Author: Ron Varrial

Watching this year’s Ryder Cup through the fog of too little sleep and the sputtering pace brought on by epic rain made for quite an experience. When it was all said and done, and I’d caught my breath from a dazzling final day of singles matches, I realized there was plenty to take away.

From the telling difference between the captains, to the way certain players stepped to the forefront on the biggest stage and in the most crucial situations, we can draw conclusions that will last far longer than Europe’s champagne hangover.

Continue reading “Lessons from the 2010 Ryder Cup”

The Americans have the top two players in the world, but Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are anything but Ryder Cup stars. Through their careers, they’ve never won this bi-annual event outside of America. Can an injection of young blood carry the U.S.?

Or will Colin Montgomerie’s crew – favored by the bookmakers, by the way – put on a winning team effort at Celtic Manor?

Continue reading “Ryder Cup 2010 Staff Predictions”

I’ve learned a few lessons since taking on the Thrash Talk column at the start of the 2010 season. The one you guys have driven home the hardest is that Steve Stricker’s got a lot of defenders out there. I know because each time I call him boring, Señor Snooze, or drier than white bread, a commenter reminds me that I’m an idiot.

As I started looking at the field for this week’s Tour Championship, I realized that I’ve got a snap judgment of each guy in the field. Are they compelling, engaging, exciting? Do they move the needle? Say their name and is it goosebumps or yawns?

Put it all together and here you have it, the FedExCup Top 30, as they rack up in what I best describe as the “It” Index.

Continue reading “Forget the $10 Million, Who’s Going to Move the Needle?”

The idea is beautiful in its simplicity, and genius in how many layers it can peel back. It’s called the Forward Tees Tournament and it’s taking place next weekend at your home course. Just as the name says, everyone plays from the shortest set of tees their home course provides. Before you head out, you post your expectations.

I call tell you from experience, it’s going to open your eyes. And maybe not in a good way.

I’d like to call the FTT less of a golf skills event and more of a golf intervention. Stripped of a big course rating, a yardage that measures near 7,000, and standing where Mr. and Mrs. Havercamp normally tee off, you’ve got to be oozing confidence. I know I was. Until I realized all the flaws that show up from the tips just might rear their heads from the senior tees.

Continue reading “I Took the Forward Tees Challenge”

I’m baffled by all the negative press the FedExCup gets. As a golf fan, why wouldn’t I want an extra month of meaningful golf, with the best players on the PGA Tour competing for a huge purse, and bringing golf to some of the biggest media markets in the country?

For years, the golf season effectively started at the Masters and ended at the PGA. But the introduction of the PGA playoffs offers up golf straight through September.

Continue reading “Loving the Much Maligned PGA Playoffs”

You won’t hear me saying the PGA is the forgotten major ever again, not after the 2010 rendition served up the most exciting tournament of the season. From the breaking news before play even began to the statement made by a crop of young soon-to-be superstars, there was so much to love even before you add in the biggest rules blunder of our generation.

A sensational course setup that encouraged risk-reward golf proved that a links-style design that looks about as authentic as a Disney World jungle can still provide the stage for exciting, compelling, nail-biting golf.

Whistling Straits and the PGA of America put on such a memorable tournament, even the bland as white bread champion couldn’t spoil the week.

Continue reading “Birdies, Blunders Create Year’s Best Tourney: PGA 2010”

Woe is Tiger, he’s coming off his worst tournament as a professional, he’s barely going to qualify for the FedEx Cup, and he’ll likely need to be a Ryder Cup captain’s pick. He’s struggling so badly, even the bookmakers have dropped him to double digit odds to win (12-1).

Woe is Phil, he’s had a summer full of chances to take over as the world’s number one golfer, yet balky play and a bout of psoriatic arthritis have kept him in his comfortable spot of second banana. He’s got a major on his 2010 resume, but that’s really the only highlight of his season.

With the game’s elite struggling (including world number three Lee Westwood, who withdrew with a leg injury), is now the time Steve Stricker steps to the forefront, in his home state to boot? Will it be one of the upstarts such as Rory McIlroy, Ryo Ishikawa or Ricky Fowler?

Continue reading “Staff Predictions: PGA Championship 2010”

Going low is all the rage, as the magic number has been achieved or threatened near weekly this summer. It was fun at first, but now it’s obscene. There’s no question the spate of birdie binges is a result of a concerted effort to inject life into the low-level Tour stops. We all know how good these guys are. How about a bit of a test tossed into their 18-hole afternoons?

As with all sports, golf’s all about the drama. When the world’s best are dueling down the stretch, that’s exciting. When they’re facing the challenge of battling themselves, holding a big lead or charging from behind, there’s a story to be told, a reason to root. But when the game is lacking any compelling story lines, what’s left? Who can make 10 birdie putts vs. who can make 11 birdie putts? It’s fake, it’s a fraud, it’s manufactured drama.

Continue reading “Manufactured Drama: The Tour’s Unhealthy Obsession With “Going Low””