By ED TRAVIS
Colin Mongomery, formerly one of the DP World Tour’s top players and a winning Ryder Cup captain, has a history of saying things that would be better left unsaid. We all remember his hyperbolic exaggerations about the Callaway Big Bertha driver back in the early 90s all the time forgetting to remind listeners he was a paid endorser for Callaway.
Over the years he has continued what some describe as a “hammy” presence in front of the fourth estate and he’s done it again with comments concerning Tiger Woods. Before the first shot was struck at Royal Troon Monty said, “Aren’t we there? I’d have thought we were past there. There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go.”
Really? Shouldn’t Montgomery pay homage to Woods is one of the primary reasons fans follow golf? Has he forgotten the impact Woods had on the money all the play-for-pay guys are now taking home?
I guess not.
Woods rejoinder at his pre-Open press conference was a putdown of the first order. “As a past champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60,” Woods said. “Colin’s not. He’s not a past champion, so he’s not exempt. So, he doesn’t get the opportunity to make that decision. I do.”
And in case it slipped your mind, Woods has 15 majors and 82 PGA Tour wins while Montgomery has zero of both.
Ryder Cup Questions
The questions have already started. Will members of the Saudi PIF backed LIV golf circuit be eligible to play on either U.S. or European Ryder Cup teams? U.S. captain Keegan Bradley gets six captain’s picks and has said he wants the best American team possible including the likes of U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson who defected from the PGA Tour to play for LIV.
The Ryder Cup is run not by the PGA Tour but the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe which is a combination of the PGA European Tour Group (DP World Tour), Confederation of PGAs of Europe and PGA of Great Britain and Ireland in a 60-20-20 proportion.
The complication arises because the primary selection criterion for Ryder Cup play is the standing in Official World Golf Rankings and those that gave up their PGA Tour membership to play in the Saudi PIF/LIV events for hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses do not earn points except for major championships.
Indeed, their league withdrew the application to be able to earn OWGR points for the 54-hole limited field events.
Add to that former DP World players such as Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia have been fined by that tour and have amassed hundreds of thousands in fines for playing in conflicting events. This is a touchy issue and would need to be resolved for them to be picked for the European Team.
Can you spell convoluted mess?
Short Putts
OWGR number one Scottie Scheffler jumped into the ball roll back debate speaking about Royal Troon’s hole number 8, the Postage Stamp, at 123-yards he said in his pre-Open press conference, “I think great little, short holes like that are fun. I think it’s an underrated skill for guys nowadays to be able to control your ball, and I think it’s something we need to encourage in our game, not just building golf courses longer and longer.”
After announcing a record purse for The Open retiring Royal and Ancient CEO Martin Slumbers noted golf’s says the governing body is concerned with golf’s money problem. With the four majors this year having funded to the amount of $77.5 million he said, “We remain concerned about the impact substantial increases in men’s professional prize money are having on the perception of the sport and its long-term financial sustainability. We are determined to act with the interests of the global game in mind as we pursue our goal of ensuring golf continues to thrive in 50 years’ time.” Funny he didn’t mention the elephant in the room…Saudi PIF/LIV.
Eighteen LIV golfers qualified for The Open with seven, including Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith missing the cut at +6. Of those playing the final two days only Jon Rahm managed a top-ten at -1 eight strokes behind Xander Schauffele. Dustin Johnson was a T32 at +6 and Bruce Koepka a T43 at +8.
