Having somebody in your group with a rangefinder is particularly helpful to the pace of play when you are playing at a club that doesn’t allow carts to leave the paths. It also helps you play better and more efficiently and to those who oppose their use in competition (see the guy on the left), my response is go back to hickory shafted clubs and gutta purcha balls. Anyone who knows me also understands that I am by nature a traditionalist. But I’m also a pragmatist, unlike Gorman, who still thinks the world is flat and would prefer traveling around the course on a donkey instead of an electric cart.

I’m lying. Gorman loves his titanium headed driver, with its graphite shaft, striking a three piece Pro V. He, like the rest of us, has embraced the technology that has made the game easier (but not easy) and more enjoyable. Each week we watch professional golfers confer with their caddies on a particular yardage as they look at their yardage books, which have over the past 50 years or so become the road maps of the various tours.

What we don’t see are the caddies arriving on site early in the week and walking the course, using rangefinders to get their yardages and then transcribing that knowledge into those little books. The rangefinders get used in preparation for competition so why can’t they be used IN competition? It makes no sense whatsoever. Fortunately many club tournaments for amateurs have no such stupid rules. If you have the willingness to spend a few extra bucks to pick up an electronic device that helps your game, you’re welcome to it. We still are faced with the prospect of actually having to hit the shot, which for us remains the most significant challenge. It’s just so much more enjoyable to actually know you have the right club in your hand instead of guessing and it’s certainly more enjoyable for everyone when an extra half hour is lopped off the time on the course because the players aren’t walking hither and yon, looking for sprinkler heads, especially when they are hitting from an adjoining fairway.

I’ve had a rangefinder now for the past three years. My handicap has not gone either up or down so it stands to reason that I’m not getting an unfair advantage. What I am getting is an earlier idea of how far away I am and what club I want to hit. Considering where Gorman often finds himself on a golf course one would assume he’d love the idea of a rangefinder. He’s often in places that have yet to be discovered by humans, much less marked off to the middle of the green.

There are some state golfing association that allow the use of rangefinders in their competitions and some that allow it on a limited basis. A couple of years ago, in the Rhode Island State Amateur final, a rangefinder was used by one of the officials to determine which of the competitors was away. It made complete sense and it left no doubt. Those who don’t want to see the rangefinder in the game are probably those who would have us still living in caves. Even Gorman, whose batty, hates caves.

Tim Geary is a R.I. Based freelance writer. He once used a rangefinder to find his way back to civilization after hitting one of his infamous snap hooks.

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If you’re serious about the game, you will lay out $300 for a decent DMD, which function by laser or GPS. The world’s best players are banned from using rangefinders, but in 2006, the USGA and R & A began allowing tournament committees to insert a local rule permitting DMDs. The rules-makers still consider them illegal – the penalty is DQ – and you won’t find them in competition on the PGA Tour or other USGA events, including local qualifiers.

DMDs have become widely accepted at many competition levels, including state championships, club championships, NCAA events and most state junior golf programs. Proponents of the rangefinder, like the unscrupulous and unsophisticated Mr. Geary, will suggest it speeds up play, which has merit, but only for skilled players who can hit consistent shots to precise distances.

For slashers like Geary, with 15 handicaps or higher, the DMD will provide no benefit because the ballstriking isn’t near good enough to warrant exact yardage. Simply stated: they just don’t make putting surfaces large enough for guys like Geary to hit a wedge on the green from exactly 107-yards. Why does he think a DMD would help his pathetic game?

For decades, courses have installed 150-yard markers, marking the distance to the hole on sprinkler heads and providing yardage books to help calculate yardages. In most cases, finding accurate yardage meant calculating the distance between the ball and the nearest marker. Pacing off yardage is part of the ritual and rhythm of the round, and something I enjoy.

According to Bushnell Golf marketing manager Derek Schuman, “The sale of distance-measuring devices has become as lucrative as the market for putters. It has become a valuable piece of equipment for any golfer who’s serious about their game and rangefinders are staples in college golf, where some are team-issued.” Call me a traditionalist because I refuse to use a DMD. Golf is about going out and hitting the ball and going and finding it and hitting it again. It just doesn’t feel right and I don’t need technology providing me yardage information while playing. Quite jamming technology into my golf game!

Using a DMD in competition is like having a 15th club in your bag. The three most common devices are Lasers, GPS and Apps. Some lasers look like binoculars and provide precise distances to the flag. Some even compensate for slope telling the player how much extra club will be needed for an uphill shot, but the devices that provide slope-adjusted yardages are illegal for all competitions. GPS devices like the SkyCaddie use GPS information provided by satellite to give distances to the front, middle or back of the greens. Some come with preloaded courses and have been converted into watches for easier accessibility. Apps are also GPS-enabled through cellphones with IPhones being popular, and Golflogix claiming a huge market share.

Let’s keep digitally savvy geeks like Mr. Geary from ruining the game, pretending he needs another new toy to improve his scoring. Seems nobody is getting any better even though more new products and equipment are available every year. The rules of golf don’t allow swing devices on the course and I think it should be illegal to use a device requiring a 9 volt battery that needs replacement after 20 rounds. It’s time to draw the line on technology while in competition?

Tom Gorman sometimes thinks, after posting a snowman that score cards and yardage books are artificial and should not be permitted during play!

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I love the game and over four decades have worn lavender-colored sweaters, shirts with little penguins, crocodiles and polo ponies on them. Have worn Sans-A-Belt slacks in colors and patterns found nowhere in nature. I subscribe to Golfweek, Golf Digest, Golf World, Golf Magazine, Golf Illustrated, Golf Tips and Playboy (but only for the golf articles.) My web browser has 300 bookmarks to golf-related websites and neither rain, sleet nor snow will keep me from missing a reserved tee time that is guaranteed with a major credit card.

Now, this confession: Yes, it’s true – I throw my clubs! I toss them like a salad, heave them like a shot of tequila and kick them like a new set of tires. With that disclosure I am out of the golf closet and proud of it. The best part is that I have never been penalized! Although golf has more rules than any other sport, there are no penalties for club tossing. Go figure!

Far from being a shameful thing, club throwing is an art. It relieves stress, burns calories, builds muscle and it keeps all the nearby players on their toes.  This debate with the maniacal, ticking-time-bomb Mr. Geary is about players who can’t control their temper, who might drop 20 F-bombs per round and who spend hundreds of dollars every year at the golf repair shop paying for new shafts and grips.

Has this happened to you? You’re in the woods so deep a GPS cannot find your ball. You toss your club like a boomerang into the green wall of foliage. Snap, crackle, pop. Broken branches everywhere— and your utility-wood is in two pieces. Only poison ivy trying to retrieve it will make matters worse.

I tend to get irate when shots do not go where they’re aimed especially errant tee shots or four consecutive three-putt greens. I’m 150 yards out in the middle of the fairway with a green-light 7-iron in hand. Suddenly, I drop my shoulder and lay sod over the ball, leaving me 40-yards short of the green. There are times when the offending club soars skyward or rattles across the cart path, throwing sparks as it skips along — snapping the shaft in two. Bummer!

According to the Golf Club Chucker Association of America, Ronald Bradstock, a hacker, from Atlanta holds the record for longest club throw at 62.52 yards. Club throwers pay no dues, have no meetings to attend but incur expenses for new clubs and higher insurance premiums. Apparently, Bradstock will throw a golf club at least once a round – and he doesn’t do it for amusement – he’s genuinely angry at himself that he’ll let it fly like Tom Brady tossing one from mid-field to the end zone.

One of professional golf’s most well-known club throwers in his day was Tommy Bolt.  Some players are able to shrug off a bad shot, others might use an expletive but “Terrible” Tommy Bolt, who was inducted in the Golf hall of Fame, was notorious. He is quoted, “It thrills a crowd to see a guy suffer. That’s why I threw clubs so often. They love to see golf get the better of someone, and I was only too happy to oblige them. At first I threw clubs because I was angry. After a while it became showmanship, plain and simple. I learned that if you helicopter those dudes by throwing them sideways instead of overhand, the shaft wouldn’t break as easy. It’s an art, it really is.”

(Tom Gorman’s favorite excuse for reshafting clubs is he hit a tree root while swinging! Yeah right!)

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Anyone who claims never to have heaved a club in the course of playing the course, is either a liar, Mother Theresa or the greatest golfer to ever live.  Actually the two greatest golfers to ever live, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have been seen tossing their utensils during fits of pique, although in Jack’s case he simply said, “I was just getting it back to my caddy as quickly as possible.”

Our debate this month does not revolve around whether people throw clubs, but whether should there be a rule implemented that punishes such behavior? The idea for this discourse lies with one of the most legendary of Irish hurlers, Mr. Tom Gorman, who has done more for the club replacement business than any other single person on the planet. While I will admit to having tossed a few shafted projectiles in my golfing life, I am a rank amateur compared to Tossing Tom.  So naturally Gorman is arguing that no, you should not be assessed a stroke penalty for every throwing infraction, while I, by default, will defend the more prudent position of yes, there should be a penalty for acting like a baboon.

Gorman’s position is understandable. As it is he can’t break 90 on any course that doesn’t have windmills and clown’s mouths. Put in a stroke penalty for every toss of the club and he’s looking at the kind of scores that say “genius” on an I.Q. Test. Golf is supposed to be a gentleman’s game. Of course now that the ladies have joined the fray (and I have yet to see a woman fire a club away in anger) we should rephrase and refer to it as a gentle person’s game.

The game of golf is one of the most frustrating of all human endeavors and when the instruments by which we attack a golf course betray us, mainly because we don’t have the swing necessary to produce the desired results, we have an overwhelming  urge to punish them.  It’s a totally irrational reaction and a very expensive one as well, but golfers are seldom a rational bunch about how much they spend on the game and it’s equipment. But if one were to lose a shot every time one violently discarded one’s 4-iron or it’s accompanying siblings, I seriously doubt we’d see the skies filled with true temper steel.

The problem is just what would constitute a penalty? If a player just drops the club or flips it away in disgust at yet another in a series of snap hooks, should they be be penalized as much as somebody who whirls around like a discus thrower and sends a club 35 yards down the fairway? And should players be penalized for imitating Tiger and attacking the turf after a shot misbehaves? Hacking up the superintendent’s pride and joy could be considered worse than whirlybirding a driver.

Still, there should be some kind of penalty for doing something that is not only bad form but downright dangerous. I once threw a club into the air and it nearly decapitated one of my playing partners. And there was once an incident where a man threw his club at a tree, had it break in two and ricochet back to impale him.

So I am all in favor of adding one stroke to the scorecard for every time a club is sent flying. Frequent fliers should be restricted to the airline business and kept off the fairways.

(Tim Geary is a R.I. based freelance writer. He once got poison ivy after climbing a tree to retrieve his driver, which obviously had slipped out of his grasp).

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S

With three wins in 2012 and one win, so far, in 2013, how dare the zany, butterfingered Mr. Geary question the recent track record of the greatest golfer of all time?  I’ve said it before and will say it again; Tiger Woods is the best ever, because of his dominance the likes of which the game has never seen. Let’s begin the opening salvo with a reminder of Wood’s unprecedented four-consecutive professional major championship triumphs over the 2000 and 2001 seasons, to his 15-shot rout at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2000, his record 12-shot victory at the Masters in 1997, and his masterful eight-shot victory at St. Andrews in the British Open in 2000.

In match play, Woods’ record is unmatched winning three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateurs and three consecutive U.S. Amateurs and winning the PGA Tour’s Accenture Match Play Championship three times. Only the indomitable Jack Nicklaus has more major championships, 18 to 14. Now, at age 37, with 75 career wins and five or six twilight years remaining, the question is can Tiger win another major?

My fuzzy crystal golf ball prediction shows a Masters victory on Sunday afternoon April 14, for major No. 15, which will bolt Woods back to world No. 1 again , a thrown he has owned on and off since June 1997.  Although 2010 produced zero victories, Woods won six times in 2009; four times in 2008: and eight times in 2007.

Does being “back” mean Woods has to win four times or more? Well, that might happen this season because his ball striking is solid; he is healthy, confident and hungry; but most important his putting stroke has returned.

Since 1998, his first full year in professional golf, Tiger Woods dominated and rose to World No. 1 and 16 years later he ranks World No. 2, behind Rory McIlroy.  McIlroy, an immature 22-year old lightweight, flash-in-pan who had a lucky 2012, won four times in 2012. He earned player of the year over Woods, but he is destined to be a David Duval-type train wreck. He missed the cut in three of 16 PGA Tour events and averages 310 yards off the tee, but has no idea where it’s going, ranking 156^th in driving accuracy with a 56% average. McIlroy will fall mightily from the top in April because his scrambling statistics are unimpressive showing Greens in Regulation only 66% and Save Percentage a weak 56%. (More on McIlroy’s career free-fall in another debate.)

The case can be made that Tiger Woods off-course marital problems in fall of 2009 resulted in a slump, causing a 107-week winless streak, and no majors since.  He fell to world No. 58 in November 2011, but the resume shows that after Woods’ signed the final divorce check of a reported $200 million to the gold-digging, Swedish nanny, Elin Nordegren, his game got back on track. Forbes magazine estimates he is the first $1 billion athlete consistently grossing $100 million annually, even after his off-course hiccups.

It is a question that trails Tiger Woods at every turn like teeming galleries that crane for a glimpse of the world’s most iconic athlete. Is Tiger back? Yes, Tiger Woods is back. In his season debut on the PGA Tour, Woods became the first player in Tour history to win eight times at the Farmers Insurance Open on January 20 at Torrey Pines. With a record 10 player of the year titles and 16 World Golf Championships, there are many more chapters to add to his career, and put to rest any rumors that he’s lost his winning touch.

If skeptics have doubts as to whether Tiger Woods, the most important athlete in American sports history, is back, please send comments to the “Garbage man” a/k/a Tim Geary! He is full of Sugar Honey Ice Tea!

(Tom Gorman, a Boston-based golf aficionado, shows signs of rust with the keyboard, his confidence is so-so, but his hunger to crunch his opponent in future debates is unwavering. His email is teetalk@aol.com)

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With the strains of Hank Williams crooning “Your Cheatin’ Heart” echoing in his back swing, Woods all but disappeared from public view. He tumbled out of the top spot in the world rankings and many of his sponsors said adios. Our question has two parts; Is Tiger finally back and did he ever really leave (Tiger says no to part two.)?  I say maybe to part one and he’s delusional to part two.

Speaking of delusional, the clinical definition resides to my immediate left, with the columnist who actually believes he can play golf.

For most mortal beings winning four tournaments, as Woods did last year, not only would qualify you for Comeback Player of the Year but also for Player of the Year. And Tiger would have won that award had it not been for that mop topped leprechaun from Hollywood, Northern Ireland. But all Rorys aside, Woods entire career has been built on winning major championships and it’s been five years now since he beat Rocco Mediate on one leg in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Back then it didn’t seem a matter of if he would eclipse Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 professional majors but when. Now you couldn’t find a bookie in Vegas dumb enough to back that wager. So if our argument follows ordinary lines I will concede to Gorman that TW is indeed back as an elite, money making PGA touring ATM. But if we are debating as to whether the old “I’ll grind the field into stone dust” Tiger, the one everyone believes can win the grand slam, then Gorman is as nuts as Woods when he says he never left. Never left? His picture was on a milk carton in Tim Finchem’s fridge for a couple of years.  So I will contend that the real Tiger is still trying to get out of that SUV.

I don’t think he’s ever going to approach his former level again, mainly because his body is no longer what it was. Knee surgeries have felled many a mighty athlete. Age has defeated all comers and Tiger is no longer that kid who first showed the world his fist pump at TPC Sawgrass in ’93. He’s 37 now. That’s the prime of life for most of us, but it’s getting long in the tooth for a professional athlete, even if he is a golfer. There’s a reason most pros disappear sometime in their 40s and then reappear when they hit 50.

Can Tiger win golf tournaments again? Certainly. He won four last year and already has one in the bank this year (as of this writing). Can he win a major again? Why not? His game is just as good as anyone’s on any given week. It all comes down to the putter. But that was never a question before the “accident”. It was not ‘if’ he could win a major but ‘when’ and ‘how many’. Winning one in a year was almost a given. People expected Tiger to win multiple majors every year.

So if that is the standard to judge if he is indeed back then the answer is NO, NO, NO!

(Tim Geary is a R.I. based freelance writer. He’s never had to come back because he’s never been anywhere).

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Lee Trevino has said many times that too many golf course architects are more concerned about building monuments to themselves than golf courses that will attract paying customers. Too many courses today are constructed in hopes that they will host the best players in the world one week out of 52. That’s wonderful for that one week, but what about the rest of the year when Tiger and the boys are someplace else?

Now Gorman doesn’t agree with this premise, but why would he, considering the fact that he would probably record the same score at TPC Sawgrass as he would at the local miniature golf establishment? A ground ball is a ground ball, regardless of where you play. Many of the traditional courses are still lengthy, but not unplayable for the average player. The reason? Distance can be accommodated for with several sets of tees. Options are what designers such as Donald Ross, A.J. Tillinghast, Willie Park Jr., Alister Mackenzie and Arthur Hills built into their courses. Can’t hit the ball high and land it soft? That was okay, because these people gave you the option of running the ball onto the green. Can’t do that on many of today’s modern designs.

When the average to high handicapper comes face-to-face with firm, elevated greens that have more levels than a Manhattan townhouse, are surrounded by either wide lakes or seas of sand, it stops being recreation and turns into an obstacle course. People generally don’t like to fork over their hard earned cash to vacation at golf’s version of Parris Island. I’ve played the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, three times. It’s unplayable for an average player. It’s long, it’s arduous, it’s absolutely no fun. There are five other less famous courses on Kiawah that are joys on which to play. Pete Die is one of today’s more famous architects. He’s great for giving the PGA Tour a place to hold a tournament, great for creating a market for railroad ties. He’s no friend of four buddies going on holiday to whack it around for a week.

When Jack Nicklaus first began designing he had some absolute disasters, but he learned. His courses are more in gear with the past, giving players a variety of ways to attack the holes. Jack was the absolute master at hitting high, long irons that settled softly onto hard greens and when he first began building courses he designed them for his game. He quickly realized you have to build courses that EVERYBODY can play. I’ve played some courses that have holes that require a 200 yard carry over a marsh from the member’s tees. That eliminates a lot of players. The tees on the other side of the marsh are so close to the green that it’s insulting. Golf is a difficult game but it doesn’t have to be impossible. It can still be challenging and yet enjoyable. You should be able to play a round without going through an entire dozen balls and having the ball retriever become the most important instrument in your bag.

Tim Geary is a R.I. based freelance writer. He prefers to play on courses older than he.

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There was a time when golf courses were designed for all levels of play, where you had choices such as run it up, knock it down, shape it or be creative in getting satisfactory results, also known as taking a long walk with the putter. Let’s tackle this debate point by point. First, Trevino and Jacklin are “has-beens” who played at a time of persimmon woods, dead golf balls and without titanium or square-grooved clubs. Second, over the past 10 years more golf courses have closed than opened and only a handful of courses have opened in New England, since the economy is in a recession, and we don’t have enough players. Third, the game’s popularity is being driven over a cliff by the USGA because they now want to ban the use of long putters. So much for growing the game? Golf course designers are not ruining the game, the USGA and Royal & Ancient are because they have way too many rules!

My favorite New England courses are not too difficult, and seem to have a common bond. I love Brain Silvadesigned courses like Waverly Oaks (1998), Renaissance (2005), Olde Scotland Links (1997), Red Tail (2002) and The Captains (1985). Unlike Greg Norman-designed courses featuring kidney-shaped, doomed greens or the pathetic layouts by Arnold Palmer-designers, which always need tweaking and redesign by far more skilled architects after completion, my experiences on Silva courses are memorable, challenging and fun. I want to return, which is what designers want.

While we are on the subject of favorites I also like Jack Nicklaus-designed courses such as Pinehills (2002), Ocean Edge (2007), Vermont National (1997) and many more in Myrtle Beach and Florida. Have you ever heard anyone bad-mouth the Rees Jones-designed course at Pinehills (2001)? There is nothing not to like about dramatic landscape changes, many natural hazards, bunkering galore around elevated greens at Pinehills, the most active public course in Massachusetts. Blackstone National (2000) is also a beautiful course by Jones, but unfortunately public players do not have access to two other gems – Nantucket (1998) or Golf Club of Cape Cod (2007). Tim Geary may argue that some course architects are mean, that you have to hit it high or die, that difficult courses cause longer rounds, more frustrated players and wear you out, but that is nonsense because you can always move up to the forward tees to shoot 95, or higher in Geary’s case.

It’s a pipe dream to think you can play golf on any course in four hours, so don’t blame designers. The game is a copy-cat sport, if amateurs see the pros line up a putt from 360 degrees, then John Q. Public golfer is doing the same. I don’t know how they play golf in 3.5 hours in Ireland and Scotland and they walk, but in the States it takes 4.5 hours with carts.

The intsy-bitsy piece of good news is that this season we have had spectacular weather, resulting in an increase in rounds played at public courses up 8% and at private courses up 4%. The guaranteed solution for amateurs to improve – get a lesson!

Tom Gorman, a hack golfer and hack golf writer, has been trying out new tennis rackets since his 14-year relationship with his long putter may be over.

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To be fair, the Euros, led by Ian Poulter, staged a fantastic comeback. They played out of their continental minds and deserved to fly back (those few who actually still live in Europe) across the pond in possession of Samuel Ryder’s trinket.  It gave us a glimpse of what it must have been like for the Euros in 1999 when the American team pulled off what, to then, was the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history, at Brookline. I’m sure the “sensitive” British tabloids characterized our comeback as a giant gag by their boys.

Truth be told it’s almost always a combination of factors and good fortune or luck is always part of the recipe. Case in point; Justin Rose’s winning birdie on 17 against Phil Mickelson was not only about 40 feet in length, but somehow defied the laws of physics by diving in the side door despite having a speed that threatened the sound barrier.

But despite the stellar play of the Euros on Sunday, Mr. Ryder would be resting in a glass case at the offices of the PGA of America today had not our guys fallen apart. Yes, Mr. Poulter’s five straight birdies in Saturday’s four ball certainly was spectacular and gave the Euros a good feeling going into Sunday, but it was still just one point.

The United States team, playing on a course specifically set up for their strengths, held a 10-4 lead at one point on Saturday. With 12 matches still left to be played in their entirety and two others still in progress (and the U.S. leading in both) we only had to register another 4.5 points. We managed 3.5. That’s pathetic. And this is nothing new. Over the last 20 years, or 10 Ryder Cups, the USA has never won on foreign soil. The last victory was in 1993 at the Belfry. They head to Glen Eagles in Scotland for the 2014 matches. Our record in last 10 meetings is a dismal three wins. Euros have seven and yet over that time we’ve dominated the world rankings and we have just one win with the alleged greatest player of all time competing for us.

How is that possible? Are the rankings that inaccurate? Certainly European players have come a long way, but this isn’t the LPGA which is top heavy with Korean dominance. If it were just a couple of matches one could say it’s skewered because there just isn’t enough sample size, but the Ryder Cup is not a sprint. There are a total of 28 matches played over a three day period. In 28 matches the better group is more likely to prevail and over the last two decades that’s been Europe. Two of our “legends”, Tiger and Phil have awful records in the Ryder Cup while somebody like Colin Montgomery, who has never won a tournament on U.S. soil and has an abysmal record in majors, hardly ever lost. Poulter or Lee Westwood, who fold under the pressure during majors, flourish during the Ryder Cup matches (Westwood did struggle in these matches, until Sunday). Paul Lowrie, for crying out loud, kicked Brandt Snedeker’s backside.

It defies logic, but it is very real. We are respectable on our own soil and futile over there? I have just one answer. They’re not better than us from a talent perspective. They’re just tougher mentally. Also, it seems to mean more to them.

(Tim Geary is a Rhode Island based freelance writer.

He’s also an expert on choking on the golf course)

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With 16 of the top-25 players in the world from the United States, you’d think that winning a few foursomes, best-ball and singles matches would be a piece of cake for these titanium carrying millionaires. You’d think that homes oil advantage, including constant thunderous roars for the home-team, would inspire and guarantee a win. Most of all, you’d think that a 10-8 American lead going into the 12 final matches would result in victory for the USA, who have not won on foreign soil for in 20 years, and have lost a dismal 7 of the last 10 Ryder Cups.

What explanation exists for such a poor record? Did this Ryder Cup team take the mother of all chokes? From my front-row seat on the recliner, I watched whole lotta golf that weekend and I enjoyed the surprise, drama, passion, agony, courage, controversy and skill. Does anyone disagree that the Ryder Cup is exciting, emotional, inspiring and offers intensity unlike any other televised sporting event?

The Ryder Cup is a phenomenon to me not because the Euros have dominated the past 10 matches, but because there is no explanation for taking the best players in their respective sport, all at the top of their careers, and an organization like the PGA of America essentially owns the players for the week. What athlete in their right mind would agree to this without getting paid handsomely? The PGA of America throws the US flag over the cup and tells the players what to wear, what to eat, where to go, when to play, where to play, who to play and this goes on for five days without getting a paycheck. Give me a break?

The memory of Brookline in 1999 is resurrected not because the Euros were on the losing end of the most memorable Ryder Cup loss before the United States “choke” in Medinah, but because of the $25 million profit earned from gross revenue of $63 million, from the Ryder Cup Matches held here 13 autumns ago. Prior to the 1999 matches the players were treated like royalty, with luxury hotel rooms, gala dinners, celebrities and fans fawning over them and they received zero pay for their services. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and David Duval called the event “pros on parade” and demanded to be paid when the huge profits were revealed in an expose in Golf Digest.

The PGA of America wants us to think the Ryder Cup is about patriotism, sportsmanship and competition, but a review of the history of the Ryder Cup proves that the event is one of the largest corporate attractions in the world. Under pressure, the ingrates finally moved to offer a charity payoff to players of $200,000 to their favorite programs and foundations.

Based on my observations of this year’s matches, the 24 players put on the best golf show ever. Each player should be rewarded and paid $1 million for their sensational effort. What a memorable show, even for a skeptic like me? Since Ian Poulter was MVP, I say toss him an extra $1 million because he did things on the golf course, under intense pressure, that may never be done again in our lifetime. Let’s salute Poulter and all the players with $1 million checks. Ian Poulter is golf gold, not only in Europe but in the States. Who has ever produced in the clutch like he did that entire match?

My proposal to pay $1 million to each USA player should also solve the mystery as to why the Americans don’t perform well in the Ryder Cup. Folks, it’s about the money! Money is the only thing that motivates these talented, egotistical golf professionals, so this new pay-for-play program should start the American on a winning formula, with more Ryder Cups being won by team USA. Million dollar checks are the answer!

Tom Gorman is a Boston-based free lance writer. If asked he would shine Ian Poulter’s shoes.

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