Greetings from the familiar comforts of these United States of America.
This job has warped my brain.
There is no question about that.
By Day 10 all I could think about was the god-forsaken Internet and what I might be missing.
I felt the pangs of addiction, reaching for my phone reflexively.
Dark, dark stuff.
He knows it, too.
Glover, who is 43, has never made a Ryder Cup team.
It’s no surprise he wants a shot.
Still, I don’t think he’s done enough to make the team.
At least not yet.
Despite his rapid rise Glover is still 16th in the points list, below No.
Glover is on a heater right now, particularly with his long putter.
I just don’t know if this is super sustainable.
That leaves two spots for the following contenders.
We’ll break down teach of their cases.
Keegan Bradley
No one wants it more because no one wants anything more than Keegan Bradley does.
The guy just feels really, really hard about everything.
He needs two really strong weeks to make a statement.
Sure, that was a match play event, but it was also in March.
He’s fighting an uphill battle.
I do love the mullet, though.
Rickie Fowler
Enjoying a resurgent year and he’d be a big hit in the locker room.
Friends with everyone, super easy going, can pair well with any of the other 11.
Plus, he’s a lights-out putter, always a huge asset in match play.
I like his chances.
Justin Thomas
A case-study in what the Ryder Cup selection process actually is.
Thomas famously didn’t qualify for the playoffs this year and played horrible in the majors.
I’m not saying I’d pick him, but I think Zach Johnson will.
Denny McCarthy
A great, great putter, but doesn’t have the benefit of that big-name recognition.
Lucas Glover
See above.
That’s what’s working in his favor.
On the other side: he’s not exactly the most popular guy in the sport.
(LIV’s off for over a month now).
The prediction, with two weeks left:
1.
Justin Thomas
And, for good measure, my Euro predictions
1.
Ludvig Aberg
Memphis in August… Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequence of our own actions.
Look, I understand exactly why the tournament is where it is.
But man, was that a difficult watch this week.
The fan turnout was super low for a playoff event, which makes sense given the conditions outside.
It just seems like a huge miss to have Memphis be the opener of the three-event playoff.
Should it have an event?
Perhaps a designated one earlier in the year, when going outside is not a horrible experience.
St. Jude does incredible work and the tournament has a massive impact on the local community.
Still, mid-August is just foolish.
The playoffs start in Memphis, then move to outside Denver, then back to East Lake.
There is no New York event on the schedule for the third consecutive year.
This really shouldn’t be complicatedyou need to build the FedEx Cup up as an entity.
The way to do so is to put the big-money events in the big-time markets.
New York, Chicago, Atlanta.
There are, as mentioned previously, commercial reasons why that’s not happening.
It just stinks when corporate interests get in the way of the final product.
Elsewhere…
Lilia Vu won the AIG Women’s Open for his second major championship of the year.
And she won by six.
She’s your new New.
1 player in the world.
And it’s not like he cared about regular events when he was on the PGA Tour.
Lee Westwood finished dead last by shooting +20 and then got into it with social-media darling Eddie Pepperrell.
Just a hell of an exchange.
It goes on much, much longer too.
The headlines: he bet over $1 billion on sports over 30 years.
He bet $110,000 to win $100,000 over 1,100 times.
He bet $220,000 to win $200,000 over 850 times.
These are eye-opening numbers for sure, but they don’t shift the narrative on Phil.
We already knew he gambled a ton.
He’s admitted as much.
If anything, this drop might’ve been a net positive.
The reaction I saw most often on social media was one of amazement.
He’s 53 years old.
He’s not supposed to be on the Ryder Cup team.
He won a major more recently than Rory and finished second in one this very year.
Phil played in 12 consecutive Ryder Cups.
When it comes to golf, you really should pick on guys your own age.
I’ve written this a bunch, but the LIV team concept continues to fall flat for me.
If you’re going to do team golf, do team golfhave weeks where it’s a team-only competition.
Two guys from one team playing against two guys from the other.
Or, at least, they did before this whole framework agreement with the PGA Tour.
We’re nearly two years in and the team competition/franchises have zero traction.
Until next week,
Dan
