I just spent the last three days of my life watching the Ryder Cup on Golf Channel and NBC. Mostly via my DVR since I was here at home on this side of the pond. I am a rabid golf fan but not rabid enough to get up or stay up (though one night I did) to 2 am to catch the action live. I remember the jubilation of American Ryder Cup victory when I was there at Valhalla in 2008. It felt like when my friend Sir Walter lag an 80-footer up to the hole so I could tap it in and together we won his member–guest at Royal Melbourne in Chicago. Our names are forever etched on the men’s locker room door. Forever at least in my mind as nothing is really forever except love and we know how that changes with time or it ceases to be love at all.

That was then and now is now and in between I did not get to Wales but I was at Medinah and personally felt that deep sense of loss knowing what could have easily been an American victory that was not. At Medinah I was okay with the loss. The golf was exceptional and the finishes heroic. I was entertained and I learned something about sportsmanship and congratulating the other side. I did find it odd that Phil Mickelson would give Justin Rose a thumbs up for making that long putt on 17 to keep his and his teams hopes alive. Maybe as Rory once said the Ryder Cup is merely an exhibition.

I was enthralled by the youth and spirit of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. They went out there, played golf and got the job done for the most part as far as they could. I loved it when Reed matched Henrik Stenson’s birdie on the sixth green and then shushed the European crowd and rallied the American fans. I wonder if they were there at Medinah if the  USA would have won? But like Mom would tell me growing up: “If ifs were horses we would all be riding.” Which I never understood completely since nobody is riding around on a horse these days.

American Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson is certainly not riding around on a horse today. We all wanted him to be the white knight to come to the rescue of the hopeless American Ryder Cup team. I was there in 2009 at The Open at Turnberry when he hit that 8-iron in the 18th fairway needing a par to win. I believed he would win that golf tournament like I believed the Americans were destined to win at Gleneagles. Captain Tom had his moments of brilliance like when he paired Spieth and Reed and he had his moments of fear like when he benched them and played Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in the afternoon alternate shot on Day 1. The fear there being, in my opinion, not duplicating the Saturday mistake at Medinah of sitting Phil and his wonder kid look-a=like younger brother.

Having said all of that which came from my heart first let me say what is evident in both my heart and mind. The European team played brilliantly and their victory in the 2014 Ryder Cup was hard earned and richly deserved. Congratulations Europe for a job well done. It was both a learning experience and exciting entertainment for me these past three days.

The 1995 movie The American President is a romance, a comedy and a drama with some great life lessons too. There is a great scene where the embattled president comes to the moment of clarity both in his personal life and his job as president leading the country. He speaks honestly and from the heart to his fellow Americans when he says “I promise you, (insert fear for Bob Rumson here) is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who’s to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And wave an old photo of the President’s girlfriend and you scream about patriotism and you tell them, she’s to blame for their lot in life, and you go on television and you call her a whore. Sydney Ellen Wade has done nothing to you, Bob…  You want a character debate, Bob? You better stick with me, ’cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league.”

Point being, we can’t solely look to the good old times and say simply that is the answer to our current and future problems. Yes, Captain Azinger’s ‘pod system’ in 2008 was an amazing invention and yes that was a thrilling (and the last) victory for USA. Captain Watson did his job to the best of his ability and Team Member Phil Mickelson played golf to the best of his ability. The bottom line is that held true for all three days. Even though Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley did not play on Saturday, their teammates did.

The reality is that the Americans played very good golf. Remember Jimmy Walker holing a bunker shot and chipping in on Friday morning best ball? That match was halved. Remember Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan making six birdies in Friday afternoon alternate shot? Their opponents Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson made six too and won 2&1. Remember Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar making nine birdies on Saturday morning best ball only to be outdueled by Rose and Stenson who made twelve birdies. My God, twelve birdies in sixteen holes, ten straight to finish! Remember Saturday afternoon alternate shot? Forget them, we only earned one of eight points in alternate shot. Actually the Spieth & Reed rescue team nearly held off Rose and Kaymer to earn a full point.

Sunday, down 10-6, brought hope in a new day. There was a point early on with all 12 matches on the course where if the current was projected as final the Americans had 14 points. That was when McIlroy and Kaymer were dominating their matches but all the other ones were either American led or all square. I remember seeing that bounce in Phil’s step and thinking maybe Captain Watson’s decision to rest him on Saturday would be come his “I had a feeling moment” in this Ryder Cup. Was it that at the time of change we only project one way? Phil and Keegan not playing on Saturday meant they could not win a point for the USA. It could have meant they would win points on Sunday too.

But a Sunday American comeback, like Brookline in 1999 or last time for the Euros with Seve’s Medinah Miracle, was not meant to be. I never did see a possibility for 14-1/2 American points on the scoreboard. The highest was 14 points and that would still have Europe retaining the Ryder Cup which is a victory in of itself. There was more good golf by the Americans. Remember Kuchar’s hole out for an eagle on No. 8? The Europeans win the 2014 Ryder Cup 16-1/2 to 11-1/2.

The point being the matches were closer than  what appears in the score. A difference of five points is only two and one-half matches out of twenty-eight going the other way. Less than 10 percent. With one more all square turning into an American point or one Euro point turning into an all square and there you would have had the needed American win. But then again we would all be back riding horses and who would like that?

Point being in my mind is that the Americans  played well and that level of golf inspired, once again, the Europeans to play better and win the Ryder Cup. I could write for the next three days on the exceptional golf played by members of the European team, namely, but not limited to Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Jamie Donaldson and Graeme McDowell who all scored three points for the blue team. Both teams are to be congratulated for competing in the true sense of the game of golf with honesty, integrity and true sportsmanship. All 24 players and the captains well represented their country and our human race on and off the golf course this past week in Scotland. Except when they did not.

Let’s look forward to another formidable competition in two years. Let’s not let fear or the reality of defeat take us back to fonder memories with no commitment to action for the future. Let’s learn from Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. We can’t be as young as they are (at least I cannot be) but we can be as young in mind and spirit and perspective as they are.

The last three days of Ryder Cup TV watching was not all in vain. An American loss does not mean it was time wasted yet it was time entertained and time spent marveling at this human life experience. The golf ball does some pretty silly things as does us humans.

Maybe the Ryder cup is merely a golf exhibition. What was exhibited was good in my mind. I remember back when I was 12 years old and received the Ben Hogan Five Lessons book from my older brother Larry. In it he inscribed “golf is a lot like life, the more you learn and understand about it, the easier it is to meet its challenges.” America continues to have a Ryder Cup challenge. What can we learn from this one to make it easier to win the next one? Somehow I think it is more about life than golf at this point.

The world has changed a great deal since America dominated the Ryder Cup.. Honestly, we all wake up in the morning first as human beings living on this one planet Earth and secondly as citizens of our countries. Golf has a leadership position in the world of sports. Think about it. Only golf and soccer for the most part have international team competitions. The Super Bowl and NBA Champions are really only champions here at home. Golf is more global than any sport in terms of world leadership and impact. There is a huge responsibility, in my opinion, that comes along with that position.

I realized I missed seeing Luke Donald compete as much as I did Jason Dufner, Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson call Lake Nona in Orland, Florida, USA their home. Justin Rose and his wife Kate will be hosting a fundraiser for their foundation next Monday at Lake Nona. They give back in terms of inspiring local children to grow from the inside out through nutrition, education, and new life experiences. We are all tied together and what is important is that we continue to inspire each other to new heights which give us a better perspective of our world together.

Congratulations Europe on a hard earned and well deserved Ryder Cup victory.

Americans, let’s grow from the inside-out. Nothing is hopeless, especially not hopeless is the 2016 American Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits or the one that will head to Paris in 2018 to win on foreign soil for the first time in 25 years.

It’s a new day in a new world. Golf is like life and life is like golf.

Life’s royal lesson from the 2014 Ryder Cup is to live and learn…

The cut at the Web.com Tour Championship, the last of the Four Final events to determine 50 PGA TOUR cards for next season is agonizing in and of itself. When there is a an hour or so weather delay on Friday, the sun still sets at 7:27 pm and there are golfers left on the golf course with their fate and the fate of others yet to be known. Saturday morning comes with no sun rise, at least not visible to those with golf clubs in their hands heading out to Dye’s Valley to finish Round 2. It is a dreary day and drizzling outside. Perfect weather to make the competition even more challenging and dramatic. Oh, the agony and sheer excitement to make it to the PGA TOUR.

Sunny and bright is Zac Blair who is 13-under, bogey-less and leading by three strokes with three holes remaining to be played in Round 2. Blair was ranked dead last coming into the Final Finale, one of 21, including 2003 Open Champion Ben Curtis, with zero dollars earned in the first three playoff events. Blair went birdie, bogey, par to post 13-under and maintain a three stroke lead going into Round 3. The number is important, relative to other numbers, not whether or not one is bogey-free at this stage. Three missed cuts and a top finish to be No. 50 or above is coming into focus for Zac. Only two more rounds to go.

At dawn Saturday morning there were 68 golfers at even par making the cut. Once all golfers finished Round 2 play the final cut of the year came at 66 players at even par. Jeff Curl, another Web.comer, in the 26-75 category with no golden Top 25 tour card bogeyed the 17th and finished outside the cut at plus-1.

Harrison Frazar, with only his last hole, the 9th, to play this morning, posted a 10 to go from 1-under to 5-over and miss the cut. It is reported that he found water left with his tee shot, took a drop then found water left with his approach shot last night. This morning he found his ball in the water and attempted to get it up and down for the much needed bogey on the par-4 hole. Frazar won the 2011 FedEx St. Jude Classic, his first win in 355 starts, played in 15 regular tour events this year and made 3 cuts. He missed all four cuts in the Web.com Finals. After sitting out the 2013 season with a back injury, he is playing on a Major Medical Extension and has 10 events to earn 332.25 FedEx Cup points or $548,236 to retain his PGA Tour card according to Wikipedia.

Midway through the Web.com Tour Championship six players are projected to move into the Top 50 and earn their tour card by virtue of their play this week. Note that these are only projected at this time. There are still 36 holes to be played. The hopeful group of six are led by Zac Blair who is projected to win the event and the $180,000 first place check. Updated ‘Bubble Boy’ is No. 50 Tag Ridings with $35,798 in Finals earnings. A sixth place finish alone earns $36,ooo. As in the financial markets, historic golf performance, even that within the last 48 hours, does not project the future final two rounds. Hopefully for those involved along with Blair- Sung Joon Park, Miguel Angel Carballo, James Nitties, Chad Collins, and Ridings future is what has been projected.

For every six that enter the Top 50 there are six that leave the Top 50 surprisingly whether or not they made the cut this week. Four missed the cut and can no longer make money, improve their position and rebound back into the Top 50- they are Dicky Pride, Greg Chalmers, Will Wilcox, and Patrick Rodgers. Even though Vaughn Taylor (T34, 69-70) and Carlos Sanz (T50, 70-70) made the cut they slid out of the Top 50 mainly due to Zac Blair  (1st, 63-65) and Miguel Angel Carballo (T3, 68-65) coming from oblivion to possibly winning a Finals event and a ticket to the BIG SHOW next year. The Web.com golf competition is as exciting as the PGA TOUR, except you may not know the players as well. That is why their caddies wear the number associated with the players Top 50 rank. Remember (sure you do) the Rocket, Billy Horschel’s meteoric rise to the FedExCup title?

Remember it is not necessarily the main combatants that determine their fate in this fighting format for a PGA TOUR card. The Golden Boys with tour card for next year securely in hand and those still playing this week and seemingly out of the tournament and the race for the Top 50 can suddenly emerge to impact the final outcome. If Zac Blair falters a bit and someone ties him for that needed sixth place finish his earnings drop from $36,000 to $34,750. Another one and one more to make it a four way tie and it is nearly $4,000 less than a singular finish. A Sunday 65 can topple the apple cart for some. That is why they payout in dollars and cents. It can literally come down to the last putt, a penny and someone’s prayer being answered.

It is a day projected of rain, a Northeaster sending waves of rain at times to Dye’s Valley to raise the bar of competition just a bit. Another variable for the competitive golfer to adjust to and perhaps another outside agent that determines one’s fate. Of course, any and all outside forces can be combated with stronger inside forces for golf, like life, is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to what happens to us. Vaughn Taylor and Carlos Sanz are still playing along with 64 other golfers that made the cut, some with a card securely in hand, others with a hunger to have one with their name on it come Sunday evening on the back lawn of the Clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass. Game on, whatever the inside or outside conditions or thoughts and golf clubs being swung to impact golf balls. Play well and keep praying whether you are playing or not.

A couple experiences from earlier in the week to report on from outside the ropes.

The 9th annual ‘Taste of Golf,’ a fundraiser for The First Tee of North Florida, was another incredible and successful affair on Thursday night at the Clubhouse. If you get a chance go out to their home and play the Brentwood Golf Course. It is a regulation 9-hole reduction (the 6th hole is original) of the 1923 Donald Ross design that was redesigned by the PGA Design Services Group for the First Tee. Sam Snead won two Jacksonville Opens on the very same ground. If you are lucky you will meet some of the First Tee kids and hopefully get to play nine holes with them. The kids weren’t at the fundraiser but they were as their thoughts were present in the form of placards prominently displayed throughout the elegant Ponte Vedra Room and upper level of the Clubhouse. I liked the one best by Angelina because it referenced golf as a journey that she seems excited to explore. I am thinking that is how she approaches life and with her First Tee experience, will undoubtedly impact the world well after my years here have passed. It is a great feeling anytime I am connecting with The First Tee organization, playing golf or not, tasting golf or not, staffers or kids, it does not matter!

I came across a golf and love story when I met Erin Spalding while enjoying the deliciously sweet confections of the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club. Her fiance, now husband Joshua, was playing the local Arnold Palmer Signature Plantations Course with her father David back in November 2012. Starting on the back nine, he had it going and was 5-under par when they arrived at the par-3 third hole. Full of confidence he couldn’t wait until Christmas and politely asked David for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Evidently the answer was yes from both father, and later from the daughter, though the golf score suffered terribly for the remaining seven holes. The marriage, as you can tell in the picture, is going extremely well. Joshua Spalding’s golf game came back as this week he shot 68-71 to advance through the Web.com Q-School Pre-Qualifying in Texas. Golf and love do go together!

As surprising as the ins and outs of the Web.com Finals is the common link between the ‘Taste of Golf’ First Tee Benefit Event and the Dye’s Valley reconstruction- the always stunning Milan Moore. Milan, a golf course architect with the PGA TOUR Design Services Group, was both the Chairwoman of the Taste of Golf Committee and Project Manager for the Dye’s Valley project. The golf course is as stunning as she is and has received rave reviews from the players this week. Mother Nature tested the golf course with a deluge Friday afternoon that was a resounding ‘Awesome Yes’ as the players returned to playing golf in a little over one hour. A good Pete Dye design brought to modern life so much so that it seems as if there was a ‘Midas Touch’ during the reconstruction or maybe a ‘Milan Touch.’ Congratulations Milan and the entire PGA TOUR Design Service Group for a reconstruction well done!

One more thing, and we saved the best for last, as we head into a Ryder Cup week. The Friday night Military Appreciation Ceremony was one of the best ever at TPC Sawgrass, right up there with President George H.W. Bush’s PGA TOUR Lifetime Achievement Award and Military Celebration at the 2009 PLAYERS Championship. There were chants of ‘USA, USA, USA’ for Jim Furyk as he heads across the pond to represent the United States of America in the Ryder Cup in Scotland. But Jim’s mission was bigger tonight as he introduced a true American hero Sergeant Sean Karpf. Sergeant Karpf gave a heartfelt account of his wartime experience and shared his gratitude for being alive and an American. All the best to you Sean and good luck in the Ryder Cup Jim!

 

 

 

 

 

It is a Battle of the Tours, the PGA TOUR versus the Web.com Tour, at TPC Sawgrass this week. They call the Battle the Web.com Tour Championship but it is really the FedExCup Points Nos. 126-200 from the PGA TOUR versus the Money List Nos. 26-75 from the Web.com Tour. The Top 25 from the Web.com are already golden and have a tour card in hand for the 2014-2015 PGA TOUR season. They are playing to improve their priority position. What is really at stake is an additional 25 tour cards based solely on money won in the four Finals events which culminate this week on Dye’s Valley Course. That competition pits 75 former PGA TOUR players versus 50 current Web.com Tour players who may or may not be former PGA TOUR players. It can be confusing!

For instance, Bud Cauley played in 19 PGA TOUR events this year, made $647,886 and finished No. 129 on the Money List. He did not make the FedExCup Playoffs and won the first Web.com Finals event, the Hotel Fitness Championship. His $180,000 in winnings ranks him as the highest non Web.com member behind Season Winner Carlos Ortiz and Adam Hadwin. Unfortunately, Cauley torn his labrum cartilage in his left shoulder, is recovering from surgery with a full recovery expected. Priority for the PGA TOUR next year is alternated between the Top 25 Web.com regular season finishers and the Other 25 from the Web.com Finals.

The other two Finals event winners Adam Hadwin (Chiquita Classic) and Justin Thomas (Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship), both Web.com Top 25 players, improved their priority. Adam improved to No. 2 just behind Ortiz and Justin to No. 4 just behind Cauley. One spot can make all the difference in getting into a PGA TOUR event especially early in the season. Remember there are 125 PGA TOUR members that kept their cards this year and with sponsor exemptions, prior champions and limited hours of daylight early in the year fields fill up quickly.

Colt Knost played in 21 Web.com events this year, made $106,460 and finished No. 34 on the Money List. So far in the Finals he has won $138,000 with a 2nd place finish at the Hotel Fitness Championship and a T8 at the Chiquita Classic. He chose to not play last week and is playing this week. The 2007 U.S. Amateur Champion is ranked the highest of any of the Web.com 26-75 Finisher at No. 5. Like Billy Horschel did on the PGA TOUR, you can make a season in the post season on the Web.com too.

So how is the Battle of the Tours going through the first three Finals events? It is 14 versus 11 for the PGA TOUR (Nos. 126-200) and Web.com (Nos 26-75). Taking into account the different group sizes (50% more PGA TOUR players), the Web.com players are ahead on a percentage basis 22.0% to 18.7%.

Patrick Rodgers, the Tiger Woods protege out of Stanford University, is the Bubble Boy at No. 50. A nonmember of the PGA TOUR he played in seven events on sponsors’ exemptions. He made five cuts, $75,104, and most importantly 85 FedExCup points, the equivalent of No. 196 this year, barely enough to get a spot in the Web.com Finals. His T8 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship earned him the $30,000 to place him No. 50 with a good shot at earning a PGA TOUR card for next season.

The next ten players below Rodgers are comprised of four PGA TOUR (Nos. 126-200) and six Web.com (Nos 26-75). The Web.com is definitely “the Path to the PGA TOUR” and the path back to the PGA TOUR.

After a morning of analyzing numbers and becoming more familiar with the field of 128 players I decided to head to the practice range to check out the players.

As fate would have it I found the following on Carlos Ortiz, the Season Winner on the Web.com Tour and currently the No. 1 ranked player in the Finals. To finish No.1 is huge as it comes with a fully exempt tour card and an invitation to come back to TPC Sawgrass and play the other course (The Stadium Course) in THE PLAYERS Championship.

Carlos Ortiz is the poster child for the 2014 Web.com season, winning three times in Weeks 4, 6, 23, the third time at the final regular season event. Officially a battlefield promotion to the PGA TOUR but that battlefield was in Playoff mode so has to wait for 2014-2015 season which starts in two weeks at the Frys.com Open. His birthplace is the same as Lorena Ochoa- Guadalajara, Mexico. Maybe it is his destiny to wind up in St. Augustine, Florida with her in the World Golf Hall of Fame? Ortiz is a ‘dot com hopper’? Played in two Finals event and missed cut in both. Time for celebrating is over. Time to get his PGA TOUR game face on and quickly!

When I went out to the practice range I came across him doing a television interview. I didn’t understand much because it was in Spanish but I met his mother ‘Chela’ which is short for Graciela. I thought it interesting that she mentioned Carlos Jr. (his father is also Carlos) did play at the same Guadalajara Country Club as Lorena. Carlos Jr. was ‘sporty-like’ Mom & Dad and began playing tournaments at age 7. He went to a German school growing up and they sent him to Germany for a year at age 12. His only wish was to continue playing golf which was possible after their search found a year-round golfing school. I wonder if Martin Kaymer winning this year’s PLAYERS and the German flag flying over Champions Circle at TPC Sawgrass is a good omen for Carlos to lock in that top spot this week?

One other interesting thing I came across researching a few of the players. Justin Thomas won a playoff over Richard Sterne last week in the third Finals event, the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship on the Scarlet Course at The Ohio State University. The 21-year old was a star freshman at Alabama in 2012 on a team that lost the national championship on the final hole in the final match that year. Justin won one national championship as a sophomore before turning pro and missing Alabama’s second consecutive NCAA Championship this year. His other profile data included: “Favorite courses played are Augusta National and Cypress Point” and “Would like to play Pine Valley and Shinnecock Hills.” I am thinking that will happen. His Dream Foursome would include his Dad, Carrie Underwood and Nick Saban. I don’t know who Nick Saban is? I did not know Carrie Underwood played golf?

I am very excited for tomorrow to come so we can begin the Web.com Tour Championship! With a Scott McCreery Military Appreciation Day Concert Friday and College Game Day Saturday for crossover football fans the tour slogan “Come for THE FUN, Stay for THE GOLF,” probably makes sense for a lot of people.

I am coming back for the golf, will have fun and MORE FUN after the golf is over!