2016 Ryder Cup - Hazeltine National GC
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Are you trying to be pedantic about my use of the word personal or just not aware of his reputation?
If it's the former, I've interacted with him before (a family friend works for Traveler's and is involved with the tournament in Cromwell; I've met him at practice rounds and my dad met him at a charity gathering there; he was a dick to both of us). I've seen him interact with others and heard plenty of stories acting like a dick to staff members and fans. I have another friend that works for Ping (and another for Callaway) and have told me a few stories that don't make him sound much better.
If it's the latter he's a crybaby redneck that routinely treats his caddie like shit in front of galleries, blaming the caddie when he hits bad shots; generally acts like a petulant child; spent $110k to buy the General Lee and it took 3 years and chastising on social media for him to realize driving around in a car with a confederate flag on the roof might not be best; and at the traditional charity long drive contest at the PGA last year - as the crowd buzzed when he walked into the tee box (the week before he had hit a 450 yd drive) - he quickly slapped a 3 iron down the fairway and walked after it, not even waiting for his playing partner - he later commented that it was "hokey" and felt like it detracted from learning the course, despite it being a hole he would never hit an iron off the tee on.
Plus he's a bible thumper from the panhandle and he buttons his top button and wears high brimmed visors. (Those details are more like sprinkles on my hatred sundae).
I could go on.
So yeah, I have an actual personal hatred of the guy, not like "I hate Peyton Manning because he's annoying and on the rival team", but like I have a lot of reasons - some personal, some anecdotal - to not like this human being and wanting to punch him in the face. The feeling is not unique and if it wasn't shared in some capacity by the other golfers I thinks it's fair to say he would have been named to the team already, considering he's ranked #7 in the world and the course suits his game quite well.
I would gladly swallow that and root for him to help the team over watching Furyk puke on his shoes. Not him personally but his contribution, kind of like I used to toor for Youkilis despite not liking him. But as johnmd noted, Love will likely go with Mr 58. (Let's just hope he sits out a few rounds and mitigates the damage. Maybe he can halve his Sunday match.) But I'm tired of losing this event and I realize Bubba offers more. That being said if I came across him and he was in flames, I would have to think about pissing on him.
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http://www.golfdigest.com/story/ryder-cup-secrets-from-undercover-pros
Loved this, the way they talk about each other makes them all seem like 10 handicappers
Loved this, the way they talk about each other makes them all seem like 10 handicappers
I read the GD article when published and agree that these 'flaws' are basically non-existent. DJ bad from the sand - never noticed while watching him win the US Open, WGC event and Crooked Stick Fed-Ex tourney. Only one I'd agree with the the Jordan S. putting; his holing every putt in 2015 is / was virtually unsustainable. Not on the list...bet Rory intimidates every US player.
Rory doesn't intimidate anyone. I don't see how that would be the case because he can't putt, although that looks to be changing.
Maybe Day, if he's lurking on the leaderboard, would be a concern, but he's not involved in the US Euro battle.
Maybe Day, if he's lurking on the leaderboard, would be a concern, but he's not involved in the US Euro battle.
Was just coming back to post that after I finished the article.
Also liked how Keegan admitted to getting schooled by Jimenez.
FWIW, I just played the last couple days with a club pro (former mini-tour guy, both here and abroad) who knows Bubba really well. He says the issue, which you have heard, is that he absolutely can't function in a group setting. One-on-one, he is good, anything more than that and he is an ass.
This guy is also not a Confederate flag-waving guy by any stretch of the imagination. He just genuinely likes Bubba.
An idle thought I had today: why not pick 13 or 14 people for each Ryder Cup team? At the very least, each team could name a reserve to cover the dreaded "name in the envelope" scenario in case someone gets injured. But captains could also use the extra picks more tactically; maybe some guys are only pairs players and not expected to play in the singles, or if someone is having a total nightmare he could be benched for the duration, or maybe some guys make the team on merit but are out of form by late September and wind up never getting picked. As long as the Ryder Cup is going to be treated like a proper team sport, let the captains fully channel their inner Belichicks and not worry about pissing people off in pursuit of results.
Who's ready for this week?
I sure am. My flight leaves tomorrow morning to Chicago where I'm meeting my buddy and driving to Minneapolis with him. Staying near the city for the week and commuting every day to the course. Needless to say, I'm excited.
I sure am. My flight leaves tomorrow morning to Chicago where I'm meeting my buddy and driving to Minneapolis with him. Staying near the city for the week and commuting every day to the course. Needless to say, I'm excited.
I'm jealous...I'd love to see one some day. I'd even do the Solheim, which has really turned into a great golf event in recent iterations.
Moore was a good pick, certainly better than Furyk but I'd have preferred Thomas. They need length at Hazeltine, this seems somewhat reactionary, but I guess hats part and parcel with saving the last pick for today.
Very much looking forward to next weekend. Group of eight headed north to play Samoset, Belgrade and Sunday River and have made arrangements to be able to DVR and watch remotely when we get home each day. Gonna be a fun weekend. (Aside from the douchey uniforms that DL3 and his wife picked).
Very much looking forward to next weekend. Group of eight headed north to play Samoset, Belgrade and Sunday River and have made arrangements to be able to DVR and watch remotely when we get home each day. Gonna be a fun weekend. (Aside from the douchey uniforms that DL3 and his wife picked).
Not a huge fan of the Moore pick, but I like it more for him having lost the playoff (while playing well) than winning it; my gut instinct is that most non-elite players have more of a drop-off in form the week after they win than after coming close to winning, although I don't have any numbers handy to back that up.
The Rory dynamics after yesterday's win are interesting. Yes, he's shown himself to be in great form, but he's now create a LOT of expectations to live up to, and he doesn't tend to play well when that is the case.
The Rory dynamics after yesterday's win are interesting. Yes, he's shown himself to be in great form, but he's now create a LOT of expectations to live up to, and he doesn't tend to play well when that is the case.
Incidentally, the early Minneapolis area weather forecast for this weekend looks very pleasant indeed.
What are some predictions on pairings? Speith and Reed should be paired together as they produced 2.5 points in 2014.
I'd roll out with these pairings on Friday morning
1) Speith/Reed
2) Johnson/Kuchar
3) Mickelson/Fowler
4) Koepka/Walker
I'd roll out with these pairings on Friday morning
1) Speith/Reed
2) Johnson/Kuchar
3) Mickelson/Fowler
4) Koepka/Walker
Davis Love III named Bubba as his 5th Vice Captain after Moore was chosen yesterday. Bubba had told him earlier in the year that he wanted to be there no matter what, to be with the team, and texted DLIII to reiterate that point yesterday. Sort of debunks the Bubba isn't a team guy storyline. Interesting, to say the least.
I don't think Bubba's ever not been a team guy. He's always seemed and energetic and passionate about the President's Cup and Ryder Cup and representing America. Additionally, he really embraced the Olympic's this year and enjoy his experience. That part is not the problem. He'll be great as vice captain.
Bubba's problem is he is a very tough guy to play with. He's extremely prone to on course meltdowns. Things snowball on him, and that can happen in a hurry once the He's a guy who can get animated and angry at Ted Scott if they misread a green or if a singe drop of rain gets on his driver and he loses a drive. I can't imagine that's an easy guy to play with in a match play setting. He was voted most disliked player on tour for a reason. I
Bubba's problem is he is a very tough guy to play with. He's extremely prone to on course meltdowns. Things snowball on him, and that can happen in a hurry once the He's a guy who can get animated and angry at Ted Scott if they misread a green or if a singe drop of rain gets on his driver and he loses a drive. I can't imagine that's an easy guy to play with in a match play setting. He was voted most disliked player on tour for a reason. I
Today's Practice Round Groups:
Fowler, Z. Johnson, Mickelson, Walker
D. Johnson, Kuchar, Reed, Spieth
Holmes, Koepka, Moore, Snedeker
Fowler, Z. Johnson, Mickelson, Walker
D. Johnson, Kuchar, Reed, Spieth
Holmes, Koepka, Moore, Snedeker
Pairings probably come from out of these groups.
Spieth/Reed
DJ/Kuchar
Seems like the Spieth/Reed thing may be back on. I know Spieth didn't want to play with Reed at the end in 2014, but perhaps things have changed. I don't see Spieth/DJ working, so this seems to be the most logical.
Mickelson/Fowler
ZJ/Walker
Rickie tries to play the roll of Keegan Bradley from 2012. He's good friends with Lefty so that seems like the obvious pairing.
JB/Snedeker
Koepka/Moore
JB and Brooks hit it a mile, but can be shaky around and on the green. Sneds and Moore are the shortest hitters on the team, so it seems to make sense to pair a bomber with a good short game guy.
Spieth/Reed seems like a shoe-in for a pairing. I like the idea of Phil and Fowler together as well. Sneds with a bomber like Moore or Koepka is ideal although I wouldn't mind Koepka with a steady player like Jimmy Walker. Something outside the box might be a Phil/DJ pairing but that might be a momentum shifter if they go down.
In these pairings, we have to also take into account the layout of the course. Does Hazeltine favor a certain shot style?
Do we see Phil playing all 4 matches on Fri/Sat? Is there anybody who might not play at all on Friday?
I can't imagine Phil would play all 4 on Friday and Saturday. Doing that pretty much broke Fowler in 2014 and he was almost half Phil's age. Do you think any player will play all four? Best bets there are Spieth and DJ but that is a lot of golf.
That's why I brought the question of Mickelson playing all 4. I'd want to keep him fresh and play him once a day. I'd certainly want Spieth and DJ out there as much as possible especially if their pairings get hot.
I still don't really understand why the Euro team gets so fired up for this event, but Rory McIlroy's ghost writer gives a pretty cool view of how special the Ryder Cup is even for a former World Number 1.
Any predictions on pairings for Clarke? I haven't seen how they went out in practice. Although Rose/Stenson and McIlroy/Garcia have been awesome together in prior cups, you would have to think they will break them up a bit to pair with some of the rookies. Perhaps Sergio and Cabrera Bello? I really don't know how to distinguish the gaggle of English rookies (Willett, Sullivan, Fitzpatrick, Wood), though I imagine Westwood will be paired with one of them at some point.
Any predictions on pairings for Clarke? I haven't seen how they went out in practice. Although Rose/Stenson and McIlroy/Garcia have been awesome together in prior cups, you would have to think they will break them up a bit to pair with some of the rookies. Perhaps Sergio and Cabrera Bello? I really don't know how to distinguish the gaggle of English rookies (Willett, Sullivan, Fitzpatrick, Wood), though I imagine Westwood will be paired with one of them at some point.
I think I would play Phil twice on Friday if he's playing well, so if his first round is solid, you run him right back out there. But no matter what, he'll need to take one of the rounds off on Saturday.
That final round, those final points, are so important, you don't want to have Phil limping around the course on Sunday.
Agreed, he definitely should only play once on Saturday to save some gas for Sunday. I don't think anyone should play all five matches, but I guess some of the younger guys could if need be come Saturday.
ZJ is shorter than both and I'd prefer to not see a rookie/rookie pairing. I'd swap Moore and ZJ and go Walker/Moore, Koepka/ZJ. I know the rookie thing is overrated to some extent, but I think pairing two steady, calm vets like Walker and ZJ together is a misuse of resources.
If I recall correctly, DLIII did not play anyone in all five matches at Medinah - not that it ended up mattering in terms of there outcome. But I recall the players having known ahead of time that no one was going all 5. Unless a few guys are just completely off their games and it makes NO sense to send them out, I imagine this will hold true again this year.
Duval and Chamblee about to come to blows on the Ryder Cup pre game show...this is good stuff. Chamblee is a buffoon
Haha.
Chamblee: Oh, sorry David, did I have to be out there (on the team) to know what went wrong? I wasn't at the Boston Tea Party, but I can tell you what happened there.
Duval: Well, I know you're never wrong Brandel.
Later, after Chamblee was talking some more shit about Duval...
Nobilo: No, that wasn't what was said.
That was pretty heated.
Chamblee: Oh, sorry David, did I have to be out there (on the team) to know what went wrong? I wasn't at the Boston Tea Party, but I can tell you what happened there.
Duval: Well, I know you're never wrong Brandel.
Later, after Chamblee was talking some more shit about Duval...
Nobilo: No, that wasn't what was said.
That was pretty heated.
God, Chamblee's act is so tired. I really wish they'd drop him.
http://www.golfchannel.com/media/chamblee-and-duval-debate-leadership/
http://www.golfchannel.com/media/chamblee-and-duval-debate-leadership/
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He's the worst, but he's probably good for ratings. His picture should be on the urban dictionary page for the definition of hater. He is such a dick. He actually started with Duval about an hour before it got heated; he was making some stupid speech, and he saw Duval's face listening to him, and he said "you can roll your eyes all you want..."
I think I've said this before, but Nobilo seems like a really smart, decent guy.
I think I've said this before, but Nobilo seems like a really smart, decent guy.
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He seems like a petty, jealous little man that harbors grudges and yes, hates on those that were clearly too good for him to have ever even caddied for. His hard on for talking shit about Tiger all these years has got to be personal. He's like an unsuccessful Miller, knows everything but he mustered 4 pro wins with all that knowledge.
Even that piece started off as blaming Tiger and Phil for not being leaders with his justification being that one of them always went out first on Friday and last on Saturday and they failed. Then at the end, he lauds the European captains for protecting Rory and other by *not sending them out in those slots 'because they have no where to go'. Which one is it? He's just an ass and I guess you're probably right that he appeals to a certain subset but he's like the Skip Bayless of GC and I question how much he helps ratings. I think Duval has been great as his career has started to expand and was hoping he would replace him. But if he continues to call him on shit then ill settle for that.
And agreed on Nobilo which is why I think he's being used on the NBC swap over for the weekend matches. He's direct, smart and likeable. I have a friend that works for callaway who happens into the offices there from time to time and he's relayed a similar opinion of him personally as well as professionally. I liked how he stepped in the middle of that exchange with kind of a "ok this is ridiculous and I've heard enough"
Edit to your edit: didn't see that part, but it doesn't shock me. They seem to genuinely not like each other.
Chamblee is everything that is wrong with the current hot take culture. He's petty and despicable and impossible to watch but I bet he is good for ratings, which is the problem.
He is also the only person in my history who blocked me on Twitter b/c I called him petty for his continued attacks on Tiger. This was during the Masters in 2013, after the illegal drop. So that is pretty great, a guy who rips everyone can't listen to anything sent back to him.
He is also the only person in my history who blocked me on Twitter b/c I called him petty for his continued attacks on Tiger. This was during the Masters in 2013, after the illegal drop. So that is pretty great, a guy who rips everyone can't listen to anything sent back to him.
Walked the course all yesterday. Followed mostly the European groups just by chance. I had planned to follow USA on the back 9 but they all quit after 9 holes. The course is beautiful but really long. Some of the holes look impossible in person.
Overall the setup is nice, but I was blown away by how many people are there. I have no idea how we're gonna follow just 4 groups on Friday and Saturday but so be it.
On the way to the course now for Day 2.
Overall the setup is nice, but I was blown away by how many people are there. I have no idea how we're gonna follow just 4 groups on Friday and Saturday but so be it.
On the way to the course now for Day 2.
Haha. Chamblee blocked me as well when he complained about waiting in line at Universal Studios for Harry Potter despite paying $500 for the VIP pass and I told him he needs to read the fine print.
Also a Chamblee blockee. He's an absolute asshole, including testimony from the PGA pro at my course who spent some time with him back in his playing days. Skip Bayless always got ratings at ESPN and I'm sure Chamblee is still employed for the same reason. But any remotely intelligent golf fan has to be sick of him.
You might be on to something. They switched Koepka and ZJ in today's practice groups, so we're potentially looking at Walker/Koepka and ZJ/Moore, though I don't love that pairing. Two guys who aren't very long off the tee. I suppose could be ZJ/Sneds and JB/Moore out of that final practice group I suppose, but let any combination leaves you with 2 short players off the tee paired together.
It is amazing Chamblee blocks everyone on Twitter, while steamrolling everyone he can when he gets a chance to speak. That is precious.
http://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/17659421/phil-mickelson-opens-2004-ryder-cup-pairing-tiger-woods
Is Phil referring to Chamblee as the unidentified Golf Channel analyst in this article?
Chamblee did join Golf Channel in 2004, so it is feasible he just jumped into his role as resident asshole from day one.
Is Phil referring to Chamblee as the unidentified Golf Channel analyst in this article?
Chamblee did join Golf Channel in 2004, so it is feasible he just jumped into his role as resident asshole from day one.
Agreed on Chamblee, but i actually enjoyed the exchange as ludicrous as his argument was. Duval did a great job keeping his cool, and offered some decent insight in the process. It is all about who makes the big putts in critical situations, and I don't see how that could have anything to do with leadership. It was pretty good tv though for the golf channel. Nobilo tried to play the peacemaker but certainly sided with Duval. And yes, Nobilo is one of the classiest guys out there...I was lucky enough to play in his golf outing last year at Belmont CC (I think another sosher was there as well), and he couldn't have been nicer.
I think TGC just said there are 38,000 there today and that they had to close the merchandise tent for a bit because the fire marshall said it was too crowded.
I'm watching Clarke's press conference right now - he is really, really, pissed at Danny Willett's brother, who wrote a truly ass-hatted blog post on something called National Golf Review, in which he called American Ryder Cup fans everything from imbeciles to basement dwellers. Linky goodness for fun:http://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/ryder-cup/2016/09/27/pete-willett-i-aint-partisan-hes-my-brother/
4 of the first 6 questions to Clarke were about the piece and about Willett etc. His face is redder than normal and when he's talking about it, he looks like he might explode. I wonder how he handled that sort of a thing with Willett specifically, and I wonder if it will cause any changes in groupings tomorrow. Thoughts?
And let me add, the Willett thing has helped the US to be able to dial down the shit Phil is taking for throwing Hal Sutton under the bus for stuff (pairing he and Tiger and not telling them until 2 days beforehand) that happened 12 years ago. I personally think that Phil is bringing this sort of thing up to take all of the pressure off of the other guys, including Davis Love III. He knows he has put himself out there with his intimate involvement in Team USA's make-up, and he is willing to shoulder the load of the press coverage in the 2 days leading up to the first shot. He'll also be happy to be known as the guy who turned the Ryder Cup back to Stars and Stripes if they win, but I give him some credit for being a firewall for the other guys.