Rio complicates Ryder Cup selections for US
The Rio Olympics created a bump in the golf schedule that has impacted the American team for the Ryder Cup.
The PGA Championship typically is the final event to earn one of the eight automatic qualifying spots, and then Davis Love III would have four captain’s picks leading up to the Ryder Cup matches that start on Sept 30 at Hazeltine.
Because the PGA has been movedtotheendofJulyahead of the Olympics, qualifying for the Americans won’t end until Aug 28, after The Barclays.
Love is looking beyond the standings because of the Games.
For example, Rickie Fowler has slipped to No 10 in the standings. He is going to Rio de Janeiro, taking him out of at least two tournaments (Travelers Championship and John Deere Classic) that others behind him in the standings might not play.
Bubba Watson (No 7 in the standings) is playing next week at the Travelers Championship as the defending champion. However, Matt Kuchar (No 8) and Patrick Reed (No 11) will be in Rio for the Olympics.
“I think the assistant captains and I are going to be challenged, because we have so many factors like the Olympics that we haven’t really dealt with before,” Love said.
“Rickie just told me he’s going to be down there for 11 days. You have to consider that there’s two weeks he could have played here.”
It’s more than just the Olympics.
Brooks Koepka was at No 3 until an ankle injury knocked him out of a lucrative World Golf Championship and the British Open, where money counts double toward the Ryder Cup standings. Koepka now is at No 9, and his ankle is not at full strength.
No 16 Daniel Berger, who won in Memphis a week before the US Open, withdrew from the WGC event at Firestone and the British Open with a shoulder injury.
Love said he is keeping an “unofficial points list” in his head among those who are playing well but either don’t have enough tournaments because of injury (Jim Furyk, for example) or might be missing events because of the Olympics.
“We know who is playing well and who is not playing well,” Love said. “And we know who our guys want as their teammates or their partners. We have a longer list maybe than you would think.”
Love could get a little more clarity this week because the PGA Championship also is worth double points.
No smoking
A week into making good on a bet, Henrik Stenson’s caddie was starting to struggle.
Gareth Lord had a friend in Florida who told him he should quit smoking, and the conversation led to a bet: If Stenson wins a major, Lord stops smoking.
And then Stenson won the British Open, closing with a 63 for a three-shot victory at Royal Troon.
Stenson could tell his caddie was struggling when Lord jokingly told him on more than one occasion: “I wish Phil (Mickelson) had shot 59.”
Tuesday morning on the range as the story was going around, someone did some quick math and realized Lord should be on his ninth day of no smoking, not the seventh.
“I had so much to drink, the first two days didn’t count,” Lord replied.
Long drive
Rory McIlroy thought he had his first victory of the week before the PGA Championship even started.
For the third straight year, the PGA of America staged its long drive championship, this time on the first hole at Baltusrol. Jordan Spieth was the early leader at 314 yards, but that was before McIlroy hammered one 345 yards.
“I hit one out there pretty good this morning,” McIlroy said on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to lie to you — I’ve been checking the board ever since to see if anyone’s got close to me. I saw Gary Woodland on the putting green just as he was going out, and I said, ‘That’s one of the guys I’m worried about.’ I thought he could maybe get it out there, but thankfully he missed the fairway.
“I don’t know if I’m still on top, but I hope so by the end of the day.”
By the end of his news conference, McIlroy got the bad news — South Korea’s An Byeong-hun ripped a 347-yarder, which turned out to be the winner.
An received a gold money clip, while McIlroy had to settle for the silver while Nicolas Colsaerts (341 yards) received a bronze clip.
Any time you enter a tournament with the results in mind, you never play your best.”
Divots
Bubba Watson was home long enough between majors to open a candy store in Pensacola, Florida. It’s called “Bubba’s Sweet Spot,” offering fudge, ice cream and a variety of candy. “Who doesn’t like candy and fudge and ice cream?” Watson said. “So I’m spending the most money in there.” ... Bill Calfee, president of the Web.com Tour the past 10 years, will retire after this year. Calfee played on the PGA Tour from 1976-85 and has worked at the tour in various roles since 1991 ... Jhonattan Vegas at the RBC Canadian
Phil Mickelson, British Open runner-up
Open became the second player this year to birdie the final three holes and win. The other was Jordan Spieth at Colonial. ... The PGA Championship said it has sold out of all tickets for competition rounds at Baltusrol ... Karen Stupples played her first professional tournament at Woburn Golf Club, making the cut as an amateur in the Women’s British Open. She returns 20 years laterasaGolfChannelanalyst.