Three time major champion Padraig Harrington has been approached by Darren Clarke to become European Vice Captain at this year’s Ryder Cup matches at Brookline.
The Irishman has played in six Ryder Cups but has never had a backroom role.
He said it was difficult to see himself playing his way into the 2016 team so he would now be there one way or another.
Thomas Bjorn and Paul Lawrie are also expected to be appointed to Vice Captain roles.
On March 8 nine top Brazillian golfers will test the new Olympic golf course in Bara da Tijuana. The test event will be closed to the public as only a delegation from the International Golf Federation and a team from Rio 2016 will act as observers. The 18 hole stroke play exhibition will be used to test both the course and the results system and the deployment of 104 volunteers.
The players, Alexandre Rocha, Rafael Becker, Daniel Stampf, Rafael Barcellos, Rodrigo Lee, Miriam Nagl, Victoria Lovelacy, Candy Hennemann and Lucian Lee will go iut in 3 groups of 3, and will give their feedback after the round.
The Olympic golf event will take olace between 11-20 August in front of a potential 15,000 fans. It will be the forst Olympic golf event since the St Louis Olympics of 1904.
The Rio Olympic golf course has been built woth private funding but after the event it will become a public facility to promote golf in Brazil and host top level competition.
More scary photobombing at the Honda Classic this week.
There have been some interesting interviews with Darren Clarke and Davis Love III,this year’s Ryder Cup Captains. What fascinated me was their approaches to their teams and the object of winning were so very different.
Love talked about the massive task the Americans have to win the cup again in such an objective manner. It was all about strategy (but not tactics I noted). He acknowledged the good ideas Paul Azinger came up with (see my post The Podfather below), but it was all completely detached and hands off.
Clarke on the other hand is clearly focussing on his players as people. He said “I’m going to be the kind of Captain that will put my arm around a player”. It is this kind of human bonding which had always brought the Europeans together as a team, and is, in my view, a much more winning formula than chosing personalities for pods.
It’s understandable that in such a deeply competitive society and golf tour that the Americans don’t bond as players, they’re too afraid to get close to each other, and it is for them just a one week every two years.
They are missing the trick. Perhaps its just been too long since they won, and if they do win at Hazeltine, then they might allow themselves to hug each other.
Until then it will still be a team of twelve individuals playing for themselves under a common flag. Or four groups of four playing in their little pods, competing with the other pods as well as the Europeans.
During an Open at Muirfield one year I stayed in Edinburgh with a lovely local couple. Mr Castle was quite a character. He was a proud artisan golfer who loved telling stories about his group of friends whose greatest entertainment was outwitting Captain Paddy Harmer, the formidable Secretary and sneaking onto the links of Muirfield. Captain Harmer was no respecter of status in golf. He once shooed off Ben Crenshaw and Tom Watson, who had returned to play a few more holes the night that Watson had won the Championship. What made Captain Harmer even more irate was that Polly and Linda were with Ben and Tom. And God forbid, they were walking on the greens in high heels.
These stories of people sneaking onto Muirfield to challenge the elitism and male only attitudes may become less now that the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers have decided to vote on allowing women members. It will be by postal ballot, to encourage more people to vote. This follows the decision of Open venue Royal St Georges to allow women in, alongside Royal Troon, this year’s Open venue who are also considering the issue. Finally, we are getting somewhere. It’s only taken this club 300 years.
Broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson has waded into the row about the increase of membership fees at Wentworth Club. He says that The new owners, Reignwood Group,” have no regard for the feelings of the existing membership and have expected that most would go away quietly. They have misunderstood”.
The Wentworth Residents Association have instructed lawyers to look at all the legal options to clthe new conditions, which may be an injunction or Judicial Review. A letter to the Minister for Sport, Tracey Crouch, has brought a reply that although the Government are “disappointed” there is little they can do to resolve a private dispute.
Sir Michael Parkinson was invited to a meeting with Wentworth’s Chief Executive, Stephen Gibson where he accepted an offer to retain his membership without paying the new debenture fee, an offer open to members over the age of 75. Sir Michael no longer plays golf but his wife does so he is staying at the club so she can continue there. However he says some of their friends have made arrangements to move to other clubs.
The current 4,000 members have until the end of June to decide whether to remain at Wentworth. The new debenture can be paid in two instalments, due by the end of 2019. This debenture grants no equity in the club.The membership is expected to be reduced to 900. About 10% of the current golf membership are expected to remain. Stephen Gibson explains that Wentworth Club is in a state of decline and needs massive new investment to elevate it to being he best private golf and country club in the world.
Many would prefer it to remain as it is, hardly shabby and much loved.
The Royal and Ancient and the Ladies Golf Union are to merge from January 2017 it was announced today. After a period of consultation, the two St Andrews based organisations will integrate their staff at the beginning of next year. Until then all LGU Championships and matches will be run as normal by existing staff. The LGU’s Amateur Championships were losing money and the LGU’s Finance Director admitted it was not tenable in the current form, particularly as they will be hosting the Curtis Cup at Dun Laoghaire this Summer. The LGU and R and A will unite to encourage more young people to play golf.
Trish Wilson, the Chairman of the LGU, said, “The LGU has a long and proud tradition of supporting women’s and girls’ golf. Funded by the lady golfers of Great Britain and Ireland, the LGU has positioned golf as a game for all women and girls. My gratitude is due to our shareholders for their foresight and support in this move.
“I would like to thank the Chief Executive of The R&A and his team, and the foresight of his predecessor, for their initiative and conviction in achieving this outcome. Building on the strong relationship it already enjoys with The R&A, the LGU looks forward to realising the potential of this merger.”
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “The LGU and The R&A have a wealth of experience in running successful championships and we have a shared focus on supporting the development of golf. The merger will enable us to capitalise on the strengths of the two organisations for the wider benefit of the sport, including the development of golf for women and girls.
“This is a historic move and an important step forward for golf on these islands. I would like to thank the LGU Board for their commitment and enthusiasm throughout this process and their stakeholders, including Ricoh and IMG, for their tremendous support.”
Hideki Matsuyama is such an impressive golfer. He’s a battler, dogged and determined and at 23 years old is another of the young guns who are transforming golf at the top. His victory in Phoenix at the weekend, beating Rickie Fowler who is in supreme form. This will hopefully kick start the sport again in Japan which has been in serious decline. Matsuyama is refreshingly honest about the state of his game:
“I struggled all week with my game, but it really came around today and I was really pleased that it did,” said Matsuyama, who hadn’t won on the PGA Tour since the 2014 Memorial and now has eight worldwide wins. “I’m really happy that I won. Surprised and sad that Rickie finished that way, but all I can do is my best, and I was lucky to come out on top.
“I’m really happy. Really, really happy with the win. It’s been a while since the first one.”
While talks continue about a merger of the Asian and European Tours, the JGTO still want to retain their own tour, which has 25 events in 2016. This makes it stronger than the Asian and One Asia tours. Sandwiched between what will be an Asian Tour run by the European Tour and the PGA Tour of China run by the USPGA Tour, the Japanese are determined to keep their own identity. Their tour starts on April 17 as the weather is too cold to play there before, allowing time for their players to play in co-sanctioned events before to warm up. With Song Young-han beating Jordan Spieth in the Singapore Open last week the emergence of a new breed of young players from across the world can only be a great for the sport.
The Ryder Cup team from Medinah wish their Captain Jose Maria Olazabal Happy 50th birthday along with salutations from many friends. And Happy Birthday to those with a birthday today too…
Very sorry to hear last week of the passing of Dave Renwick. He guided three players to major championship wins, Jose Maria Olazabal, 1994 Masters, Steve Elkington, 1995 PGA and two wins with Vijay Singh, 1998 PGA and 2000 Masters.
Veteran caddie Wobbly, Phil Morbey said, “You look at Dave’s record and you recognise he was the best of us”.
There will be a big turn out of the golfing fraternity for the funeral in West Lothian, Scotland tomorrow. Players, journalists and journalists recalling his successful and colourful life.
