his singles match against Anthony Kim.
9) It was Azinger's assignment to bring back the cup, so give him credit. It may not have been his intention to bring back the contentiousness that surrounded those Ryder Cups of the 1990s, but he did that, too. Wales in 2010? Bring the "Rules of Golf," if you want, but leave home Emily Post's "101 Common Mistakes in Etiquette and How to Avoid Them."
10) Azinger in 2010, the first American to captain two Ryder Cups in a row since Ben Hogan in 1947 and '49? It sure sounds better than Corey Pavin, but who knows. Maybe Azinger realizes there's no where to go but down, since Wales definitely won't provide the magic stage Louisville did and Thomas Bjorn (if rumors are correct) will be a far more formidable foe than Faldo.
Four-ball feast
Sometimes the golf is so good, it takes a few days to digest it. Such was the case with Saturday's Ryder Cup four-ball session, which had four scintillating matches that produced one win for each side and two halves. A 2-2 split doesn't sound like much, but consider these morsels: Paired with Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk made six birdies - and not one of them won a hole. Three times his birdie was matched by McDowell, three times by Poulter . . . In a match that was so close that each team won just one hole, Garcia and Paul Casey shot 65 to match Ben Curtis and Stricker. Five times they halved holes with birdies . . . Robert Karlsson made six birdies in seven holes starting at the par-4 ninth, then made another at the par-5 18th as he and Henrik Stenson had a backside 30 to shoot 62 - which only tied the score put up by Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan.Passing grades
While Michelle Wie's success secured the headlines (she finished tied for fourth), it should be noted that Alison Walshe (71-74-74-69) of Westford and Briana Vega (71-69-77-71) of Andover also made it through the first stage of LPGA Tour qualifying in Rancho Mirage, Calif., last week. They were in a group tied for 12th and thus will tee it up at the final stage in December at Daytona Beach, Fla. Libby Smith of Essex Junction, Vt., Lynn Valentine of East Lyme, Conn., and Kim Augusta of Rumford, R.I., all fell short . . . The PGA Tour's annual Q School is so crowded there is a fourth stage, though it's merely called "pre-qualifying," which required three sites last week. In Bogart, Ga., former Hopkinton High star Keegan Bradley shot 279 to finish second, and Adam Rainard (280, T-7) of South Hadley and Jason Parajeckas (297, T-15) of Woburn also made it through. George Zolotas (306, T-52) of Peabody did not. Another notable name who made it through: Jay Haas Jr. (300, T-36) . . . At a pre-qualifier in Roseville, Calif., Jim Gilleon of Franklin, N.H., finished joint second to breeze through, but Andrew Giuliani, son of the former mayor of New York, missed the cut by one.Keller is KO'd
Joe Keller's charge at the US Senior Amateur in Fort Worth came to a stunning halt yesterday with a quarterfinal loss to former US Mid-Amateur champ George Zahringer. With a 4-up lead at the turn, Keller - a former MGA Player of the Year out of Oyster Harbors who just a few weeks ago won the New England Senior Amateur - had no defense against Zahringer's rally, which featured birdies at the 10th, 11th, and 13th. Throw in a Keller bogey at the 12th and it was all square, then Zahringer birdied 15 to go 1 up, and won the 16th with a par and eventually ousted Keller, 2 and 1. Paul Murphy of Arlington and Charles River CC made it into match play and won twice before getting eliminated in Round 3. Alistair Catto of South Hadley was defeated in the first round, while the other local entrants - Paul Nunez of Wilbraham, Cy Kilgore of Marblehead, Del Kinney of Great Barrington, Ray Richard of Bourne, and Bill Barry of Hampden - failed to make the cut . . . In the US Women's Senior Amateur, a former standout in Massachusetts golf circles resurfaced to make quite a run. Noreen Mohler, who was Noreen Friel back when she was good enough to make the Curtis Cup team (1978) and take three state amateur titles, finished third in the qualifying portion, then won two matches before getting ousted in Round 3. Born in Woburn, Friel now lives in Bethlehem, Pa. Roberta Hunt of Attleboro, Cynthia Friend of Lexington, and Wendy Master of Newton all missed the cut.Local connections
Georgetown University's Chelsea Curtis, a junior from Mashpee, shot 72-75 to share medalist honors at the Princeton Women's Invitational. Claire Sheldon of Milton, also a junior, finished tied for 12th to help Harvard edge Princeton by two strokes to take the team title . . . Harry Bane of Marblehead shot 74-70 to win the Williams Invitational and help Middlebury share the team title with Skidmore . . . Bryant won the Dartmouth Invitational, where medalist honors went to the host team's Peter Williamson, a freshman from Hanover, N.H., who shot a closing 66 . . . Making his collegiate debut at one of the nation's premier programs, Oklahoma State, Peter Uihlein of Mattapoisett shot 70-73-77 to finish tied for 27th in thePerfect partners
He achieved wealth and success in his too-short life, but what the late John Mineck cherished as much as anything were his humble days as a caddie. So fittingly, it was announced at the second annual memorial tournament held in his honor at the golf course he founded, the Boston Golf Club in Hingham, that the John D. Mineck Scholarship would be endowed with the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund. "We are honored that the Mineck Foundation has partnered with us on this wonderful endowed award," said Ted Highberger, president of the Ouimet Fund . . . Golf Range Magazine has cited both Bill McInerney Jr. of McGolf in Dedham and Rick DePamphilis of Sun 'n Air in Danvers as "Top 50" instructors in the country . . . Chip Johnson of Hatherly GC in Scituate shot 73 to squeeze out a one-stroke win over Brendan Walsh of The Country Club in the NEPGA's Igoe Tournament at Wellesley CC . . . A golf tournament is being organized Oct. 17 at Woburn CC that will pay tribute to Bob Doran, golf coach at Woburn High for 39 years. Doran's teams won state titles in 1999, 2000, and 2002, and some 290 matches during his tenure. Former players are invited to take part. For information, call Paul Barkhouse at Woburn CC (781-933-9880) for information.Consolation prize
Singh's four-day coronation as
