The worst kept secret of recent times is finally out with the PGA of America and the newly-constituted Task Force announcing that Davis Love III will skipper the US Ryder Cup team for the second time in the last three tournaments.
It was a bit surprising that instead of going for Fred Couples, who has an incredible record for the US as their Presidents Cup captain, they opted for Love, who was at the helm of affairs in Medinah when Europe made that remarkable turnaround.
Both Couples and Love would have made excellent choices for the US, because they are of the right age (in their 50s but still playing regular PGA Tour events) and they have the right kind of connect with the younger generation.
I don’t know how Love is viewing his appointment, but I am sure he is not thinking ‘revenge’.
Unlike the word that most fans are flooding the social media sites with, I have a feeling what’s uppermost in Love’s mind is ‘redemption’.
A number of changes in the selection process for the team have been announced, including delaying the naming of the team, and giving higher weightage to form in the year of the Ryder Cup. And significantly, there will now be four vice-captains helping Love.
As good as these moves are, I just get the feeling that the Americans are trying to replicate the winning formula of the Europeans.
What happened on Tuesday at the PGA headquarters is a huge compliment to Europe. After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.
Sergio implodes…again
This is becoming a worrying habit with Sergio Garcia and it’s time he did something about his final-round collapses.
Last Sunday, the Spaniard was in with a chance of winning the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club, but he made a bogey on the par-5 17th – the easiest hole on the golf course – and then hit a dreadful shanked tee shot on the 18th, from where all he could do was make another bogey to drop out of the play-off.
At the Qatar Masters earlier this year, he had moved to the top of the leaderboard halfway through his round on Saturday before making seven-over for his last eight holes.
More famously, in the 2013 Player Championship, when involved in a head-to-head battle with Tiger Woods, he hit two balls into the water on the dreaded 17th hole on the Sunday.
Garcia has won a couple of tournaments recently – 2013 Thai Golf Championship and the 2014 Qatar Masters – but his last win on the PGA Tour was the 2012 Wyndham Championship.
Obviously, he has been consistently named among the best players in the world not to have won a major for several years now.
Perhaps it is time for him to shake things up and hire a psychologist.
Chowrasia is India’s Mickelson
Sixteen years ago, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia announced his arrival on the Indian golf scene in style when he put together a magical stretch of four rounds to finish runner-up in the 1998 Indian Open at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club – the course on which he literally grew up.
The son of one of the groundskeepers of the golf course – which is the oldest golf club outside the British Isles – the 36-year-old finished second once again in the tournament on Sunday.
Looks like Chowrasia is fast becoming India’s very own Phil Mickelson.
Just like Lefty’s record of coming oh-so-close in the US Open on as many as six occasions, this was the fourth time Chowrasia finished as the bridesmaid in his national Open.
But that’s not where the similarity ends. Chowrasia has a short game that is almost as magical as Mickelson’s.
So much so that he is actually known as ‘Chip-Putt’ Chowrasia on the Indian Tour because of his short game prowess.
Stat of the Week
09 – the number of professional golf tournaments won by 17-year-old Lydia Ko when she grabbed her sixth LPGA Tour title at the Australian Open last Sunday. If she keeps going at this rate, Kathy Whitworth’s all-time record of 88 LPGA Tour titles is seriously under threat.
Quote of the Week
“He is not in top form, not to where he was from 2000 on for that period of eight or nine years. His body is starting to show a lot of let down. He’s hit a lot of golf balls, he has a lot of power and flexibility and when you add power and flexibility, something’s got to give. Your little joints, the facet joints, you know he has Achilles’ problems, he’s got back problems. Quite honestly, mentally he is a little unraveled.”
– Greg Norman’s assessment of Tiger Woods’ golf at the moment.
