The post GOLF’s Subpar: Fred Funk on Phil and Tiger’s infamous Ryder Cup pairing appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Fred Funk on Phil and Tiger’s infamous Ryder Cup pairing appeared first on Golf.

—

Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar’s. Make sure to check out their Reserve Bar listings today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars

This week’s episode was brought to you by Rapsodo. Just go to www.Rapsodo.com/Subpar and use Promo Code SUBPAR for $100 off the MLM personal launch monitor. Right now, Rapsodo is also offering a $30 off bundle discount for MLM and their Premium Subscription. So SubPar listeners have the opportunity to save over $130 total, with purchase of the bundle package.

Shop the Birdie Juice Collection!

Colt Knost “Birdie Juice” hat

$35

View Product

Birdie Juice CHUG BUD, Blue

$30

View Product

Birdie Juice VIBE Tumbler + Bluetooth Speaker

$50

View Product

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Fred Funk on Phil and Tiger’s infamous Ryder Cup pairing appeared first on Golf.

The post Paul Azinger’s 9 golden rules for being a successful U.S. team captain appeared first on Golf.

The post Paul Azinger’s 9 golden rules for being a successful U.S. team captain appeared first on Golf.

In other words, it’s the perfect time for Azinger to step into the past.

“Hardly anybody even knows this,” he starts. “But when the first ever Presidents Cup happened, a lot of the work of the captaincy wound up falling right into my lap.”

Azinger’s phone rang. It was early 1994, and he was in Inglewood, Calif., where he’d spent the previous months receiving treatment for lymphoma. Hale Irwin, Azinger’s good friend and longtime playing partner, was on the line.

Later that year, Irwin told Azinger, he was slated to be the captain of the American team at a new Ryder Cup-style match-play event called “The Presidents Cup.” Irwin needed to pick an assistant captain, and because he was in the running to be the event’s first-ever playing captain, he needed to be sure the assistant was someone he could trust. Irwin wondered, would Zinger be game?

News

“I had just gotten off being sick with cancer and it was just the greatest gesture,” Azinger said. “I love Hale for that. For me to be able to get back in that team room and be able to get in there with all the players, you know, it was just awesome.”

A few months later, Azinger and Irwin were together at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, in Virginia, captaining the U.S. team to a comfortable victory at the inaugural Presidents Cup.

“I felt like I was in charge that week,” he said. “Knowing which shots players had on par-3s ahead of the groups coming up so they could know the club. I was playing into the mechanics of what was going on during the matches. A few encouraging words maybe, here and there.”

Azinger was hooked, and by the time he was asked to captain a team of his own at the 2008 Ryder Cup, he was filled with bold new ideas about how to improve team golf for the better in the United States. Of course, you know the rest — the Americans hammered the Europeans at Valhalla, ending an eight-year streak of European dominance by utilizing Azinger’s innovative new system.

But as Azinger looks back now at some three decades of experience competing under the American flag, he sees his successes as indicative of some broader truths about team golf. Ahead of this week’s Presidents Cup (which he will help broadcast for NBC Sports), he agreed to share some of some of his lessons from along the way.

Paul Azinger’s rules for captaining a U.S. team

1. Pick the right players (or build a system that does it for you)

It sounds simple, but it ain’t. There are endless factors that can impact the qualification process, not the least of which are the rules set forth by the individuals choosing the teams.

In ’08, Azinger transitioned the Ryder Cup selection process into a points-based system, amplifying the importance of strong performers in golf’s biggest and highest-paying events.

“The money and the majors were double [points value], because I felt like players only choked for those two things,” he says with a laugh. “I mean, there’s nothing else to choke for other than cash and prestige. I felt like the majors had the most of both.”

Today, the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams rely upon a combination of points gained and “captain’s selections” — allowing leadership a greater say over who remains on each team.

“Now,” Azinger says, “the United States gets the best 12 players every time.”

2. Build a winning environment

Team environments are foreign environments for golfers, some of whom have never competed on a team in their life. It’s the captain’s job to ensure the environment feels familiar. Happy players will make for confident ones, and confident players play good golf.

“The captain has to take care of all the minutia, so the player doesn’t have to think about anything but the game and the golf,” Azinger says. “The team room is a relaxing environment.”

If you’ve done it right, Azinger says, you’ll know pretty quickly.

“I’ve been on a bunch of teams and in the room,” he said. “On the best ones, we laugh and we get up and tell rain-delay stories and play Ping-Pong. And we got a temper-tantrum stories, we got bad-break stories, worst-bounce stories. It’s just guys hanging out.”

3. Bleed over the details

No factor is worth overlooking. None. When Azinger captained the Americans, he kept close tabs on everything from the apparel designs down to the dinner menu.

Azinger obsessed over the details in the months leading up to the tournament so that by the time the tournament rolled around, he didn’t have to.

“We asked every player, what are your three most favorite meals?” Azinger said. “And every night, one of every player’s three most favorite meals was on the table. Some nights there was a bunch of stuff out.”

The result?

“I never thought about food once during the week.”

4. Choose your words wisely

There was only one time that Azinger addressed the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team in full, and it came before the competition had even started.

“It was day one,” he remembers. “I told them we were doing something different.”

Azinger told the team that he’d decided to experiment with a new strategy: The team would be divided into “pods” of four, and those groups would be responsible for governing themselves and their performance.

From then on, Azinger never spoke to the team in full again — even as they carried a precarious 9-7 lead into Sunday’s singles matches.

“I laid in bed Saturday night and I looked at my wife and said, ‘My gosh, I forgot to say anything to them.’ And she said, ‘Don’t worry about it. They’re ready.'”

All these years later, Azinger says there’s something to be learned from that story.

“The captain has to get his guys prepared, and has to get the right players together,” he says. “Then I think inevitably you have to kind of get out of the way. It’s not about you, it’s really about the environment in the room.”

5. Don’t be afraid to bench players

There are hard decisions about who to play and who not to play — and then there are easy ones.

“You don’t have to play everyone,” he said. “If you’re worried about someone, you can sit them [in the early-week sessions].”

6. Have a solid support team

This is team-golf advice as much as it is life advice.

“My wife, she was incredible,” Azinger said. “I never mentioned her ever in anything about the Ryder Cup but she was awesome for me. She was awesome for the team and the team room and it made a big difference.”

7. Be a master of communication

If you’ve watched team golf, you have no doubt noticed the earpieces worn by captain’s staff. What goes over the radio on match days?

“The business of the radio is to stay updated,” he says. “If I’m standing with the last group, watching them and there’s four matches out I’ll get an update from match three, or I’ll get an update from match one.”

But the business of the radio isn’t always the reality of the radio.

“As soon as there’s a cheer, you’ll hear someone screaming. At a Ryder or a Presidents Cup, that’s what it’s about. ‘He made it!! Birdie!!!’ or ‘Oh, no! We got screwed!'”

8. Be a master of people

Azinger’s pod system famously leaned on personality tests to help segment players. It was an essential piece of the U.S. team formula in 2008, but it was far from the only way Azinger tried to streamline the human element of the competition.

In one particularly controversial move, he removed the Saturday night gift ceremony from the U.S. team’s schedule, insisting that players were better served competitively if they received a trophy after the completion of play.

“On Saturday night, there was none of that ‘how much we love each other now,’ and all that garbage. That’s the worst — the Saturday night Kumbaya. It was probably the worst way ever to prepare for a Sunday final match. [The Europeans] are calling on the ghost of Seve [Ballesteros]. And we’re over here handing out crystal and watches.”

Some members of the U.S. team’s orbit were unsettled by the decision, which unseated one of the team’s old traditions. Azinger was ready for the heat.

“I remember I had a couple of wives come up to him and say, ‘Hey, we haven’t done a gift-giving yet,” Azinger said. “I said, ‘Yeah, we’re not gonna do that this year. We’re gonna do that tomorrow night, on Sunday night.'”

9. Embrace the uncertainty

Eventually, finally, play will begin, and the outcome will be entirely out of the captain’s hands. Good captains will understand this reality, but great ones will learn to thrive within it.

“Once the bell rings, the captain kind of has to stay out of the way,” Azinger said. “Yeah, I think you can overdo it. You can overdo everything.”

The post Paul Azinger’s 9 golden rules for being a successful U.S. team captain appeared first on Golf.

The post Will LIV players play in Ryder Cup? We won’t know for months appeared first on Golf.

The post Will LIV players play in Ryder Cup? We won’t know for months appeared first on Golf.

There are exactly 203 days until the 2023 Masters, 112 days until the first elevated event of the ’23 Tour season, 42 days until LIV’s first team event. Sometime in the next two months, we’ll know how the two tours’ schedules will officially intersect next season. 

“It’s up to the powers that be,” Rory McIlroy said Wednesday in Italy, ”to try to come to some sort of —not resolution, I don’t think that’s the right word — but a strategy going forward so that the game can drive at the highest level.”

A lot of players have said exactly this, or some derivative of it. They show some patience with the question being asked again, and dish out an answer that clings to a little bit of hope. It’s just no one can agree on when a resolution might actually take hold. When exactly will another decision be made? When will the Official World Golf Rankings decide if 54-hole LIV events can issue world ranking points? When will major championships change their qualification standards, if at all? 

News

“It’s a weird time in golf,” McIlroy also said. Weird perhaps because the next major decision might not come down to those typical golf “powers that be,” and could instead just come from a United Kingdom court. That we actually have some details on. 

The DP World Tour currently has to make room for LIV golfers who want to compete in their events and are qualified to do so, thanks to a court-ruled stay of sanctions. Events like last week’s BMW PGA Championship could become the new norm, during which more than a dozen LIV golfers played at Wentworth. Despite commissioner Keith Pelley’s best wishes, that will be the case for weeks and months to come. 

Sometime in February, the sanctions handed down by Pelley — suspensions and fines, akin to those by the PGA Tour, and for similar reasons — will begin to be decided as fair or unjust. Until then, as we first learned at the Scottish Open, LIV golfers were granted the precedent of a stay of those sanctions. 

Unfortunately for the likes of McIlroy, who is in Rome this week playing next year’s Ryder Cup course, and even more so for his captain Luke Donald, the questions will not cease. Each event is another event closer to next year’s Cup, and another event where the same answers have to be trotted out. 

McIlroy: “But yeah, I have said it once I’ve said it a hundred times, I don’t think any of those guys should be on The Ryder Cup Team.”

Donald, this week: We’re still a little bit in limbo. We don’t know what’s going to happen with the lawsuit so I’m trying to not really put too much energy.

Donald, on Aug. 1: There are legal appeals ongoing, and until such time the players are entitled to play

Shane Lowry last week: With all due respect to a lot of those guys over at LIV, I think they know themselves and that’s why they went to LIV. Their Ryder Cup days are probably over.

Shane Lowry on Monday: Like I said it last week at Wentworth. With all due respect to the guys over at LIV that are European. I think for most of ‘em, their Ryder Cup years are behind them.”

If you’re exhausted by this song-and-dance, it’s not going away. It’s only at that February court hearing, the details of which have not been well-publicized, that we will understand the future of LIV golfers and the DP World Tour. 

Scenario A: Similar to the PGA Tour, LIV golfers are suspended and/or banned, and will not be able to compete, therefore dropping opportunities for world golf ranking points and entrance into the majors. 

Scenario B: The court sympathizes with LIV golfers, calling LIV another just another organization in the free marketplace of professional golf. LIV golfers are therefore allowed to earn qualification points in the Ryder Cup standings and earn their way onto Donald’s roster. 

In a wild, dystopian golf future, could one of those automatic qualifiers be Henrik Stenson, the ex-captain who lost the captainship by joining LIV? Crazier things have happened. 

The post Will LIV players play in Ryder Cup? We won’t know for months appeared first on Golf.

The post Why the Ryder Cup is a hot topic this week at Wentworth appeared first on Golf.

The post Why the Ryder Cup is a hot topic this week at Wentworth appeared first on Golf.

Why? 

You guessed it: LIV Golf. The disruptive force that has driven a wedge into the men’s pro golf world has skipped back across the pond to Wentworth and the site of the DP World Tour’s flagship event. Each and every year the best European golfers (and even some of the best Americans) descend upon England for another premier tournament. This year, not everyone is welcome. 

But amid the discussion about who should and who shouldn’t be there is a simmering reality that rostering of the 2023 Ryder Cup team commences this week. This is the first event that will dish out qualifying points for that European Ryder Cup team, the same team that had to replace its captain less than two months ago as he left for LIV. 

The new captain, Luke Donald, has received pointed questioning this week from LIV golfers who have declared their interest in taking part 12 months from now. But it’s even far too soon for him to decide anything, especially considering some of those players are in a lawsuit against the DP World Tour, to be heard for the first time in court in February.

Can the discussion of the Ryder Cup wait until then? No, of course not. 

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were asked about LIV golfers being allowed to play in the Ryder Cup, and both seem to agree on a few points, mainly that the LIV-ers probably aren’t good enough at this point. Both players were interviewed by Jamie Weir of Sky Sports Wednesday and shared their thoughts on Ryder Cup rostering and how much LIV golfers deserve to fit in to the upcoming European system. 

Lowry: “With all due respect, a lot of those guys over at LIV, I think they know themselves. And that’s why they went to LIV. Their Ryder Cup days are probably over.”

McIlroy: “Their best days are behind them and I think they would concede that as well. We have to think about the future of the European team. We’ve got like a group of seven players — a core seven, I think — and we need to fill that extra five with young, ambitious players. We need to blood a few new people in Rome.”

That core seven McIlroy is referring to is most likely himself, Lowry, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood. Which is only to say that Lowry’s opinion above matters, and McIlroy’s opinion matters just as much and probably more.

But what about Rahm’s opinion?

The Spaniard was the most valuable European on last fall’s squad, then ranked No. 1 in the world. He teamed up with Sergio Garcia for what he likes to call one of his best golf memories. But will Garcia be welcomed onto next year’s team? Rahm has already said he would like to see Garcia playing the Ryder Cup again. And this week he delved into that complicated, nuanced debate once again. 

News

“I’ve said many times how important the Ryder Cup is to me,” Rahm said Tuesday. “I talked to my dad the other day about, and if it wasn’t for the Ryder Cup, I probably wouldn’t be here because that’s the reason why he started playing golf; therefore why I started playing golf.

“So I believe The Ryder Cup is above all in my mind. It is the greatest marketing tool golf has. One of the biggest sporting events, period, right? So I wouldn’t mind. Me and Sergio had a great, great experience in this last Ryder Cup, and I would love to repeat it above all no matter where he plays. But I can understand why it would be difficult.

“If it was up to me I would love to reach a resolution to some of them being able to play because, like I said earlier, how many Ryder Cups has Sergio played? Ten? Most points ever earned in The Ryder Cup. Westy has been a part of a lot of them as well and many others. I don’t know if it will be possible or not but I think if there’s a way, I would like to see it.”

The best chance Garcia will have of making the team would be to 1. Play extremely well in the majors (three of which he is not qualified for) and the DP World Tour events he is allowed into. And 2. Earn a captain’s pick.

That’s why Garcia reportedly was on hand to ask a Ryder Cup question of Keith Pelley during the players’ only meeting Tuesday night. The path to Garcia’s inclusion isn’t exactly straightforward, especially when UK courts become further involved in just a couple months. Until then, plenty of doubt hangs in the air. Just enough for everyone to talk, talk, talk about it.

The post Why the Ryder Cup is a hot topic this week at Wentworth appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 innovations we’d like to see from Europe’s new Ryder Cup-style event appeared first on Golf.

The post 5 innovations we’d like to see from Europe’s new Ryder Cup-style event appeared first on Golf.

That’s why it was good news on Tuesday when the European Ryder Cup team and DP World Tour added the latest offering to the growing world of match play. In a press release the DP World Tour announced the creation of a new team-style event in the vein of the Presidents Cup called the “Hero Cup.” Like its PGA Tour counterpart, the event will be competed opposite the Ryder Cup on the pro golf schedule and will serve as preparation for the Ryder Cup constituency — a group that is growing younger and less experienced by the day as LIV Golf defections mount.

The event will pit the top players of Great Britain and Ireland against those from the rest of the continent and will be played from Jan. 13-15, 2023 in Abu Dhabi. In crafting the new competition, the Ryder Cup is tapping into the geographic divides originally formed by the Walker Cup, which pits junior golfers from Great Britain and Ireland against those from the United States. European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald will play a role in the team selection process and was instrumental in the creation of the event.

“I spoke to a number of former Ryder Cup Captains who were strong advocates of how similar events in the past have benefitted players who were pushing to make Ryder Cup teams, as well as their own captaincy journey,” Donald said in a release.

Now, with the DP World Tour and Team Europe preparing to create the first major team-style event since the formation of the Presidents Cup some three decades ago, here’s a modest list of some of the things we’re hoping to see from the new outfit.

1. Historic courses

Match-play events aren’t beholden to our ideas of what a tournament “should be,” which makes venue selection all the more fun. Length, location, par — all of these things are irrelevant as far as match play is concerned. The principle — and some would argue only — factor in picking a match-play venue should be entertainment value, and fortunately for the DP World Tour, there are no shortage of fun courses in Europe and beyond worth choosing from.

With the Presidents Cup, the PGA Tour has too often fallen into the habit of picking traditional Tour venues and blase setups in the name of profitability. That’s great if you have access to a hospitality tent, but decidedly less so if you’re one of the millions watching from home. The 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne represented a striking shift from this ethos and helped to propel what was largely regarded as the most entertaining iteration of the event ever, even with the event being broadcast back in the States at all hours of the night.

If the DP World Tour is smart, they’ll lean into the continent’s history in choosing venues for the Hero Cup. Who’s to say that Prestwick, Portmarnock, Royal County Down and other famed links courses outside the Open rota aren’t perfect fits for this event?

2. Exotic venues

Abu Dhabi is a good start, but in the years outside of the GB&I, it’d be lovely to see the event travel into some of Europe’s most exotic golf destinations. We know so little about golf superpowers like Spain and Italy, and even less about more off-the-beaten-path destinations like France, Sweden and Norway. Why not lean further into the unknown? It could be a boon not only for participation within the country, but also for tourism dollars down the line. (And while we’re talking pie-in-the-sky, yes, Icleand would be a sick host.)

Travel

3. Better teams

If there’s one thing the PGA Tour has done relatively well with the development of the Presidents Cup, it’s in building a brand identity for both sides (of course, there’s room to squabble over whether that development was the Tour’s doing, or the players themselves). The recent commitment to growing the “International” brand has paid dividends in establishing what could be reasonably called a “rivalry” between the two sides, and has provided the unusual benefit of team-specific merchandise sales. There’s plenty of room to do the same with the Hero Cup, building an environment of competition that could make for easier watching for casual fans. (And if it comes with the added benefit of an extra pro golf rivalry or two, even better.)

4a. Better broadcasts

Too often it feels like the broadcasts for the Ryder and Presidents Cups get lost trying to be a traditional golf tournament. If LIV’s growth has shown us anything, it’s that golf broadcasts can shift their tenor to match the event. I’d love to see the Hero Cup capture some of LIV’s energy while losing most (or all) of its self-promotional air.

Also, golf’s obsession with names like “fourball” and “foursomes” befuddles me. Match-play competitions are the purest form of golf entertainment for casual fans; simplifying the language (to say nothing of the scoring system) is the no-brainer to end all no-brainers. (Lest we forget that until legendary CBS Sports producer Frank Chirkinian came along, golf scores were counted in total strokes, not over-and-under-par.)

4b. Better characters

Really, what I’m asking for is for the networks to pipe in audio from the captains’ earpieces, but I wouldn’t be opposed to a more player-centric broadcast with added emphasis on on-course microphones and match-specific commentary.

5. Better uniforms

Seriously? Are these the best Team Europe could do at last year’s Ryder Cup? Let’s get Gucci and Burberry on the horn and leave these guys looking like they walked off the runway at New York Fashion Week.

The post 5 innovations we’d like to see from Europe’s new Ryder Cup-style event appeared first on Golf.

The post Harris English reveals the MVP (and LVP) of the 2021 Ryder Cup afterparty appeared first on Golf.

The post Harris English reveals the MVP (and LVP) of the 2021 Ryder Cup afterparty appeared first on Golf.

But according to one of his teammates, that success did not carry over to the afterparty for the victorious American team.

“Morikawa was not the…” U.S. Ryder Cup team member Harris English said before GOLF Subpar co-host Drew Stoltz finished his sentence for him.

“He was the LVP,” Stoltz said on the podcast.

“Yea, he was the LVP,” English said.

News

English didn’t go into further details on why the then-Ryder Cup rookie was less than stellar at the afterparty. The U.S. team had plenty of reason to celebrate, dominating the European team 19-9 last September.

He did have a clear winner for MVP of the afterparty, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise as this golfer also went 5-0-0 at Whistling Straits and was likely MVP of the actual event too.

“Dustin [Johnson] is incredible,” English said. “A., how good at golf he is, but he can go out [at night] and then he’s only the first one in the gym [the next morning], crushing it and he can do it every day.”

Subpar co-host Colt Knost also had his own stories of Johnson’s late night frivolities from their days playing and staying together at amateur tournaments.

“We would go out and I mean he would tie one on,” Knost said. “Next morning 7 a.m. alarm goes off. He’s up head in the faucet, just chugging water. He goes, ‘Alright, let’s go.’ Goes out and shoots 65. I’m like, What is happening? Like, how do you do this?”

English said the 38-year-old Johnson doesn’t age before handing out some honorable mentions for the rest of the afterparty attendees.

“Xander [Schauffele] was impressive,” English said. “I haven’t really hung out with Xander off the course that much, but he had that cigar going. Jordan [Spieth] obviously and Justin [Thomas] go very hard, which is always fun.”

The post Harris English reveals the MVP (and LVP) of the 2021 Ryder Cup afterparty appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Harris English talks the MVP (and LVP) of the 2021 Ryder Cup afterparty appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Harris English talks the MVP (and LVP) of the 2021 Ryder Cup afterparty appeared first on Golf.

—

Thanks to our official sponsor Dewar’s. Make sure to check out their Reserve Bar listings today: https://www.reservebar.com/collections/house-of-dewars

This week’s episode is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. If you’ve never tried FanDuel Sportsbook, what are you waiting for? Go to https://www.fanduel.com/subpar or download the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. Be sure to sign up with promo code SUBPAR so they know we sent you.

Disclaimer: 21+ and present in AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, NJ, NY, or WY. 1st online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires 14 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), Call 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (NJ, IA, IL), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY(467369) (NY), or 1-800-522-4700 (WY).

Shop the Birdie Juice Collection

Birdie Juice Bucket Hat

$40

View Product

Birdie Juice VIBE Tumbler + Bluetooth Speaker

$50

View Product

Birdie Juice “Old Glory” Hat

$30

View Product

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Harris English talks the MVP (and LVP) of the 2021 Ryder Cup afterparty appeared first on Golf.

The post Luke Donald replaces Henrik Stenson as Ryder Cup captain after LIV defection appeared first on Golf.

The post Luke Donald replaces Henrik Stenson as Ryder Cup captain after LIV defection appeared first on Golf.

On Monday, the committee named Luke Donald the new European Ryder Cup captain for next fall in Rome, ushering in the longtime PGA Tour pro and former World No. 1 into the head role just hours after Stenson completed his first LIV event.

All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.

Team Europe GOLF T-Shirt

$30

Support Team Europe at the Ryder Cup and all year round with pride!

Buy Now

View Product

“Some of my best experiences in golf have been in the Ryder Cup and I would not swap those for anything,” Donald said in a statement clearly directed at Stenson and other LIV Golf Ryder Cup hopefuls. “I love everything the Ryder Cup embodies, from the camaraderie and companionship of being part of a team, to the history of the contest, but most of all playing for something bigger than yourself.”

To date, the debate over the rival league’s eligibility in the biennial event has proven one of golf’s most controversial topics. LIV’s players have repeatedly used their press conference time to lobby for their inclusion in the Ryder Cup, while the tournament’s organizers have offered pointed criticisms of the new league and expressed doubt over changes to the eligibility requirements that would allow LIV players to compete. (The current U.S. and European Ryder Cup eligibility rules require players to compete in PGA Tour and DP World Tour events in order to earn the points necessary to qualify.)

Stenson, who was named the European captain in March for next fall’s matches in Rome, represents the clearest sign yet of the challenges facing members of the upstart league in earning their way to Rome. The 46-year-old Swede was stripped of his captaincy just days after his decision to join LIV Golf for a reported $40 million signing bonus.

“As many of you have already seen, unfortunately my decision to play in LIV events has triggered Ryder Cup Europe to communicate that it is not possible for me to continue in my role as Ryder Cup captain,” he later said in a statement. “While I disagree with the decision, for now it is a decision that I have to accept.”

Stenson went on to win his first LIV event on Sunday in Bedminster, taking a victory lap around Ryder Cup brass in the process.

“I guess we can agree I played like a captain,” he told reporters afterward.

News

Donald joins a European side in upheaval after last fall’s shellacking at Whistling Straits and this summer’s host of LIV defections from longtime stalwarts. In some ways, the LIV disruption could make life easier for team Europe, who will likely look to grow younger and hungrier in 2023. As part of his captaincy announcement, Donald confirmed that both existing European assistant captains — Thomas Bjorn and Edoardo Molinari — will remain in their posts.

Donald is undefeated in four Ryder Cup appearances (’04, ’06, ’10 and ’12), owning a 10-4-1 lifetime record in the event.

The 2023 Ryder Cup is currently scheduled for September 25-October 1, 2023 at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy.

The post Luke Donald replaces Henrik Stenson as Ryder Cup captain after LIV defection appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘You’ve got to stick to it’: Padraig Harrington is disappointed in Henrik Stenson’s Ryder Cup captaincy void appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘You’ve got to stick to it’: Padraig Harrington is disappointed in Henrik Stenson’s Ryder Cup captaincy void appeared first on Golf.

Stenson served as vice captain to Padraig Harrington at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in September, and Harrington was clearly disappointed in Stenson’s decision when Harrington was asked about the situation ahead of last week’s Senior Open Championship at Gleneagles.

“Clearly it’s unfortunate, the situation that he’s not going to continue on as captain,” Harrington said. “He signed a contract not to do that and was specifically asked not to do that. So yes, I don’t — I have no empathy there. No, he took The Ryder Cup job when LIV was in doubt, and now that LIV is pretty much mainstream normalized, he’s jumped ship.”

Stenson is one of many European stalwarts who have recently left the PGA and DP World Tours for LIV Golf, joining Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter.

News

“He wanted to take something on when LIV looked like it wasn’t going to happen. And now that LIV, as we see, is mainstream, pretty close to being mainstream, there’s certainly less risk in joining the LIV Tour. He’s gone over, which I know it’s a financial decision,” Harrington continued. “We’re all here to make money and things like that but there is an element of like signing up to do something, and as much as it might suit him now and as much as it financially — financially being a Ryder Cup Captain in Europe is very lucrative. Clearly it’s financially better to go over to LIV but sometimes when you sign up for something, you have to accept that you made the decision at the time and you’ve got to stick to it. In that sense, he signed to say he wouldn’t do it.”

Harrington is on Team Europe’s selection committee and said that despite the setback with Stenson, the team will be ready next fall.

“It’s plenty of time. Fifteen months is loads of time,” he said. “Give him credit, he didn’t pull out like a month before or three months before. It is 15 months, plenty of time. No issue as regards the actual team and like there’s been nothing set in place about the selection processes or qualification processes. Really doesn’t affect the Ryder Cup in any shape or form. I’m sure we’ll have a new captain installed pretty soon.”

It will be a big moment for Team Europe, who will be looking to bounce back from a 19-9 thumping by Team USA at Whistling Straits when the match heads back to Europe next year.

The 2023 Ryder Cup begins on Friday, September 29, 2023.

The post ‘You’ve got to stick to it’: Padraig Harrington is disappointed in Henrik Stenson’s Ryder Cup captaincy void appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour Confidential: Ryder Cup concerns, Brooke Henderson, LIV broadcasts appeared first on Golf.

The post Tour Confidential: Ryder Cup concerns, Brooke Henderson, LIV broadcasts appeared first on Golf.

1. Ryder Cup Europe removed Henrik Stenson as its 2023 captain after Stenson was among the latest batch of pros to join LIV Golf. At this point, how worried should the governing bodies of the U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams be that their premier event could be watered down? What’s the solution?

News

Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): I think their biggest worry should be the fact that the players whose careers have been most defined by the Ryder Cup — think Sergio and Poulter — were so willing to give it up, and now Stenson was willing to go back on his word and give up the captaincy, too. The European core of Rory and Rahm are still eligible, and most of its top young pros are, too. But it’s worrisome that the Ryder Cup’s cache doesn’t stand up to a bucket of gold bricks. It’ll be interesting to see if they hold that line.

Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): Losing Stenson, Poulter and the like doesn’t significantly water down the Ryder Cup since those players’ Ryder Cup careers are largely behind them. But the balance feels very precarious. If bigger and younger names continue to jump to LIV, the Ryder Cup as we know it will feel radically changed. 

James Colgan, assistant editor (@jamescolgan26): Agreed, Dylan! I saw someone ask the other day who was left among the Europeans to captain a Ryder Cup team … and I don’t know the answer! And on the American side, who, if not Phil, is going to captain them at Bethpage in ‘25? What a hornet’s nest the powers-that-be have wandered into.

Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): They should be worried. The Ryder Cup always seemed untouchable to me. When LIV defections started, I didn’t think those players would be key Ryder Cuppers — at least not the ones who have several good years left in the event. But as LIV picks up steam, I’m starting to think the Ryder Cup might take more of a hit. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future. A watered-down Ryder Cup stings a bit, but I don’t see the PGA of America giving in.

2. Brooke Henderson won the Evian Championship to claim her second career major title, and now, at just 24 years old, she’s the first Canadian-born player (male or female) to win multiple major titles. Does this feat alone make her the best Canadian-born player ever? And are you taking the over/under on 4.5 career Henderson majors?

Dethier: Oh boy. Props to Henderson for righting the ship on Sunday (after an early four-putt!) and doing some seriously big-time stuff down the stretch. Birdies at 14, 15 and 18? Hell yeah. I’ll resist becoming a prisoner of the moment and take the under. Four majors for Henderson, when it’s all said and done. I’d gladly be wrong!

Sens: It makes her the most accomplished Canadian-born player. But I’d still probably take Moe Norman or Mike Weir in theoretical match play. I’ll take the under on 4.5 because winning is hard. How long has Rory been stuck on four again?

News

Colgan: Someone call the oddsmakers, we need a line adjustment! I’ll take the under on 4.5 majors, and the over on 3.5.

Berhow: I couldn’t believe she’s still only 24 when I looked it up today. It was a pretty entertaining victory with all of the necessary ups and downs, but I think she’s got lots more great things to show us. Give me the over.

3. NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley confirmed in an interview with the New York Post that he recently met with Greg Norman to discuss a broadcasting role with Norman’s controversial, Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series. While Barkley didn’t commit to anything publicly, David Feherty announced he is leaving NBC for LIV, and a Golf Digest report confirmed that Gary McCord has also been in discussions. What would this crew do for interest in the league? Would a newcomer like Barkley help interest?

News

Dethier: It would up the entertainment value, though not necessarily the golfy credibility. Barkley has been a welcome addition to the Match broadcasts and can shake up golf’s too-stodgy defaults. So yeah, Barkley may add to the “exhibition” feel, but he’d help drum up interest. How many media members are better or less predictable quotes?

Sens: There’s not a more entertaining broadcaster in any sport so yes, Barkley would move the needle. But I think we are still at the point with LIV where every move still fits with people’s confirmation biases. For LIV supporters, landing Barkley would seem like an extra-strength boost in mass-market appeal. Anti-LIVers would see it as further evidence that LIV is deeply funded but dumbed-down golf. Each side digging in its heels. 

Colgan: I think the biggest question re: Chuck is whether he took seven figures to go to LIV, or eight. (I think the answer is eight.) Adding Chuck does *nothing* to help the league’s credibility among golf audiences, but perhaps that’s the point? LIV seems rather laser-focused on ‘winning’ with Gen Z, but is it worth sacrificing everyone else to do it?

Berhow: At least initially, I think it’s going to be hard for LIV to get fans to care about who wins. It’s 54 holes, has an odd field and still seems like an exhibition. And adding Sir Charles to that mix just seems even more like an exhibition. Maybe that will go away eventually. But it would be a splashy hire, which I think LIV would count as a major win.

4. The USGA hosted the first-ever U.S. Adaptive Open this week in Pinehurst, N.C. The 54-hole event featured a field of 96 players (both men and women), each of whom had a disability. The hope, USGA CEO Mike Whan told GOLF, is to elevate adaptive golf’s profile in the United States, starting with its inclusion in the Paralympics. Why was this week an important development for the sport writ large?

News

Dethier: Because it was taken seriously. (James Colgan told the story wonderfully from on site.) The USGA gets a lot of heat, but this was a concrete example of doing something innovative and doing it well. I’m allergic to the phrase “growing the game,” but this certainly moved it forward.

Sens: Exactly. Handled poorly, it could have felt gimmicky or patronizing. It was beautiful and Inspiring. But also serious and sustainable.

Colgan: I can’t begin to tell you how many families and players told me they had no idea adaptive golf *existed* until they started playing. That is an unbelievable issue — and hopefully one that ceases to exist should this event help bring adaptive golf into the Paralympics. 

Berhow: James did a great job telling stories for us while he was there, and it’s only going to get bigger as it gets more exposure. Also very cool to see it all happen at a place like Pinehurst. Unbelievable athletes.

5. The 245-yard par-3 5th at Anstruther, down the road from St. Andrews in Scotland, is the stuff of nightmares and was even once dubbed the hardest par-3 around by a British golf magazine. (A few of our staffers put it to the test.) What’s the most difficult hole you’ve ever played?

Dethier: The first hole at Gamble Sands in central Washington, where I played U.S. Open qualifying last summer after a few years away from any sort of tournament competition. It was playing over 500 yards, which made it a beefy par-4. I hit a weak push off the tee, lost the ball and made 8. It was a reminder that it’s more often the artist rather than the canvas. A nervy golfer can make any hole hard.

Sens: The jitters I felt on the first tee of the 1994 Masters were so intense that …. wait. That wasn’t me. But this was — at a course called Dinosaur Trail in Drumheller, in western Canada. It’s cut through a wild badlands-like landscape, kinda like Wolf Creek in Mesquite, Nevada, but more extreme in places. As I remember it, a couple of holes had fairways about as wide as sidewalks with severe drop-offs into oblivion on either side. By the time I got to the back nine, I was convinced I was on Candid Camera. This couldn’t be a real course. Someone had to be pranking me. 

Colgan: I think I need to play more with you, Sens. Scariest hole of my life? Probably the 100-yard par-3 5th at my old place of employment, Rockville Links. Most hours of the day, the hole is a cupcake — a flipped wedge over a manmade lake — but that all changes around dinner time. The hole overlooks the clubhouse patio, which is usually packed in the early evening (coincidentally the same hour caddies were permitted to sneak out for a twilight nine). From the tee box, I never stood more than a shanked wedge away from the end of a poor diner’s life — and my looping career. 

Berhow: Every hole at Oakmont. Also, when on a family vacation a few years ago, I snuck out to Top of the World Golf Club a few hours north of New York City. I can’t recall the hole number, but it’s a par-4 with almost an exact 90 degree turn about 200 yards or so off the tee. You are enclosed by trees, so you need to position your tee shot in an extremely small window there or be forced to punch out to a better angle. From there, it’s a downhill shot that’s not necessarily hard, but getting into Position A is difficult. Although maybe that’s not necessarily a difficult hole. It might be more peculiar.

Golf Magazine

Subscribe To The Magazine

Subscribe

The post Tour Confidential: Ryder Cup concerns, Brooke Henderson, LIV broadcasts appeared first on Golf.