Captain Bradley's Existential Dilemma

The Ryder Cup being hosted by the U.S. at Bethpage Black on Long Island, New York, will commence shortly on September 26-28. It is one of the great events on the entire sports calendar. (Here’s hoping the jingoistic New York fans don’t diminish the greatness of the Cup this year by their potentially discourteous behavior.) Speaking of greatness, The Band was one of the great bands of all time. What’s the connection, you ask. Well, the U.S. Captain, Keegan Bradley, along with his vice captains, Jim Furyk, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Gary Woodland, and Kevin Kisner, is picking the six captain’s choices to fill out the U.S. team roster today. One of the intriguing questions surrounding Bradley’s selection is whether he will select himself as one of the six remaining team members. ESPN reports that Bradley would become the first playing captain in the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer led the Americans to a 23-9 rout at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta in 1963. The U.S. team is trying to rebound from a 16½-11½ loss to Europe in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia Montecelio, outside of Rome. The pressure is on.

Indeed, the pressure on U.S. Ryder Cup  team members representing their country is hard to imagine. Add to that the responsibilities required of the team captain, and many observers are hoping that Bradley does not name himself to the team, despite his sterling record on the PGA Tour leading up to today’s announcement.

I remain agnostic as to Bradley's decision. However, The Band may have had some  thoughts on the matter. The lyrics to their song, Don’t Do It, with a few parodic changes, may be pertinent to the current situation:

Don't Do It

Keegan don't you do it, don't do it
Don't you pick yourself
Pleeeeease don't do it, don't you pick yourself
My biggest mistake was loving me too much 
A sacrifice would make pundits happy if nothing for myself
Now I wanna pick me and bone someone else
Victory may be gone whether I'm right or wrong
I need me baby to keep on keepin' on

You know I'm trying to my best
Oh I'm trying to do my best
Don't do it, don't you break our hearts
Pleeeeease don't do it, don't you pick yourself.

My biggest mistake was loving me too much.

                                              R.E. Kelly Copyright 2012-2025

                                                                       AMDG

 

 

Olympia Fields Not The Elysian Fields for the Golf Pros This Week

 Well, what do you know.  I doubt the 70 Tour players remaining in the FedExCup Playoffs petitioned officials to toughen up the North Course at Olympia Fields country club, for this weekend’s BMW championship.  Nevertheless, the scores which were absurdly low in last week’s Northern Trust have gone from the ridiculous to the sublime during the first three days of the BMW Championship (for those that prefer that professional golfers strain to tame a golf course, like the rest of us.)   

To refresh our collective memories, Dustin Johnson won last week’s first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs in the Northern Trust tournament by posting a score of 30 under par, pitch and putt course numbers. This week at the BMW Championship only three players posted a round under par in the first round, and after three rounds only two players, the aforementioned Dustin Johnson and one Hideki Matsuyama are under par, and only one shot under par at that.

I observed last week that the pros rampaging under par at the Northern Trust would experience a rude awakening when they got to the U.S. Open and the narrow fairways of the West Course at Winged Foot. It appears that I jumped to conclusions.

Just for the record, according to PGA Tour records, the last players to finish a non-major tour event with an even par or worse score was Billy Mayfair in the 1995 Tour Championship at even par, and Greg Norman at the 1990 Memorial Tournament at even par. The last golfer to win a non-major tour event with a score over par in a non-major PGA tour event was Bruce Lietzke at the 1981 Byron Nelson Golf Classic.  It’s not likely the BMW winner will finish level with par or below, but the lower scores are a welcome respite from the absurd scores from the prior week.

 

AMDG

© R. E. Kelly 2012-2020

Watson Says Goodbye, and Golf Shrugs

The golf world tilted slightly off its axis three  weekends ago but the golfing world hardly seemed to notice, perhaps even yawned. Tom Watson, one of the four greatest living golfers, announced he would no longer play in the U.S. Senior Open or the Senior British Open.  This closes the page on one of the most illustrious careers in golf history. Watson won eight of golf’s majors, five  British Opens, two Masters and one U.S. Open.  He also won the Senior British Open three times.

Claret Jug Winner Five Times!

It can be argued that the 69-year old Watson is the greatest links golfer of all time. His five British Open titles is the most in the modern era of the game. His Duel In The Sun with Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry in 1977 remains one of the great head to head duels in the history of the sport. The GOAT and the greatest links player went toe to toe, driver to driver, putter to putter for  two glorious rounds, with Watson finishing on top by a nose (to mix metaphors). And as I have written before, if Watson had had a nine iron instead of an eight iron on the 72nd hole in the 2009 Open at Turnberry he might have completed the greatest victory in golf history or at least since Francis Ouimet beat Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in  the 1913 U.S. Open. 

As I have also written before, we do not honor our sports heroes appropriately when they retire, sadly, waiting for them to pass away before the real tributes begin. My master plan is still intact see here. Some wise entrepreneur will bring Watson and Nicholas together to celebrate the Duel in The Sun and raise millions for charity in the bargain. In the meantime, Cheers, Tom. Well Done.  Your game will be sorely missed

Copyright R.E. Kelly 2012-2019

AMDG

Fantasy Thoughts Over Coca-Cola

My fantasy golf season  has been picking up as of late.  Thanks to an improved  performance during the Fedex Cup playoffs, I have moved out of the basement for the Summer segment of the competition and am currently ranked fourth out of five teams in my league in Yahoo Sports! Fantasy Golf for the Summer segment. 

My prospects this week look good in the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola in (where else) Atlanta, Georgia, the last leg in the Fedex Cup playoffs.  I started Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Jordan Spieth and Sergio Garcia.  While Watson is great in the Masters, and not so much elsewhere (see The Golf Album earlier post comparing Watson’s career to that of ESPN golf analyst Andy North here), his past performance in this tournament was stellar.  It looks like a good pick so far, but it’s early. 

Fantasy Golf Goes Better...

Furyk and Garcia also started well.  Furyk, with an extremely hot hand of late, is tied for third with Watson, while Sergio lurks one stroke back.  Spieth was a bit off the pace with his one over par 71, so he’s been replaced with Jason Day, one of my backups.  Hopefully these gentlemen will do better than my pick in the Stillers-Ravens game last night.  I had the Stillers in my pick-em pool, no spread, just the winner, baby.  They lost 26-6 in the Rice Bowl.  Ugh.  (The Washington Post this morning featured pictures of female fans at the Ravens game wearing Rice jerseys allegedly in support of the now-free agent running back.  What??  Hopefully that gesture was in support of Janay.)  

 Go, Golf Album Bloggers!

                                                                                          

AMDG^TM

© 2012-14 R.E. Kelly

Good Wits Doe Jumpe

A Smart Guy Too!

On August 30^th,  Brandel Chamblee, the former PGA player and current commentator on the Golf Channel and SI Golf + contributor, wrote this article, entitled “Tiger Might Break Jack's Major Record, But That Alone Won’t Make Him The Greatest Of All Time.”  In that post he argues, convincingly, that Jack was the greatest golfer of all time because of the quantity of the quality competition he faced.  Chamblee cites a wealth of statistics to demonstrate his conclusion, citing the quality of the completion he regularly faced from the likes of Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, and other golf legends.  He concludes that, no matter the total of majors Tiger accumulates, Jack Nicklaus will still be measured as the greatest player of all time.  

Well, as the old saying goes, “Good wits doe jumpe”, or, in modern English, “Great minds think alike”.  

I authored this post on June 10^th of this year, in which I concluded that no matter care how many majors Tiger eventually wins, Jack Nicklaus is and will still be still the greatest player of all time.  In fact, I wrote that “Even if Woods does break Jack’s record, he will still not earn the title of The Greatest Golfer Ever from this observer.  The competition Woods has faced is simply pathetic compared to the golf legends Nicklaus faced week in and week out during his long and historic career.  Simply put, Nicklaus’s accomplishments are extraordinary, and Woods’ career record, incomplete as it may be, pales in comparison.”   And I cite statistics in support as well, which demonstrate that the competition Tiger has faced during the Golden Age of Tiger couldn’t shine the Footjoys of the legends against which Jack competed.  

The Bear Will Always Surpass The Tiger

As an aside, the Golden Bear was interviewed on my local sports talk radio live to plug a local charity event recently and it was fabulous. Nicklaus was on his game, answering all the questions with great insight and humor.  The radio guys pointed out that in 1963, Nicklaus won the long drive contest at the PGA Championship.  Astoundingly, the winning drive was measured at 341 yards, 17 inches, and remember, it was smote with a steel shaft and wooden club head. If Jack were in his prime today, they would have to outlaw him.  (In fact, Nicklaus, to uproarious laughter from the radio guys, pulled out the actual money clip he won for his prodigious blast in 1963, which he is still carrying with him today!) 

So, that's my story and I’m sticking to it, and I’m glad a smart guy like Brandel Chamblee agrees with me.

AMDG

© R.E. Kelly 2012-2021