Put The Ryder Cup In Metro New York City Pronto!

It's been amusing watching the banter in press and blogosphere over the conduct of the fans at Bethpage Black this week.

You'll hear different tales of how good or how bad they were, but one thing is certain: the fans braved the rain and the mud and supported the event...and that they added a rich, spicy flavor to the proceedings. There are few fans of any sport more stalwart or determined than the New Yorker, and without any doubt, the USGA had no worries over the weekend that the fans would brave the elements regardless of the challenge they presented.

New Yorkers, for better or worse are direct and blunt, but one can always be certain where they stand with a New Yorker. No passive-aggression from that lot at a sporting event, and they will let a player know it when they've done well or they've done poorly. At a Masters or a US Open in another city, you might hear a couple scattered claps or silence following a poor shot. Not in New York. Someone will pipe up and let the golfer know exactly what the crowd is thinking.

Imagine, if you will, the 128th Open Championship at Carnoustie being held in the New York area and the crowd reaction to Jean Van De Velde's utterly silly collapse on the final hole. By the time Van de Velde had taken his third shot, the one in the heathers where he moved the ball only a few feet, if you were on the east coast you would have been able to hear the fans' catcalls. And it would have only gotten worse for the Frenchman as he took his fourth, fifth, and sixth shots on his way to throwing away the championship.

It will be quite a while until we get another taste of Big Apple hospitality in our national golfing championship, however. Future sites for the US Open are

2010 – Pebble Beach Golf Links (Pebble Beach, California – June 17–20)
2011 – Congressional Country Club, Blue Course (Bethesda, Maryland – June 16–19)
2012 – The Olympic Club, Lake Course (San Francisco, California – June 14–17)
2013 – Merion Golf Club, East Course (Ardmore, Pennsylvania – June 13–16)
2014 – Pinehurst Resort, Course #2 (Pinehurst, North Carolina – June 12–15)
2015 – Chambers Bay (University Place, Washington – June 18–21)
2016 – Oakmont Country Club (Oakmont, Pennsylvania – June 16–19)

and it is a virtual certainty that taken as a whole the galleries at these sites will be much more, shall we say, discriminating in their commentary towards players.

No matter where your opinion falls regarding the fans this week, there is an event in golf where they would provide a home-field advantage non-pareil: the Ryder Cup. Why that isn't planned for the near future is somewhat mystiying:

2012 Medinah Country Club, Medinah, Illinois, U.S.A.
2016 Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minnesota, U.S.A.
2020 Ryder Cup Whistling Straits (Straits Course), Kohler, Wisconsin

The Ryder Cup should be in the tri-state area, stat. The Euros would have two years to dread playing in that crowd, and they would more than likely cross the Atlantic already defeated by the idea. And the NY fans would be all to happy to let them know about it.

David Duval Earns Back The Respect He Deserved All Along

Once the #1 Player in the world, and a major champion, starting in 2002, David Duval was beset like Job: depression that reared its head constantly, a back injury, a split with his finacee and possibly worst of all, a bout with vertigo that took away his keen sense of balance -- something of vital importance to a top-flight golfer.

Since his victory at the 2001 British Open, he's yet to win any tournament anywhere, and he's plummeted from golf's #1 to #882 coming into the US Open this weekend at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York. Few if any gave David Duval any chance to make the cut, much less vye for the tournament win.

"[T]he PGA Tour should assign someone to follow him and scream "Fore!!!" during his backswing, just to give the spectators time to duck behind a tree." - Rich Tosches, Devil Ball Golf, 2008

In fact, when people in pro golf have heard Duval say lately that he felt like his game was back, they laughed at him. But it was David Duval who had the last laugh, this week anyway: with a mere four holes to go in the 2009 US Open, he was tied for the lead and poised to win the tournament. This not being a fairy-tale, there was no happy ending so far as a US Open win was concerned, but in reality, David Duval proved that he is still a winner and that's a win in and of itself not only for Duval personally, but for golf generally.

How soon they forget: this is the guy that shot a 59 at the Player's Championship, the guy that was always in contention, and the guy capable of reeling off victories with ease. The simple fact is that David Duval has accomplished more in golf than most players ever do, yet he became the victim of snide jokes filled with contempt.

Depression is not accurately described by its dictionary definition: "a mental state characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity." It's not a state of feeling sad and not feeling good enough, though that can be part of it. It's certainly not something one can just shake off, as though they had a bad day at the office -- the popular conception of the disease amongst a lot of people. Research increasingly demonstrates a biological condition where "[of the thirty] or so neurotransmitters that have been identified, researchers have discovered associations between clinical depression and the function of three primary ones: serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. These three neurotransmitters function within structures of the brain that regulate emotions, reactions to stress, and the physical drives of sleep, appetite, and sexuality. Structures that have received a great deal of attention from depression researchers include the limbic system and hypothalamus." [link] In layman's terms, clinical depression is as much a physical disease as is muscular distrophy or a heart defect. Overcoming the disease is difficult, and while there is no cure, its symptoms can be mitigated with the proper treatment, and eventually the patient can function at near-normal levels.

It appears that Duval is doing just that, and just in the nick of time: he is in the last year of his PGA Tour exemption, meaning that he will need to either win a tournament, finish in the top 125 of money earned or re-qualify for the PGA Tour by going through Q-School this fall. His check for his second-place tie will go far to vaulting him up the Top 125, and if he brings the same sort of game that he had in his bag that he had this week at Bethpage, a win is not at all out of the question. Duval was achingly close this afternoon, and truly, it was only a lipped out putt and a raw rub of the green here or there that kept him out of at least a playoff with eventual winner Lucas Glover. Duval tied Phil Mickelson, and beat Tiger Woods, not to mention the rest of the field. He finished under par at a US Open venue. If he can do these things at Bethpage, he can do it again at a regular tour event.

And when he does, the know-it-alls in golf who haven't gone through one tenth of the turmoil in their lives that Duval has had in his won't be laughing. David Duval will be, but it will be with his wife, his family and to him, he says, that's all that matters.

In my mind, and with all due respect to tournament winner Lucas Glover, considering the arduous journey, David Duval is the real winner this week.