September 28, 2009

McIlroy Demonstrates Team-Player Cred By Showing Up To 7:30 A.M Meetings...Early!

September 28, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

Seems young Rory has shed the label as an anti-Ryder Cup villain and is now aligned to not only star at Celtic Manor next year, but just moved ahead of Monty in the 2036 Ryder Cup captaincy race. Iain Carter blogs:

September 28, 2009

2009 Tour Championship Photo Caption Fun

September 28, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

What's on Phil's mind? What's the Commissioner saying to Tiger? From Rob Matre's final round photo gallery:

September 28, 2009

McGinley "Shoo-in" For 2014 Ryder Cup Captaincy Until Monty Gets Word

September 28, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

The scribes covering the Event Formerly Known As The Seve Trophy were so pleased with Paul McGinley's "man management"

September 28, 2009

And When There Were Eight...

September 28, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

Here's how the finale would have been had they just played an 8-man shootout over 18 holes of the Tour Championship (I'd prefer 36 the last day):

September 27, 2009

"I think you should call Dave Stockton."

September 27, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

This can't bode well for Dave Pelz's future as part of Team Mickelson...from Doug Ferguson's notes:

September 27, 2009

Phil Wins; Woods Solidifies FedEx Cup With Unforgettable Second Place Finish

September 27, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

...after being subjected to my relentless ranting, you know where I stand.

So what did you all think of Sunday's points permutation madness, the state of Tiger's game, Phil's resurgent putting, NBC's coverage, etc...?

September 27, 2009

FedEx Cup Trophy Reflection Help

September 27, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

I couldn't help but notice the reflection of Dan and Johnny's notes in today's FedEx Cup trophy. Our La Habra-based art director Tom Naccarato was able to pick up one of Johnny's note pads, but we couldn't make out his fifth mantra. (See third image.) If anyone can translate what they see in the trophy reflection, please post below.

September 26, 2009

Woods Eyes Two-Way Tie For Third To Clinch Cup

September 26, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

It's the stuff kids will be mimicking on putting greens across the land this week: two putts and I get out of the logjam for third to win the FedEx Cup!

September 25, 2009

If The FedEx Cup Used The Old ADT Format...

September 25, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

...here would be the 2009 Tour Championship's Saturday 16 using the 2006 version where the field of 32 was cut to 16 on Saturday and 54-hole scores decided the final 8 for Sunday's $1 million shootout (no playoff would have been necessary):

Tiger Woods
Padraig Harrington
Sean O'Hair
Ernie Els
Kenny Perry
Jerry Kelly
Angel Cabrera
Jason Dufner
Nick Watney
Lucas Glover
Stewart Cink
David Toms
Phil Mickelson
Jim Furyk
John Senden
Steve Marino

And the non-qualifiers:

Heath Slocum
Scott Verplank
Luke Donald
Retief Goosen
Steve Stricker
Zach Johnson
Kevin Na
Dustin Johnson
Brian Gay
Mike Weir
Hunter Mahan
Marc Leishman
Y.E. Yang
Geoff Ogilvy

September 25, 2009

"If Monty had talked to Poulter, then he’d have realized that Poulter had a cast-iron reason for not turning up in Paris."

September 25, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

That's right, Poulter had to play in an Orlando Magic fundraiser, so take that Alistair Tait, who takes Monty to task:

September 24, 2009

So Much For The Return Of The Push Cart?

September 24, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

Just when we thought he push cart was generating excitement and getting people to walk more, Vladislav Savov of Engadget introduces us to the "Mantys Golf Caddy." It's sort of a pull cart meets Segway in the vein of a golf cart. Thanks to reader Kevin for this.

September 24, 2009

Next Brand Lady To Be Named Soon

September 24, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

Golfweek.com apparently reported that PGA Tour VP Jon "ironclad" Podany has been interviewed for the LPGA gig (but I can't find it on their site using the search engine so here's Doug Ferguson's note). SBJ later confirmed the report.

Meanwhile Ron Sirak says it's coming down to WNBA Commish Donna Orender and USGA CBO Pete Bevacqua.

September 24, 2009

"When Sandy Lyle was railing against Montgomerie in July, there were those who wished Lyle would put a sock in it. The same could be said about Montgomerie now."

September 24, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

Monty gets scolded by Hoppy!

September 23, 2009

Monty: Poulter Is Dead To Me!

September 23, 2009/ Geoff Shackelford

Okay maybe that's a bit harsh, but you do have to wonder if we have a budding love triangle featuring Faldo-Poulter-Monty after the next Ryder Cup Captain let it be known that he was not pleased Ian Poulter passed on the Seve Trophy. And that was without reading Poulter's Tweets today, which started off recounting his hangover and then appeared to be hijacked by his agent to extol the virtues of family time and gym time. It's all quite touching I tell you.