Bjorn Again—Ryder Cup Captaincy Ahead?

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following excerpt from Brian’s Irish Golf Desk is used with permission. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

Courtesy of CallwayGolf.com

PAUL MCGINLEY FANS WILL BE appalled but Thomas Bjorn must be regarded as a likely candidate to skipper Europe when the Ryder Cup is played at Gleneagles in 2014. Judging by the blistering 62 he shot to win the Omega European Masters and jump to the top of the 2012 Ryder Cup qualifying table, the 40-year old Dane is playing well enough to make the 2014 team as a player. After all, his four-shot triumph over Martin Kaymer was his second win in a row and his third of the year.

Add to that the fact that he finished fourth in the Open and he fits the identikit picture of a Ryder Cup captain that McGinley and others declared as the standard when Colin Montgomerie was given the role two years ago.

Bjorn is very much a respected, current player but along with Darren Clarke, he is also the biggest threat to McGinley’s hopes of winning the ‘14 captaincy. The list of those likely to succeed Jose Maria Olazabal is not massively long but while it was always assumed that Clarke or Bjorn would do the job in the US in 2016, leaving 2014 to McGinley, that is far from clear cut with three years to go before the next home match.

One thing is sure, like Clarke and McGinley, Bjorn would have the respect of the young guns on tour, such as Rory McIlroy. The 22-year old opened with two birdies in Crans to top the leaderboard but then missed a series of chances on the greens and by the time he made back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th, Bjorn was out of sight.

“I’ve really gotten to know Thomas well over the years,” said McIlroy, who finished five behind in joint third after a 68.

“He was assistant at the Ryder Cup and when I played the Vivendi in 2009, he was the captain of the European team. To shoot a 62 is very impressive and I don’t think I could have done anything to beat that.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

Let the FedEx Cup Playoffs Begin

THE FEDEX CUP PLAYOFFS get underway on Thursday with The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. The four-event playoff series, which includes the Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship, concludes in Atlanta with the Tour Championship.

After much criticism and formula tinkering, the FedEx Cup points race has slowly gained acceptance. No, it’s not the majors or the Ryder Cup. No, it can’t compete with football. But it’s far better than the days when everyone tuned out after the PGA Championship. With all that cash up for grabs, the top PGA Tour players surely welcome the playoffs and gladly play deep into the month of September. That’s good for core golf fans.

Above are PGATour.com’s top 10 shots from The Barclays. I remembered three of the shots. Four, actually. After seeing it again, I did recall Sergio Garcia’s putt in his 2008 playoff against Vijay Singh. Of course, I also remembered Vijay’s long one that he made on top of Sergio. And there was Matt Kuchar’s iron out of the rough to three feet. That was last year.

I think Heath Slocum got robbed, though. Slocum’s tournament-winning 20-footer in 2009—the biggest putt of his life and the one that beat Tiger Woods—is No. 6 on the list.

Really? Only No. 6?

That’s just wrong.

−The Armchair Golfer

Captain Love Contending at PGA

U.S. RYDER CUP CAPTAIN DAVIS LOVE III is playing good golf this summer. On Thursday Love fired a 2-under 68 in the opening round of the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club, a round that included five birdies. Love won the 1997 PGA Championship at Winged Foot, his only major.

Love, who is currently 1 under on his second round, is grouped with Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington. Both Woods (77) and Harrington (73) are struggling to regain the form that won them multiple major championships.

Meanwhile, Love is a motivated 47-year-old veteran. Yes, he is the Ryder Cup captain. But he also wants to be a Ryder Cup player.

“I made 12 (Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup) teams in a row,” Love said, “and I’ve been frustrated ever since. I want to make another Ryder Cup team.”

Love made his first Ryder Cup appearance in 1993 at The Belfry. That was the last win for the Americans until 1999. He played on that ‘99 squad, as well as the U.S. teams in 1995, 1997, 2002 and 2004. Last year Love was an assistant to U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin at Celtic Manor.

Except for the Masters, it has been a solid year in the majors for the new American Ryder Cup skipper. Love finished in a tie for 11th at the U.S. Open and recorded a ninth-place finish at The Open Championship. He has made 10 cuts in 16 starts and is 86th in the FedEx Cup standings.

While Love is sharpening his game in the hopes of making his team, he will also be keeping a close eye on the other talent. He will have four captain’s picks to make next summer.

“What I’m going to be looking for are guys that are hot and that are putting good,” he said.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Brought to you by YourGolfTravel.com, the online destination for UK golf and golf Europe.)

(Photo credit: Keith Allison, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Peter Jacobsen Is Recipient of 2012 Old Tom Morris Award

By Golf Course Superintendents Association of America

MULTIPLE PGA TOUR WINNER and golf course designer Peter Jacobsen has been selected to receive the 2012 Old Tom Morris Award by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). The award will be presented during the 2012 GCSAA Education Conference at Celebrate GCSAA! presented by Syngenta on February 28 in Las Vegas.

“Peter has done much for the game of golf, and he has been an advocate for golf course superintendents,” said GCSAA President Robert Randquist. “He is a perfect fit for the Old Tom Morris Award, and we look forward to recognizing him at the GCSAA Education Conference.”

GCSAA’s most prestigious honor, the Old Tom Morris Award is presented each year to an individual who “through a continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf has helped to mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris.” Morris (1821-1908) was greenkeeper and golf professional at the St. Andrews Links Trust Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland. Morris was a four-time winner of the British Open (1861, ’62, ’64 and ’67) and ranked as one of the top links designers of the 19th century.

Jacobsen won seven times on the PGA TOUR and owns two Champions Tour majors, the 2004 U.S. Senior Open and the 2005 Senior Players Championship. He played for the U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 1985 and 1995. In 2003 he was PGA TOUR Comeback Player of the Year after winning the Greater Hartford Open at the age of 49.

Jacobsen is president and CEO of Peter Jacobsen Sports, a sports marketing firm he created in 1988. He also co-founded a golf course design company with Jim Hardy (Jacobsen Hardy Golf Course Design) that has developed nearly 20 courses and renovated several others worldwide since 1995.

Jacobsen also has provided commentary for various TV golf broadcasts, including recent work as a commentator for NBC and Golf Channel at the 2011 U.S. Open.

Past Winners

Arnold Palmer was the first recipient of the Old Tom Morris Award in 1983. Other winners include Nick Price, Judy Rankin, Greg Norman, Charlie Sifford, Jack Nicklaus, Rees Jones, Pete Dye, Tim Finchem, Nancy Lopez, Ken Venturi, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Fazio, Byron Nelson, Dinah Shore, Tom Watson, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Gene Sarazen, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Patty Berg, Gerald Ford and Bob Hope.

(Photo: Courtesy of GCSAA)

Ireland: The Spiritual Home of Golf (Conclusion)

Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on golf in Ireland by guest contributor Barry Ward.

By Barry Ward
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

Copyright © Barry Ward. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

(CONTINUED FROM PART 1.) If you’ve the time, you should wander up the west coast where the counties of Galway, Mayo and Sligo have links that impoverish adjectives. En route, though, you must pop into Lahinch, in County Clare, where Old Tom Morris laid out “the St Andrews of Ireland.” I could tell a tale or two about this grand old links but I doubt you’d believe me…. OK. How about a blind par three and goats that forecast the weather? Told you.

The west coast is one of Ireland’s premier golfing destinations and its list of courses will tell why: Connemara, Enniscrone, Donegal, Carne, Ballyliffin and Rosses Point, where dinner at Aunties is a traditional imperative if you effect an escape from the club bar.

Another word of caution, though: allow plenty of time for navigation. You’ll frequently find yourself in the middle of nowhere, where the only sign of life is a solitary sheep which appears equally lost. Whatever you do don’t make eye contact or she’ll never leave you.

Great golf aside, there’s not a lot of activity hereabouts where the next stop west is Boston, USA. So golf tourism is a vitally important facet of the economy and the appreciative locals do a grand job in making you feel welcome. It’s a glorious bonus to outstanding golf. I once went to Connemara for two days and was trapped there for two weeks. I blamed the sheep. My expense claim took a bit of explaining but fortunately my then editor was Irish and most sympathetic.

That’s a quick Cook’s tour of golf holidays in the republic and we haven’t mentioned the K Club, venue for the 2006 Ryder Cup matches, or Mullingar, the Midland’s gem by James Braid, or Tullamore, where they lock the clubhouse doors when you go in for a post-round Guinness, or Woodenbridge, now 18 holes but a delicious nine holer when the timber clubhouse floated away after a storm prompted the river to break its banks: they say no one noticed until the Guinness ran out.

Then there’s the Mackenzie-designed Cork that’s a combination of parkland, heathland and links; and nearby Fota Island, and Rathsallagh, with its exquisite hotel, and Adare Manor, one of Ireland’s premier golf resorts with a course by Robert Trent Jones Sr. I really have had a misspent life….

Ulster’s Links and Parkland Beauties

And then there’s Ulster, up north. An indication of the quality that awaits here is that the Irish Golf Union, which commendably governs national golf without recognition of borders, has little difficulty in identifying Ireland’s number one links: they simply alternate each year between Portmarnock Old, Ballybunion, Royal County Down and Royal Portrush. Easy peasy, although the European Club is coming up fast on the rails.

That said, you’ll realise that County Down and Portrush, where Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy are members, are both in Ulster which has only 100 or so clubs. Most are parkland, and some beauties they have, too: Belvoir Park, Malone and Royal Belfast to scratch the surface. But I have fond memories of playing Royal Portrush, neighbouring Portstewart and nearby Castlerock over one glorious summer week on the Antrim coast. It’s an incomparable combination of links.

Those who prefer tournament golf on holidays would enjoy the Bushmill’s Blackbush tournament, played each June over the links of Portrush, Portstewart, Castlerock and nearby Ballycastle. It’s a 72 hole teams’ event with individual prizes too and huge fun if you like cutthroat golf. But go with a thirst you could hang your hat on and be prepared for 12-hour debates and lots of singing.

There are numerous such tournaments each year all over Ireland, staged by the regional tourist boards in conjunction with the local golf associations. They cater for all combinations of teams, male and female, pairs and fours and they don’t cut corners on the social side, either.

Or you could take the Royal Tour, playing the Royal courses of Belfast, Portrush, County Down and Dublin, where you could meet with Himself, Christy O’Connor Sr. Now there’s a blue-blooded itinerary for you.

And if none of that grabs you I’m afraid it’s back to the dart throwing.

Barry Ward is a veteran golf writer and the publisher/editor of www.posh-golf-travel.com, a guide to luxurious, family friendly golf resorts and destinations. He lives in golf-gorgeous Rutland, England.

(Photo: Courtesy of ctoverdrive, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Ireland: The Spiritual Home of Golf

Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series on golf in Ireland by guest contributor Barry Ward.

By Barry Ward
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

Copyright © Barry Ward. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

IF YOU HAVE THE HAND-EYE coordination to hit a barn door with a bucket of water, then I know how you can find the perfect golfing holiday destination with all the extras a chap needs: good food, friendly natives, oodles of après golf distractions and courses to make your eyes stick out like chapel hat pegs.

Here’s how. Pin a map of Ireland to the wall and throw a dart at it, then make tracks for where ever it sticks. You’re almost guaranteed to find a cluster of first-class courses with agreeable accommodation nearby, plus all the other things required to soothe the inner man.

Scotland may be the historical home of golf but Ireland is the spiritual home. The Emerald Isle has more first-rate courses, pro rata, than just about anywhere on the planet, most of them oozing history. For many years the number was static at around 230: now the figure is 440-plus and rising.

Land of McDowell, McIlroy and Clarke

Thanks to the exploits of the Irish contingent in the Ryder Cup of late, plus the success of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell in the US Open and Darren Clarke’s epic victory in the recent Open Championship, the grand old game has long since overtaken horse racing, football and that other pastime enjoyed by two members of the opposite sex as the main topic of conversation in bars and clubs up and down the land. It’s become the in-game. Everyone wants to play. The architects are beside themselves.

Much of the nation’s coastline is now protected so few links are being built these days, but parkland courses continue to spring up in all corners of this green and pleasant land, much to the delight of the tourist boards, regional and national, whose work in keeping them busy with overseas visitors has become a central plank of the economy.

You’ll doubtless know of the golfing attractions of Dublin. Suffice to say that the there are 50 or so courses within easy reach of the city centre, and another 30 only half an hour further away. This may be the world’s dominant golfing city.

Numerically, only Myrtle Beach and Sydney are superior but neither has courses of comparable quality to Dublin’s. Just think of Portmarnock (Old and New), Baltray, The Island, Malahide, Royal Dublin, The Hermitage, Powerscourt, City West, Palmerston, Druids Glen, and Druids Heath, its new neighbour, another gem designed by the ubiquitous Pat Ruddy, whose links at the European Club is winning rave reviews world-wide. But that’s another story…

If your dart hits the south east corner of the country a quite different treat awaits. Bed down in the charming city of Waterford on the banks of the River Suir (you’ll be pampered to distraction at the Tower Hotel and the nearby après golf attractions would exhaust a hedonist in full fig) where a lustrous collection of parkland courses awaits your pleasure.

The region boasts of 30 courses and not for nothing is it known as the Sunshine Coast. I was there with the usual suspects in mid-October and on a couple of days we might well have been in Spain, although the club’s house wine at Waterford Castle was superior.

The Tower Hotel is convenient for Waterford Castle, Faithlegg, Tramore and Mount Juliet, and if you know of a finer collection of parkland courses you should drop me a line, post haste. There’s a good value green fee passport available, too. (see: www.irishgolftours.com)

The south west is your target?

Then your golfing holiday will become a pilgrimage as you drool over a collection of historic links in what’s known as the Ring of Kerry. Ballybunion, Tralee, Dooks and Waterville are the main attractions but there are scads of others, not least the two glorious parkland courses of the Killarney. Golf and Fishing Club, which gives a clue what awaits out there.

It’s a bit of a hike but you could fly into Shannon and the Great Southern Hotel at Killarney takes some topping, particularly since it was up-graded. And there are 20 or so cracking pubs within strolling distance on the main street. A word of caution: identifying the best pint of Guinness on offer is a local challenge not to be taken lightly.

TO BE CONCLUDED TOMORROW.

Barry Ward is a veteran golf writer and the publisher/editor of www.posh-golf-travel.com, a guide to luxurious, family friendly golf resorts and destinations. He lives in golf-gorgeous Rutland, England.

(Photo: Courtesy of ctoverdrive, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

The 200-Yard Lake-Skimming Gong Shot

FOUR EUROPEAN TOUR PROS and their caddies arrive at the Gap of Dunloe in Killarney. Ryder Cup veteran Paul McGinley, David Howell, Marcel Siem and Rhys Davies of the European Tour proceed to try a 200-yard lake-skimming gong shot that simply can’t be done. Or can it?

McGinley goes first, using a driver. Laughter follows.

“That’s really embarrassing,” says Howell. “Terrible.”

“PGA Tour, these guys are good,” says McGinley. “European Tour, these guys are crap.”

But McGinley keeps trying, along with the others. On one attempt, Davies actually misses the lake. Then more shots until ... well, watch and see.

Want more? See the European Tour’s every shot imaginable.

−The Armchair Golfer

‘Feherty’ Premiere Sets Golf Channel Record

FEHERTY, HOSTED BY GOLF commentator and wiseacre David Feherty, debuted on Monday as the most-watched series premiere in the history of Golf Channel. The opening episode featured an interview with Hall of Famer Lee Trevino. I caught a bit of the replay last night. Trevino and Feherty are funny squared. Can you imagine having a cold one with those two characters?

The 12-part interview series continues on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET with actor Don Cheadle. Episodes with NBA Hall of Famer and hoops analyst Charles Barkley and golf legend Tom Watson are also coming soon.

Feherty’s self-deprecating humor is legendary, but the Northern Ireland native who is now a naturalized U.S. citizen could golf his ball. Feherty won five times on the European Tour and had three top tens in majors. His best finish in a major was a tie for fourth at the 1994 British Open. He also played on Europe’s Ryder Cup team in 1991.

Until he discovered his golf ability, Feherty wanted to be an opera singer. “I was always interested in music from a very early age,” he told Golf Channel. “But when I turned pro at age 17, I haven’t sung a note since. Now, I only sing to punish my children.”

Feherty retired from the tour in 1997 when CBS offered him a job as golf commentator. “I always enjoyed talking more than playing,” he said.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo: Courtesy of Golf Channel)

Why David Toms Hits So Many Fairways and Greens

PETER KOSTIS I’M NOT. Kostis offered a swing analysis of David Toms during the final round of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club. The CBS commentator drew two lines that demonstrated Toms’ unchanging posture during the address, back swing, down swing, follow through and finish. It was a thing of beauty.

I stumbled across the photo at right of Toms that was snapped at the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills. I don’t think we need Kostis. Take a good look at it: the footwork, weight shift, extension and especially the head position. Goodness gracious. It’s all there, isn’t it?

(By the way, look at the two guys whose heads are sticking out sideways toward the right-hand side of the photo. I got a kick out of them. They sure were determined to get a look at that velvety Toms action.)

David Toms has a well-earned reputation as a sweet ball striker. Not long—about eight yards below average—but real straight. Another thing about him: tempo. It never seems to change, whether he has a driver or wedge in his hands.

At Colonial, Toms was something like second in both fairways hit and greens in regulation. Throw in some made putts and you can see how the 44-year-old veteran carded those unfathomable back-to-back 62s. But then it got tough on the weekend. It almost always does when you’ve gone five years without a win. A big part of that was due to a tough golf course with weekend pin locations, as well as windy conditions.

This time, Toms slipped by Charlie Wi and hung on. “That just took a lot of guts,” he said.

There were tears of joy for the Toms family in Fort Worth instead of the heartbreak of a playoff loss to K.J. Choi in Florida. CBS pointed the camera at 13-year-old son Carter as he hugged his dad on the 18th green. That was the money shot.

Well, that and the hole out for eagle at the 11th.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: James Marvin Phelps, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

A Comfortable Conversation with Stewart Cink (Conclusion)

FOLLOWING IS THE SECOND and concluding part of my recent interview with Stewart Cink. In Part 1, Cink talked about his own “Journey to Comfort,” which is the name of the Dove® Men + Care™ campaign that features him and Davis Love. He also discussed family life and his surprising fan base, including the Twitter explosion that resulted in 1.2 million followers.

Today Stewart talks about the state of his golf game, including his relatively new coach and swing changes, shares his feelings about the Ryder Cup, and weighs in on the current and future prospects for tour golf.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: You were talking earlier about numbers and statistics and results, and how they don’t really tell the whole story. I was wondering about the state of your game. I know you’re probably disappointed about another missed cut at the Masters. It looked like you played some good golf at Heritage. Where are things going for you right now?

STEWART CINK: The state of my game is sort of changing right now. I changed coaches at the end of last year. I worked with Butch Harmon for eight years. I’ve moved on to a new coach, Pat O’Brien. Both coaches have been great. Butch was excellent. We’re still good friends, but we just parted ways because we kind of reached a little bit of a plateau. Working with Pat O’Brien has been good, though, making a couple of little changes. So at times, very much like our very famous golfer Tiger Woods who’s making a lot of changes right now. It’s not easy to implement changes competitively when you’re on the golf course. I’m caught in between at times.

Currently, the state of my game is that I’m doing everything pretty well. I’m just not getting the ball up and down enough. That’s pretty evident in my statistics. I don’t really pay a lot of attention to stats, but I do know that if you’re outside about the top 150 in any statistical category, you’ve got a problem. There’s not always a clear definition between 100 and 30th, but way down the list there’s an issue there. So that’s where I’m working. And a missed cut at the Masters certainly hurts this year. It’s one of the most disappointing parts of my career, to be honest with you, is my performance at the Masters. I live in Georgia, I’ve wanted to be competitive there, and I’ve wanted to stroll up the 18th fairway looking at the Green Jacket, and I just haven’t been there. It just really works on me because the golf course ought to be one that really suits me, and I haven’t performed very well. Maybe just putting too much pressure on myself every year thinking about it. Every missed cut you think about it more, so you kind of just snowball.

I don’t really organize my career in a goal-setting way. I think that’s more in the results. Rewards and goals are sometimes easily confused. For me, I just try to be ready for every shot, get to the best state of my game with preparation and practice and doing the things that I believe are sound. I believe that that will end up with rewards in the form of better scores and better finishes. So I don’t really look at goals. But I know one thing, that I’m working really hard, I’m trying to get better, and stay competitive and get back to where I was when I was winning the British Open in 2009. But it’s a tough journey sometimes when you make that coaching change and you start changing things in your swing. It’s always a journey back to being comfortable in the heat of battle.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: You’ve been on five straight Ryder Cup teams. I figured it would mean a lot to play on another team, especially with your friend Davis as captain. Can you talk about that?

STEWART CINK: Yeah, it really would. I’ve been picked for three teams, and that means a lot to me. Being picked is almost the most satisfying way to join a team because the captain has a lot of guys to look at and picks you. I got picked by Hal Sutton. I got picked by Tom Lehman. And I got picked by Corey Pavin. Talk about a reinforcement of your self beliefs. Most media members who have asked me questions about being picked for the Ryder Cup have asked me if it feels like there’s more pressure. I promise you that the guy that qualifies 10th has a lot more pressure on him than the guy that gets picked. I’ve been there in both cases. But yeah, it would mean so much to me to be able to represent the United States again in the Ryder Cup, especially in the United States. In Louisville, winning on that team in 2008, was one of the very few top highlights of my career. Even though I didn’t have my best matches there—I did win a match and lost two—but that experience, being a part of a winning Ryder Cup team, was something I’ll never ever forget. It was awesome.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: We’ve seen a lot going on with the economy, a lot of change in golf. It’s been down. Now it’s coming back. We see changes at the top with the world rankings. From the Stewart Cink perspective, what’s the state of tour golf these days?

STEWART CINK: First of all, I think the tour lags behind the rest of the economy by a period of time that’s somewhere between 10 and 20 months. We’re in the same period that this dip in the economy was in about a year and a half ago. That’s because of contractual structures where companies are involved with a long-term deal that might not expire down the road for several years. When that time comes, they say the economy has hurt us. That’s when you see tournaments start struggling for sponsorships. The state of the game is good. It’s just difficult times right now because the FedEx Cup is really awesome, but it’s also caused prices to go up. Sponsorship prices are higher. The product is better, but it costs more. There are fewer companies out there that can pay, especially in the belt-tightening environment we’re in right now.

I think the tour is a little bit more of a streamlined organization than it was. We’re ready. We’re fighting hard. But it’s a tough fight. I don’t think they’re going to be able to escape losing a tournament or two over the next couple of years. I think the tour is going to come through it all right, but there will be scars. The game of golf is not going to change radically, but there have been some changes already that the players have noticed, and the fans probably won’t notice because it won’t impact golf on television or in person. We have to provide more value. The players have to interact more with the sponsors than ever before, which should have been happening forever anyway. Some of these younger players are realizing maybe I wasn’t born onto the planet with the right to play golf for $6 million a week. Maybe I have to go out and actually earn that. It’s probably a good thing for the health of the tour in the long-term sense.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Thanks, Stewart. I appreciate the chance to talk with you. I wish you all the best with your swing changes and everything else.

STEWART CINK: OK, thank you very much. I appreciate that.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
A Comfortable Conversation with Stewart Cink (Part 1)
A Comfortable Conversation with Davis Love III

A Comfortable Conversation with Stewart Cink

ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO I HAD the opportunity to interview Stewart Cink as part of the Dove® Men + Care™ media outreach. Called “Journey to Comfort,” the ad campaign features Cink, Davis Love (who I also interviewed) and other athletes such as Magic Johnson and Bobby Hurley. Cink has six PGA Tour wins, including one major, the 2009 British Open. He also has played on five consecutive U.S. Ryder Cup teams.

Even with editing, the conversation runs considerably longer than what I normally post here, so I have split it into two parts. Today you’ll read about why Stewart wants to let fans get to know him, how Twitter has surprised him, and the importance and inherent difficulty of his family life.

Coming on Wednesday: The state of Stewart Cink’s golf game, the Ryder Cup and his take on the changing landscape of tour golf.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I saw on Twitter that you’ve had a lot of coffee today so you can’t practice your putting.

STEWART CINK: You’re right about that. A friend of mine who is a pastor just opened up a new church in the last couple of years. And their ministry is coffee. They get the coffee from all over the world. It’s really good stuff. He just brought me over to the place where they roast it. We roasted coffee, we ground coffee, we French pressed it, and we drank it. I’m pretty much finished practicing for the day now because as of about 11 o’clock this morning I was too buzzed on caffeine.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Is everyone from the Cink family and your extended family OK after all these tornadoes that hit the South?

STEWART CINK: Nobody from our family suffered any damage or injuries, thank goodness. Most of my family has moved out of Alabama. My wife’s brother and his family live between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. But they weren’t on the path of the tornado, luckily. It’s sad. It’s such an outburst of severe weather all at once that you just don’t really see on this kind of an unpredictable level.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Let’s talk a little bit about this campaign. I’ve seen the spots. They fit in well with the “journey to comfort” idea. People who look at you now and look at your success probably don’t think about what you went through in your college days. You talked about the challenges of being a husband, father, student and a college golfer, and how that forced you to mature. How do you see that maturing process continuing in your career and in your family life?

STEWART CINK: You’re right about how the Dove® Men + Care™ campaign really fits with me. There couldn’t be a better match as far as their campaign and the way my career and life have unfolded. My journey started back in college, like you said. I was a father, student, scholarship athlete. I was like a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. I got out on the PGA Tour. Early on, it was about getting comfortable and figuring out who I was and what kind of golfer I needed to be and how I would be successful. Now I’ve been out there for 15 years and the journey’s become a lot more about … the journey to become comfortable in the heat of the battle. And different kinds of battles—Ryder Cup, major championships. I love talking about my journey. That’s what the campaign with Dove® Men + Care™ has enabled me to do, just share more of that with everybody and really let them know that I’ve gone through the same kind of struggles that everybody out there goes through. It’s part of my career that I really enjoy talking about, and my life, too. I like sharing it with people and I feel like I make a good connection with people when they understand that I’m comfortable with that.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: As a golf fan and someone who writes about golf, I appreciate that. I think that’s why you connect with fans. Obviously you’re a competitor, but you’re also real. You have a kind of transparency that we don’t often see in other professional golfers and athletes. That’s appealing.

STEWART CINK: I appreciate you mentioning that because that’s exactly my goal, to be transparent and to be a real person who’s more than statistics. I want to feel an emotional connection with fans more than just the kind of connection you get from a statistical rundown of a guy’s career. That’s what the campaign does. It’s all about being comfortable in your own skin. I don’t think I could be sharing all the information and private stuff that I do without being comfortable in my own skin.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Your wife and family are a big part of things for you. They’re certainly visible in this campaign. I wondered if you’d talk about how Lisa and your sons support this very competitive and demanding livelihood of yours.

STEWART CINK: It is demanding and it is competitive, for sure. It’s also a great job. I love what I do. I still love playing. I love competing. The negative side of it is I have to be away from home a lot. But that’s not unusual today with the way people travel around for work. A lot of people have to say goodbye to their families. They’re gone for a week or two, and they come back. That part, I think a lot of people can identify with. I think it’s more difficult on my marriage then it is on the kids because the kids were born into it. They have known nothing other than me traveling on the road for chunks of time. Then I reenter their lives two weeks down the road. My wife, on the other hand, was not born into that. It’s difficult on her because when I’m on the road she’s basically a single parent. I help her make decisions as much as I can, but I’m not there. That part of the job is difficult. They do a great job of supporting me and they accept the difficulties that come along with it because they also know and respect that I love it and that I have a special opportunity that I want to take advantage of.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: You’re up over 8,000 tweets and were one of the first tour players to jump on and embrace Twitter. What has surprised you about that platform, and what do you get out of it?

STEWART CINK: Let me answer the second part of your question first: What do I get out of it? I started Twitter because I wanted to establish a connection with my fan base, a fan base that I didn’t know existed. I wanted to establish a connection that was more of an emotional kind of connection and a real connection than a statistical kind of environment. Also, I didn’t feel like television coverage of golf tournaments was doing a very good job of translating a personality that I have. It’s arguable, I guess, whether I have one or not [chuckling]. I wanted Twitter to be able to provide a direct, unfiltered contact to my fan base. Unless you’re Tiger Woods or a few other guys, it’s hard to get your emotional self across through the camera lens and into the living room of the fan because most of us figured out the best way to play successful golf is to be emotionless. That translates as boring. No one really knows much about you. So I got started Twitter to break down that barrier. One of the things I’ve really tried to do with Twitter is to maintain a respect between me and my followers, and try to answer a lot of questions so that the relationship has been sort of like an open-mic Q&A.

That leads me into the first part of your question, which is what surprised me the most about it. I think it’s pretty obvious. What surprised me is that I have 1.2 million followers. My son, who was with me when I started Twitter—he kind of showed me the ropes—he thought I would probably end up with maybe 500 or so followers. I thought, 500 fans—that’s 500 more than I thought I had. So I’ll take them. As you know and I know, it quickly jumped past 500. I think it owes a lot to the transparency you mentioned earlier. I think my fan base out there, my followers on Twitter, they appreciate my willingness and candor. They like to hear a guy they see on TV is willing to share stuff about his personal life.

(To be continued.)

−The Armchair Golfer

Related: A Comfortable Conversation with Davis Love III

A Comfortable Conversation with Davis Love III

LAST WEEK I HAD THE opportunity to interview Davis Love III as part of the Dove® Men + Care™ media outreach. Called “Journey to Comfort,” the ad campaign features Love, Stewart Cink and other athletes such as Magic Johnson and Bobby Hurley. We discussed the campaign, his mom, his golf game, the U.S. Open and his 2012 Ryder Cup captaincy.

Love has 20 PGA Tour titles, including one major, the 1997 PGA Championship. He also has played on six U.S. Ryder Cup teams and was an assistant captain for Corey Pavin’s 2010 squad.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I heard you had the stomach flu. How are you feeling?

DAVIS LOVE: I’m feeling better, practicing every day, getting ready for a big stretch—Charlotte, Players, Fort Worth, Memorial, all those good ones. I’m excited for the rest of the year.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Yeah, a bunch of good tournaments coming up. I’m going to get to your playing, but I wanted to ask about this campaign you’re working on. I’m old enough to remember the Dove soap ads growing up. You’ve had a lot of golf-related sponsors, but I’ll bet you could never have anticipated having someone like Dove as a sponsor. What has it been like for you?

DAVIS LOVE: It’s been great to be in national ads for a national brand that, as you said, we both grew up with. To be in a campaign like this that has other athletes … Joe Girardi and Bobby Hurley and Magic Johnson and Davis Love and Stewart Cink, it’s pretty amazing. The response has been incredible. So many people come up to me and say, “I’m comfortable in my own skin, too.” People are asking me which soap I like best. They’re saying I sure like that one [TV spot] about your mom. Not only is it brand building, it’s also telling my story. People know that my dad was a pro, that I got lessons from my dad. But my mom was such a big part of my golf life. It’s great to give her some credit and tell that story. It’s been a lot of fun. We’ve been good friends with the Cinks for a long time. It’s been fun to partner with them on this.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I think my favorite one [commercial] was with your mom. Of course, I knew about your father. A lot of people have heard about him. But you say that you got your talent from your mom. Obviously, she was a pretty good golfer herself. How would you say that she helped you in the game?

DAVIS LOVE: In reality, she was the one who taught us to compete, because she was the one who took us out on the course. My mom was a single-digit handicap for 50 years. She didn’t start playing golf until she was in her early 20s. She just picked up the clubs and immediately started playing well. She was very competitive. Not in a U.S. Amateur or tour pro sense, but just competitive with herself. She just wanted to play her best every single day. My dad was a great player and a great teacher, but we didn’t get to play nearly as much with our dad as we did with our mom. My dad was working at the shop, or practicing, or playing. When we were 10 years old, it was a fantasy to try to beat your mom. Not worried about beating your dad. Got to beat your mom first. She didn’t want to get beat by her kids or the ladies she played with. She drove us all over the Southeast to play in tournaments. She was the one to make it happen, for sure. Nice for her to get the credit she certainly deserves.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: It’s a nice story, especially with Mother’s Day coming up. I saw a couple of weeks ago you were concerned about your chipping. How’s your game right now, and what are you working on?

DAVIS LOVE: Right now I am working on chipping. I was chipping yesterday and my son walked up and said, “So how are you chipping?” I said, “That’s the problem. I’m thinking about my chipping, I’m talking about my chipping [chuckling], everybody’s concerned about my chipping.” Yes, I need to work on my short game. As Bob Rotella says, the scoring clubs is what I need to be working on. I can hit the ball plenty far, hit plenty of good shots. I know how to play. I just got to work on the scoring clubs, and that’s as much mental as it is physical. So it’s pre-shot routine, playing games, hitting bunker shots. Not just hitting 50 bunker shots. Trying to hole one to each hole, trying to chip some chips in, play some putting games. With my son or Brad Faxon, I just love to play this back and forth putting game. Practice is more practicing shots and playing games. Hitting high cuts instead of just standing there and smacking 7-irons.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: Is all that work still fun for you?

DAVIS LOVE: It’s a lot of fun. I find myself lost in the practice, just like when I was a kid. Yesterday when I was on the range, the high school team was practicing, a little clinic of 10-year-olds, and the 47-year-old tour player that’s been doing it forever. I still love doing it, I still love the challenge, I still love competing. If you don’t go out and practice your chipping, you’re not going to be competitive. As I said, I’m looking forward to this next big stretch of tournaments. I’m excited about the year. I still have goals in my career that I haven’t reached. I’m not going to sit back and relax. I don’t like missing cuts. I don’t like not winning. The tough thing is to try not to work so hard that you’re trying too hard. Get the work done, be consistent with your work, be prepared when you get to the tournament, and then go play. That’s what’s been disappointing since the Florida Swing started. I just don’t feel like I’ve gotten to a tournament 100 percent prepared. So that’s my goal for Charlotte, Players, right on through the summer, getting ready for the U.S. Open. Just be prepared and go out and play and get your confidence back.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I was looking ahead to the U.S. Open. You had a nice finish there last year. You tied for sixth. I looked at 1997 to see how you did, and you had a top-20 finish at Congressional. How do you like Congressional, and how does it set up for your game?

DAVIS LOVE: I think it really sets up well. It’s a big, long, hard course. It looks like a major championship, whether you’re playing Tiger’s AT&T tournament or a major. I’ve always liked it. I’ve played there all the way back to ’86. Pebble has always set up well for me, and I played well there. I felt like at the Players and at the Open last year at Pebble I was right there, like Dustin Johnson and so many other guys. A double here, a double there—I could have won the tournament. I’m excited about Congressional. I’ve always enjoyed playing there and I feel like it suits my game. In the U.S. Open, it comes down to hitting fairways and making putts. That comes with confidence. I think I have the experience. Once I get near the lead, I do pretty good. I just got to get a little more consistent on the Thursday, Friday.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I have to ask you one Ryder Cup question. You’ve been a part of a lot of Ryder Cups and now you’re captain. What does the Ryder Cup mean to you, and what does it mean that it’s your turn to be at the helm?

DAVIS LOVE: It means a lot to me. It means a lot that six captains that I’ve played for, and then Corey that I was assistant for, have put so much into making those seven weeks of my golf career so incredible. I want to give these next 12 guys—who hopefully six or seven of them have played before—I want to give that back to them. I want it to be … an incredible week for the players. Of course, we want to win. But I think, whether win or lose the Ryder Cup or the President’s Cup, it’s still an incredible week for the players. I want to do everything I can to give that back to the game and to the Ryder Cup and to the players what was given to me by the Kites and the Crenshaws and Watsons, Curtis Strange.

I want the guys to feel like they’re a little bit more prepared for Friday this time than they were last time. It’s not a normal week. It’s a Super Bowl week. I want our Super Bowl week to at least have enough normalcy that we can feel like when we go to the first tee on Friday that we’re ready to play. I know what it feels like not to be prepared. I want these guys to feel like we’ve done everything we can to prepare. Let’s just go have fun and play and win this thing. Take a little pressure off of them. Let them just go have fun. I think we’ll do well.

ARMCHAIR GOLF: I wish you all the best, Davis, with that, and also with this next stretch of golf. Thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it.

DAVIS LOVE: Thank you very much.

−The Armchair Golfer

Coming soon: Stewart Cink

Davis Love’s Journey to Comfort

DAVIS LOVE SAYS “I’M definitely comfortable in my own skin.” But probably not as much this week. More on that in a moment.

The above line is the slogan for the Dove Men + Care Journey to Comfort campaign. Love and Stewart Cink recently became the first golfers showcased in the ad campaign. Basketballers Magic Johnson, Bobby Hurley and John Thompson II kicked off the spots during March Madness. Love and Cink were filmed and photographed in their own homes. The golfers’ wives and children also participated.

The journey hasn’t been comfortable for Love this week at The Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Golf writer Dave Shedloski reported on Twitter that Davis has the stomach flu. After putting a belly putter in his bag, the 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup captain shot rounds of 76 and 73 and will miss the cut.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
Behind the Scenes With Stewart Cink at Dove Men Shoot

(Image: Courtesy of Edelman)

On My Golf Bucket List: Scotland and The Old Course

TODAY I WAS REMINDED OF my golf bucket list when my wife told me that her brother is heading to Ireland this August for a golf trip. A few years ago he went to Scotland. He brought me back a cap from Royal Troon. I still have it. I still long to go.

There are several things I’ve been able to cross off my golf bucket list. I’ve been to many golf tournaments and a handful of majors. In 2008 I finally made it to Augusta National Golf Club for the Masters. I was also fortunate to attend the Ryder Cup at Valhalla in Louisville.

What’s left?

I’ve always wanted to play Pebble Beach, as I mentioned not long ago. I don’t know if or when that will happen at this point. I’m no longer in the West Coast neighborhood and the green fees are five Benjamin Franklins. But here’s a big one: I want to attend The Open Championship. I also want to set foot on the Home of Golf, St. Andrews, the Old Course. It’s on my golf bucket list. I need to get there.

(Photo: The Road Hole at St. Andrews / courtesy of Melvyn Morrow)

I know golf in Scotland is like a pilgrimage. It’s something a golfer should do at least once in a lifetime, if at all possible. I could happily tour all of Scotland’s fabled links if I had enough time and money. But it seems to me that St. Andrews is the destination for those interested in a serious golfing holiday. After all, it’s where this crazy game began.

My dad went to Scotland and St. Andrews in the 1980s. He bought me a cap. As I mentioned, my brother-in-law went a few years ago. He bought me a cap.

I DON’T NEED ANY MORE CAPS.

I need to see the Road Hole with my own eyes. I need to walk across the Swilken Bridge toward the Valley of Sin. I need to hack my way out of one of those insane pot bunkers and play a Miguel Angel Jimenez carom shot. If you have played and watched golf much of your life like l have, then you’re nodding your head. This makes perfect sense to you.

I expect to accomplish this goal.

The Old Course isn’t always love at first sight. The great Bobby Jones was not impressed the first time he saw St. Andrews. Nor was Sam Snead. Scott Hoch called it “the biggest piece of mess I’ve ever seen.” A few years ago, a former tour and club pro told me, “I felt like Bobby Jones the first time he saw it. Thought it was a cow pasture.”

Yet, the Old Course won over Bobby Jones, and Bobby Jones won over the Scots, returning again and again and winning three Claret Jugs.

As for me, I’ll be glad if I can just go once. When I do, maybe I’ll buy someone a cap.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Brought to you by YourGolfTravel.com, the online destination for golf breaks uk.)

The $48,000 Luxury Golf Folio

THIS ISN’T FOR EVERYONE. In fact, there are only 10 Luxury Edition Golf Folios created by artists Paul Skellett and Simon Weitzman. Based on the design of a 14th century medieval Bible, the Golf Folio is called “an epic body of artwork celebrating the game, the terrain and where it’s all going.” It can be yours for as little as $48,000.

With contributions from winning Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie and more than 50 other golf course architects, golf coaches, other industry professionals and celebrities from various creative fields, the Golf Folio features 140 fine art pieces contained in 18 chapters. It’s bound in 400-year-old Russia Hide that was pulled out of black silt during a marine salvage operation.

Luxury Edition Specifications
Limited Edition: 10
Signed and numbered by: Artists and Colin Montgomerie
Size: 1.1 metre (w) x 0.4 metre (h) x 8cm (d)
Weight: 37.5 kilos/82.67 lbs.
Paper: 315gsm archive art paper
Pages: 140 pages hand torn edges
Binding: Bound in Russia Hide leather (400 years old)
Box: Oak slipcase
Extras to order: Personalisation of binding and content
Price: Starting at £30,000/$48,000

For the bargain hunters, there are 2,100 Collector Editions with 320 pieces of fine art available for the pre-order price of £350/$562.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Courtesy of Wonderland Publications)

English Open Canceled Until Further Notice

I SAW THIS OVER at BBC Sport. No headline sponsor, no English Open, which was set to be played in August at St. Mellion, where no less than £20m has been poured into the facilities.

Goodness gracious. I know the economy still has a foul odor, but we’re talking about the home of John Henry Taylor, Horace Rawlins, Jim Barnes, Bernard Darwin, Abe Mitchell, Cyril Walker, Samuel Ryder, Archie Compston, Sir Henry Cotton, Peter Alliss, Tony Jacklin, Peter Oosterhuis, Sir Nick Faldo, Mark James, Laura Davies, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald, Paul Casey and Justin Rose.

The small dimpled ball is an important part of English heritage. Am I right? Who’s with me?

Alas, sponsors are not cueing up.

The English Open has not been on the European Tour schedule since 2002 when Darren Clarke won at Forest of Arden. It was supposed to return in 2009 at St. Mellion but was delayed because of the financial difficulties of developers. Now that the facility is up to snuff, sponsors are scarcer than a Yankee near the top of the world rankings.

Stephen Towers, St. Mellion’s resort director, told BBC Radio that many blue-chip companies are pursuing Olympic sponsorships or simply cutting back on spending.

“It’s a reflection of the trend that we’re seeing in European golf at the moment,” said golf correspondent Iain Carter at BBC Sport, “in that the sponsors are to be found on the other side of the world, not in Europe, not in Great Britain and certainly not in England.”

Last year’s Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor raked in £84.5m for Wales. I know. The English Open is not the Ryder Cup. Still, I ask, how can England not stage an Open?

This is not jolly good.

−The Armchair Golfer

My Happy Ignorance of Delayed Honda Coverage

ON SUNDAY AT 4 P.M. Eastern Time I tuned in to final-round coverage of the Honda Classic. This is pretty typical for me. I’m a lot like the guy who tunes in to the final quarter of an NBA game. I’m most interested in the back nine on Sunday, especially from 14 or so to the clubhouse. Besides, most weekends I’m just not able to invest long hours in front of the tube (unless it’s the Masters or U.S. Open or British Open or Ryder Cup). If I could devote that much time to golf viewing, then my daughters would already be at college and I’d be pondering my Medicare prescription plan.

I read this morning that some people were miffed about the tape-delayed coverage of the final round. As Mostly Harmless pointed out, this has been the case for most of the last decade at Palm Beach Gardens. The sun sets at around 6:30 p.m. in early March in Florida. Tournament organizers want to make sure the event concludes on Sunday. NBC has other obligations and wants to stick to the normal 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. time slot.

It had no impact on this armchair golfer. I wasn’t online so I didn’t know ahead of time that Rory Sabbatini held off Y.E. Yang to win his sixth PGA Tour title. I try to unplug on Sunday, a digital day of rest.

I was totally ignorant as the gentler, kinder “Sabo” survived the Bear Trap and his orange friend, Yang, to claim a one-stroke victory. I thought I was watching live television when Rory tearfully told Dottie Pepper how much he looked forward to Maui in January. (I, too, would shed crocodile tears if I could go to Hawaii in the dead of winter.)

I watched the Jackfest (Jack Nicklaus in the booth with Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks). That was nothing new. Johnny and Jack are like my golf uncles. I feel like I’ve heard every one of their stories many times. (Which must mean I’m really old.) It’s like a golf family reunion with Uncle Johnny and Uncle Jack.

Those shirts threw me, though. Johnny and Dan were wearing polo shirts adorned with Golf Channel logos. I know about the new partnership between NBC and Golf Channel. And I’ve seen the “Golf Channel on NBC” tagline. But I guess I still don’t get it. Not entirely. I certainly didn’t expect to see Johnny Miller and Dan Hicks wearing blue Golf Channel shirts.

Maybe I need to re-read that Golf Channel press release.

−The Armchair Golfer

Robert Karlsson: ‘What Can I Contribute?’

DO YOU EVER FEEL cynical about today’s sports-celebrity culture? Yeah, me too. There are all too many examples of selfish, spoiled, entitled, money-grabbing players in all sports.

But I just read a Global Golf Post column that makes me feel good. It’s titled “Karlsson’s Changed Life Is Changing Lives” by Ron Green Jr.

Nine years ago 11-time European Tour winner Robert Karlsson was thinking about quitting the game. Married and father of a 1-year-old, the constant travel and pressure were hard to bear. His management company handled his finances and, in essence, controlled his life. The tall Swede couldn’t send an email because he had never learned to type.

Karlsson’s life and approach to golf turned around after meeting Annchristine Lundstrom. She enrolled him in a typing class where he learned the keyboard alongside an 8-year-old and 6-year-old. Lundstrom told Karlsson to write about each golf round, including his feelings.

“I started to grow as a person,” he told Green. “I took small steps.”

Instead of changing his swing, Karlsson changed himself. Today he’s a different person with a different approach to golf stardom. The man ranked 17th in the Official World Golf Ranking says, “Instead of what can I get out of it, it’s what can I contribute?”

He takes that thought further.

“If I were a kid in the crowd, what would I like to see in me? How can I become a role model?”

This may seem quaint in our modern sports world. But it’s working for Karlsson. Now that he’s giving back in small and big ways (Karlsson started a foundation), he’s happier. And, at 41, the former European Ryder Cup player is still collecting trophies, winning twice last year, in Qatar and Dubai. A next step is to contend at the majors. He had three top 10s in 2008.

If Karlsson somehow manages to win a major, he’ll find ways to share that success with others. In a take-and-take sports world, he wants to give and give some more.

−The Armchair Golfer

Tucson or Gone for Graeme McDowell?

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh, a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun, is in Tucson, Arizona, this week for the Accenture World Match Play. Brian filed this report at his Irish Golf Desk. Used with permission.

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

GRAEME MCDOWELL IS DETERMINED to improve his disastrous Accenture World Match Play record in Tucson. The US Open champion and Ryder Cup hero has made it to the second round just once in four appearances in the World Golf Championship event. But he believes he can feed off his sensational 2010 form and make a run at the title if he sees off debutant Heath Slocum tomorrow.

At world No 4, a spot ahead of Phil Mickelson, McDowell said: “I look back at the last two years and I’ve had my clubs in their flight bag at 12.30 on day one. You start to think that this is the worst event in the world but I have actually played pretty well the last couple of years and shot the equivalent of 67s and just gone home.

“If you can get a couple of matches under your belt, all of a sudden you gain a bit of confidence and a bit of momentum and suddenly you are in the weekend with a great chance to win a big event.”

McDowell beat Darren Clarke in the first round in 2005 but then lost to Robert Allenby and hasn’t won a match since.

Beaten by Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson and Luke Donald in his last three starts, McDowell said: “That’s the nature of the beast. You run into a guy who plays great and you have got to try and play better than him.

“If you look at this event on its own and you’d say I am not a good match player but I have got a good match play record in general. I look at my Ryder Cup record, my wins in the Seve Trophy and even looking back to my old amateur days. I still maintain that I am a good match player.”

McDowell finished third in the PGA Tour’s season-opener in Hawaii and at the Abu Dhabi Championship before deciding to take a month off.

“I am back here this week feeling refreshed and recharged and ready to go.”

If he beats Slocum, McDowell could face stablemate Ross Fisher in the second round. The English star takes on Australia’s Robert Allenby.

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

Olazabal Is Right Man for Ryder Cup Job

I’M A LONGTIME ADMIRER of Jose Maria Olazabal, who is being reported as Europe’s next Ryder Cup captain, according to various media outlets. The official announcement is expected on Tuesday at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

If Olazabal’s captaincy in any way mirrors his play in seven Ryder Cup appearances, Europe is in very capable hands. Olazabal was Seve Ballesteros’ other half of the most successful partnership in Cup history. Beginning in 1987, I watched Seve and Ollie beat the spikes off America’s best. The pair only lost twice in 15 matches. I didn’t like it one bit. But I always respected Jose Maria’s game. His driving could be suspect, but his iron game, chipping and putting were a thing of beauty. I’ve always thought of him as one of golf’s toughest competitors.

Olazabal also later formed a successful Ryder Cup partnership with Sergio Garcia. (If Garcia had Ollie’s grit, he’d have bagged a few majors by now.)

Now 44 and plagued in recent years by injuries, the two-time Masters winner is primed for the captaincy. He was a vice captain for European captains Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie at the last two Ryder Cups. His record as a player and experience as a vice captain have earned him a ton of respect in the locker room.

“When Jose Maria conducts a team talk or motivational talk, everyone listens,” Lee Westwood was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

At the helm when Europe lost at Valhalla, Nick Faldo said competing on American soil presents additional challenges. (The 2012 Ryder Cup will be played at Medinah in Chicago.) Home-field advantage and course setup are huge factors.

“I think you need a big captain when you go to the States,” Faldo said.

Olazabal is the right man for the job.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Richard Carter, Flickr, Creative Commons license)