Though not quite a household name in the golfing world, my friend Don Carlson – a former Southern California golf administrator and for 64 years a member at the Riviera Country Club – passed away on Sunday in Los Angeles at age 94.  A marshal behind the 18th green for several decades worth of Los Angeles Opens, Mr. Carlson, a longtime high school baseball and basketball coach in Los Angeles, and a long-ago basketball star at Drake University, was also a talented golfer, shooting his age both at Riviera and in an International Seniors Amateur Golfing Society event at Biarritz, France in 1997.  But beyond these measurable accomplishments, Mr. Carlson was a grand, old-fashioned gentleman whose firsthand, on-the-spot knowledge of Los Angeles golf – he knew everyone from Babe Zaharias to the now-famous Mysterious Montague – forever proved a walking encyclopedia for my own historical research.

Throughout Southern California golfing circles and especially at Riviera, he will be dearly missed.

So it’s barely October, but at least I had the decency to wait until the high drama of the FedEx Cup was complete (would Vijay sign an incorrect scorecard?) before selecting Players Of The Year for major tours around the world.  Of course, the truth is that I simply lacked the time to put this piece together on Thursday or Friday – because even if Vijay had stubbed his toe, withdrawn, and passed on $10 million, it wouldn’t have affected my selections one bit.
 
But to be fair, I never thought much of the Tour Championship even before it became the excitement-free anchor of the Finchem – er, FedEx Cup.
 
Anyway, with the understanding that several faraway tours still have featured events remaining to be played…
 
 
The PGA Tour

I recognize that in some quarters (mostly American) there might be a some debate on this, but for my money there’s only one realistic choice: Padraig Harrington.  True, Tiger Woods won four times in six starts, including an heroic performance at June’s U.S. Open.  But in the end, Harrington not only won two Major championships, he did so in epic fashion, pulling away over the closing holes at both Royal Birkdale and Oakland Hills.  True, hypothetically speaking, had Tiger played a dozen events and won, say seven of them, there might have been a worthwhile discussion to be had……but even then, I’d have still chosen Harrington’s two Majors.  Because in the end, Bobby Jones might have won 20 Majors had he not retired at age 28, Ben Hogan might have claimed 15 had he not collided with a bus, and Harry Vardon might have won a dozen Open Championships had he not been stricken with tuberculosis.  But those are all “might haves,” whereas Jack Nicklaus actually went out and won his 18.
 
As Padraig won his two.
 
End of story.
 
 
The European PGA Tour

Obviously this too would be Harrington, as Major championships are official events on the E Tour schedule just like they are in America.  But getting in the spirit of the thing (i.e.discounting them entirely), serious candidates for strictly European POY honors would essentially be limited to Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson and Miguel Angel Jimenez, for several other two-time winners (Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke) were simply too inconsistent to merit ultimate consideration.  Westwood, though second to Harrington in the Order of Merit and seven times (!) a top-3 finisher, has thus far failed to win a 2008 E Tour event, which derails his candidacy in my book.  Jimenez, who sits 4th in the OoM, won twice (in Hong Kong early, and at the prestigious BMW PGA Championship in May) and added three more top-3 finishes beginning in Mid-July, making for a consistent all-around season.  Of course, nobody was more consistent than Karlsson, who was scarcely ever out of the top 10, either in Europe or worldwide, after March before finally winning the Mercedes-Benz Championship in September.  Yet in the end, while his six total top-3s nose ahead of Jimenez’s five, the Mechanic’s second win seems enough to clinch the deal.  True, this less-prestigious win didn’t even occur in 2008, for it came at last November’s Hong Kong Open which, by dint of the E Tour’s crafty scheduling, manages to annually count on the following year’s schedule.  But this quasi-’08 triumph remains significantly relevant because it came head-to-head against Karlsson, who suffered the cruel misfortune of double-bogeying the 72nd hole to lose by one.
 
By actually coming in 2007, it’s a narrow margin indeed – but enough to make Jimenez the Player Of The Year.
 
 
The Japan Tour

With fully 10 events left on the schedule (including the Japan Open and the perennially strong-field Dunlop Phoenix and Casio World Open), it’s way too early to say – but at this moment, Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng is the circuit’s only two-time 2008 winner, and sits 4th in the Order of Merit despite only making 10 starts.
 
But there’s much golf still to be played.
 
 
The Asian Tour

Like Japan, with a dozen official events left (several quite prestigious), it’s simply too soon to select a winner.  New Zealand’s Mark Brown is the only player to win multiple Asian events, but both the SAIL Open and the Johnnie Walker Classic came way back in February.  At present, Jeev Milkha Singh (who’s burnished his CV in Europe and occasionally America in ’08) sits 2nd in the OoM, while India’s S.S.P. Chowrasia, a winner in his homeland back in February, sits 3rd.
 
 
The Sunshine Tour

With the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge, the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the South African Open all scheduled for December, nothing’s settled yet (especially since the Tour’s top stars haven’t been playing at home since March).  Europe will be well into their 2009 schedule (albeit in calendar ’08, and including the latter two of these events) before this is settled.
 
 
The LPGA Tour

Strive as one might to create some discussion based on her quiet(er) second half, Lorena Ochoa remains the only realistic choice – and it’s really a no-brainer.  Yani Tseng and Inbee Park both matched Ochoa’s season Major championship total (one) but neither could claim so much as a single additional victory, leaving them miles shy of Ochoa’s seven.  Among the more traditional contenders, Annika Sorenstam looked ready to go out on a rocket by winning thrice by mid May, but has been heard from little since, while Paula Creamer has also claimed three titles, but noting since mid-July.  The only disappointing aspect of Ochoa’s season is that having won six times (including the Kraft Nabisco) in nine starts through May 18th, she seemed hot enough to make talk of a Grand Slam at least quasi-realistic, and a run on Mickey Wright’s single-season record of 13 wins downright plausible.  The Grand Slam will have to wait for another day, but with six official events left on the schedule, 13 wins is…extremely unlikely.
 
But Lorena Ochoa is, by any measure, the runaway choice for LPGA Player Of  The Year.
 
 
The Ladies European Tour

A resurgent Helen Alfredsson may lead the Order of Merit but for all of her fine play, Alfredsson has only one title (the LPGA co-sponsored Evian Masters) on her 2008 docket.  France’s Gwladys Nocera, on the other hand, sits 2nd in the OoM, but has racked up an impressive four victories – one more than Lotta Wahlin (6th in the OoM) and two more than Suzann Pettersen (5th), Amy Yang (4th), Rebecca Hudson (8th) and Martina Eberl (3rd).  With five events remaining, including the season-ending Dubai Ladies Masters, advantage Nocera.
 
 
The JLPGA Tour

Similarly in the driver’s seat  is six-time JLPGA leading money winner Yuri Fudoh, who thus far leads her home circuit with three 2008 victories.  Several players have amassed two, however, including LPGA Tour regular Momoko Ueda and former LPGA competitor Akiko Fukushima, with the latter also leading the Order of Merit.  But of all the tours which must be graded “incomplete” at this stage, none will likely be subject to more change than the JLPGA, as nine official events remain including two of the circuits “Majors,” this week’s Japan’s Women’s Open and late November’s Tour Championship.

Stay tuned.

PGA Tour:  Turning Stone Resort Championship

Site: Atunyote Golf Club -  Verona, NY
Yards: 7,482     Par:2072
Defending: Steve Flesch 270  (beat M. Allen by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: None   Other Notables: Robert Allenby, Mark Calcavecchia, David Duval, Steve Elkington, Charles Howell III, Davis Love III.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
European PGA Tour:  Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

Site: St Andrews, Carnoustie & Kingsbarns Golf Links  -  Fife, Scotland
Yards: 7,279     Par: 72  (St Andrews)
Defending: Nick Dougherty 270  (beat J. Rose by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: Padraig Harrington (4), Ernie Els (8), Henrik Stenson (9), Lee Westwood (12), Justin Rose (14) & Robert Karlsson (18)   Other Notables: Michael Campbell, Paul Casey, Retief Goosen, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Colin Montgomerie & Oliver Wilson.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Japan Tour:  Coca-Cola Tokai Classic

Site: Miyoshi Country Club (West course)  -  Aiichi, Japan
Yards: 7,310     Par: 72
Defending: Camilo Villegas 82  (beat T. Fujishima in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Toshi Izawa, Shingo Katayama & Prayad Marksaeng
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Asian Tour:  Kolon-Hana Bank Korean Open

Site: Woo Jeong Hills Country Club  -  Cheonan, Korea
Yards: 7,185     Par: 71
Defending: Vijay Singh 278  (beat K.T. Kim & Y.E. Yang by2)
Field:   World Top 25: Anthony Kim (6)    Other Notables: Ian Poulter.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Sunshine Tour:  Seekers Travel Pro-Am

Site: Dainfern Country Club  - Dainfern, South Africa
Meters: 6,289     Par: 72
Defending: James Kamte 203  (beat A. Pistorious by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Desvonde Botes, Darren Fichardt & Des Terblanche
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
LPGA Tour:  Samsung World Championship

Site: Half Moon Bay Golf Links (Ocean course)  -  Half Moon Bay, CA
Yards: 6,450     Par: 72
Defending: Lorena Ochoa 270  (beat M.H. Kim by 4)
Field:   Limited Field (see below link)
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Elsewhere…
LET – Madrid Ladies Masters – Madrid, Spain
JLPGA – Japan Women’s Open – Niigata, Japan
Euro Challenge – AGF-Allianz Open de Tolouse – Seilh, Frnce

PGA Tour:  The Tour Championship

Winner: Camilo Villegas   72-66-69-66   273  (beat S. Garcia in a playoff)
Site:  East Lake Golf Club  - Atlanta, GA
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
European PGA Tour:  Quinn Direct British Masters

Site: The Belfry  -  Sutton Coldfield, England
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
Japan & Asian Tours:  Asia Pacific Panasonic Open

Winner: Hideto Tanihara   66-68-64-66   264  (beat A. Yano by 1)
Site: Ibaraki Country Club (West course)  -  Osaka, Japan
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
LPGA Tour:  Navistar LPGA Classic

Winner: Lorena Ochoa   67-67-69-70   273  (beat C. Kerr & C. Kung in a playoff)
Site: RTJ Golf Trail at Capitol Hill  - Prattville, AL
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
Champions Tour:  SAS Championship

Winner: Eduardo Romero   68-67-66   201  (beat T. Kite by 3)
Site: Prestonwood Country Club  -  Cary, NC
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
Elsewhere…

Germany’s Anja Monke won for the first time on the Ladies European Tour at the Vediorbis French Women’s Open, firing a 10-under-par 278 to beat Tania Elosegui and Nina Reis by two in Pas-de-Calais………LPGA Tour regular Momoko Ueda returned to her homeland to claim her seventh career JLPGA victory, carding a 211 total to edge a trio of players by one at the Dunlop Ladies Open………Homestanding Taco Remkes won the European Challenge Tour’s Dutch Challenge, defeating Jeppe Huldahl in sudden death afte r the pair deadlocked on 275 in regulation………Peter Mitchell won his second European Seniors Tour title of 2008, carding a 207 total to edge Sam Torrance by two at the Scottish Seniors Open………Taiwan’s Chi-huang Tsai wond his second onsecutive Omega China Tour title at the Tianjin Championship, his 289 aggregate proving good enogh to defeat Dong Su by two.

So America wins the Ryder Cup, and Anthony Kim emerges as a star.  That gives me a .500 batting average for the week (though admittedly I missed on the more important half…) which, for an event I don’t particularly embrace, isn’t too bad.
 
I must confess to having watched precious little of the hype-fest, so there are surely more cogent observations than mine floating around in cyberspace, but I did manage to wander by precisely as Paul Azinger was doing his singularly tasteless imitation of a college cheerleader, exhorting galleries seldom in need of bad-etiquette coaching to make more noise.  Of course, I also saw an impressive amount of first-class shotmaking in an impressively small amount of time, so perhaps all that noise – non-sporting though it may be – indeed served to jack up players on both sides.
 
And on the subject of confessions, I continue to find myself rooting for the European side, mostly because in general (i.e. not necessarily the specific 12 players on this week’s rosters) I find foreign players to be considerably more interesting, engaging and fan-friendly than our American stars.  And I know I’m not alone in holding that impression – but not a lot of mainstream writers (who make their living dealing with these guys on a daily basis) are likely to share such an opinion publicly.  And especially not this week, when 12 of our best 13 stepped up, played their tails off and stemmed what appeared to be a one-way European tide.
 
Impressive stuff.
 
One match where I was unabashedly rooting for the home side, however, was Sunday’s Anthony Kim-Sergio Garcia singles tilt.  Actually, this is a tough rooting interest for me to back up because I have it from a trustworthy PGA Tour source that Sergio is, in fact, a very nice guy, while Kim’s egging on of the crowd is precisely the sort of silliness that turns Samuel Ryder over in his grave.  But memories of Sergio’s past Ryder Cup antics (leading Davis Love III to once memorably quip: “They’ve got eleven gentlemen and one little boy”) made watching him flounder feel like a certain sort of payback – and how’s that for sporting spirit?
 
[Aside: Garcia now holds a career Ryder Cup ledger of 14-6-4, but only 1-4 in singles – so perhaps Europe’s next four or five captains may consider picking Jose Maria Olazabal into perpetuity…]
 
I also enjoyed Robert Karlsson’s 5&3 route of Justin Leonard, not because of any negatives associated with Leonard but simply because, as readers of this site are aware, Karlsson was likely the most underrated player in the world in 2008.  Indeed, prior to John Huggan’s engaging profile in GolfWorld last week, I doubt that 5% of American fans even knew who Karlsson was – except, perhaps, those few who recall his now largely forgotten attempts at making volcanic sand a staple of his fitness-oriented diet.
 
Anyway, if nothing else, the Ryder Cup certainly reminded me of two important points.
 
First, if the quality of the golf and the excitement of the occasion are high enough, even a mediocre venue like Valhalla (or, for that matter, Torrey Pines) can come out smelling like a rose.  And second, golf must be the single most difficult sport to handicap (save, perhaps, yacht racing?) in the universe.  Because in the end, results are generally determined by who happens to hit their groove at a given moment, who may suddenly collapse under pressure (often players who have succeeded admirably in the past) or who holes a 60’ bomb at just the right moment.  Further, there is a reason why professional tournaments are contested over 72 holes: because even that may not always be enough to fully expose the often minuscule differences in talent that separate the great from the near-great.  Thus how ably can anyone predict an outcome of an even made up of five separate 18-hole matches, four of which are contested in formats virtually no contestant has meaningful experience with?
 
But attempt to pick ‘em we still do.  
 
So it goes.

…Is a mixed bag.
 
Overshadowed somewhat by the Ryder Cup was the decision by Hal-of-Famer Tom Watson to have hip replacement surgery in early October, sidelining him for the duration of 2008, and perhaps a bit longer.  Watson has been battling pain in his left hip for at least four years but, like Jack Nicklaus before him, has now opted to go the full replacement route.  The effect of his departure from the Champions Tour will, I think, be minimal, as he was hardly a regular presence on the schedule to begin with.  I wonder, however, if this may represent the close of Watson’s “serious” playing career – hopefully a case of premature speculation on my part, as the man is still capable of competing effectively among the over-50s.  Heck, there are days when I wonder if he can’t still hold his own on the regular tour.
 
Here’s to a fast and full recovery.
 
Meanwhile, in a land far, far away, 53-year-old Tommy Nakajima – who actually won the Japan Tour’s Taiheiyo Masters in 2006 – strung together rounds of 66-71-73-67 to tie for 2nd at this week’s ANA Open, four behind winner Azuma Yano.  Pretty impressive stuff, even in a not-terribly-strong field.

PGA Tour:  The Tour Championship

Site: East Lake Golf Club  -  Atlanta, GA
Yards: 7,154     Par: 70
Defending: Tiger Woods 257  (beat M. Calcavecchia & Z. Johnson by 8)
Field:   World Top 25: Phil Mickelson (2), Vijay Singh (3), Sergio Garcia (5), Ernie Els (6), Steve Stricker (8), Jim Furyk (9), Anthony Kim (10), Stuart Cink (11), K.J. Choi (16), Camilo Villegas (17), Kenny Perry (20), Trevor Immelman (21), Justin Leonard (23) & Mike Weir (24)   Other Notables: Remaining FedEx Cup survivors.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
European PGA Tour:  Quinn Direct British Masters

Site: The Belfry  -  Sutton Coldfield, England
Yards: 7,230     Par: 72
Defending: Lee Westwood 273  (beat I. Poulter by 5)
Field:   World Top 25: Lee Westwood (12)   Other Notables: Michael Campbell, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, Colin Montgomery & Oliver Wilson.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Japan & Asian Tours:  Asia Pacific Panasonic Open

Site: Ibaraki Country Club (West course)  -  Osaka, Japan
Yards: 7,051    Par: 72
Defending: Inaugural event
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Angel Cabrera, Fred Couples, Toshi Izawa, Singo Katayama, Shigeki Maruyama, Jumbo Ozaki & Curtis Strange.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
LPGA Tour:  Navistar LPGA Classic

Site: RTJ Golf Trail at Capitol Hill  -  Prattville, AL
Yards: 6,632     Par: 72
Defending: Maria Hjorth 274  (beat S. Prammanasush by 1)
Field:   World Top 20: The entire Rolex top 20 except Annika Sorenstam (2), Suzann Pettersen (4), Paula Cremer (5), Ji-Yai Shin (7), Helen lfredsson (9), Inbee Park (11), Momoko Ueda (16) & Yuri Fudoh (18)    Other Notables: Rachel Hetherington, Liselotte Neumann & Se Ri Pak.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Champions Tour:  SAS Championship

Site: Prestonwood Country Club  -  Cary, NC
Yards: 7,137     Par: 72
Defending: Mark Wiebe 198  (beat D. Quigley by 3)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup top 20 except Tom Watson (9) & Scott Simpson (10)   Other Notables: Jim Dent, Allen Doyle, Bruce Fleisher, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Gil Morgan, Larry Nelson & Craig Stadler.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

 
Elsewhere…
LET – Vediorbis French Women’s Open – Pas de Calais, France
JLPGA – Dunlop Ladies Open – Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Euro Challenge – Dutch Challenge – Houtrak, Netherlands
Omega China – Tianjin Championship – Tianjin, China

PGA & European Tours:  The Ryder Cup

Winner: United States   16½ - 11½
Site: Valhalla Golf Club  -  Louisville, KY
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
PGA Tour:  Viking Classic

Winner: Will MacKenzie   70-64-67-68   269  (beat B. Gay & M. Turnesa in a playoff)
Site: Annandale Golf Club  -  Madison, MS
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
Japan Tour:  ANA Open

Winner: Azuma Yano   68-68-69-68   273  (beat T. Muto & T. Nakajima by 4)
Site: Sapporo Golf Club (Wattsu course)  -  Sapporo, Japan
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
Asian Tour:  Mercuries Taiwan Masters

Winner: Wen-Teh Lu   70-67-69-71   277  (beat T. Wiratchant by 2)
Site: Taiwan Golf & Country Club  -  Taipei, Taiwan
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
Sunshine Tour:  Vodacom Origins of Golf Eastern Cape

Winner: George Coetzee   71-68-73   212  (beat J. Hugo by 1)
Site: Humewood Golf Club  -  Port Elizabeth, South Africa
 
STORY         RESULT         MONEY LIST         STATS         INTERVIEWS
 
 
Elsewhere…
France’s Gwladys Nocera set an all-time LET medal record of 259 (an astounding 29 under par!) en route to all 11-shot runaway over Nina Reis at the Goteborg Masters in Sweden………Veteran superstar Yuri Fudoh won her third JLPGA title of 2008 (and 45th overall) at the Ladies Tokai Classic, winning a three-way sudden death playoff after posting an eight-under-par 208 aggregate………Matt Bettancourt carded a 19-under-par 269 total to win the Nationwide Tour’s Oregon Classic, beating Bubba Dickerson by two………England’s Gary Lockrbie claimed his first win as a professional at the European Challenge Tour’s Kazahkstan Challenge, carding a 273 total to beat countryman Stuart Davis by two.

There is a certain irony to the fact that the Ryder Cup, golf’s biennial model of international decorum, was for many years overlooked in America; treated, to quote Herbert Warren Wind, “as a little get-together on about the same level as a member-guest tournament.”

Those days are gone, of course, with Samuel Ryder’s cup no longer symbolizing much in the way of goodwill or sportsmanship, replaced instead by the jingoistic tones deemed necessary to overflow the coffers of the co-sponsoring organizations, the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe.  The shame of this is that taken on its own merit, the event should be uniquely wonderful.  Contested every other year amongst the two continent’s finest golfers, it offers a singular opportunity for meaningful team play (with all of the associated drama and pressures) in a sport otherwise organized solely around individuals.

Though perhaps not on par with the four Majors, the Ryder Cup certainly offers its own unique catalog of memories.  Memories of Walter Hagen, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead; of the visiting American’s once-traditional visit to Harry Vardon’s grave site; of their indomitable opponents, men like Ballesteros, Faldo and that most unsung of Ryder Cup stars, Peter Oosterhuis; of Europe’s remarkable resurgence under Tony Jacklin’s leadership; and, amidst a sea of heartbreaking losses and spectacular wins, memories of the epic American comeback of 1999.

So why this contemporary descent into cheap carnival antics?

It is easy to lay blame solely upon the American PGA, which has seldom missed on an opportunity to squeeze every last nickel from every last pocketbook — including those of its membership.  But we in the media are equally to blame, attempting to pump up ratings by willingly going along for the PGA’s marketing ride.  Instead of recalling that most of these European nations are our friends and allies, we follow the PGA’s lead in using such sophomoric tag phrases as “The War At The Shore,” and pay far more attention to breaches of etiquette than acts of sportsmanship.

This too is ironic given that one of golf’s all-time gentlemanly moments occurred at the Ryder Cup, in 1969 at Royal Birkdale.  With the teams tied at 15½ points apiece, the entire event came down to the final singles match between Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin.  All square coming to the last green, Nicklaus coolly holed a tricky four-footer for par, then immediately conceded Jacklin’s shorter putt for a half, allowing the overall match to finish in a 16-16 tie.  Such an ending averted what surely would have been an ugly American victory had Jacklin missed, while still allowing Nicklaus & Co. to retain the cup, which they’d won handily in Houston two years earlier.

Would any of today’s stars dare to do the same?

We’d certainly like to think so, but what price might they pay?  Would heckling fans and corporate patrons in overpriced tents scream bloody murder?  Would the player’s own teammates publicly denounce the decision (as several of Nicklaus’s were rumored to have done privately)?  And if such a gesture of sportsmanship did take place, would the media cover it for as long, and with as much fire, as they did the “scandal” of the American team’s high-profile celebration in 1999?

Perhaps then, this might be a good time to remind all concerned that Europeans in general, and the British in particular, are not our enemies.  On the contrary, we have fought history’s two greatest conflicts at Great Britain’s side, and they are by far America’s closest friend and ally in these present troubled times.

All that, and they invented the bloody game!

So now more than ever, let us remember what the Ryder Cup is supposed to be: A spirited match between friends, an international celebration of the Royal & Ancient game.

And if so honorable an approach fails to satisfy the PGA’s financial goals, perhaps they might arrange an off-years match with a team of Iranian golfers.  Now that’s an idea the Palm Beach Gardens marketing boys can sink their teeth into!

PGA & European Tour:  The Ryder Cup

Site: Valhalla Golf Club  -  Louisville, KY
Yards: 7,496     Par: 71
Defending: Europe  18½ - 9½ (at the K Club, County Kildare, Ireland)
Field:   See Event Website Below.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
PGA Tour:  Viking Classic

Site: Annandale Golf Club  -  Madison, MS
Yards: 7,199     Par: 72
Defending: Chad Cambell 275  (beat J. Wagner by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: Rory Sabbatini (22)   Other Notables: Mark Brooks, Mark Calcavecchia, David Duval, Steve Elkington, Lee Janzen & Bob Tway.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Japan Tour:  ANA Open

Site: Sapporo Golf Club (Wattsu course)  -  Sapporo, Japan
Yards: 7,017     Par: 71
Defending: Norio Shinozaki 277  (beat Y. Imano & C. Plaphol in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Toshi Izawa, Frankie Minoza, Tommy Nakajima, Jet Ozaki, Jumbo Ozaki, Craig Parry.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL

 
Asian Tour:  Mercuries Taiwan Masters

Site: Taiwan Golf & Country Club  -  Taipei, Taiwan
Yards: 6,915     Par: 72
Defending: Wen-The Lu 284  (beat T. Oh by 3)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Not many.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Sunshine Tour:  Vodacom Origins of Eastern Cape

Site: Humewood Golf Club  -  Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Meters: 6,390     Par: 72
Defending: New Event
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Desvonde Botes, Darren Fichardt, James Kamte, Des Terblanche.
 
                    ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Elsewhere…

LET – Goteborg Masters – Gothenburg, Sweden
JLPGA – Ladies Tokai Classic – Aichi, Japan
Nationwide – Oregon Classic – Junction City, OR
Euro Challenge – Kazahkstan Challenge – Almaty, Kazahkstan