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A View From the Couch of The Solheim & FedEx Cup

by Jeff Skinner

We had some great golf and plenty more on this weekend.

The Tour Championship was excellent but Steve Sands doing his best “Tim Russert imitation” with that white board all day was so annoying

With Suzann Pettersen and Michelle Wie going at it like two heavyweights in the singles we hardly saw any of the match.  That’s just bad.

Rich Lerner had an heartfelt piece on Sophie Gustafson and her stuttering problem. She was amazing, on and off the course.

Rosie Jones may have jinxed her American team.  During the singles when things were looking bright for the U.S. she said she was feeling good about her team’s position.  Should have given the Euros a little credit and not started to count those chickens.

That Jack Nicklaus course at Killeen Castle looked like it could be a real beast.  That scene of eighteen with the castle as a background was amazing.

Nothing compares to watching the passion and intensity of these team matches.  Some “Cups” are better than others but all of them are filled with passion and drama.

Bill Haas wins the Tour Championship.  Bill Haas wins the FedEx Cup.  Bill Haas makes one of the best shots of the season.  He steps to the awards ceremony not knowing he won the ten million.  What does that tell Mr. Finchem about the playoffs?

Another belly putter wins on tour.  It’s more than a fad.

Both the Euros and the Americans had great uniforms, and they were waterproof too.

Hopefully Ryann O’Toole will have some selective memory. She played excellent golf in her first Solheim Cup.  She was a rookie in name only and a star for the Americans.

Some rookies on the European Team certainly made a name for themselves.  Caroline Hedwall and Azahara Munoz earned three points each.  Christel Boeljon earned two points.  And even though Melissa Reid only managed one point in four sessions she looks like a real player.

Rosie Jones should be thinking about these poor decisions.  Letting Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford talk her into sending them back out as a team when she wanted to break them up.  She should have, they got waxed.  She sent rookie Vicky Hurst out with Brittany Lincicome who’s game went south and couldn’t help the rookie.  Brittany Lang still played after going 0-2 but Christina Kim sat.  Kim was 1-0-1 and should have played more.

Jones made plenty of good calls too, like teaming Lewis with O’Toole to shake Stacy up.  She rode her horses, Pressel, Morgan and Kerr just like she needed too.  Kim and O’Toole was a perfect pairing.  After she saw O’Toole performing she kept her out there.

As far as The FedEx Cup Playoffs, they had an exciting finish.  Bill Haas looks like a great guy from a wonderful family.  But I can’t help but think how many viewers the PGA Tour lost by playing on an NFL Sunday.  It doesn’t matter what formula they use or where they play or how many tens of millions the check is worth, the NFL rules on Sunday.  That’s just the way it is.

 

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One Comment

  1. Delighted for the Europeans and how their rookies performed so well with no fear whatsoever. Found it fascinating how women’s golf can attract crowds similar to the men’s game, with the crowd being so lively.

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