Kenyon! More On Team Europe's Putting Guru

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Tim Rosaforte fills out a few details about the mysterious putting coach Phil Kenyon, recently sought out by Rory McIlroy and coach to several top players. Kenyon keeps a low profile and doesn't so much self promotion, but as Rosaforte notes, he's had a hand in helping seven members of the European Ryder Cup team.

Rosaforte writes:

Kenyon has a master’s degree in Sports Science, and his experience playing on the mini-tours in Europe gives him a good perspective on how players think. Says McIlroy: “He was more, you figure it out yourself a little bit, but this is what you need to do; this is where you need the putter to be at certain points in your stroke, and then just figure out a way to do it.”

True to form, Kenyon didn’t want to be quoted directly on his work with McIlroy, reciting only the Aristotle proverb, “One swallow does not a summer make.”

Duly noted!

Instant Poll: Who Would Be Your Team USA Ryder Cup Picks?

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I'm fairly confident you know the drill by now. If not, here goes.

The task force Task Force "Task Force" mandated that three picks be made after this year's BMW Championship, with the fourth captain's pick to be made on Sunday of the Tour Championship.

Davis Love announces his three picks at 11 am ET on Monday, September 12th.

Here is the team on points:


The players who missed qualifying:

Alright, you get three votes, who you like?

Who would be your three captain's picks for Team USA?
 
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Olympic Participant Fatigue As A Ryder Cup Issue?

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Captain Darren Clarke could be thrilled to read that Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose are trending toward two weeks off prior to the 2016 Ryder Cup, but should they make it to East Lake, fatigue will be an issue for his two most prized Team Europe veterans.

Jim McCabe of Golfweek reports from the BMW Championship on both sides, but the comments from the Europeans stood out.

But just as there is a calm before the storm, for Rose there’s a silver lining to the collapse: A week off that he feels he sorely needs.

“It wouldn’t be the worst thing; I hate to say that,” said Rose, when asked if not qualifying for the Tour Championship (Sept. 22-25) would be beneficial to his mental health.

When Rose crashed over the final nine holes at TPC Boston, it dropped him to 50th in the FedEx Cup standings, which means he has to do something pretty special at this week’s BMW Championship to get into the top 30 and earn a spot into the Tour Championship.

Davis Love Can't Imagine What It'll Be Like To Have Tiger Woods On A Golf Cart Watching A Group Of Guys Play Golf

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It's the stuff that dreams are made of, really, and as Kyle Porter notes in reporting on an interview Captain Davis Love gave to Sirius/XM, Tiger Woods driving around Hazeltine during the Ryder Cup could be a spectacle.

Love:

"I sit back sometimes, I even talk to him about it, I can't imagine what it is going to be like to have Tiger Woods on a golf cart watching a group of guys play golf," said Love. "Half the fans are going to be watching Tiger watch golf, they're not going to be watching the golf. And if Tiger goes to check pin positions, how much of the gallery is he going to take with him?"

Not that much, unless Love has secured a Team USA Escalade-model cart with Galea-approved lumbar support and heated seats.

Mercifully, Sam Weinman has a pretty good idea what Tiger's week will look like and it isn't as unpredictable as you'd think.

Unless of course MJ decides to ask for a ride and we find that those comments to Wright Thompson haven't left a lasting impression.
Hopefully they'll just discuss having a charitable auction of their dad jeans (Tiger here, MJ here).

Ryder Cup Team (And Other People Visit) Gillette Stadium

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I see most of Team USA's Ryder Cup 2016 players, the Captain and Vice Captains. And there's Jim Furyk, whose fate as player or cart driver is TBD (but he's sporting an appropriate 58 jersey, but a not so appropriate Patriots jersey for a lifelong Steelers fan(atic)).

Oh, and because he's not on the team, PGA of America President Derek Sprague.

Luke Donald As A Ryder Cup Pick Story Gets More Interesting

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Alex Miceli at Golfweek.com with the explanation from William Hill's Joe Crilly as to why they got suspicious and cut off bets on Darren Clarke's three Ryder Cup picks.

Miceli writes of the action on longshot Luke:

The betting came not from its web or mobile sites, but from differing Hill retail locations throughout England, mostly in the northeast of England.

“They were only small bets, the biggest of which was I think 200 pounds,” Crilly said of the Donald bets. “They were only small bets but they were of the frequency on a special market like that that you wouldn’t necessarily see on a special market and thus somebody had an inkling that something was going to happen.”

Both Tim Rosaforte at Golf Channel and James Corrigan at the Telegraph are reporting that Donald will not be a pick. Instead, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Thomas Pieters will be the 2016 captain's picks. Clarke makes the picks Tuesday at 7:30 am ET.