For comments: ben.alberstadt@golfwrx.com

Good Thursday morning, golf fans, as we continue coverage of the build up to a hotly anticipated Ryder Cup.

1. McIlroy: Back not 100%, but I’m ready for Ryder Cup

Golf Channel staff report…”After East Lake, McIlroy didn’t hit balls again for five days to rest, recover and receive treatment. He practiced last Saturday, before departing for London, and then hit balls again Tuesday ahead of the Irish Open. He said the injury was “not at all” like the problems he has endured in the past and is “totally fine.”

• “I would say it’s at 90%, 95%,” McIlroy told reporters Wednesday at the K Club. “It’s not 100% better. I just happened to take care of it a little bit, but it’s not preventing me from doing anything I want to do. Just being a little mindful, I guess. I’m a bit limited in what I’ve done, but I sort of needed to rest it and take care of that as the priority.”

• “It’s an important few weeks for McIlroy, who is returning to the K Club for the first time since his stirring home victory there in 2016. Next week he will scout Marco Simone with the rest of the European Ryder Cup team before heading back to London for the BMW PGA Championship, the DP World Tour’s flagship event. Then, after a bachelor party in Mykonos and a few days of practice, it’s time for the matches in Rome.”

2. Meronk on Ryder Cup snub

Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner…”Someone had to be the odd man out, and this time, it was the 30-year-old from Poland.”

• “To be honest, I was in shock,” Meronk told reporters Wednesday ahead of the Irish Open, where he is the defending champion. “I was expecting to have a decent chance to be on the team, but it was a quite shocking call, yeah.”

• “When asked if Donald gave him a reason why he didn’t receive one of the six captain’s picks, Meronk said he wasn’t sure.”

• “When he said I’m not going, I kind of stopped listening,” Meronk said. “It was a big shock, and I didn’t really focus after that.”

3. Westwood: Meronk should consider himself unlucky

Mike Hall for Golf Monthly…”Donald’s decision to omit Meronk has sparked plenty of debate on social media and elsewhere and Westwood has now offered his views on the subject.”

• “The former World No.1 wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Just got in from playing golf at @CloseHouseGolf and catching up with all the ‘experts’ opinions on here. I’d just say that 3rd on the @DPWorldTour points list, 1st and 2nd in 2 outings at the RC venue. @AdrianMeronk should consider himself unlucky to not get picked.”

• “Of Donald’s wildcard picks, Straka, Hojgaard and Aberg are all newcomers, and Westwood went on to explain that he thinks picking a fourth in Meronk would have been too risky.”

4. Lowry: You’ll see what I’m made of

BBC report…”The Irishman, who has not posted a top-10 finish since February, was picked by Europe captain Luke Donald on Monday.”

• “LIV Golf player Richard Bland has said Poland’s Adrian Meronk deserved a pick ahead of Lowry, but the 36-year-old says he is “confident” in his ability.”

• “Well, people have their opinion,” said 2019 Open champion Lowry. “Adrian has had a great year and obviously he’s unfortunate to miss out, but somebody has to miss out.

• “I’m not going to sit here and disagree with Luke Donald. It was his decision at the end of the day, if he thinks that somebody else is better for this team than he [Meronk] was.”

5. Who Rickie wants to be paired with

From a conversation with Golfweek’s Adam Schupak…“I think I can pair with just about anyone. I play a lot with Patrick Cantlay at home. He and Xander are a token pairing, but maybe if they sit him for a session. I’d love to play with [Brian] Harman. I’ve always loved his game and respected what he’s accomplished. We go back to junior golf. Max [Homa] is someone that is easy to pair with. He just hits it straight and makes putts. But overall, I feel like I can go out and mesh with just about anyone.”

6. JT making changes

Our Matt Vincenzi…”As he prepares for Rome, Thomas has made a significant change in his team. The 30-year-old is no longer working with his putting coach, John Graham, whom he began working with in 2020.”

• “According to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, JT wants to “own his swing”, and is working mostly by himself on both his swing and his putting. He is still working with his father, Mike Thomas, in a limited capacity, but is mostly on his own these days.”

• “Lewis added that Thomas doesn’t seem to be interested in adding a new coach.”

• “I have not heard any rumors or any actual facts that he is trying to work with anyone else whether it be on the greens or on the driving range.”

7. NBC to continue plentiful college golf coverage

Cameron Jourdan for Golfweek…”After a busy spring that saw nearly 150 hours of college golf coverage shown live by the NBC Sports family of networks, a similar schedule is coming this fall.”

• “The company announced its fall coverage of college golf on TV and streaming will nearly double from last year. This week marked the first event, the Folds of Honor Collegiate, with coverage on Golf Channel and Peacock.”

• “Then in October, there will be four events, including one at St. Andrews. First is the Blessings Collegiate in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Oct. 2-4 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. ET. The following week, it’s the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas with coverage Monday, Oct. 9 from 5-8 p.m. ET and Oct. 10-11 from 4-7 p.m. ET.”

• “Coverage then heads across the pond for the St. Andrews Collegiate, where it will be on Golf Channel from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. ET on Oct. 23-25. Then, it’s the East Lake Cup, Oct. 30-Nov. 1, at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta from 3-6 p.m. ET.”

• “The final event, the Showcase at Cedar Crest in Dallas, Nov. 13-15, from 2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. ET.”

8. Nick Dunlap, Bobby Jones, and the Old Course

Garrett Morrison for the Fried Egg…”These challenges have always rubbed certain players the wrong way. On Sunday, UK Golf Guy overheard 19-year-old Nick Dunlap, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, grumbling about “a course where good shots are penalized and bad shots are rewarded.” This is a common critique of the Old Course, typically leveled by golfers who have rigid notions of what constitutes a “good shot.”

• “But I don’t want to judge Dunlap too harshly, at least at this point in his life. He’s the same age as Bobby Jones was at the 1921 Open, when Jones took four hacks to escape from the Hill bunker and tore up his scorecard.”
• “Later, Jones would write, “I considered St. Andrews among the very worst courses I had ever seen, and I am afraid I was even disrespectful of its difficulties. The maddening part of the whole thing was that, while I was certain the course was easy, I simply could not make a good score. Self complacently, I excused myself by thinking the course was unfair, that the little mounds and undulations should not be there, and because my shots were deflected continually away from the hole, I regarded myself as unlucky.”

• “The next year, Jones would participate in the first Walker Cup, held at National Golf Links, a course full of adoring tributes to the Scottish game. When he played the National’s 13th hole, an Eden template, maybe he took a moment to look at C.B. Macdonald’s version of the Hill bunker and reflect on his actions the previous summer. In 1926, Jones returned to St. Andrews. For the rest of his life, he loved the course more than any other.”

9. Death, taxes…