Ya feel me?
A RAGING RYDER CUP HANGOVER
The fire at a Marco Simone hospitality tent on Thursday was an apt representation of my feelings coming out of Ryder Cup week. (Note—no injuries reported.)
The content from Team Europe was incredible, from Tyrell Hatton being the last man standing after the night festivities, Justin Rose on the mic doing karaoke in Paris (for some reason), and the Euro bus as the team celebrated with the vigor of a high school football team on homecoming.
And for Team US—it was Patrick Cantlay asking for money and doing his best Patrick Reed impression. (After all the slow play stuff with Brooks, Cantlay is quickly rising the charts of players leaning into the villain role. And, honestly, the league kind of needs it.) Plus, we played some blame game with Ricky conceding a questionable putt and Zach Johnson standing by his approach to team building.
But the fact was—Team US had no vibe! It read mostly as a group of individuals, some with vibe, but others just kinda there. While Team Europe had such a deep pride and camaraderie to them.
And they had these guys...
These are the Guardians of the Cup.
I'm woefully late to the party in recognizing this group of Team Europe fans who, every Ryder Cup, create a custom collection of songs for every single member of the team. Most are to the tune of famous songs with edited lyrics to fit the player.
"Our inability to sing is no obstacle to our ambition!"
I mean it's gem after gem and I encourage you to click through the image above for the full team lyrics but here is a taste—Rory's song to the tune of That's Amore.
When he walks to the tee he makes Europe happy, that's our Rory,
When he splits the fairway we all shout out Olé, that's our Rory,
When they offer him cash he says Go kiss my a$$, that's our Rory,
When he's finished in Rome, he will bring the Cup home, that's our Rory!
It is interesting that I find this so compelling while the holiday cards from relatives with 3.5 minute long custom lyrics sung to various Christmas carols recapping their year so cringe-y. But hey, I'm a deep and complicated guy.
One more Solheim nugget, too.
FEEL THE DIFFERENCE
Was perusing GOLF.com's Solheim and Ryder Cup recaps and had to flag this X/Tweet from James Colgan.
It's a screencap of his Whoop monitor as he stood on the first tee at the Solheim Cup. His adrenaline was pumpin' so hard that it registered him actually exercising for almost 40 minutes.
Ryder Cup had to be the same. WM Phoenix Open, too. But goes to show the level of unimaginable pressure that comes with performing in those sorts of settings. Not to mention then imagining a football player in these college stadiums... get out of here.
Meanwhile, I can barely keep a drive in play with my own foursome watching. But if the levels of adrenaline and heart rate is the same—would that technically mean that I actually HAVE felt what it's like? Food for thought.
The GOAT of news leaks
TGL GET THEIR BROADCAST PARTNER
Can we just take a moment and appreciate how well the TGL (Tiger and Rory's new indoor stadium golf league) has scripted these news leaks?
It seems like every other week a new morsel of information, partnership, team announcement, etc drops and gets the golf world talking about their new venture.
Just about the only thing they haven't executed well is updating these damn mock-ups. These Madden '03 level crowd shots aren't doing them any favors—but I digress.
The news drop this week was a doozy. ESPN has signed on as the official broadcast partner of TGL.
And we got a premiere date!
The first match will be Jan. 9 at 9 p.m. ET.—aka the night after the College Football Playoff title game. The second will be a week later at 7 p.m. ET on the night after a "Monday Night Football" wild-card playoff game. Both will be on ESPN and ESPN+.
A preview show will debut on Dec. 30th on ABC. So there's some serious heft behind this push—and notably a far cry from LIV's deal with the CW.
It remains to be seen what the on-screen product will end up being and if you were to believe Reddit and the comments sections—the "die-hard" golf fans are going to hate it. But hey, ya know what, perhaps this isn't meant for die-hard golf fans... ever consider that???
(Please don't start a thread against me, Reddit.)
As the seventh woman to ever do it...
LEXI JOINS THE PGA TOUR
On October 12th, Lexi Thompson will become the seventh woman ever to compete at a PGA Tour event. She earned a sponsor's exemption to play in the Shriner's Childrens Open in Las Vegas.
Lexi's appearance means she joins Babe Didrikson Zaharias (GOAT status), Shirley Spork (namesake of the spoon and fork combo... one would assume), Annika Sörenstam (legend), Suzy Whaley (first female President of the PGA of America), Michelle Wie West (...need we say more...) and Brittany Lincicome (insert fun comment here) as the only women to ever compete at a PGA Tour event.
"I'm hopeful that my ability to play with the men next week at the Shriners Children's Open sends a great message to the young women that you can chase your dream regardless of how hard it is." - Lexi
Love to see it.
Go Lexi!
Is Pebble 7th the best hole-in-one hole ever?
D-WADE FROM DOWNTOWN
Quick story to close us out.
Relative newcomer to golf and somewhat famous basketball player, Dwayne Wade posted his EPIC hole in one on Instagram this week.
The Iconic 7th at Pebble. Possibly the best hole for a hole in one you could imagine. MAYBE the TPC island green? But with the constantly changing wind conditions and intimidating ocean views, Pebble has to be the top spot.
Also, lol at Dwayne using what appear to be normal length clubs. I imagine he got fit for clubs so must be the proper length for him—but come on, that is one TALL dude using one TINY lookin' club.
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