mjtoal

Yes, i do. Thank you for teaching me so much on the subject. Yours is the typical response of someone who has nothing to say. No substance, just personal attacks. Whatever, dude, as you American chaps insist on saying. Golf crowds should applaud good shots, not sulk like schoolgirls when their fallen hero gets his ass handed to him. Again.

Rubbish. You just don't have a coherent answer. I don't give a monkey's about ROY, and it seems neither does Rory, but FWIW I agree with Westwood. The award is a vote, so it is just a popularity contest and an opportunity for the PGA Tour players to show their prejudices. Haven't read it, and at 200+ replies, don't plan to. I assume it is about Gmac being lucky and Tiger going to make a major comeback next year. I was in the US while the Chevron was on, but because it is an irrelevant silly season event, only saw the play-off. Gmac winning it fair and square really stuck in the craw of the commentators announcers, didn't it? A lot of the crowd showed themselves up too with their narrow minded attitudes. As for Tiger, he behaved with a lot of class, but I will not be betting any money on him winning any majors next season. His dominance will never reach its previous peak again.

In fact, the arguments are almost exactly opposite. Westwood is number 1 because his average points score, within the collar and cap of numbers of events and the erosion with time as dictated by the OWGR rules, is higher than anyone elses over the past 2 years. Americans hate that because he is (a) not Tiger, (b) not a PGA Tour member and (c) not American. Fowler is number 1 because he played more events, although scoring less money or points on average per event, than Rory, and including an element of nationalistic jingoism thrown in. Rory's perfermance in the events he played was better. Fowler is a great prospect, but he hasn't won yet, and could be the next David Gossett. Oh, wait, unlike Gossett, Fowler hasn't won yet.

I have played both the South and the North. Neither are in my top 5 courses in San Diego County. As for golf in Surrey/Berks/Oxon, where to start? Sunningdale, The Berkshire, Hankley Common, West Hill, Woking, Worplesdon, Walton Heath are all magnificent sandbelt courses and open to the public. If you know someone who can get you on, Swinley Forest is a classic shorter course, and in Oxon, Huntercombe is a classic old style course with a few design quirks.

I beg to differ on Torrey Pines. It is fairly flat and is most certainly a dull slog. Not anywhere near being a great golf course.

Padraig Harrington's father was a big part of his story, yet he was never seen. His death also passed without much notice. Tiger's PR image was carefully manufactured, and well controlled until it imploded. His philandering was known about in the golfing world from before he was married, but they managed to keep a lid on it. I don't really care except for the hypocrisy. Like other celebs and politicians who get caught with their trousers down, no sympathy for him from me.

I disagree. Tiger and his advisers made his family background part of his brand and therefore everyone' s business. Do you not remember all the coverage of his father, and the hideously tacky Nike commercial tribute when he died? They drew everyone into Tiger's personal life. Now we are expected not to be interested in all that, when we were forced to hear about his upbringing, the story of his father's military career etc etc et bloody cetera. I have no sympathy for rich celebrities who exploit their families then cry privacy when it backfires.

You are a lucky man, geekgolfer.

Brilliant performance by Robert. Showed a lot of style coming back after the St Jude. I played a round with Robert a few yeara back and he was a lovely guy and a pleasure to play with. Sure gave it a smack too.

Gmac's accent causes amusement over here. I hear that at the Ryder Cup, he was being interviewed and the interview was relayed to the crowd and after he started speaking, one wag with a Team Europe cap on started cheering "USA! USA!" and even Gmac had to smile.

A collection of cliches and myths. The only reason the RC was in October was due to the FedEx Trough that the golfer's snouts had been in for several weeks before in a desperate attempt to bolster the post-PGA TV ratings. If Jim Furyk wins it again, they should cancel it altogether. It does rain in the UK and Ireland, but this season gone, I have not had to put on waterproofs once this season. In France you get occasional delays due to strikes, but I have flown through O'Hare and Dulles. I know what delays are all about. I also know how bizarrely accepting the US travelling public is of being mucked around by domestic carriers. Courses getting closed in Ireland? I have never ever heard of anyone I know in Ireland (and I am from there) having a golf game cancelled due to a course being closed by bankruptcy. Few events during the proper season get rained off in Europe. Rain and lightning delays are much more common on the PGA Tour. And I have played Torrey, both courses. That is 11 hours of my life I won't get back. I much prefer Maderas.

Bland and boring? I guess irony is not dead in America. The European Tour venues are much more diverse than the cookie cutter venues used for most US PGA Tour events. Anyone that thinks Wentworth, Golf National de Paris, Valderrama, Emirates, Loch Lomond, Bro Hof Slott, Killarney, Crans sur Sierre, Hilversum, St Andrews are bland and boring is playing a different game from the one I know.

The European Tour coverage is made for people who want to watch golf, not for ADHD cases who get antsy if 2 minutes doesn't pass without an insert brought to you by some corporate sponsor or a tearful piece of nostalgia about the unforgettable 1993 Greater Hartford Classic when Tim Simpson won a tense battle with Dan Pohl, complete with bagpipe music wafting over it.

I am sure Finchem is very worried. The economy is getting any better yet. His star attraction has lost a lot of his gloss, alienated a lot of fans and hasn't won this season. His second biggest star attraction has thrown up over himself a few times when he had a chance to take the top spot. Two non-members have won majors in the US this season and another foreigner in number 1 in the OWGR.

I think this is a smart move by Rory. He knows that his career is only starting and he has plenty of time to build it before committing to the US PGA Tour, if indeed the balance of power does not shift away from the US and make that moot. In the meantime, he can play a limited US schedule, all the majors and WGC events and continue to ascend the World Rankings.