FarWest

JP must have had the day off from carrying his bag to count his money. Rory confirmed in a Twitter Q&A; that he's on the full 10% cut, making $140k on Sunday. Nice money.

The problem I see most often isn't the length of time that players spend over their shots, its the fact that they are not ready to play when their turn comes around. They haven't moved to their ball, or haven't selected a club even if they are third or fourth to play. High handicappers pacing out yardages when for the most part they dont know how far they hit each club anyway, and can't hit a consistent distance often enough is another bugbear of mine, along with the mimicry of Pro's habits of taking off and putting on gloves, moving their tee around teeboxes incessantly or making multiple practise swings. Did I mention that slow plays drives me insane?

I think that McIlroy will benefit hugely from having to play so much golf last week. His schedule at this time of year over the past few years has been patchy, playing one or two tournaments then disappearing for three or four weeks. I think he benefits from having a few tournaments on the bounce as we quite often see with him later in the year, and last week was like two weeks golf squeezed into one. He' only 26, in incredible shape, so physically it shouldnt knock anything out of him, and he's shown with successive wins in the past that the pressure of winning helps rather than hinders him. His game wasn't there last week, and the matchplay format undoubtedly helped cover a few flaws, especially with his short irons, but he's got a Tiger like winners mentality and I think hell get better this week. It will be fascinating to watch him play alongside Spieth, and my spot on the sofa has been reserved for the weekend.

Most unforgiving golf course I've ever seen at a regular tour event. No rough, fairly short, but once you strayed off line you were going to pay a penalty, it was just a question of how much you had to pay. I find it quite frustrating in most events, both Euro and US, that players can miss a fairway by twenty yards and end up in trees, but regularly can still have a shot to the green. On that course you needed to have a chainsaw in the bag if you even went a yard into the jungle, so when people are talking about restrictin the bombers perhaps instead of growing up the rough and looking at 8000 yard courses they might stop manicuring the tree line.

Agree totally with this. The thing that struck me when watching Tiger hacking around was how uncommitted he was to his shots. He seemed to be decelerating into most of them, and then occasionally over compensating on the next chip, and skulling it through the green. I also agree with Mickelson that chipping technique is completely separate from golf swing, and for this reason am highly sceptical of Tigers excuse about being caught between swing patterns. It seems to me to be about loss of confidence and focus in what he's attempting to do.

I think the consistency issue has been put to bed over the past year to be honest. Go onto the OGWR site and look at his record in the past year and reassess your somewhat outdated view about Rory's streakiness. Having said that I dont think that Rory has attained the level of greatness that Tiger achieved at the same early age so any comparison is pointless at this stage. However to dismiss the possibility of him doing so in the future is equally pointless, simply because to expect that their respective careers will be linear is ridiculous. For instance, Tiger last won a Major since he was 32, an age when Mickelson, Scott and quite a few others won their first ones, so it would be reasonable to expect that Rory's window of opportunity to accumulate wins will be much longer than Tigers, and therefore he doesnt need to win them at the same pace. You also can't ignore the probability that McIlroy, through simple genetics, has matured physically more slowly than Tiger, and we've seen how he has developed physically in the past couple of years, with a consequent transformation in his consistency of excellence. Or it might all be bo****ks, and Tiger might be considered by all future generations to be 10 times the player Rory was. We might know in 15 or 20 years.

Talk about clutching at straws, reducing the assessment a 25 year old multiple major winner's career down to a single round. You couldn't make it up. Its not that long ago that some were clinging to the "fact" that he couldn't contend in tournaments unless he had his A game, and now that he has shown that he can grind out good scores despite not being anywhere near top form we now move on to the next course in a moveable feast of criteria by which he should be judged. I'm sure that if he wins today you'll have a new yardstick of greatness ready by this evening.

I'd imagine that a huge factor in Gallacher's selection, outside of the fact that he only missed out on automatic selection by a sliver, was his ability to put in a performance like last weekend when under enormous pressure. Apparently McGinley spelled out his requirements for each of the contenders a couple of weeks ago, and only Gallacher responded in the required manner. Donald was pitiful at the DB, and in the preceding weeks, and can have no complaints about being left out, while Westwood didn't even make it there, so I reckoned Molinari had a big chance to be picked, but he putted very poorly. Poulter showed some decent form last weekend, and was always going to get in the side anyway as the European talisman, so it came down to Westwood and Molinari, and it looks like McGinley went with experience and track record in the RC. He had also spoken about Westwoods influence in the team room, and his ability to pull out big performances, so its hard to argue against his selection, especially when all the other options had such big question marks over them.

Be careful what you wish for. They had Bubba miced up in the Grand Slam of Golf in 2012, and he whined his way through the round. By the end of the round it was like listening to nails being dragged across a blackboard. Even Harrington began to grate.

That's true, but I suspect that if he was throwing tantrums we might have seen more of him for entertainment value alone. I never thought I'd be a Reed apologist, but I thought his fist pump at the last was worthy of comment. He does himself no favours with his perceived arrogance, but hopefully he'll learn from his mistakes.

I have to say that I thought he handled todays disaster with more class than I thought him capable of. He had one of those days where every poor shot turned into a catastrophe, getting buried in faces of bunkers rather than falling back onto the flat. We've all had days like that, and I'm not sure that I was in the mood to fist pump anyone at the end od it, as Reed did with his caddy after bogeying 18. He has an unfortunate face, which along with his ill considered remark about being in the top 5, makes him very easy to dislike, but I thought, from the limited amount we sawof him today, that he dealt with it well.

Bernard Gallagher, another who could readily described as a journeyman pro, has been Europes geatest captain, and Nick Faldo, narguably Europes greatest player,has quite easily been Europes least competent captain, so I think you might be somewhat unaware of the qualities required to do both jobs. McGinley, despite being a journeyman pro, has been a major force in the European game over the past 15 years off the course, and has done his apprenticeship for this job over a number of years, with 3 spells of duty as vice captain at the Rc, and a couple of years as captain of the GB&I; team in the Seve trophy. He is also hugely respected by the players, and not just the Irish, as evidenced by their support when Monty made a late run for the position last year. As for having to go down the list to find a captain, you must be taking the piss. There is a queue going around the block of far better rated current and past players for the Euro captaincy in the next 10 years. He is a guy of the the highest integrity, as I experienced almost 30 years ago when I caddied for him at an amateur tournament at my club, when he called attention to a possible infringent when he was leading a very highly regarded tournament (Robert Allenby finished third that year, and past winners include, McIlroy, Harrington et al). It was a possible infringement that no one else could have been aware of as he was chipping from trees next to a green in front of maybe 20 or 30 people, in fact I was standing nearest to him and I wasn't aware of it. I've met him since, and in fact attended a corporate day late last year where he spoke, and he is one of the strongest, most confidet, andbyet likeable guys you'll ever meet in gold. Underestimate him at your peril.

I've always thought Player to be an insufferable bore and a shameless egotist. I saw him a few weeks ago chalenging a Sky contributor to try to match his sit up count, and whie its impressive that a man of his age is so fit its not unreasonable to expect that he would also have learnt some humility and graciousness. What he thinks are fortright views and bluntness are quite often boorish and offensive insults.

I'm in the group of guys who previously thought he was all about hype and gaudy clothes, but I've developed a real respect for him as a golfer and a person, to the exrent that I wouldnt have been too upset if he'd beaten McIlroy on Sunday. Believe me, as a fan who's followed Rory at amateur tournaments in Ireland since he was 14, that is a huge swing, but I do believe he is very good for golf and will only improve under Butch. Anyone who can putt so unerringly from 6-8 feet under pressure will always be a threat.

I think they're trying to sell hats rather than make him look cool. As an old fogie they look ridiculous to me, but the reality is that generation Y love that look. They dress Tiger to sell goods to people like me.

I think a lot of people are ignoring the role of vested interests in building and promoting the brand. Its not just through his golf performances that Rory will become a generally recognised figure outside the core golfing community. Already this weekend posters are complaining about the saturation coverage of the Omega commercial, and Nike will now kick into overdrive with their own brand of marketing as they see the Tigers decline as an opportunity to promote the new poster boy. Its also in the interest of the golf channels to hype him into outer space because their big draw is no longer competitive, at least in the short term. If Rory holds up his end of the bargain by continuing to win, then those vested interests will ensure his elevation to super stardom, regardless of where he comes from, quite simply because it is in their own best interests.

I think that with the quality at the top of the leaderboard only players at about 9 or10 under at the end of the third round will have any chance of winning tomorrow. There are at least 5 guys there who are capable of throwing a 65 or 66 at the board today in soft conditions, and youd bet on at least two of them achieving it, so the leading score could be anything from -14 to -12 this evening. The likes of Scott, Garcia, and Rose have way too much to do imo.

I think physical maturity is another factor you can put in there. With a relatively undiversified gene pool until very recently we Irish tend to mature physically in our early to mid 20s, and are at a significant disadvantage in some sports, especially power sports such as rugby, at youth level. Looking at recent photos of Rory, he seems to have bridged that gap in the past 12 months, and I think that, as well as a a greater focus and workrate, will see a far greater level of consistency. I also can't help but think that Tigers comments are motivated by a realisation that maybe Rory could actually be the real deal, as his attempt to place Rory in the Phil category of occasional brilliance but ultimately flawed doesnt really hold much water. Phil arrived on tour with even more hype than Rory, but had to wait until his early thirties before winning his first major, whereas Rory already has three at 25. Hardly a justifiable comparison really.

I'm curious as to why anyone would believe that the match should have been called in on the 18th when the result of the competition hadn't been decided. Europe had retained the cup, but the record book would show a tie. It would have been different if the last match was tied, but it is inconceivable that a full point would be conceded with the overall result in the balance. As has been said Tiger had ample opportunity to concede the putt before he missed his own putt. To be honest its beginning to look like a desperate race for the high moral ground, especially as even Westwood agreed that Kuchar was well within his rights to ask him to putt out from a foot or so for the win on 16. I was amazed Woods conceded that putt, and really can't understand why he did it even after his comments on the matter.

Thanks for all the comments. I have thought about replacing the shaft with a mid kick shaft to get lower launch, but its a draw bias head that I got to correct a very destructive slice. My golf has improved considerably over the past couple of years after I made a conscious decision to play more, and I think I can look at a different driver. I played this morning with a G5 that a mate lent me, and if anything I'm hitting the ball with a slight fade, and also getting 10 yards or so extra distance without a draw bias, so it confirmed that I can move away from it. I like the look of the i20, and being a bit of a Ping disciple I think I'll go and get fitted properly. I've discovered that as part of our club fees that we actually have insurance against club breakage so it looks like I'll get half the price of anew toy from them. All in all not a bad result. Thanks again.

I had a Caddyshack moment yesterday playing in an Open Competition at my club. Playing off 10 I had just parred the 10th, after birdyin 8 and 9,to get to level par for my round when I took my driver out of my bag going to the 11th tee, only for the head to fall off. When I looked I discovered the shaft had snapped about a foot up from the head. I don't have an idea how it happened because I'd put it in the bag after hitting a great drive up 10 and I didn't notice any problem with it. Anyway, my dilemna is what to replace my beloved G15 driver with. My handicap has come down in the last couple of years, largely because of my improved driving with the G15, but I need to find a few extra yards off the tee, and of course I want to take the lazy option through club technology rather than working harder on the range. I'm 52, fairly fit, but with a medium clubhead speed, being more a Luke Donald than a Bubba Watson. I've considered the RBZ, although I hate the white head, and the Callaway Razr Fit, but I'm interested in hearing some suggestions. I liked the G15 initially because of its forgivenes, but my game has improved considerably over the last year.

About 25 years ago Robert Allenby was still an amateur and played in an amateur strokeplay tournament in my club in Ireland, playing with a mate of mine in the second last pairing in the final round. My friend told me afterwards that Allenby never once spoke to him the whole way round, and didn't so much as acknowledge his existence. He described him fairly succintly as a "dickhead". A player at the opposite end of the spectrum was Paul McGinley. I caddied for him in one round in the same tournament, and he was one of the nicest guys you could meet. What really impressed me was that on one occasion he knocked his approach into trees next to the green, and in addressing the ball he cracked a twig on a fallen tree. He was well out of sight of everyone, with no more than a couple of people following his round, but he insisted on bringing it to the attention of the referee, and getting a ruling on whether he had incurred a penalty. As it happened he hadn't, and went on to win the tournament, but I was really blown away by his temperament and integrity. I really hope he gets the Ryder Cup captaincy in two years time as expected.

When I started playing, almost 30 years ago, anything over 3 hours was considered unacceptable, but nowadays it seems that 4 hours is the miimum time allowed, and 4 1/2 hours can be acceptable, even on the shorter courses. Although I would be considered a quick player I find that I now fall into the 4 hour tempo, and struggle to play quicker than that in a fourball, even though the guys I play with regularly are decent mid handicappers ( 8 to 12). A lot of the slow play I've encountered is generally down to poor etiquette or poor manners. Pacing around greens, and marking even tap ins drives me insane, as does the failure of the first guy to hole out to pick up the flag. Leaving bags in front, or on the wrong side , of greens, are other pet hates. I can just about tolerate slow play on a fine day, but in poor weather I can get very cranky about it.

I play on the northwest coast of Ireland, and I'm looking at the temps you're experiencing with envy. After this mornings round I think I'll be putting my clubs away for the winter, even though the fact that the two courses I'm a member of, being links, allow all year golf. I went off this morning to play in my regular Sunday fourball in cool but sunny weather, but by the time we hit off we were in wet gear. We had our first shower going down the first, but by the time we got to the second the sun was back out and we took off our jackets. We played the second with a strong wind off our left but helping slightly, but by the time we got to the third tee, which plays in the same direction, jackets were back on, and the wind was equally strong, but now blowing off our right and in to us. It was schizophrenic weather even by Irish standards, and continued right through the round. At one stage I was preparing to hit my approach to the 6th and had the wind straight into my face, but when I looked 250 yards to my right to the 18th green, the flag there was blowing equally hard but in exactly the opposite direction, We managed to put our wet gear back in the bags after 10 holes and enjoyed the rest of the round in pleasant sunshine until the 18th, when we got hit by what could be charitably be described as mini typhoon, that happened so quickly that we barely got our jackets on before being soaked to the skin in two minutes flat. Umbrellas are as much use as chocolate teapots in these conditions so we had no protection. So, in answer to your question, yes, my golf season is almost over, although this could change as, being Ireland, we could just as easily get a heat wave in the next month.

I thought McIlroy's performance on Sunday was close to flawless, especially given the quality of the leaderboard and how compacted it was. The manner in which he constructed his score and gave the other players no errors to encourage them was hugely impressive, and quite Tiger like. However his play on Friday and Saturday, after an excellent display on Thursday, while flawed in terms of ball striking, was probably more heartening because in the past he'd have probably played himself out of the tournament. As he said after Saturday's round, he turned a 76 into a 68. In the past he'd have probably turned a 76 into a 79, given how poorly he was striking the ball, and how quickly he let his head drop when things went against him. I think the last two weeks, because he certainly didn't play his best at the Deutsche Bank, show a growing maturity and a rare ability on Tour to win without playing his best. Given his recent rate of improvement Tiger will undoubtedly play better than he did last week, and I think he'll need to against the new improved Rory, because he's showing similar rates of improvement in my opinion, and he's starting from a higher base.