Over the past year, we haven’t done a great job of showcasing the public courses that make up the bulk of America’s golfing landscape.

Introducing, STRAPPED, which will force Randy and Neil to try to explore and highlight these places. And they’ll do it on a budget of $500.

Episode 1 takes us to the heart of Iowa. Catch each part below (we’ll release a new one each Tuesday over the next three weeks).

STRAPPED: Iowa (The Maize Runners)

The pick this month, in honor of another PGA Tour season, is:

Think country-club clinic meets Navy Seals training. I will pay any price, bear any burden, leave my home to follow the seasons, build my own swing studio in the basement, construct a practice green in my backyard. . . . Everything the big boys have access to, I want double. 

Like most amateur golfers, Tom Coyne had often wondered whether the pros won because they were more talented or because they were more obsessed. Overweight and burdened by a 14 handicap, he decided to find out for himself what it takes to play like a pro.



Charting his journey which included hiring top golf gurus such as Dr. Jim Suttie,

 takes readers from the Michelob tournament (a win for Tom) to the Australian Tour, where forty-mile-per-hour winds and a driving rain scare off his Japanese partners. With each chapter, he tracks his weight alongside his handicap, pursuing his dream with a reckless abandon that comes to involve hardcore diets, pricey technology, even psychologists. With echoes of 

 Tom brings his uniquely edgy, deeply human perspective to a game that can simultaneously bring out the best and the worst in everyone who tries to master it.

I first read this book many years ago and look forward to going through it again. It remains instrumental in reinforcing just how good the guys we watch play on television actually are. As the 2018-19 Tour season kicks off, I think this is a great time to read about the journey a good player (and writer!) takes to see just how much he can advance his game in a year’s time. I celebrate all of Tom Coyne’s writing and hope you’ll give this a read, especially if you haven’t yet read anything by Tom.

Selection #5: October 2018

Full disclosure before we get started: My allegiance is to the United States, and 

I am on the record as predicting a United States victory by a margin of 16-12

. I’m not going back on that prediction now that Tiger’s won for the first time in five years. The Americans are a slight betting favorite, and by all accounts, they should be. This is perhaps the strongest team the United States has taken to a Ryder Cup since the expansion of the competition to include all of Europe in 1979.

Nonetheless, this is European Tour blog, so I’m going to take the Stars-and-Stripes-laden aviators off for a while and have some fun letting my imagination run wild about a Team Europe victory.

It me (prior to and immediately after writing this column).

Am I nuts for writing a few thousand words about a completely insane hypothetical? YES! But, if nothing else, this should be a fun exercise in giving the Euros something to hope for and the Yanks something to chew on for the next couple of days. We’ll see how close we are to any of these if Europe ends up holding the Ryder Cup on European soil, as it has done every time hosting since 1993. Let’s go to Crazytown!

The Americans came to play. Webb Simpson gets to hit the opening tee shot and atones for his 2014 sky-ball with a perfectly striped hybrid right down the Av. des Champs-Elysées. He and DJ team up for the opening session against the formidable Rose/Stenson duo. In a back-and-forth match, the Americans get an early 2 up lead. Rose and Stenson battle down the stretch to squeak out a 1 up victory, putting the first full point on the board for the Europeans and quelling any American dreams of setting up a big lead in the opening foursomes session (a la Hazeltine).

The second and third matches are played to half-point draws each, as the teams of Hatton/Fleetwood and Molinari/Noren draw with Mickelson/Fowler and Reed/Spieth, respectively.

In the fourth match, Poulter and McIlroy lose a surprising bout 3&2 to the team of Koepka and Watson, wherein Poulter’s putter never really gets going after Rory leaves him a bunch of 25+ footers due to ongoing struggles with distance control. On the other hand, Brooks comes out of his morning lift feeling “extra swole” and “super jacked,” and Bubba avoids the baguettes and brie–having instead some tasty grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast using flown-in Wonderbread and Kraft singles (shout out Team Chef Mike Ramsey – Jacksonville Golf and Country Club’s finest).

The Euros struggle in this session. Neither Rahm nor Garcia were pleased about sitting out the morning matches, but instead of channeling that frustration into a victory, they run into the high-fivin’, butt-slappin’, Mizzen & Main dancin’ duo of Mickelson and Finau. The Big Tabernacle has no nerves, and rattles off 7 birdies in the first 10 holes en route to a 5&4 victory over the “fiery” Spaniards. We are reminded that they are “fiery” on the broadcast at least twice per hour. Mickelson hits it all over the yard, but instead of looking intently for lost balls in the wispy grasses, he fires up his iPhone mid-round to (1) Periscope Finau’s fourth straight birdie on the 6th hole to take a 4 up lead, and (2) bet the Phil/Finau–Tiger/Bryson–JT/Spieth parlay.

When the parlay hits but you don’t gamble so you just gotta act excited for your partner.

It ends up being a solid bet, as Tiger and Bryson take Olesen and Casey to the woodshed, while #TeamGoodBuddies Spieth and Thomas eek out a close one against Stenson and Rose. Phil is always the smartest guy in the room, and he knew enough not to bet against team “Fleetwood Mac” who provide the loan bright spot in the afternoon by going their own way to win a point against the surprise team of Reed and Rickie, who don’t even want to pretend to like each other long enough to ever be competitive in the duel.

Second Session: EUR 1 – USA 3. Day 1 Overall: EUR 3 – USA 5.

Facing a 2 point deficit, the Europeans put some stallions out in the early morning fourball session. Team Fleetwood Mac continues their dominance, this time against the team of Phil and Rickie. Rory channels those visions from the 2014 PGA Championship of Mickelson and Fowler high-fiving in the group in front of him, which leads to him suddenly finding the center of the club face with a few wedges. Meanwhile, Garcia and Rahm get revenge facing off against Brock Cupcake and Justin Thomas. Team #JupLife skipped leg day, and as a result, the glutes just weren’t getting fully activated. With two blue flags on the board early, a new pairing of Tiger and Reed find a way to gut out a point against Poulter and Casey, but Stenson and Rose are too much for le Artisté and DJ, who prove that opposites do not always attract. The match ends on a sour note when Bryson yells at DJ to “read a fuckin’ book!” after the round so they might have something to talk about next time. DJ does not take that advice. The result is a big session for the Euros and the tide shifting back in their direction.

Third Session: EUR 3 – USA 1. Overall: EUR 6 – USA 6.

The Yanks have a problem. Captain Furyk knows he needs to get Bryson’s mind right–and Cat might be just the medicine. However, he doesn’t want to break up the newfound revelation of Tiger and Reed. What’s more, Tiger didn’t plan on playing two sessions on the same day anyway. This conundrum leads to a pretty heated argument among the vice captains, and it ends with Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar putting their balding heads together to come up with a BRILLIANT(!) solution: sit them both.

With Tiger and Bryson on the pine, the captains feuding, and the Euros with all the momentum, the Americans are reeling. The team of DJ and Webb gets another go of it, but they aren’t able to find the magic they had on Friday morning, and lose a close one 2&1 to Molinari and Noren. Poulter and Casey are back for another round, and this time, it clicks against Thomas and Fowler. Poults gets it going early, draining a long birdie putt on the first and another one on the third. After Casey stripes a drive on the fourth, Poulter steps up and calls in the precision air strike for an eagle from 190 yards out.

Close your eyes for a moment and picture what an eagle by Poulter from 190 in a Ryder Cup would look like. In reality, it is far, far worse than what you’re imagining. His eyes bulging, his chest pounding, his teeth gritting…Poulter lets out a wail that happens to be mic’d up and not caught by the five-second delay. Johnny Miller can only muster a “whoops…sorry ’bout that folks” as Poulter screams, “FUCK YOU, UNCLE SAM, YOU WANKER!” running down the fairway at full sprint speed. The match is over before it begins, and by a margin of 6&5, #TeamJupLife(PartDeux) get dealt an embarrassing defeat. Somewhere, Jose Maria Olazabal is smiling.

Thankfully for USA, the Mickelson and Finau pairing proves to have some juice. This time, it’s Phil doing the heavy lifting, as Rahm and Hatton can’t stand the fun-loving, west coast vibe coming from the Big Lefty and the Big Tabernacle. Hatton and Rahm both say a LOT of words out loud on the golf course, but all of them are directed inward or towards their respective golf balls. And while each of them tries their best to keep the other mentally on planet Earth, there’s too much lost in translation between the two, as both seem to always have both hands covering their mouths/faces after every single putt, preventing the words of encouragement from being fully understood.

What is #RahmThreat saying here? Your guess is as good as mine. Photo cred: AP News.

The USA trots out ol’ reliable Spieth and Reed in the final pairing, going up against Fleetwood Mac. In what turns out to be the tightest, most entertaining match of the team sessions, the Americans jump out to a quick 2 up lead. Fleetwood gets the bug and turns into Fleekwood the Flusher, dropping a couple of quick dimes in the middle holes leading to a pair of conceded birdies. Rory then finds his wedge game, getting the Euros a 1 up lead on 16, but Spieth and Reed dig deep. Coming down to the last hole, Spieth is faced with a 5 footer to win the hole and halve the match. Reed, feeling inspired, takes Spieth aside and tells him about that time when he got put in the line drive section, but decided to take matters into his own hands and upgrade his seats while tagging the TOUR not once, but TWICE in the same shady tweet. Spieth looks confused. “Take this match into your own hands…UPGRADE FROM THE LINE DRIVE SECTION!” Reed growls, spittle raining from his grimacing face. It’s the most inspirational speech Reed’s ever given…just ask him.

Something about it resonates, though. Spieth lines up the putt, gives it a tentative, beta-male tap, and it trundles end-over-end toward the cup. At the last second it dives right to the low side of the hole, but catches just enough to do a full 360 and find the bottom. We, the golfing public, get a highlight that will live forever, and Spieth for the first time in his life, gets to experience what it’s like to be the Alpha. The USA grinds out a half-point.

Fourth Session: EUR 2.5 – USA 1.5. Overall: EUR 8.5 – USA 7.5.

Everyone was hoping for another heavyweight Rory v. Reed bout, but this one turns out to be almost as much fun. Big J hits the ground running, lighting up the front nine with a blistering 31. But Rory keeps pace, and only finds himself 1 down at the turn. Rors rattles off two quick birdies on 10 and 11 to take a 1 up lead. Then, JT finds a groove, sparks fly, and he rallies with a birdie-birdie-birdie stretch to build a 2 up lead of his own with four to play. On 15, however, Thomas hits it in the water off the tee and ends up conceding the hole. Rory seizes the opening, and throws and absolute dart at the short sixteenth that almost finds the bottom of the hole. Another concession, and suddenly, the match is tied with 2 holes to go. Pars halve the seventeenth, but Rory takes an ultra-aggro line on eighteen and rips one of those *rocket emoji* drives into the stratosphere. JT follows suit and also sends one into space. Two generational drivers of the golf ball show us what it means to unload.

Thomas is away, and finds the middle of the green with his approach. Rory, again smelling blood, takes dead aim and finds the surface only 10 feet below the hole. A Thomas miss; a Rory make; a European point. Rory wins 1 up.

Hush little Big J. Don’t say a word. Rory’s gonna buy you a dozen birds.

A proxy war for “most in the ass of NLU,” Noren gets deep on Soly in the opening foray, hopping out to a 2 up lead through eight. Not to be outdone, the Ricktator finds himself knocking down two quick tweeters on fourteen and fifteen to take it back to all square. After the second putt drops, the camera cuts to Rickie and he winks playfully, directly into Big Randy’s soul. In the end, however, Noren cruises to a full point by parring sixteen and seventeen and getting a conceded eighteenth after Rickie’s second finds the drink. Soly relaxes because “it’s not like Noren 

.” Randy googles “how to say schadenfreude in French.”

In the #VisorWar, Poulter prevails. He makes a comment on the first tee about Bubba playing a putt-putt ball for all of 2017, and Bubba, without a good comeback, is thrown off his game immediately. Bubba starts getting pissed about “not having enough trees to aim at” or something. Bubba tries to drive the short par 4 tenth, but overcooks his “baby fade” into the drink, concedes the hole, and goes 4 down. After getting a gust and coming up short in the water on the par 3 eleventh, Bubba goes OFF on his caddie and #PrayforTedScott is trending on Twitter for the first time in a while. Poulter wins 7&6 and puts the first point on the board for Europe of the afternoon, as his match finishes a solid hour before Rory’s.

Nothing good happens for the Yanks when Poulter puts on the mean mug every other September. Photo cred: Sky Sports.

The most contentious moment of the matches in nearly twenty years happens early on the par 5 third. With the match all square early, Reed tries his helicopter-finish fade off the tee, but it drifts on a gnarly zephyr way out to the right and into the water. Reed takes a drop, but the location is…um…a little suspect. Initially, Rose didn’t see it, because his pull-draw ended up in the left rough, about 50 yards away from Reed. Reed plays his shot quickly, before Rose really knows what’s going on. After Rose plays, while walking up to the next shot, Paddy Harrington tells Fooch and Rose that he thinks the drop was unsporting. Once they get to the green, Fooch and Rose confront Patrick about the drop, Reed immediately gets in Fooch’s face, and Fooch is ready to throw hands. Just before a kerfuffle can break out on the green, Matt Kuchar comes over to act as peacekeeper and break it up. Reed ends up losing the hole, but it lights a fire under him for the rest of the match, and he goes on to torch Rose 4&3. After he barely shakes Rose’s hand, and doesn’t shake Fooch’s, the crowd boos while Reed gives them the classic “shush” finger. Word quickly spreads around to the rest of the course and Johnny Miller calls it “not his finest moment, folks.”

Match 5: Francesco Molinari v. Bryson DeChambeau

Feeling dejected from the previous day, DeChambeau gets off to a rough start. Molinari ballstrikes him into oblivion over the first six holes and jumps out to quick 4 up lead. DeChambeau hears it from the crowd, as they repeatedly jeer him for having a “french-sounding name” but not being able to speak at word of the mother tongue. Meanwhile, Molinari looks like he’s mostly just strolling in the park, and although Bryson fights and claws his way back into the match, he still loses 3&2.

There’s a lot of Blue on the board, and Webb Simpson might seem like an unlikely hero for the Americans. But the most startlingly handsome lad on the squad makes it a quietly productive week. Casey just looks somewhat tired and disinterested from the start, while Webb seems to be 100% dialed in. Casey misses a few key putts in the early going, while Webb is repeatedly wet from distance. Scrambling to find some momentum, Casey makes a little run in the middle holes, but ultimately, Webb keeps his composure and is able to close out the match and put a full point on the board for the United States, winning 3&2 with a drippy birdie on the 16th green.

Webb leading the field in SG: Stealin’ ya Girl. (Yes, I already made this joke on Twitter. Bite me.) Photo Cred: Golf Channel/Getty Images.

Match 7: Tyrrell Hatton v. Jordan Spieth

With no shortage of drama, who better to get the back half started with a quiet reprieve than two guys known for keeping completely to themselves and going about their business. Just kidding.

In what becomes a sadly hilarious spectacle of self-talk turned self-loathing turned self-immolation, the Hatton and Spieth match demonstrates why getting the players mic’d up makes all the difference. After Feherty runs out of pithy things to say about how neither golf ball seems to want to listen, the production truck actually puts a booth fatwa on any commentary during their match after the fourteenth hole, where they find themselves all square. That’s right…on the last four holes, Dan and Johnny completely let Tyrrell and Spieth do all the talking.

Spieth starts with a wild push slice right on the fifteenth tee, 20 yards into the water. As soon as he hits it, Spieth shrieks a mighty “GOODNESS, JORDAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? THERE’S 70 YARDS OF FAIRWAY OVER THERE!!!”

Hatton, not to be #outdun, doesn’t club down but instead hits driver, and ALSO finds the water right. Hatton, in fullblown surrender cobra, compliments himself thusly: “Awww bollocks, you bloody stewpid muppet!”

The two go on like this until the eighteenth green, where neither seems to want to win any battle other than who can tell themselves they suck more. The match plays to the most amusing halve in Ryder Cup history.

Great form on the surrender cobra. Photo cred: N.Y. Post.

Finau justifies his pick throughout the Matches, but perhaps nowhere moreso than in the singles. With a winning record already assured by his 2-0 start, Finau decides to put the icing on the pastry and decimates a flustered Rahm, who has had a first Ryder Cup he would probably like to forget up to this point. The matchup promised to be a bomb-n-gouge tour de force, but ended up being a rout. Rahm gets inside his own head early by missing several short putts, while Finau keeps pouring them in with reckless abandon. For a much lauded pick, Finau shows just what he is capable of with the pressure on and his team in desperate need of a point. Tony plants the Stars and Stripes firmly on the board, and notches a full point for the Yanks.

Match 9: Tommy Fleetwood v. Brooks Koepka

Another match that surely spells fireworks, Fleetwood is treated to the opportunity to exact revenge on Brooksie for the U.S. Open. One is pure power, the other so much finesse. The players trade blows early and often, with each player netting birdies left and right, but neither of them are able to gain any ground. Koepka finally breaks free with a timely eagle on the par 5 ninth. He follows that with the most spectacular, soaring tee shot on the driveable tenth, and rattles in a second consecutive eagle from 28 feet, while Fleetwood looks to his caddie, and utters, “Not sure I’ve got that one, Fino.” Fino responds, “Right, mighty [inaudible] good [unintelligible] cracking one, that.” Koepka puts the pedal down and finds another point for the United States to cap off one of the single most dominant seasons in modern golf. Brock the Jock is simply too good. The residents of Fleetwood Island weep uncontrollably.

Match 10: Thorbjorn Olesen v. Dustin Johnson

With only three matches left on the course, and the tide turning quickly back toward the Americans, Team Europe need two of their three captain’s picks to step up and claim full points in order to win the cup outright. One would expect Thorbjorn to perhaps cave under the pressure of facing the number one player in the world and the most explosive golfer on the planet. But something doesn’t quite seem right for DJ on this Sunday. Part of the problem is the course setup takes driver out of his hand. Another issue is that it just hits him 3 minutes before he tees off that he casually blew a putt for $10 million at East Lake a week ago to the day. A third problem is the text he woke up to from the Great One telling him he is banned from wearing the number 99 L.A. Kings sweater when he hits his opening tee shot. The hits keep coming.

Thorbjorn, meanwhile, digs deep for the locker-room material. He harkens back to the No Laying Up Podcast, Episode 166, when Soly said, “Olesen isn’t the caliber of player that plays in the Ryder Cup.” Thunderbear is having none of it. He lets fly from the opening tee shot and goes on an opening tear, popping four birds on the first four holes. If Deej wasn’t shook before, he’s very shook now.

Thomas Bjorn watches eagerly as Olesen dismantles Johnson. Hole after hole, Olesen puts on an a ball striking clinic. DJ eventually finds a little footing on the back half, but by then it’s too late. Thorbjorn is able to make a snaking putt on the sixteenth hole to seal the deal of a 3&2 victory over DJ, and an all-time Ryder Cup upset.

Match 11: Henrik Stenson v. Phil Mickelson

Who wouldn’t want a chance to see Henrik and Phil run it back one more time from the 2016 Open Championship? That magical Sunday, when the Swede was able to edge Phil’s electric 65 with a final round 63 of his own to claim his first Major, felt like it could never be topped. Although the pairing elicited tons of opportunities to re-live those highlights on Saturday night, the Sunday redux in Paris, understandably and predictably, doesn’t live up the the hype. In fact, it’s worse than that. Stenson’s elbow inflammation is persistent on the morning of the singles, and although he tries to give it a go, Henrik’s tentative to engage the turf. The result is a number of thinly bladed iron shots and a complete lack of distance control. Stenson, finding himself 6 down through 10 and the pain too much to bear, concedes the match. Phil acts respectfully to his opponent, and mutters a few kind words about “wishing he could have gotten another shot at him at his best” as they shake hands.

Phil then immediately cracks open his phone on the golf cart ride over the action with Tiger and Sergio.

“Hi, I’m Phil Mickelson, pro golfer. I used to have painful elbow inflammation caused by psoriatic arthritis. Then I talked to my doctor about Enbrel.”

Much has been written of the new affable, likable, fun-loving Tiger. “Tiger seems to get along with his peers.” “Tiger has humbly transformed into the elder statesman on Tour.”

What does Sergio think of all that? “Mierda,” that’s what.

Much as been written of whether Sergio deserved a Captain’s pick. “He’s looked completely out of sorts the past three months.” “He hasn’t made a cut in the U.S. since March.”

What does Tiger think of all that? “Bullshit,” that’s what.

See, the blood is bad between these two. Of all the people Tiger would want to thrash on Sunday afternoon with a Ryder Cup on the line, El Niño would be numbers 1-99. And of all the people Sergio would love to take down to show all the haters and losers how wrong they were, El Gato Grande would likewise be the guy. There is a palpable, sour, gritty taste in the air on the first tee. 10,000 strong here to see the Cat and the Kid. Tiger blisters his opening tee shot–a 2 iron stinger that never gets 20 feet off the ground, followed by a twirl so hard, you’d think he was about to go airborne. Sergio, not to be outdone, takes 3 wood and aims for the incredibly aggressive line up the far right side, carrying all the mounding and skirting the water to leave a mere flip wedge into the green. The two exchange brief looks walking off the first tee box and into the gauntlet.

By nipping a crispy little hold-off wedge into the green 8 feet below the hole, Tiger applies the early pressure. Sergio answers, stuffing his wedge into gimme range. Billy Baroo isn’t glowing hot yet, but you can’t birdie them all unless you birdie the first. Tiger rattles the back of the hole…with AUTHORITY. Birdies halve the hole.

The two trade pars on the second, and birdies on the par 5 third. Two more pars on the fourth and fifth. Then, on the sixth, Sergio draws first blood. Tiger tries to get cute with his tee shot, but squirts one low and off the toe way out to the right in the heavy stuff, where he’s only able to hack it back to the fairway, 15 yards short of the green. Sergio pitches his second into gimme range, and when Tiger fails to convert his own pitch shot, Garcia finds himself 1 up.

The pair trade pars on the seventh, but Cat is able to gobble up the difference on the eighth, when he stiffs his tee ball to 2 feet from a mere 213 yards away. Sergio has a 30 footer that never threatens, but comes up within tap in range. There is a tense moment when Tiger looks to Sergio, as if to say “This is good, right?” Sergio never drops eye contact, and never mutters a word. Tiger replaces his ball, and in a moment that seems to be a call back to all of the history between the two, Tiger one-hand putts his ball into the hole just to show Sergio that, “Yes, you asshole. This was fucking good.”

Tiger’s blood is boiling as he walks to the ninth. Joey is able to calm him down somewhat, but there is some redass to be taken out on the next Bridgestone he puts on the peg. Top Tracer shows that 190 ball speed ain’t just for the kids, but also for the Cat. Notah Begay says he hasn’t seen him swing at one that hard since Stanford. Johnny Miller timely adds, “For all you folks at home, this is why when you find yourself playing your next match play against Tiger Woods, you should really not make him mad.” We will all miss Johnny Miller. Sergio answers with two good shots of his own, but finds himself right of the green in two well below the hole in a collection area. Tiger’s second, on the other hand, is a beautiful, high-flying fade that lands perfectly at the front of the green and trundles up to 10 feet below the hole. Sergio hits a remarkable shot to get up and down for birdie, but Tiger’s eagle try rolls perfectly end over end into the dead middle. Tiger is 1 up after nine.

On the back nine, the two trade birdies on the short par 4 tenth, and pars on the par 3 eleventh and par 4 twelfth. Both find trouble on the short thirteenth, and bogey halves the hole. On 14, Sergio is able to take back some control of the match when Tiger’s wayward second finds the sand left and short of the green. Sergio finds the surface in two, and two-putts his way to a birdie 4 that squares the match headed to the difficult fifteenth.

With the honor, Sergio steps up and pummels an iron into the fat of the fairway. Tiger, on the other hand, feels the wind swirling and can’t decide on the play. After a long conversation with LaCava, Tiger decides to go with fairway metal and try to carry the ball over the hazard and up close to the green. A gust hits it, knocks it down, and Tiger finds the drink. Sergio manages to hit it to the middle of the green and two putts for a 1 up lead.

Feeling it, Sergio launches a high, soft one into the middle of the green on 16–pin high and about 15 feet from the hole. Tiger doesn’t flinch, however. He summons the Tiger of…last week(!) and absolutely flushes a baby 8 iron. The sound…crisp. The traj…glorious. The cut…buttery. His shot lands three feet from the hole and stops dead. It’s now patently obvious that we are watching something special. Sergio’s putt slides just outside the hole, and Tiger taps his in to square the match.

After trading pars on 17, unremarkable in their execution but for the tension in the air, Tiger and Sergio march to the eighteenth, all square. By this time, the stage is set. Europe leads 14-13. A full point for Tiger retains the cup. Sergio is in the driver’s seat as a half or a whole point wins the cup for Europe.

Two tee shots perfectly down the middle. Garcia and Woods exchange knowing glances as they briskly walk in lockstep down the fairway. For a second, the bad blood melts away, and all that’s left is the gravity of the moment.

Woods, first to play, punishes a cracking iron shot towards the flag, but the adrenaline was just a smidgen too much, and it lands just over the hole and hops off the back of the green, barely into the first cut.

Firmly in control, Sergio channels that Sunday at Augusta, all of those feelings, and remembers all of the great things that have happened in his life since. He regrets nothing about the last 10 months of mediocre golf; they didn’t exist. Only him, the flag, and cup. And the CUP. Garcia’s signature whip-cracking action perfectly clips the ball from the turf and it sails through the air. A cry of “¡VAMOS!” cuts into the sky, as Garcia’s ball falls from the heavens straight into the middle of the green, 20 feet from the hole. Barring a miracle, two putts will all but assure the Europeans a victory.

Both bask in the moment as they make their way to the final green. But for Tiger, it’s mostly just business. He stalks his chip for what seems like an hour, but no one is in a hurry for him to hit it. After committing to a line and speed, he nips it perfectly, and the ball lands on his spot in the fringe. As it trickles toward the hole, it settles agonizingly shy of the cup. Tiger falls to his knees as just one more revolution…half a revolution, even, might have been enough.

Sergio gives him a thumbs up–no consolation really, but a sporting gesture of respect. El Niño has two putts from twenty feet to clinch the Cup. He would need only one.

The European Team wins the Ryder Cup by a score of 15-13, in one of the greatest renditions of the event that will ever be played.

Your winning captains? Photo cred: Getty Images.

The Eurozone #11: Blue-Tinted Glasses

We’re all jacked up for the Ryder Cup, and we’ve got an awesome (free!) contest for our favorite event. Mizzen + Main, Callaway, Travis Mathew, Ogio and yours truly have all thrown in to give us an incredible prize pool. Just fill out the questions in the link below, and see below for what you can win. There’s 32 total prizes! Tons of opportunities to win, so send this along to all of your friends.

 are hosting the contest, and will even provide live scoring! Be sure to check them out for any pools you may consider running in the future.

pay close attention to the rules of the contest

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PRIZE AND APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUE 1st: $750 to Mizzen+Main 2nd: Callaway Rogue Driver ($500) 3rd: Callaway Rogue 3-wood ($300) 4th: $250 to Mizzen+Main 5th: $250 to Travis Mathew 6th: Callaway Rogue Hybrid ($250) 7th: Odyssey O-Works Putter ($200) 8th: OGIO Mutant Travel Bag ($200) 9th: Callaway Mack Daddy Wedge ($150) 10th: Callaway Mack Daddy Wedge ($150) 11th: Callaway Mack Daddy Wedge ($150) 12th: $150 to Travis Mathew 13th: $125 to Mizzen+Main 14th: Travis Mathew Duffle Bag ($89.95) and Hat ($29.95) = $119.90 15th: $100 to Travis Mathew 16th: $100 to NLU Store 17th: $100 to NLU Store 18th: $100 to NLU Store 19th: $100 to NLU Store 20th: A Phil Mickelson Signed Flag (Estimated $50) 21st: A Dozen Callaway Stars and Stripes Truvis Golf Balls ($45) 22nd: A Dozen Callaway Stars and Stripes Truvis Golf Balls ($45) 23rd: A Dozen Callaway Stars and Stripes Truvis Golf Balls ($45) 24th: A Dozen Callaway Stars and Stripes Truvis Golf Balls ($45) 25th: A Dozen Callaway Stars and Stripes Truvis Golf Balls ($45) 26th: A Dozen Callaway Stars and Stripes Truvis Golf Balls ($45) 27th: A Dozen Callaway Chrome Soft Golf Balls ($45) 28th: A Dozen Callaway Chrome Soft Golf Balls ($45) 29th: A Dozen Callaway Chrome Soft Golf Balls ($45) 30th: A Dozen Callaway Chrome Soft Golf Balls ($45) 31st: A Dozen Callaway Chrome Soft Golf Balls ($45) 32nd: A Dozen Callaway Chrome Soft Golf Balls ($45)

attached here for the rules of engagement

Enter the No Laying Up Ryder Cup Contest, Presented by Mizzen+Main

Back in May, I got a chance to spend the day with Paul Azinger at his house in Bradenton. He gave us a tour of his trophies, his Ryder Cup room, where he fishes off his back dock, and some of his old clubs in his garage. It was a blast. Enjoy!

Special shoutouts to Ryan Young for the filiming, and Matt Golden for the excellent editing as always.

Home Game: Paul Azinger's Ryder Cup Room, Old Clubs, and Fishing Spot

The Western Golf Association brought the 2018 BMW Championship east to Philadelphia’s Aronimink Golf Club, and we made the trip north for the week’s festivities. Extreme weather on opposite ends of the spectrum complicated an already pressure-packed week, with players jockeying for a spot in East Lake’s Tour Championship. A summary of of our experience is below…

A couple of us headed up to Philly a couple weeks before the tournament to see the course firsthand. Gil Hanse recently restored the layout, adding a significant amount of bunkers, expanding the greens, adding new tees, and expanding the fairway width. Here’s a look at how the course has changed:

The restoration was carried out primarily with the club’s members in mind (as discussed on our podcast with Gil Hanse below), as many of the bunkers are simply not in play for professionals using modern equipment. We also tested our egos, playing the course from the back tees to see how we would fare. Here is that experience:

After arriving we got word of a Tiger/Rory practice round that was going down. We raced to the first tee and followed that entire round, capturing these photos along the way:

It was cool to see this two interact up close, and to listen in on the conversations. You’ll be disappointed to hear that they’re rather mundane (at least, anything we were in ear shot of). Equipment, the heat, etc. A bit of a letdown on that front until this exchange:

Rory takes the mega angle off 2 (ball in the left side of this pic), carrying 305+.



Tiger: “I don’t have that.”



Lays back with 3 wood. 

The second hole was a true litmus test for the bombers, and to hear Big Cat admit that he couldn’t keep up with Rory off the tee was a bit jarring.

I got a last minute Pro-Am spot playing alongside Tommy Fleetwood with musician Kelley James and his dad. Tommy was a guest on our podcast back in May, and is as nice and as genuine as he appears in public. I was happy to hear that he has really enjoyed his first year in the states, and in particular, has been very surprised with how much positive feedback he’s received from American fans.

The pins in Pro-Ams are notoriously generous, but this was still noteworthy. Tommy shot a stress free 60 without making a putt from outside of 10 feet. It was an absolutely clinical ball striking display. In the sweltering heat, I believe he hit every fairway and every green. He barely missed from about 20 feet on our 17th hole (the 8th), which would have given him the 59 assuming he still would have birdied the last. Man that was a treat to watch.

Tron got paired up with Kevin Kisner. But his day started with this:

Before the pro-am on Wednesday I was using the facilities in the locker room, minding my own business and Big Cat rolled up to the next urinal.



I struggled to regain my composure the rest of the day and my performance in pro-am suffered. Felt it necessary to clear my name.



— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) 

Here’s Tron’s recap: “Imagine mindlessly standing there daydreaming and staring at the wall, then out of the corner of your eye you realize Tiger is standing next to you. Bizarre. I quite enjoyed the day with Kisner, who had his entire team out there (his physio, Adam Kerley, carried the bag, while coach John Tillery and normal caddie Duane Bock also walked along.) Duane is scheduled to have a hip replaced in the next six weeks, so he was thankful for a respite. Talking to him was one of the highlights of the week for me – he’s a supremely thoughtful guy with an interesting backstory on mini-tours and the Canadian Tour. That he’s been with Kevin for virtually the entirety of his professional career speaks volumes about their comfort level together. Tillery was gracious enough to help me with some swing advice (I’m getting worse the more I play), which was much appreciated/needed. I made three natural birds, and a few more net birds, most of which didn’t matter since the group all played well on the same holes.”

 just laid up on 16 with a driver off the deck. He says, “how good of a leave was that?” 

One of the overriding themes of the BMW Championship is the charitable element, with proceeds usually benefitting the Evans Scholars Foundation, which provides caddies with college scholarships. This year’s beneficiary was the Philadelphia-based Platt Evans Scholarship, providing full scholarships for local caddies to Penn State University. It was cool to stand on the first tee and witness the deserving scholars be recognized by the players:

Thank you for supporting the 2018 #BMWCHAMPS! All of the proceeds from this year's event will help send caddies like Parker Bria of Roslyn, Pennsylvania, to college on Platt Evans Scholarships!

 (@bmwchamps) on Sep 11, 2018 at 6:00am PDT

In keeping with the caddie theme we also shot a video with some of the tour caddies, who imparted lessons on their sauciest moves:

Wednesday night’s festivities included a surreal Oktoberfest celebration behind the 9th tee, looking back up to the stately clubhouse:

Matty was a guest on the podcast previously this year, and we finally fulfilled the goal of having the two of them on at the same time. Marc is the defending BMW Champion, and their friendship has always fascinated us. The podcast goes to some extremes, from a raucous celebration of their first big paycheck together, to Marc nearly losing his wife to sepsis and the miracle it took to save her. This is among the best podcasts we’ve done:

https://ia801500.us.archive.org/30/items/MattyAndLeish/Matty%20And%20Leish.mp3

We also got a chance to sit down with Gil Hanse, the man responsible for the restoration work being performed at Aronimink, and a great deal of the restoration work going on across the country at premier venues. We talked about the philosophy behind this restoration, and picked his brain about many of his other projects.

https://ia601507.us.archive.org/32/items/GilHanse/Gil%20Hanse.mp3

The Eagles played host to the Falcons on Thursday night to open the regular season (and raise their Super Bowl banner) and we lucked into some tickets. The game was a disaster…our seats were not.

 game tonight. I love how you put my business partners/large adult sons in the field goal section. We paid $650 and ended up in the same section as the rest of the 

Ball in hand, incredibly soft, and an already gettable golf course. In the most premature move possible, I’m putting the entire field on 58 watch. 

Dumbfounded by the number of belt loops on Cat’s pants. 

The Rory/JT/Day group was an easy one to follow Saturday:

Got an ambulance out here following JT around just in case he starts drilling people 

It included this highlight (or lowlight depending upon your vantage point):

Unbelievable. JT uses Rory’s ball as a backstop and then winks at us. 🤯



— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) 

The weather was brutal on Thursday, Friday and Sunday (Saturday was actually quite nice despite a little moisture). We were told it’s been that kind of summer in Philly: either really hot or raining biblically. Sunday was a complete wash-out, which gave us a chance to celebrate a “caddie holiday” at a local bar with Matty, Fino, and a few others under the

“Unfortunately we’ve lost the golf course. It’s pretty much gone. I thought we could be on the edge but we’ve surpassed it. And it’s really unfortunate.” 

Aronimink grounds staff deserves loads of praise. To even get this course playable given the monsoon the last 24+ hours is incredible. 

Incredible that they got the golf in. Which gave us this moment:

Perfectly executed putter flip. Flawless. Just give him the trophy. 

Philly was a treat. Most knowledgeable golf fans I’ve encountered at a tour stop, and they came out in droves rain or shine.



— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU) 

Special thanks to BMW for having us out this week, and continuing to be a perfect partner to work with. Excited for Medinah in 2019!

Our week at the 2018 BMW Championship

Moe Norman has been called “The Mysterious Genius of Golf.” His swing, his mannerisms, and his lifestyle were unusual to say the least: Moe played very quickly, never took a practice swing, often repeated phrases when talking, and lived in motel rooms most of this life. Moe, who died in 2004 at age 75, suffered from crippling insecurity and introversion, which kept him from succeeding at the highest levels of play. Yet Tiger Woods has said that only Moe and Ben Hogan actually “owned” their swings, and Moe described himself as “the happiest guy on two feet.” In Moe and Me, Lorne Rubenstein, a sports journalist who knew Moe for 40 years, examines Moe Norman’s unique swing, his character, and how he lived his life well, despite being limited in significant ways. Rubenstein also offers his views on what made Moe special and what this most sensitive and peculiar man meant to him and to others.

Full disclosure: this is a book I have not read yet but greatly look forward to doing so this month. It comes very highly recommended via several people over at the 

, so many thanks to everyone for the recommendation. They’re always very much appreciated. If you’ve missed any previous month’s selections, you can find them in the 

. Also, subscribe to the TrapDraw podcast on iTunes (or you can listen through our website 

) to hear conversations with the author of each month’s pick.

Selection #4: September 2018

We’re a week away from U.S. Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk making the first three of four captain’s picks for the 2018 Ryder Cup, which kicks off September 28th at Le Golf National in France. Two of the picks are the safest bets on the planet, as Ryder Cup task force committee members Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are assured of being included in that first batch of picks made September 3rd.

There’s no debate about whether Tiger has earned it. Woods has performed better than anyone could have predicted this year. He’s recorded top-10’s in the last two majors and is also Tiger freaking Woods.

Some debate still remains about whether Phil deserves a pick. The conversation is entertaining, but let’s be very clear about one thing: Phil is getting picked. He’s gone 7-3-1 in the last three cups, and is almost single handedly responsible for the realignment of the entire U.S. Ryder Cup system. This is the first time he’s ever needed a captain’s pick, and although he carries an 18-20-7 record into the event, he would have had to have a truly terrible season to get bypassed. Despite having played better golf this past season, even the trolliest of trolls would have a hard time seriously arguing that Patrick Cantlay deserves a captain’s pick over FIGJAM.

Before I dive into the details, let me answer that question: Nothing matters. Your play leading into the Ryder Cup essentially means nothing. No style of golf can ever prepare you for the pressure of playing team golf for your country, and there’s no way to predict who is going to handle it well and who isn’t. You can play well in the event and go 0-3, or you can play poorly and go 3-0. You can have a great season and shit the bed when the lights are the brightest, or you can come in with poor form and set the world on fire (think Reed circa 2014). All the rankings, points, trends, etc. all get thrown out when the balls go in the air. It’s the captain’s job to try to predict who will play the best, and to put the team in a position to succeed.

When it comes to the captain’s picks, experience tends to be what the U.S. captains lean on the most. Of the 15 selections made in the past four events, only three have been rookies – Fowler in 2010, Snedeker in 2012, and Moore in 2016. Regardless of actual performance in previous Cups, experience in the Ryder Cup makes a guy astronomically more likely to get selected than the unknown quantity. Rarely do captains want to risk their most easily-critiqued decisions on guys that the public isn’t as familiar with. For better or for worse.

winning is overrated in terms of the points structure

 for selecting the first eight players. If you haven’t read that article, I suggest you pause and check that one out first. I choose to look much more closely at how players perform in relation to their peers, as I see that as being more relevant to success in match play.

And if you’re not going to click that, at least 

familiarize yourself with the Sagarin rankings

In my eyes, there are only four possible picks for two spots. Those four, in no order, are Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Matt Kuchar and Patrick Cantlay. We’re going to break down the numbers and make the case for each player. We’re also going to look, on a round-by-round basis, at how these players stacked up against each other this season. That is, for each event where the two players teed it up in the same event, who beat who more often on a daily basis? This is essentially what match play is, and is the closest analysis we can get to how they stack up against each other.

Round by round record against Kuchar: 23-22-4

Round by round record against Finau: 22-26-3

Round by round record against Cantlay: 22-24-10

Tiger has been campaigning for Bryson behind the scenes, and even publicly stated this past weekend that he wants him in France. He’s performed well all season long, has the endorsement from the most important guy in the room, and just won against a monster field in New York. His ticket is punched. I would wager that he is selected on Tuesday after the Dell Technologies along with Tiger and Phil.

Tiger was asked about Bryson as a Ryder Cup partner: "I think he would be a great Ryder Cup partner for anyone. The guy is fiery. He's competitive, and we want guys like that.” Welcome to the team Bryson.



— Rex Hoggard (@RexHoggardGC) 

Round by round record against Bryson: 26-22-3

Round by round record against Kuchar: 25-19-10

Round by round record against Cantlay: 24-19-7

I’m not sure what else Finau needs to do to get selected. He’s earned it. He’s consistently beaten the other three guys in contention for picks, consistently beaten great fields and showed out in major championships. He makes a ton of birdies, and is well liked. The golf course in France is not going to necessarily favor a bomber, but Finau is not just a bomb-and-gauge guy. He’s positive strokes gained in every category, and has proven he can compete on many different styles of golf courses.

If Captain Furyk passes on Finau, he is essentially saying that form is not important, and that he has an instinct for another player. And I’m ready to start a riot if the next guy on the list gets selected over him.

Round by round record against Bryson: 22-23-4

Round by round record against Finau: 19-25-10

Round by round record against Cantlay: 19-27-4

Honestly, there isn’t much of one. I don’t hear his name anywhere in any chatter, other than a source that mentioned a few weeks ago that he was a lock. The issue is, people just way, way, way over-use the word lock. In all sports.

But that’s the part that keeps me up at night. If Kuch really was a “lock” a few weeks ago, why was he a lock then if he wasn’t one now? And the way it was worded, it was as if he was as much of a lock as Phil is.

The trail on this info has gone cold, so let’s hope that things have changed in the last few weeks and that this is no longer the case. There’s enough guys that have beaten down the door to justify getting the call over Kuchar. He has a losing record against each of the other three guys listed here, and the strokes gained number is what really pops out at you. Kuchar is having his worst season since 2008.

Round by round record against Bryson: 24-33-10

Round by round record against Finau: 19-24-7

Round by round record against Kuchar: 27-19-4

Cantlay might be the ultimate forgotten man. You barely hear his name discussed, despite some incredibly consistent play all season. He’s top-10 in strokes gained on the season, and all the way up to 8th in the world in the Sagarin rankings. It’s quite clear that he’s drawn the ire of Twitter due to his pre-shot routine, but I almost think that could work in his benefit in a team event.

I don’t think he’s getting a call, barring back-to-back wins, but I do find it odd that you barely even hear his name in consideration.

The gift that keeps on giving. It was a mess in 2016, and due to the PGA of America’s inability to understand scheduling, it’s gonna be a mess again this year. But it also 

 work out in the U.S.’ favor. Furyk might have hands tied.

If they’re going to take Kuchar, they HAVE to take him after the Dell Technologies this weekend. Which means Bryson’s spot is still technically up for grabs, even though he’s essentially locked in. If you don’t take Kuchar in the first batch, what’s the point of waiting for the fourth spot? What if Finau racks up another top-5 at BMW? You can’t justify taking Kuchar there.

Which means you likely can’t justify taking Kuchar anywhere.

Who gets the last two captain's picks for Team USA?

I introduced a take on Twitter the other day. I knew it wouldn’t go well, and I did it any way. Do I regret it? No.

The issue came with this tweet in particular:

Without a doubt:



win % vs top 10 players:
Finau: 45%
Bubba: 32%



win % vs top 50 players:
Finau: 57%
Bubba: 42%



win % vs top 100 players:
Finau: 63%
Bubba: 46% 

Admittedly, I should have thought this through. This is Twitter, where everything exists in a vacuum, and the first responders (thank you for your service) are not going to read any of the surrounding conversation to try to understand the context before replying or before quote tweeting.

Let’s back up a bit to the beginning of the conversation:

This is why, no matter how you structure the process, the points systems just don't work. It's just too volatile, with too much emphasis on winning (regardless of timing).



We'll never get 12 captain's picks, but I dream of a world where half the team is selected manually. 

This is not a new topic around these parts. I’ve long clamored that the points system is very arbitrary, and even did a little exercise in 2016 on 

 if the system was tweaked even slightly.

Ignoring all of the tweaking that we could do to the points, let’s just look at how points are actually earned.

– 1 point per $1,000 earned in a regular PGA Tour event

– 2 points per $1,000 earned for the winner of a major

– 1.5 points per $1,000 earned for all others to make the cut at The Masters; U.S. Open; Open Championship; PGA Championship.

We know how purses work on the PGA Tour. Giant checks are handed out to the guys that win tournaments, and exponentially smaller checks get handed out to the runner up and everyone else that made the cut. It’s what helps make the PGA Tour exciting. If the difference between the winner and the runner up was $50,000, it wouldn’t be nearly as exciting to turn into an event on Sunday. Sports are for entertainment, and I want to make it clear that I’m not suggesting that payouts for PGA Tour events should be different.

But tying the points system to this very very, very top-heavy purse system does not accurately reflect who has actually performed the best over the course of a season.

In comes Jake Nichols, who helped spark the eventual fire in the mentions. Jake is a friend of the pod, and is one of the smartest people I’ve encountered in golf. His ability to think outside the box when it comes to golf analytics has helped shape my understanding of the game.

Simply put, when Jake disagrees with me on something, I know I’m wrong.

Emphasis on winning is tough to solve w/o creating a new point system. Anything that puts Bubba's 2018 above Finau's is broken.



Quickest wins for US is to not count prior year majors (who cares what Brian Harman did 15 months ago?) and not double/1.5x count same year majors.



— Jake Nichols (@jalnichols) 

The line in there that triggered the discussion was “anything that puts Bubba’s 2018 above Finau’s is broken.” Bubba, having won three times this year, would appear on the surface to have easily had a more successful season than Finau. Let’s break down why this is not necessarily the case.

I’m separating this part out, because I want to make this as clear as possible.

If I am a player on the PGA Tour, I would take Bubba Watson’s season over Tony Finau’s 100 times out of 100. Winning is incredibly, incredibly hard, and winners get rewarded handsomely. Bubba has earned more money, more world rankings points, and more FedExCup ranking points. Hit and miss guys strike it rich on the PGA Tour, because a win and five missed cuts means more than six straight 10th-place finishes.

To be clear, no one is saying that they would trade Finau’s season for Bubba’s.

(But please do note that I have not used the word better yet.)

One of my many regrets here is how I phrased it. The “without a doubt” part is what seemed to really aggravate people. Add that to the fact that this position needs a lot more explaining than Twitter allows, and maybe the take did deserve to be called “the dumbest thing I’ve ever read on the internet” and for me to personally be called Skip Bayless.

Again taking what I said above, and repurposing it here:

If I am a player on the PGA Tour, I would take Bubba Watson’s season over Tony Finau’s 100 times out of 100.

Tony Finau has played better golf than Bubba has over the course of this season.

Writing

STRAPPED: Iowa (The Maize Runners)

Selection #5: October 2018

The Eurozone #11: Blue-Tinted Glasses

Enter the No Laying Up Ryder Cup Contest, Presented by Mizzen+Main

Home Game: Paul Azinger's Ryder Cup Room, Old Clubs, and Fishing Spot

Our week at the 2018 BMW Championship

Selection #4: September 2018

Who gets the last two captain's picks for Team USA?

How the Ryder Cup points system overrates winning

Selection #3: August 2018

NLU Betting Game: TILT

Open Championship Agronomy Round-Up

Selection #2: July 2018

Observations from the First Two Days of the Women's PGA

The Eurozone: #10

Video: Playing Shinnecock Hills

2018 Memorial Tournament Notes

Chris Kirk Cold Tops a 3-wood, Makes Par to Make the Cut Anyways