Hard to say whether this week뭩 Turkish Airlines World Golf Finals will help that country뭩 bid for the 2020 Olympics, but at least they have a golf course. Officials in Rio are still waiting for their TBD site, while anyone holding out hope John Daly will do the right thing, and play Q-School, should get used to disappointment.
Made Cut
Talking Turkey I. Give credit to organizers for wooing eight of the world뭩 top players to Antalya resort and delivering large crowds; now comes the hard part.
The Turkish Airlines World Golf Finals ?an unsanctioned event that featured Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, the world뭩 Nos. 1 and 2 ?was billed as a global introduction as the country attempts to gain momentum for its ?0 Olympic bid.
Other than an embarrassing headbutting, by the director of the Turkish Golf Federation, no less, the event delivered, but the real test will be next year뭩 Turkish Open, the penultimate event on the 2013 European Tour schedule that will feature a proper field.
As for the headbutting, Cut Line will let it slide. Had U.S. Golf Association executive director Mike Davis headbutted 밄ird Man?at this year뭩 U.S. Open we may have been spared his continued foolishness.
Captain America. Tiger Woods acknowledged this week that he would one day look forward to captaining a U.S. Ryder Cup team. In related item, the sun rose in the East.
밢ne day that would be fantastic,?Woods said. 밒t would be a huge honor; hopefully it doesn뭪 happen in the near future. I would like to be able to play for a lot more teams, but certainly one day, when my career is slowing down or it뭩 over, it would be huge to be part of a Ryder Cup from the captaincy side.?/P>
What뭩 surprising is the amount of push-back Woods?seemingly innocent take has caused. A healthy amount of the 133 comments on GolfChannel.com regarding the news blasted 밨ed Shirt?for, well, stating the obvious, primarily because of his pedestrian record in the matches (13-17-3).
But if a player뭩 record were the litmus test for captaincy we may have never gotten Paul Azinger (5-7-3) in the big chair, or America뭩 only victory in the biennial event in the last decade.
Tweet of the week: @JasonDufner 밆on뭪 ever sit by one of those customer service counters at the airport. People getting hot and angry! Toxic energy.?/P>
Guy doesn뭪 say much, but when he talks, eh, tweets, it뭩 gold.
Made Cut-Did Not Finish (MDF)
Blame it on Rio. Architect Gil Hanse told Cut Line last month that he expects to break ground on the Olympic golf course in Brazil sometime this month and a PGA Tour official confirmed this week that the project was still on schedule despite a lingering land dispute.
Ty Votaw, the Tour뭩 executive vice president of communications and international affairs, said the plan is to have a test event at the Olympic course in 2015 and a recent mayoral election in Rio should help the project stay on schedule.
Luckily for Hanse & Co., there are 31 days in October.
European Tour. The circuit뭩 move to include starts in the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and Seve Trophy toward a player뭩 minimum number of starts seems long overdue, as if European players have a harder week on their schedule every two years than Samuel Ryder뭩 soiree.
But Cut Line had to wonder why officials stopped short of the team Grand Slam and didn뭪 dub the Tavistock Cup an official start. Seems like there are more European Tour players living in Orlando, Fla.뭩 Lake Nona and Isleworth communities than London.
Handle with care. A decision on anchoring and long putters is due this fall from the U.S. Golf Association and Royal & Ancient and news this week that the implement landed one Tour type on the DL likely won뭪 help matters.
Spencer Levin, who was spotted by Cut Line at TPC Boston last month practicing with a short putter, tore a ligament in his left thumb handling a long putter and had season-ending surgery on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Levin tweaked his thumb while practicing with the long putter three weeks ago. Although the golf world is still unsure if the long putter will be legal, this latest episode suggests they can be lethal.
Missed Cut
Talking Turkey II. It seems altruism only goes so far, at least when it comes to the PGA Tour and the circuit뭩 need to protect its sponsors.
All eight players at this week뭩 Turkish Airlines World Golf Finals had to request 밹ompeting-event releases?to play the big-money boondoggle and, according to multiple sources, those releases came with strings that stretch all the way back to California.
The 밫urkish Eight?had to agree to play the Frys.com Open at least once over the next three years, a quid pro quo that is not uncommon for top players looking to take their talents to the four corners of the globe.
So, let뭩 get this straight. Growing the game and aiding Turkey뭩 Olympic bid, albeit for a healthy payday, is fine, just not at the expense of a longtime sponsor. Got it.
Daly dose. Bless 밓D?and his big-hitting heart. He뭩 making the Fall Series rounds in his annual dash to earn his Tour card. Just don뭪 expect him to play Q-School like the rest of the play-for-pay world.
For the seventh consecutive year Daly ?who is currently 137th in earnings and has not finished inside the top 125 in cash since 2005 ?has not signed up to play the Fall Classic, but it seems he has no problem accepting sponsor exemptions at any Tour stop that will have him, including next week뭩 McGladrey Classic.
If tournament directors still consider Daly a draw worth burning a coveted exemption, fine, but it뭩 time for the Tour to step in and require players to make a good-faith attempt at relevancy via Q-School in order to collect those freebies.