2010 Ryder Cup: The Movie?

On the eve of the 2010 Ryder Cup the excitement is so high I can barely contain myself. This edition of the Ryder Cup seems to have more hype than previous contests. Perhaps it's the Tiger story, or the youth movement or the promise of an exciting event after a relatively dull season, or because I'm blogging about it now; but there's something extra special about it this time.

Hollywood should get ready because people are going to want to re-live this tournament over and over again. This got me thinking... What if they made a movie? Who would play who on the US Team?

Note: I was going to do the Euros as well, but other than Jude Law as Ian Poulter and Robin Williams recreating Mrs. Doubtfire as Monty, I was drawing some blanks. So without further adieu, Hollywood's Ryder Cuppers!

Just Tiger being Tiger

Scrolling through the Ryder Cup opening ceremonies pictures I stumbled across this gem right here...

"Man am I glad I decided to go stag" - TW

In case you are wondering what is going on above...that is Tiger and Kooch just un-dressing Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins with their eyes. Now obviously it might just be the angle of the camera, but it is much more fun to assume that isn't the angle at all...just Kooch and Tiger honing in on some the best Wales has to offer.

What is interesting is that the next picture in the gallery shows this beauty...


"I wonder if she is in to really tall, bald, married guys?" - Stewart Cink's brain
"I'm totally telling the Captainess about these creeps!" - Zach Johnson

What's interesting about this picture is that hounddog Kooch hasn't even blinked and is still devouring Katherine Jenkins' back-nine. Tiger on the other-hand seems to be looking to the heaven's, begging that the Welsh media failed to cover his past exploits and that maybe he still has a shot with Jenkins.

I guess all we have to do is wait and see if she shows up on his arm at the closing ceremonies...

-T.

P.S. Time is running out! Enter your Ryder Cup picks right away!

Actual real legit confirmed pairings!

Match 1: Phil Mickelson/Dustin Johnson vs. Lee Westwood/Martin Kaymer
Match 2: Stewart Cink/Matt Kuchar vs. Rory McIlroy/Graeme McDowell
Match 3: Steve Stricker/Tiger Woods vs. Ian Poulter/Ross Fisher
Match 4: Bubba Watson/Jeff Overton vs. Luke Donald/Padraig Harrington

No surprises on the European side. I'm a bit surprised to see Overton with Bubba, but I'm no expert. Cink with Kuchar isn't a surprise either: both are Georigia Tech grads and americans love their colleges
Match 1 is certainly the most loaded with talent. Match 4 seems heavily tilted in Europe's favour. Two veterans vs. two rookies. But this is the Ryder Cup so you can never really know until the ball is in the air.

Of note:
This is the first Ryder Cup since 1999 that Tiger hasn't been in the first match (save for 2008 when he was injured). I don't think this really matters.
Europe is sitting half their rookies and the USA is sitting just one, Rickie Fowler. See my take on how to use the rookies in the post following this one.

Some are surprised to not see Furyk in the morning matches, but I'm not. He's probably exhausted from grinding out for three straight weeks to win $10M in the FedEx Cup. I'm shocked to not see Hunter Mahan in the mix. But perhaps Pavin wants to get his rookies in there right away, which leaves Hunter out in the morning. Earlier Pavin promised that all 12 will play the first day, so expect a big change on the US side for the Afternoon matches on Friday.

-A.

So close you can taste it!

Get your Ryder Cup picks in! Info on the tab above!

Bring it, Tiger

The matches get under way tomorrow in Wales. The bad news? Time zone difference means that live coverage is at like 1am over here. Set your alarm clocks... or PVRs

Predictions range from Europe in a romp to US in a romp to "it'll be close" (how bold).
Here is a quick analysis of the teams and some food for thought.

Ryder Cup Preparations, Team Functions and WAGS!

Congrats, Luke Donald!

Being a member of the Ryder Cup team means a number of responsibilities. Players go to prom team dinners and functions and pose for photos. On Wednesday both teams went to a castle for dinner (seriously) and met Prince Charles. At this function all the players... Oh my God WAGS!

Friend Against Friend

It's almost here!

No...I'm not talking about the US Women's Mid-Amateur Championship...which is sweet.

I'm not talking about the Ryder Cup either...although that sure is coming up fast.


Tom and Andy, in better times.


I'm talking about the official head-to-head Ryder Cup Fantasy Pool between myself (T.) and A. The rules are simple. Each of us was to pick 12 players from either team, the total points earned by each team wins. There has been some discussion about playing for total ownership of the Loopin' franchise, but the thought of either of us losing 50% of $4 was too much to bear.

Here's a quick breakdown of the teams:
(Note: Andy won the first overall selection by way of a coin toss)

We get it...Rory wants to play Tiger...Tiger wants to play Rory...let's move on

Sheesh...quit being so uptight boys!

Man, the golf writers of the world can sure beat a story to death. Am I ever glad that Andy and I are so original that we would never have to write about the same stuff other golf websites write about...phew.

Every golf site in the universe seems to be talking about the big Tiger v Rory feud. What they should be talking about is how awesome the Rory McIlroy wigs The Euros were all wearing at practice yesterday are! (see above)

Anyways, for those that don't spend the majority of their days reading about golf here is the lowdown on what was said between the current #1 player in the world (TIGER) and current #1 player in my heart (McILROY):

After Tiger shot about +50 at the Bridgestone, McIlroy says:

“I’m sure we’ll probably see him [Tiger Woods] in Wales…I would love to face him. Unless his game rapidly improves…I think anyone in the European team would fancy their chances against him.”

When asked about the comment in Wales this week, Tiger responded:

"Me too"

OMG! Pairings!



Stop the presses! The Molinari brothers are possible
partners this week! (Left: Franky M. Right: Eddy M.)

The entire golfing world worked themselves into a complete tizzy today when the Ryder Cuppers went out in their groupings for practice rounds. While this is generally a good indication of who will play with whom, there were zero surprises.

Molinaris together, Tiger with Strick, Rickie and Bubba etc. As a semi-professional golf nerd, I too get very excited about the prospect of certain players playing together, but Jesus people were excited about it today.

The actual golf can't come soon enough. The anticipation is so high that there have been 3 different articles written about the Euros Ryder Cup Twitter policy. First it was banned, then it wasn't and then Monty had to come out and explain the tweeting rules. (Yes I know I've been guilty of reporting on this as well).
Monty did offer up this gem of a quote today:

Ryder Cup Twitter Update!

Colin Montgomerie has NOT banned Twitter for the week. Ian Poulter just tweeted this, adding that he played 7 holes today and the course is awesome.

So Pavin has implemented a no Twitter policy (which is the equivalent to blocking facebook on work computers) and Monty is letting his players use their own discretion. After all, they're grown men!

Will this be the decision that sways the Ryder Cup? Will Pavin's players be more focused? Will Monty's players be looser? So exciting!

This is reason #34 why the European Team is cooler. Reason #1? No Jeff Overton.

-A.

Geoff Ogilvy loves his sports

Imagine it is Friday night. You have to work on the weekend and depending on how well you do your job you may get a $10 million (not a typo) bonus.

Now imagine on that same Friday your favourite sports team is playing in the championship and the game starts at about 1AM local time.

So do you a) Watch the game and hope it doesn't impact your work or b) Skip the game and get to bed early to be well-rested for work.

For those of you that selected b)...you're a terrible fan. For those of you that selected a)...you're about to like Geoff Ogilvy a whole bunch more.

Wrap-up and Preview - Combo!

Jim Furyk channeling his inner rapper!

Tour Championship
Jim Furyk won The Tour Championship, The FedEx Cup and over $11 million yesterday when he got up and down from the greenside bunker on the 18th hole. He made the clinching putt with a $39 putter. I guess Furky blew all his money on the putter so he couldn't afford any rain gear for yesterday's very wet final round.

I'm so confused...

We here at Loopin' generally give Jim Furyk a hard-time. And rightfully so, he is slow, generally shows no emotion and has crazy quirks in his pre-shot routines that make him tough to watch at times.

But then this weekend happened and now I don't know what to think.

Jim Furyk won about eleventy billion dollars this weekend for claiming the FedEx Cup and the Tour Championship but what is more important is that we learned three things about Jim Furyk that make me think he might be more fun than we suspected. Here they are:

1. Jim Furyk does not like rain-gear

The very few that were watching the Tour Championship yesterday saw that it was absolutely pouring on the back-nine. Retief Goosen was pretty much dressed up like he was on the Cornelia Marie (Deadliest Catch reference!) and yet playing right next to him was Jim Furyk wearing a golf-shirt. I have always been a believer in the less is more mantra when it comes to rain-gear but this took it to a whole new level, and for some reason this made me like Jim a lot more...although, let's be clear....I was still cheering for Luke Donald.

$10 Million? Seriously? (also, new poll)

The 3rd round of the Tour Championship was sent off early this morning because of Notre Dame football on NBC approaching inclement weather.

Mr. Excitment and the best shirt
in tour history

I caught most of the back nine and oh god, Jim Furyk is leading? This is the worst possible news. Of all the players near the top of the leaderboard, Furyk is the least exciting. It is interesting though, that he could still win the FedEx Cup after getting DQ'd in the first playoff event.

Possible Great News for Monty

Monty's reaction to Peter Hanson
qualifying for the European Team

ESPN is reporting today that European Ryder Cup all-star Peter Hanson has withdrawn from an event in France this week. Hanson has a head-cold, fever and a chest infection.

I don't think anyone would wish illness on Peter Hanson right before the Ryder Cup. However, I'm sure Monty and the rest of the European team and fans have thought to themselves "Oh my god! We could replace Peter Hanson with Paul Casey or Justin Rose?!?!?"

Ernie Els: Underrated or Underachiever?

Ugh, how long have I been out here?

I've always liked Ernie, but he seems to have this pained look on this face all the time. His expression is one of complete exhaustion. It reminds me of a mid-handicapper that hasn't hit a solid shot all day and just wants to get off the golf course. Seriously, looks at these pictures. He always looks like this.

Anyway it was announced today that The Big Easy was voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and will be inducted in 2011. We can go back and forth about the stupidity of inducting a player while he's still in his playing career, but really, who cares?

The World Golf HOF criteria are pretty weak, but Ernie is deserving any way you want to look at it. Clearly this was recognized as he was voted in his first time on the ballot.
Ernie has 62 Professional wins, 18 of which are on the PGA Tour. He has won World Golf Championships and three majors. The only player with more majors in this era, not named Tiger, is Phil Mickelson (4).

Clearly, Ernie is an absolute legend.  So then how is Ernie Els underrated or an underachiever?

TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

The trophy that every little boy grows up dreaming about winning is set to be awarded this week as the FedEx Cup comes to a close. What's fascinating is that in a perfect world for the PGA Tour's marketing department the top 5 likely would not look like this:


The Top 5 players in the world.

 Yes, this season hasn't resembled anything even close to what anyone expected. Nobody has more than 2 wins on the tour and the person leading the FedEx Cup race heading into the Tour Championship, Matt Kuchar, has been described as a "poor-man's Jim Furyk" due to his steady stream of top 10's and only one win this season. The rest of the top is made up of Steve Stricker (likely the only one on anyone's preseason favourites), Dustin Johnson, depressed Paul Casey and Charley Hoffman. Each of the five players can win the FedEx Cup with a win this week. Now let's take a look at some other REALLY interesting story-lines:

McIlroy can chirp too!

Get me that trophy!!

I am a huge fan of Rory McIlroy. He's young, he has a perfect golf swing, he's Irish and he appears to have the confidence and poise (POISE JERRY! POISE!) to become the best player in the world some day. In fact, if I had to compile a list of the players that A. and I have the biggest man-crushes on at this point it would likely read something like this:

1. Jeff Overton (obviously)
2. RMC
3. Big Bubba

What also is exciting about Rory, is that unlike other great players in the world who simply regurgitate generic responses in interviews (Tiger) or go over the top to try and come across as accomodating, friendly and half-retarded (Phil), Rory really speaks his mind. A few examples:

Site Updates!

Hello Friends,

We've made some minor yet important changes to the site!

A number of you (3's a number right?) have requested some sort of subscription service so that you can get Loopin' For The Lama updates in your email. PROBLEM SOLVED!

On the left you'll see an RSS icon. It's a logo of a guy reading what appears to be a newspaper while sitting on a park bench (or possibly on the can). So now you can get all your hilarious golf updates on the go! Not bad! I'm not entirely sure how this thing works, but we've confirmed that it does. Loyal reader and friend of the site, Walter P. Debets tested it out for us with great success. Thanks Wally!
Our fear is that reading the blog through your email, or however this thing works, won't count as page views... so maybe you could still click through to the site.

Additionally, entries for our Ryder Cup Draft have begun to pour in (more of a trickle). We've added a tab at the top for the draft information. The Ryder Cup starts in less than 10 days, so make your selections!

Here's a picture of Bobby Jones, just because.

Robert Tyre Jones Jr.

Poll Results!

When reached for comment, DJ said that winning our
3rd poll made up for losing two majors in 2010.

Our most recent poll taught us three things! For those that aren't math geniuses that's 0.27272727 things we learned per vote!
1) This wasn't a very interesting poll. My bad.
2) The lack of participation was likely due to there being no PGA event this week. Nothing like a bye week in the PGA Tour Playoffs to build the drama.
3) Those who did vote are rooting for a happy ending for one of two guys that got kinda screwed this year.

Colin Montgomerie may be crazy...

Anyone that has followed Monty`s storied career knew that when he was named Ryder Cup Captain that he would likely provide us with a few hilarious moments. And it turns out he is not about to disappoint.

The Dailymail reports:

Colin Montgomerie has had the European Ryder Cup team room at Celtic Manor sound-proofed to prevent any words of wisdom leaking into the American room next door.
(Read full article here)

Wait...what?

Aren't we talking about golf? Isn't the only strategy in golf to get it in the hole as fast as possible? Is he worried that Captain PRGR might find out that the Molinari brothers are a potential pairing and he'll lose the insane surprise and shock value that this pairing would cause??

Insane

It will truly never stop amazing me just how crazy Ryder Cup captains get. They always speak about spending two years planning for the tournament when I am almost certain I could make the 3 or 4 captain's picks and decide on the colour golf shirts of the uniforms in about 15 minutes including the time it takes to call the players.

What makes the insanity of the captains more hilarious is the players are pretty relaxed leading up the event and they are the ones that you know...have to hit a shot. For example, here is the tweet that our man-crush Bubba posted at Graeme McDowell and R-Mc the other day.

@McIlroyRory @Graeme_McDowell hey boys! Stop practicing, take some time off. Rest a little. You got no big tournys coming up, hahahahaha!!!!

So sure Monty might be crazy. But that is just the way we like him. So don`t you change Monty...keep being that surly, crazy, American hating scotsman that we have grown to love.

-T.

Does golf need announcers?

This Saturday, The Golf Channel attempted to answer that question by broadcasting the Boise Open on the Nationwide Tour with minimal input from its announcing team. Instead the Golf Channel crew would interact with fans via social media.

The Golf Channel has done some great things lately. Programming like Golf In America and The Big Break have been fairly successful. They were also smart enough to add Win McMurry and Lauren Thompson to their team. No nudity on Lauren's site, but you might not want to open it up around your boss/wife.

I'd like to welcome back the readers that just spent 20 minutes on Lauren Thompson's page.

I watched about 10 minutes of the Boise Open and my conclusion was that golf needs announcers. The hope was that instead of hearing announcers we'd get to hear players talking to caddies while they analyse and react to shots. This is a great idea, in theory, but for the most part it was hard to hear what was being said as the mics couldn't get close enough to the action. Another problem is that golfers talk using "golf-lingo" and half sentences so much that it is sure to alienate the casual fan. (Although if you're watching Nationwide Tour on the Golf Channel you probably aren't a casual fan and you may also write a brilliantly funny golf blog.)

I think the lesson here is that golf, like all sports, needs announcers and commentators. I could be eating my words come October when I'm listening to Johnny Miller talk about how great the American team is, and how no one today is capable of shooting 63 at Oakmont and why (insert European player) isn't as good as everyone thinks. Where is the mute button?

Good announcers know what to say and when to say it. This makes golf more interesting. Bad announcers babble on about something they didn't think about before they said it (Johnny). Although it's those comments that make for interesting discussion/ridicule.

-A.

The September Blues

I guess I should get used to this. It is mid-September and we have had two straight weeks of cold weather and it appears our golf season is nearing a close. That, combined with the fact that there is no PGA event this week and all the Tour Championship qualifiers and Ryder Cuppers are resting, leaves little on the TV golf menu. It happens every year here in Winnipeg but the feeling that another golf season has almost passed by and that winter is on the way always sucks.

For the ladies

vs.

This guy...not a golfer

The Golf Channel is trying its best to satisfy my golf cravings by airing crazy matches between Marky Mark and one of the guys from Entourage. (Believe it)

SIDEBAR: What is interesting is that as I was sifting through the huge amount of comments left on the blog I noticed someone reminiscing about the days of Shell`s Wonderful World of Golf. I have fond memories of watching the replays of the old 1960`s matches and thought it would be awesome if they brought it back. Little did I know that Trump has already done this, and replaced the best players in the world with celebrities that suck at golf...YEAH!

Now...if you are thinking that watching a match between two guys claiming to be 12 and 14 handicaps sounds like a sweet time, you are incorrect. The first hole was won when Kevin Dillon blocked his drive way right, laid up short of the part 4 and then chunked a twenty yard pitch into the water. I actually stopped watching shortly after I figured I had seen more than enough skulled chips, and normally I will watch anything on TV golf related. (As I type this I am actually watching the Austrian Open on TV, and there is honestly 1 player (G-MC) that anyone has ever heard of playing.)

No word yet on who`s bag Maddux will be on

I am going to give Trump`s show one more chance though, because the match between John Smoltz and Tom Glavine should provide some pretty decent play since they were both pitchers in the majors and pitchers really only work 2 hours a week and therefore have plenty of time to tee it up. Smoltz is said to be a +4 handicap, a good friend of Tiger`s and actually decided not to sign with the Yankees one offseason because they had a rule against players bringing their clubs on the road. Which is awesome. Tommy Glavine is a future hall of famer and got drafted to play in the NHL, so one has to assume he can play. Time will tell if these two can put on a show to rival the great Marky Mark v. Entourage match of 2010.

- T.

We Have Uniforms!

Not overly American

Exhibit A.

In case you haven't noticed, we're pretty excited about the Ryder Cup here. One very important feature of the Ryder Cup is the team uniforms. To really drive home the team aspect of the Ryder Cup, players are dressed the same for all portions of the event. This includes practice rounds and the opening ceremonies. While I agree that the idea of grown men walking around wearing the exact same suits, shirts and ties is ridiculous, it is apparent that some players couldn't be trusted to pick out their own attire for the opening ceremonies.

 According to reports, Captain Corey's wife, Lisa Pavin, has been working on the outfits for the American team for 2 years. That seems like a lot of time to pick out a couple golf shirts. The picture above is Team USA's Saturday attire. If you're thinking to yourself, that outfit would look a lot better on Ian Poulter or Luke Donald, you'd be correct. The purple cardigan is incredibly, "unamerican" looking. Historically the US team has worn red or white or blue or all three during international play.

The best part about the team uniforms is that golfers generally have some sort of personal style (or lack of it). So no matter what the attire is, some players are going to look goofy. Rickie Fowler is young and flashy while Matt Kuchar is the total opposite. With both these guys dressed the same, one of them is sure to look very uncomfortable (if not both of them). Most of Team USA is pretty flat in terms of golf course style. Stricker, Furky, Overton, Kuchar, Cink, Mickelson, Z. Johnson and even Tiger will probably look weird wearing anything that isn't a traditional plain golf shirt and pants.

If the above attire is any indication, the US team is going to look very different this year. And while these more updated outfits will look absolutely stupid on a guy like Jim Furyk, it's far better than the alternative:

Picture this shirt on Rickie Fowler

How did the Americans put on the above shirt in 1999 and then go out and win? You can't possibly have confidence on the first tee when you look that stupid.

While writing this I remembered that the team captains drive around in golf carts all weekend wearing the team uniform for that day. Then I remembered that the captains are Pavin, Davis Love, Tom Lehman, Jeff Sluman and Paul Goydos. I then pictured all of those guys wearing a purple cardigan with a patch on it. I'll bet you that none of those guys own clothing the looks anything like the picture at the top of this post. Talk about looking uncomfortable in your clothes. It's like when your conservative, suit-wearing boss shows up to the company picnic in his best light blue denims. It just looks out of place.

Don't forget to get your entries in for our Ryder Cup pool! Link here!

-A.

The Battle of the Year!



"I'm stacked, and I hit it terrible"

 The mostly hotly contested battle this year wasn't Phil vs. Tiger, Tiger vs. Elin, Monty vs. Pavin or even Tiger vs. his golf swing. No, the fiercest competition this year has been Charlie Wi and Stack&Tilt vs. Common Sense.
Last week Charlie Wi played well enough in the BMW to draw attention to his swing instructors, Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, the inventors of the "Stack & Tilt" golf swing. This method is marketed as being repeatable and more consistent than the normal golf swing. Most people wouldn't be able to tell any difference, but there are some pretty unique things about this approach. I won't bore you with the details other than to say that some of the principals aren't exactly new, while others are pretty bizarre. You can read a bit about it here.

Tiger's first runner-up finish of 2010!

Tiger's well-documented struggles appear to be over...at least for the time being.

In one of the most closely contested contests of the year Tiger was edged by Michael Vick for the World Championship of Hated Athletes.

The title sponsor of the event was The Q Scores Company which over the course of the tournament managed to rank Tiger just ahead of mutineer Lebron James, Laker god Kobe Bryant and reality show boyfriends  couple, Terrell Owens and Chad 85. Read more about the event here.

The good news for Tiger is that other than Vick (who is probably still in serious debt) the rest of the guys on this list also have something else in common - they're all gazillionaires.

This is what a runner-up looks like - nice tie.

Captain PRGR could not be reached for comment but I imagine that this is just the type of news he has been waiting for. Not only does Tiger competing for titles bode well for the Ryder Cup, but you have to imagine that his teammates must be excited to pair up with a guy that can go toe to toe with one of the great dog-fighters of all time and not get embarrassed.

- T.

Johnny Miller is a FIGJAM and a Jerk (Updated!)

Hey guys, remember when I was good?

Hilarious Update!
So my original post is below. Turns out this was actually a big elaborate joke carried out by none other than... Brad Faxon? Wait Brad Faxon is funny? There's something about being a great putter that seems like it would preclude one from being funny. Anyway, Faxon apparently sent the signed hat to Poulter as a joke to play on the tension between Miller and Poulter.
Faxon tweeed to me (no biggie):

@andyhodgsongolf it was a good joke! Ian was mad at first then cracked a smile!

The Fax-man is as good a
joke-ster as he is a putter

So, yes I know having a twitter account is kinda lame, but it's a great way to get ground-breaking journalistic stories like this one!



Keep reading below though because most of my comments about Miller are still relevant.

DJ comes through!!

Those that decided to turn away from the opening weekend of NFL action, not to mention the LPGA P&G NW Arkansas Championship Presented by Walmart (catchy name), and flip to the final round at the BMW Championship were treated to a grind it out win by boat lovin', sideburn growin' Dustin Johnson.

2010 Player of the Year??

Dustin came from behind to edge depressed Paul Casey by 1 and a group of others by 3. Included in that group 3 back was Loopin' favourite Scratch Golf Moore who we are happy to report qualified for the Tour Championship.

See you at East Lake!

As mentioned by A. in his post yesterday, the win is DJ's second of the year to go along with his two heartbreaking defeats in US Open and PGA. Although I guess his final round 82 in the US Open was more just terrible than heartbreaking.

DJ's win has certainly made the final week of the FedEx Cup more interesting as he brings some youth and star power to a top-10 that includes stalwarts like Chuck Hoffman and Martin Laird. From a Ryder Cup perspective Captain PRGR must also be thrilled to see that The Kooch and DJ appear to both be in top form and ready to lead the USA into battle. Finally, and most importantly, the world is abuzz speculating as to whether DJ would have been pegged as golf's brightest future star had he been included in last week's Loopin' poll. Considering he has already contented in a few majors and has more PGA Tour wins (4) than any other player in his 20's, has a chance to win the FedEx Cup and win Player of the Year, he just might be.


Across the Pond

Another hot-shot 20 something that already has a major to his credit and very well could end up being the best of the group of challengers for golf's "next big thing" won again in Europe. 2010 PGA Champion Martin Kaymer, who unfortunately wasn't good enough to qualify for the FedEx Cup, won the KLM Open this past week and increased his lead in the European Tour's Race to Dubai. (Here) The field was not deep by EPGA standards but it was another win for the young German who appears poised to anchor Monty's Ryder Cup squad in his first appearance.

Kaymer posing with the Iron Sheik

Ryder Cup Pool

Just a reminder to all our loyal readers that the Ryder Cup is in a few weeks and if you are looking for a great way to make the most interesting sporting event in the world more interesting than it is time to sign up for our official Ryder Cup Pool! There is no prize money but if you win we will be happy to put in our recommendation for you to be one of Team Europe's vice-captains in the 2012 Ryder Cup. And we all know how sweet that would be. Details of the pool here.

-T.

Who's Next?

As the 2010 golf season comes to a close it feels like a good time to reflect on the last season and the last decade of golf. Also, I couldn't figure out a better opening sentence for this post.

This win set up some
unrealistic expectations for
other young players

Of course, the central figure in the last ten years was Tiger Woods. He was absolutely dominant from 2000 to 2009. This past season has been a little different for Tiger. His life and golf game are seemingly in shambles after he was caught indulging in the benefits of being a superstar.

Moore and DJ might make this interesting!

Moore dresses better than
Matt Kuchar, at least

DJ will probably have a lot of support tomorrow

The final group on Saturday at the BMW was Marc Leishman, "Stack and Tilter" Charlie Wi and Mr. Top 10 Matt Kuchar. You probably couldn't make a more boring final group if you tried!

The NBC team did their best to make this interesting; harping on Kuchar's being under the weather. He has laryngitis. If you listened only to Johnny Miller, though, you'd think it was life-threatening.

Thankfully, the final pairing tomorrow is going to be Ryan Moore and Dustin Johnson. At least these two guys are interesting!

The story this week has been the venue, Cog Hill, and how much the players hate it. The course underwent an expensive makeover recently in hopes of landing the US Open. The consensus this week is that the greens are goofy and in terrible shape. This isn't how you impress the USGA, which has had a history of tricking up greens and making them circus-like for the US Open. Stewart Cink said the course is a minus-3 on a scale of 1-10. So I'm guessing he doesn't love it. Even Steve Stricker, who seems to be the nicest guy on earth, had some negative comments, although he tried to put it as politely as possible.

Strick: World's nicest man

(The greens have) a characteristic about them that I don’t really care for. But that’s just my personal feeling. The green complexes are pretty difficult.

If you read between the lines, Strick is saying these greens are shitty, but he's afraid of hurting someone's feelings. He also added, "I'm really sorry, I mean I like the greens. Really I do. Please don't be mad. Let's be friends."

Tomorrow, Tiger and Phil are playing together, which would be interesting, if either of them were playing even mediocre and were anywhere near the leaderboard. So get ready for the Tiger and Phil show tomorrow on NBC, no matter how badly they play.

A number of story lines are set to play out tomorrow. Will Tiger play his way into next week's Tour Championship? Not likely. Ryan Moore can pick up his second PGA Tour victory. He's been a bit of a late-bloomer for a guy that had such a great amateur and college career.

Dustin Johnson could go a long way to improving his case as Player of the Year for 2010. A second win this week, two excellent, but tragic major championships and possibly the FedEx Cup title.

Or maybe little Charlie Wi, the guy with the horrible golf swing that makes every putt he looks at, will win tomorrow, moving himself up the FedEx Cup points list. Having a no-name like him win the FedEx Cup would serve this stupid playoff system right.

The PGA better hope something exciting happens tomorrow, like Tiger being on pace for 59, because golf is going up against the opening weekend of the NFL tomorrow and Kooch and Charlie Wi aren't exactly huge ratings draws

-A.

Ryder Cup Draft!

Hello loyal readers!

We decided it would be a good idea to have a Ryder Cup Draft to make golf's most exciting event even more exciting! We have yet to determine what the winner will receive as I don't think we can take in entrance money and then pay out the winner; you probably need a gambling license for that (not worth it).

Email your picks to us at loopinforthelama@gmail.com

We have divided the players into 4 groups of 6: Stars, Young Guns, Stalwarts, and Question Marks.

From each group select 1 American player and 1 European player to form your team of 8. 

Here are the groupings to select from:

Stars	Young Guns	Stalwarts	Question Marks
USA Woods	Mahan	Furyk	Fowler
Mickelson	B. Watson	Cink	Overton
Stricker	D. Johnson	Z. Johnson	Kuchar
Euros Westwood	Fisher	Harrington	Hansen
Poulter	Kaymer	Donald	F. Molinari
McIlroy	E. Molinari	Jiminez	McDowell

Also, choose 

(a) which side you think will win the Ryder Cup (USA or Europe) 

(b) which player you think will have the most individual points and 

(c) which player will have the least individual points. 

Note that if there is a tie for most or least total points all those players tied will count. So if Tiger, Rory and Phil all earn 3 points, then anyone who selected any of those players will get a point.

Scoring: 

You will get a point for each point earned by the players you have selected. You will get an additional point for picking the right winning side, one point for picking the player with the most points and one for picking the player with the least points.

Notes on the Ryder Cup:

Just so everyone knows, the Ryder Cup is contested over 3 days (Oct. 1-3). The maximum number of matches that 1 player can play is 5, and the minimum is 1 (everyone plays Sunday Singles). 

Every match is worth 1 point and a tie is a half point. 

The total number of points available is 28. Therefore, Europe needs to earn 14 1/2 points to win the cup and the US needs 14 points to retain the cup (defending champions). Thus, if you select the US to win, and the points are halved 14-14, then you'd get the point.

Again, send your picks to loopinforthelama@gmail.com

Good Luck!

Happy Birthday to the King!

The King

Today is Arnold Palmer's 81st birthday. Arnie was the game's first true superstar. Sure there were great players before him, but nobody brought out the crowds like Arnie.

Too cool

Palmer won 7 majors and 62 PGA Tour Events. But what is most important about his career is that Arnie made golf popular. When he burst onto the golfing scene, Arnie was athletic, good looking, cool, confident and talented. Fans were drawn to him. He played the game on the edge. Hitting shots most players wouldn't dare try. Sometimes he made birdie and other times he'd make a double, but he always went for it.

The 1960 US Open at Cherry Hills was the only US Open that Palmer ever won. And he did so in remarkable fashion. After opening with 3 mediocre rounds, Palmer was seven shots back of the lead. The first hole at Cherry Hills was a 364 yard par 4, and Palmer had gone for the green every day, but had failed to knock it on. The story goes that he wasn't very pleased about this.

"It really makes me hot," he said. "If I drive that green, I could shoot a hell of a score. I might even shoot a 65. What'll that do?"

A reported that had covered Palmer for his entire career told him that even if he shot 65 he was too far back to win. This of course didn't make Arnie any happier. Reffering to his total 72 hole score Palmer told him:

"Well, it would give me a 280. Doesn't 280 always win the Open?"

Palmer started his final round by knocking his tee shot onto the first green and two putting for birdie. He then rattled off 5 more birdies in his next 6 holes. Palmer would finish off with a 65 for a 4-round total of 280 and would win the 1960 Open, just as he had predicted that morning.

Flying to the course is cooler than
driving there

This type of attitude and play led to the creation of "Arnie's Army": a legion of dedicated Palmer fans. This popularity was most prominent at Augusta National and The Masters, where he was a crowd favourite right from the start. It is said that you can always tell what is happening at Augusta based on the roars; none were louder than those for Arnold Palmer.

Palmer's playing days are long behind him, but the legacy he has left the game of golf will remain for ever. It is widely reported that he always made time for everyone. Whether you were the club president or the shoe-shine guy, Arnie always treated everyone the same. A polite word, a smile and his trademark thumbs-up.     -A.

Still cool

Reaction to Tiger's Ryder Cup Selection!

ESPN.com had a video up today of Stewart Cink, Bubba Watson and Jim Furyk reacting to Tiger being selected for the Ryder Cup team.
Of course, nobody was surprised that Tiger was picked and none of these players said anything to suggest that they didn't want him on the team. Cink and Bubba showed a bit of personality in answering the question and then Jim Furyk showed up and I fell asleep so I'm not even really sure what he said.
Could this guy be any more bored with being alive?

Note: unfortunately I still haven't figured out how to put the video right on the page so you'll have to deal with the 15 second commercial before it starts. But really what else do you have to do?

-A.

An interview with the Lama's Looper

350 yards left...he's got about a 5-iron

Given that his character (the original Cinderella Story, Carl Spackler) is responsible for our blog's name I felt it necessary to link everyone to the interview that Golf Magazine did with the Bill Murray to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Greatest Movie of All-Time.

Check it out here.

I know that this link isn't quite as awesome as Bubba's video but any chance to mention Caddyshack is ok with me.

-T.

Bubba Watson needs to lighten up a bit!

Some may accuse us here at Loopin' For The Lama of having a slight (significant) man-crush on Bubba Watson. Here's why:

Golfdigest.com has a video posted today featuring Bubba at Ping's testing centre. In typical Bubba-form, he grabs a right-handed Ping driver, flips it over and hits it left-handed. I've tried hitting it left-handed with right-handed irons before off of a tee, and it is difficult (and I can break 80 sometimes!)
I can imagine a driver would be even more difficult. Not only does Bubba make solid contact, he crushes it!

Link to the video here.

UR Welcome!

-A.

New Poll!

On the heels of Rory's big victory in our second poll, we've launched our third poll!

Tiger Woods likely needs to finish T5 or better this week in Chicago to advance to the Tour Championship in Atlanta. He's shown some stronger play lately, but really hasn't contended.

Our question is, do you think he plays well enough this week to get into the final playoff event, The Tour Championship?

Votes can be cast on the right!

Rory is the "next one"

... or so our TENS of readers believe. McIlroy achieved 76% of the vote in our second ever poll. He beat out Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero and Ryo Ishikawa as the player with the brightest future on tour. Interestingly, Ishikawa got zero votes and he shot 58 this year. Guess he sucks.

For what it's worth (not much), Rory is my vote and probably my favourite player on tour right now.

He's young, he's cool, he hits it far and solid, and his wedge game is top notch. He's got the competitve fire in him and has been a good player for a number of years already. His only serious weakness is his putting, and it cost him a PGA Championship.

We shouldn't be too quick to crown him, however. The above paragraph could have been written about Sergio Garcia 10 years ago. Sergio is still major-less, is taking a "break" from golf and has been relegated to "Vice-Captain" for the 2010 Ryder Cup. In 2000, we all would have said Sergio would be leading the 2010 team, as a player. Side note: this vice-captaincy for Sergio could be just what he needs to get his head back in the game.

Sergio has had happier days.

So let's hope Rory's 20s are much more successful than Sergio's because he sure is fun to watch, just like Sergio used to be.

-A.

We're All Set!

ZJ

The Kid

Twitterific

Tiger is happy to be picked, probably.

At 9:30 am CST today, Corey Pavin rounded out his squad for the Ryder Cup. As already reported by Tom, Pavin picked Tiger, Stew Cink, Zach Johnson and everyone's favourite teen heart-throb Rickie Fowler.

These are pretty safe picks and were more or less predicted by yours truly. Pavin didn't really have many options. The other players on his short list don't exactly strike fear into the hearts of opponents. Unless he's going to lull you to sleep, Lucas Glover isn't scary these days. So why not take a chance on Fowler? Pavin won't be criticized if Rickie plays poorly because, really, who else was he going to take?

Keep reading for my expert comedic analysis of the picks!

The Pavester's Right-hand men

Captain Pavin announced his picks this morning and to the surprise of very few Cink, Woods and ZJ were all selected. Bubba's buddy Rickie Fowler was also selected which suprised some but was actually predicted by yours truly. (here) Overall I was pretty happy with the selections, I mean I had hoped for Scratch Golf to get the nod but I understand that he didn't have much of a hope over a couple of great putters like Cink and ZJ and one great person, TW.

Andy will have a more in-depth breakdown of the picks later on, so I won't discuss them anymore, our editors actually assigned me with a more important job, to break-down the American team's vice-captains.

Captain Pavin selected the following individuals to act as his vice-captains:

GOYDOS?

Dockers...the #1 name in golf

Just Slu being Slu

Mr. Charisma

Maybe I'm biased because I think the European vice-captains are perfect for their job, which is to do nothing and drink when your team wins, but these vice-captains do not seem like top-notch selections. If you are going to have four guys there for no reason but to relax the players and have some fun, why invite these four?? Let's take a closer look at each and see if maybe the vice-captains aren't as bad as they seem:

Tom Lehman seems like a pretty normal guy, and I guess he has a few things going for him. Number 1, he is from Minnesota and is a former Golden Gopher, (shout out!) which is nice. Number 2 he managed to win a British Open with one of the world's worst golf swings and also took a handful of devastating losses in the US Open with class. On top of those two points, Tom was also sponsored by Dockers Golf, and as we all know when you are sponsored by Dockers you have pretty much climbed the Mt. Everest of corporate sponsorship. Lehman also appears to be the one vice-captain that can drink like crazy, although scrappy little guys like Slu can sometimes sneak up on you.

Speaking of Little SLU, it is a little known fact that he was actually the 1988 PGA Champion and won 5 other events on tour, not a bad career for the wine collector and former Seminole great. (thanks Wikipedia!) Other than that there is not much to report. He has never participated in a Ryder Cup and appears to be one of those guys on tour that no one ever talks about. Because of this I think he would be a great little mentor for the unknown Jeff Overton.

DL3 is famous for having a cool nickname, a wonderful swing and for not capitalizing on his bounty of talent. Like the two vice-captains above he also has one major to his credit, however unlike the two above he was expected to win so much more. DL3 has played in 6 Ryder Cups so along with TL1 is bringing a ton of experience to Celtic Manor. As I was doing my research for this piece (what?) I stumbled across DL3's official site. It turns out that according to the great David "D" Blackshear (who?) DL3 "is is one of the greatest hunters I know. He is an accomplished outdoorsman." (here) Which is nice.

Goydos!?!? (Note: I even bolded the question and exclamation marks for effect) For the life of me I have no idea why Goydos enters the realm. Before he somehow managed to shoot 59 I really didn't know anything about him. He has won twice on tour and has never sniffed a birth for either the Ryder of President's Cup. I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover but I am also going to go out on a limb and say that he is probably not coming along because he is a super cool guy that everyone on the team is dying to hang-out with. But maybe I'm wrong.

Verdict:

After my scientific analysis I can say that although these vice-captains maybe aren't as bad as I thought, they still kinda suck. DL3 can hunt like hell supposedly and Tom Lehman can teach the players how to hit big slingers so those are both huge assets but Goydos is still Goydos and that really hurts them. Overall I am pretty confident that the Euro vice-captains could still drink the US vice-captains under the table and would win easily in an 8-man tag match which at the end day is what this event is all about.

Congratulations Team Europe.

- T.