The fate of golf would seem to lie in the hands of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the United States Golf Association. Can we expect that they will protect and reverence the spirit of golf?
MAX BEHR
Stephanie Wei tells us what the wives, girlfriend, future alimony recipients and other assorted life partners are giving each other at the Ryder Cup. I'm sure Elin really misses this.
So it appears ESPN is televising Saturday morning from 2:30-8 am ET. NBC is coming on live and going from 8 am-6 pm ET, then sticking with its original plan of live Sunday coverage from 4am ET until the conclusion of play.
Meanwhile the New York Times's Richard Sandomir is reporting that Monday play will be carried on USA Network. How retro!
Gee, I only thought Jim McLean sent out unprompted "response" press releases.
Congratulations Gore-Tex, you now have people officially feeling sorry for Sun Mountain.
W.L. Gore & Associates Responds to U.S. Team's Rainwear Malfunction at Ryder Cup
ELKTON, Md., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to news reports at the Ryder Cup regarding the malfunction of the U.S. Team's rainwear, W.L. Gore & Associates today issued the following statement:
"It's unfortunate that the U.S. team at the Ryder Cup was not wearing uniforms with the GORE-TEX® brand, especially if the faulty gear ultimately interfered with performance," said Yvonne Erickson, marketing leader at W.L. Gore & Associates. "Gore has rigorous uncompromising standards in place to ensure that our products are of the highest quality, to back up our Guaranteed to Keep you Dry® promise to consumers. Gore and Sun Mountain Sports parted ways in 2006 and, therefore, GORE-TEX® brand technology was not used in the rain jackets and pants worn by the U.S. team this morning. We hope that the U.S. Ryder Cup Team will be wearing uniforms with GORE-TEX® product technology in the future."
Ah...the parting of ways.
Funny, they also forgot to mention that the European Team got by without Gore-Tex! Excuse me, GORE-TEX®.
As I understand it, six foursomes matches will be in the next session, followed by four fourballs in session three, followed by two foursomes in session four, ended with twelve singles matches. Got that?
Michael Bamberger looks past the wet rainsuits and water-logged golf bags to get at the heart of the real issue here: the European Tour's selling of the Ryder Cup to the highest bidder.
This year, the Ryder Cup is at Celtic Manor, outside Cardiff, a beautiful, plush, over-the-top resort with a soggy course that would be right at home in the American Midwest. It was a wasted opportunity to really show the world traditional Welsh golf. Royal Porthcawl, for instance, a seaside links outside Cardiff, on the Bristol Channel.
Porthcawl, where Tiger Woods played in the Walker Cup in 1995, is about 30 miles from Celtic Manor. On Friday, mid-day, with play suspended at Celtic Manor, 50 or 60 golfers, many of them American, were still going at it, through the rain, at Porthcawl.
"The golfers are out there with their little bags," said Nicola Evans, the wife of Peter Evans, the club's longtime head professional. A caddie called into the pro shop, looking for a rain jacket for one of his players. It was wet, but the course was totally playable.
"I wouldn't want to say anything that would jeopardize in any way what's going on at Celtic Manor," said Peter Evans. "But our course is open for play."
Let's just hope they used the AmEx Card and earned some Reward points!
This unbylined AP story explains how PGA of American officials raided the ProQuip rainsuits from the merchandise tent after deciding the subtle, won't-be-missed USA suits were inundated by Friday's rain.
"We were disappointed with the performance of them and we just fixed it," captain Corey Pavin. "They were not doing what we wanted them to do, so we went out and bought some more waterproofs."
Sun Mountain supplied the American team with the rain gear -- navy blue, with stripes around the arms and left leg, with last names stitched on the back above "USA." They looked like they belonged to a college basketball team.
Even the AP is taking shots at the Captainness' design!
The PGA of America bought as many ProQuip rain suits as it could from the merchandise tent. Spokesman Julius Mason said there was enough to fit only the players and caddies -- tan suits for the players, red for the caddies. He said they had Ryder Cup logos, but there was nothing to distinguish this as an American uniform.
But it'll make for a great keepsake!
And now for an explanation on why Tiger treated the suits like his Kryptonite...
Woods had a rain jacket on in the light rain during practice Wednesday, but his was the only one without his name stitched on the back. Mason said Woods' jacket was too big, and he had to find a generic jacket that was smaller.
The Americans soon became the butt of jokes during a rain delay so long that it was unlikely the matches would finish Sunday. Their own version of "Watergate" came one day after Pavin forgot Stewart Cink during player introductions at the opening ceremony.
And now this.
Rain in Wales the first weekend in October? Who could have guessed that?
Brooks notes the monthly annual rainfall averages for Wales with a nice chart, and pictures of the Captainness.
He said the suits cost about $350.
His small corner of the merchandise tent had little left to offer -- a few pair of pants, a few dozen jackets, sweaters and wind shirts.
"They requested 20 suits, but I'm not sure who they were for -- whether it was players or simply caddies and team officials," Head said of the American team.
And that's just a $7000 purchase make that $11,000 as it turns out they paid £350, not dollars!** (It's official, they were £209, $350). Still think about the nice VAT contribution they made, too!
Lawrence Donegan has this observation from Ian Poulter:
Ian Poulter looked delighted at seeing the Americans re-emerge in different rain gear. "I can see them on right now. Ours are keeping us nice and dry, that's all I am going to say," he said.
And to think I was just scolded the other day for so many uniform posts leading up to the Ryder Cup!
Geoff
**Darren Rovell looks into the blame and impact on Sun Mountain, as word is not filtering out that the golf bags haven't been holding up either.
In one of the strangest arrangements in sports marketing, the companies that get awarded the rights to make the gear by the US team captain cannot put its logo on the gear, cannot publicize its relationship with the Ryder Cup and cannot sell its gear at retail per PGA of America rules.
Company president Ed Kowachek told me yesterday, before the debacle went down, that he didn't mind the stringent arrangement with the Ryder Cup team.
"It's an honor to be a part of this, so we have no problem downplaying the marketing," he said. "We don't want to steal the spotlight from the players or the game. We don't do it for the exposure."
What remains to be seen is how much damage Sun Mountain, which makes golf bags, outerwear and golf push carts, may face. Many outside the golf industry who have never heard of their brand now might see them as a tarnished company.
Is it possible that the rain was so bad that Sun Mountain can't be at fault? Possibly, but the jackets made by the European team seems to be holding up fine.
And a few random Tweets from the delay...
And where no writer dared to go...
Geoff
****Darren Rovell with a statement from Sun Mountain on Ryder Cup raingear flap:
"Sun Mountain has been designing and selling outerwear for more than two decades. We have provided rainwear to 3,000 plus PGA of America Professionals and over 150 tour players, and supplied outerwear to numerous U.S. teams, including the Walker Cup and the 2000 and 2009 Presidents Cup teams. Sun Mountain has staff on the ground at the Ryder Cup working in conjunction with the PGA of America on this issue."
So we've hit a delay once it became apparent Steve Stricker could not find a place to get casual water relief. But the real surprise came in the ESPN telecast when Mike Tirico revealed that the U.S. players were not happy with the functional qualities of their Sun Mountain rain suits and that each gets FOUR, so they may have dry back-ups in their carts.
Paul Azinger chimed in that it would be "tragic" if they were not working with all of the great technology out on the market.
Anyone think the scribblers are asking for the Captainness to be brought in for a few questions?
By the way, the wives outfits look great, especially the boots. So at least she had foresight on the proper footwear for life partners!
I'm watching live at 11:30 PM Pacific and loving it. Not sure how long I'll last but this is fun! Now I know what it's like to watch a major in Australia. Comment away!
All hell breaks loose tonight (my time) tomorrow morning most other places, so here's a quick roundup of the final filings.
Steve Elling on Monty's surprise at Captain Pavin's decision to send out Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson.
After the pairings were announced, Monty had a contented look on his mug, and in a manner of speaking, it was a defensible posture to take. Pavin raised eyebrows and a slew of questions by using so many rookies, including the debatable decision to pair hyper first-timers Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson in the anchor fourth match, where they will face Ryder veterans Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald.
"Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington would not have expected to play two rookies in the last game," Monty said in his inimitably smug fashion. "As I say, unexpected."
As for Woods' position in the third match, where he will team with Steve Stricker against the English tandem of Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher, Monty was even more, shall we say, analytical.
"I was expecting Tiger to go first or fourth," Monty said, staring at the lineup card. "Tiger, being hidden, is a different move."
Jason Sobel analyzes the pairings. Jim McCabe notes that the Tiger-Stricker pairing makes that twelve partners for Tiger. Twelve Ryder Cup partners.
John Huggan believes that Monty may not be involved in course setup, but his assistants definitely are.
But, says Monty, he has done nothing. No narrowing of fairways. No sneaky fertilization of strategically placed knee-high rough. No tricks at all, in fact. Which may be true given the 47-year old Scot's limited expertise in the area of anything other than hitting five-yard fades. But far more likely is that, with sharp golfing minds like Thomas Bjorn, Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke to call on, Monty has simply taken a well-advised backseat in the course setup department. So "I have left the course alone" doesn't necessarily mean that others in his employ have done likewise.
Thanks to reader NRH for the Guardian's Opening Ceremony live blog link.
Jim McCabe runs through the ceremony highlights, including Pavin forgetting to introduce Cink.
Except for what is the equivalent of a three-putt from 6 feet, that is, which Pavin alluded to later. “I only screwed up once,” he said. “I only missed one player. It could have been two.”
Said European captain Colin Montgomerie, “He did very, very good in covering his tracks. But yes, we’re 1 up.”
And Richard Williams analyzed Tiger's every move during the ceremony.
Woods marched to the stage at today's opening ceremony with the other 11 members of the USA team, proceeding in single file alongside their European opponents. The wives and girlfriends were already in their seats on the stage, having enjoyed a parade of their own, engulfing those alongside the walkways in a miasma of competing fragrances as they passed by.
Moments after the warm welcome for the announcement of his name had died away as the attention moved elsewhere, Woods's face lapsed back into the blankness that has been his public mask for most of the year.
Alex Miceli on some of the more unusual bets offered. My favorites:
• Jeff Overton to score 5 points (50/1)
• Woods and Phil Mickelson to play together (6/1)
• Peter Hanson to hit a spectator with a drive (16/1)
• Colin Montgomerie to quit as captain before the last shot of the event is struck (25/1)
Uh, they know something we don't? 25/1 doesn't sound very generous!
Hey, I'm just saying, since the World Golf Hall of Fame noted President George Bush's Presidents Cup attendance as part of his golf resume, could Clinton be far behind with another Cup appearance?
Doug Ferguson on the latest OWGR oddity, this time Lee Westwood moving to No. 2 next week despite two months off.