• “[Stricker:] “To leave any of those guys out would be hard to do, just because of what they mean and what they have meant to these teams over the years,” he said.”

• “That suggests Stricker may be hostage to the same thinking that helped doom the recent captaincies of Furyk and Davis Love III. All three men served on the oft-maligned task force set up by the PGA of America in the aftermath of the heavy American defeat at Gleneagles in 2014. Mickelson was also on that task force. So too was Woods. The last three U.S. captains have been drawn from that small circle, and the decisions they have made – particularly Furyk’s decision to pick Mickelson – creates a perception of an old boys’ network looking after its own. Are the captain’s decisions being crowdsourced? And is the captain compromised as a result?”

Full piece.

• “…Yes, he [Stricker] has to be concerned about the team’s performance in France. Yes, he has to be concerned that the U.S. has won only three of the last 10 Ryder Cups. Yes, he has to be concerned that Whistling Straits might be slightly harder to modify to his team’s advantage, compared to a course like Hazeltine National was in 2016, because it’s a lakeside links course that’s naturally more difficult to alter (less room to change/expand fairway widths, more waste areas that can’t be altered, etc.). And yes, to the point that provoked his joke, he even has to worry that Americans are 0 for 3 at the PGA Championships played at Whistling Straits.”

• “…but to the extent that we can get sense of leadership styles, Stricker came across with his usual self-effacing humility. He’s been an assistant captain for three Ryder Cups, along with captain of the victorious 2017 U.S. Presidents Cup team, and he gave every indication that he’ll be a system captain, insofar as the U.S. has a model to follow after the post-2014 Task Force.”

• “A telling moment: When asked about his first or most compelling Ryder Cup memory, Stricker reverted not to his childhood, but to 1993, when he was 26 and Davis Love III made the winning putt at The Belfry.”

Full piece.

• Golf Channel’s Will Gray….”Part of the lore of the Ryder Cup is the notion of home course advantage, one that plays out in various other team sports. But Padraig Harrington hopes it’s an aspect that gets eliminated down the line in the biennial matches.”

• “The European skipper was a vice captain at Hazeltine in 2016 when the Americans feasted on a wide-open setup with easy pins, and he was in the team room again in 2018 when the Europeans returned the favor by growing the rough and tightening the targets at Le Golf National. The home team is allowed input on course setup decisions, meaning that Whistling Straits will be under the watchful eye of U.S. captain Steve Stricker for the 2020 matches, but Tuesday, Harrington floated the notion of using a more neutral approach in future years.”

• “Within the report, Golf Channel columnist Randall Mell described the combined total of four LPGA individual stroke-play victories between U.S. and European players on the LPGA Tour this year as “woeful.”

• “Mell also accused the American players of “not holding up their end of the bargain.” after unveiling the statistic that over the past decade Korean players have won twice as many LPGA titles than their American counterparts.”

• “The article has produced an angry response from two LPGA players, with U.S. Solheim Cup 2019 member Marina Alex writing in a tweet that Mell should be cautious of ever asking either team member for a quote in future, while subsequently describing his criticism as “a bit discriminatory.”

Full piece.

• “After the Wyndham Championship in early August, Champ’s coach Sean Foley was philosophical about the player’s struggles and emphasized it was still early on the steep learning curve of playing on Tour.”

• “Golf is not about the guy who is happiest. It’s about the guy who can endure the most disappointment and still get up the next day and keep doing it.”

Full piece.

Full piece.

• Good stuff from Paul Sullivan at Golf.com discussing a matter of no small importance…”But at many golf clubs that maintain caddie programs, the loopers look a bit different: shorter, scrawnier, less savvy but hopefully inquisitive and friendly. That’s because most club caddies, particularly in the peak summer months, are drawn from the ranks of local high school and college kids. And for good reason. The club needs strong, seasonal workers. For the young caddie, it’s a pretty good summer gig: You get to work outside, earn cash, meet people who might one day help you land an internship or job. Plus, if your boss is a jerk, you get a new one the next day.”

• “But member and looper have helped each other in a more long-lasting way for the past century, in the form of scholarship money. National caddie scholarship funds, combined with thousands of individual club programs, now award tens of millions of dollars each year to boys and girls who work at golf courses. The fall is the time to apply. The impact is meaningful. The Evans Scholars Program, the granddaddy of caddie scholarships, last year awarded $24 million in full scholarships and housing at 18 colleges to 985 caddies. Some $14 million of that comes from Evans alums giving back, with another $10 million from 34,000 golfers making small donations.”

Full piece.

• “The incident occurred during the 16th hole on Sunday, where according to the AFP, the sound of a cellphone camera put the Tour money leader off his drive.”

• “The distraction led to an errant drive from Kim, who reacted by flipping his middle finger to the crowd. Check out the incident here.”

• “The 29-year-old went on to win the tournament and apologized swiftly afterwards. Kim then attended an emergency meeting with the KPGA and made a further public apology where the teary-eyed golfer knelt and asked for forgiveness.”

• “However, the KPGA decided to slap Kim with a three-year suspension from the Tour and a fine of 10 million won (U.S. $8,350).”