Would you rather have 18 pars or nine birdies and nine bogeys?
The Fourball team discuss consistency vs. excitement, Tiger’s putting, G-Mac’s Open rant, and the latest PGA cheat storm
Mark: Sung Kang was hung out to dry by his playing partner Joel Dahmen. Given there was a lengthy debate at the time and a rules official agreed to the drop is this acceptable or would we like to see more of this?
Harvey: Beef between tour players is brilliant – God to have a Miguel versus Keegan Bradley square-up again is what dreams are made of – the game is in desperate need of more characters and if drama is the expense I have no objections. However, cheating has no place in the game, at any level, from Phil Mickelson at Shinnecock to Dave in Yorkshire with a dodgy drop it’s wrong and does ruin it for others. If Kang cheated then he should hang his head in shame, I don’t want to sound like my mother, but he’s a role model to countless people that tune in.
Alex: I want to see more of this for two reasons: Firstly, as a golf fan it’s wonderful drama. And secondly, if more people call out the cheats then maybe it will help eradicate cheating from the game.
Dan: I think it’s fair enough. It’s not like he didn’t make his feelings known at the time. We’ve seen this business of where a ball crossed the hazard a few times before on tour, and it also comes up from time to time in club golf. There is no footage, so we don’t know for certain who is right and wrong in this instance. However, the evidence from multiple witnesses would lead you to believe that Dahmen’s assessment of the drop is accurate. Does that makes Kang a cheat or just someone who inadvertently took a bad drop? Only Kang really knows the answer to that.
Harvey: Graeme McDowell kopped a load of flak for not giving Final Qualifying a go despite not having his clubs. Should he have teed it up with a borrowed set?
Alex: As someone who was recently lucky enough to get 18 holes in at Bethpage Black but had to play with a set of Tour Edge Bazooka clubs – no, me either – part of me wants to tell G-Mac to suck it up and see what happens. It certainly would have been a great story. But FQ is no gimme and he made the right decision.
Dan: No, I don’t think so. FQ is already a real inconvenience to the tour pro – who has to travel out of his way to play 36 holes in a day with the odds against him of coming through in between two of the biggest events of the season. I think McDowell understandably concluded that the additional factor of being without his own clubs tipped the balance. Speaking personally, I struggle to enjoy nine holes on holiday without my own clubs, but that’s just me.
Mark: I love the romance of coming through FQ so I was a bit disappointed with him. Then the reality of playing two rounds, two days before his national Open which is all a bit of a nonsense, with some strange clubs and expecting to still get one of just three spots kicks in and it all seems fair enough. He would obviously have been one of the class acts but a) what does that mean and b) having your own clubs is pretty much everything to a golf pro.
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Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
