The Golf Watch

Mark Rolfing should take over as lead analyst on Aloha swing

As anti-climactic as some of the tournaments can be early on in the season, I still enjoy watching the tournaments in Hawaii (two months off from watching golf and being stuck with non-stop Tigergate coverage will make any golf enthusiast go crazy).

Mark Rolfing has always been a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the Aloha swing.  I know, I know, it sometimes sounds like he is working for the Hawaii Tourism Authority (is he??), but it is nice to get some insider knowledge on an area that is so foreign for us east coasters.  Nobody knows Kapalua as well as Rolfing, and it shows. 

I'm still not sure why Nick Faldo is on the anchor desk when Rolfing is at his finest. Faldo rarely offers anything to enhance the telecast, while Rolfing offers real insight and uncovers hidden gems each year.

I can only hope that Golf Channel and the other networks can learn from this.  If there is an insider who knows a golf course better than anyone else, make sure no one else is stealing their air time. 

The Nick Faldo-TaylorMade issue

During early round coverage of the Memorial on The Golf Channel, viewers saw Nick Faldo serve not only as analyst, but also in commercials promoting TaylorMade products in between live segments.

I am perfectly fine with announcers promoting products and being endorsed by equipment brands.  After all, many of these guys play themselves when they are not announcing.

But during a tournament, commercials should not be aired of Faldo promoting equipment before he provides his analysis.  How can Faldo be an objective analyst and provide trustworthy information for viewers when he is seen promoting the latest TaylorMade driver 10 seconds earlier?  It only lessens Faldo and the network's credibility. 

Nick Faldo--stay away from the news stands

Although I have been reading a lot about the Americans having a superior team, it's clear that some European writers find Nick Faldo to be the culrpit of the European team's demise.  Take this harsh Paul Hayward critique in the Daily Mail:

Nick Faldo, not the crowd, was America’s 13th Man, sending an aircraft carrier to a conflict that was already over.

Hindsight is the media’s favourite language, but there is no escaping the gruesome fact that, when the Americans broke Europe’s Ryder Cup dominance here last night Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and the dual Open champion Padraig Harrington, were all stranded on the Valhalla course.

Point well taken, but read on:

His list will go down as one of the great leadership howlers, and it confirmed the sense we had of Faldo being swept along by instinct and whim. Emotionally overcome by Muhammad Ali’s visit, and the tension of a draining week, the captain’s gaucheness in press conferences and at the opening ceremony were minor foibles compared to yesterday’s aberration.

A little rash?

"Faldo reveals that Azinger has become uncertain about his key lieutenants"

Nick Faldo has taken the first jab at Paul Azinger's team, questioning the selection of Raymond Floyd and Dave Stockton as vice-captains.  I'm hoping Tom English of Scotland on Sunday jotted down these quotes from Faldo correctly.  See for yourself:

I think he (Azinger] already regrets – not sure if regret is the right word – but if he did it again, I don't think those guys have brought to his team what he wanted. He's a bit like me, he feels that you've got to make the decisions yourself. Maybe those captains are from an old era and this is a new era in the Ryder Cup. He thinks he has (gone for the wrong guys].

Faldo's picks deemed 'stunning' and 'shocking'

Nick Faldo's captains picks haven't been received too kindly in the golfing world.  First, James Corrigan from The Independent:

Throughout his long and controversial career, Nick Faldo has made a habit of upsetting people and ploughing his own uncompromising route to success and as Ryder Cup captain he is evidently planning on doing so again after stunning the sporting world last night. In ignoring the seemingly irresistible claims of Darren Clarke and picking Ian Poulter alongside Paul Casey as his two wild cards, Faldo left himself exposed to criticism, from both inside and outside the team room.

Brian Hewitt of TGC flat out calls the selections shocking:

The omission of Darren Clarke from the European Ryder Cup team is nothing short of a shock...

Clarke’s larger-than-life presence on the European team for the last decade or so has been even more important than his strong 10-7-3 career record in Ryder Cup play. Moreover, he won twice on the European Tour this year including just two weeks ago in the Netherlands.

Clarke and England’s Lee Westwood have been a strong Ryder Cup pairing for the Euros. They are extremely close friends. And the fact of the matter right now is this: Anybody who has been playing close attention to the wonderful team chemistry the Euros have parlayed into smashing 9-point victories over the Americans in each of the last two Ryder Cups, has to be scratching his or her head at the failure of Faldo to name Clarke. Among other points that need to be made: Both Poulter and Casey missed the cut this week at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.

"Spectators grudgingly admired but never loved him; the other players almost unanimously loathed him."

John Huggan of The Scotsman writes a less than flattering article about European Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo.  Huggan tells a number of stories and quotes several players--all with the same message--a disdain for Faldo.  Huggan writes:

AS PAUL Azinger not so long ago demonstrated, labelling his erstwhile commentating colleague and now opposing Ryder Cup captain "a prick", it has never been hard to portray the currently multi-tasking and formerly monosyllabic Nick Faldo as something less than warm and fuzzy.

_

Throughout his distinguished playing career, the now 50-year-old Englishman rarely enjoyed the best of relations with either the watching public or his contemporaries in the enormously competitive world of professional golf.

_

Spectators grudgingly admired but never loved him; the other players almost unanimously loathed him.

"Nick's a tabloid Target, there's nothing you can do."

Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo put to rest any debate over a recent Daily Mail article when they spoke out earlier today about their reported feud in two separate interviews.  Azinger, with a grin, told Peter Kostis before he teed off at the par-3 contest:

I love Nick.  Of course, Nick's a tabloid target, there's nothing you can do.  I mean, I swear, I promise.  I didn't do or say anything different than I have in the last year and a half, I promise.

As for Faldo, he told Vince Cellini on Wednesday's edition of TGC's Live From the Masters:

We get along fine together.  We had a great two years together at ABC.  And obviously, we both set a goal of how we want the next Ryder Cup to be a great experience.  We know what's going to be fired at us.  The el top of the press want to get in between me and my team, and obviously Zinger is a great target, to get us two throwing mud at each other.  So, there's nothing in it at all. 

Azinger on the attack

There has always been some tension between Ryder Cup captains Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo (pictured right).  It dates back to when they competed on the course nearly twenty years ago, and has continued to build ever since.  Well, Zinger took the relationship to another level with his comments in the Daily Mail...

Nick Faldo has tried to redefine himself (on The Golf Channel,CBS).  Some people have bought it. Some have not.  But if you're going to be a prick and everyone hates you, why do you think that just because you're trying to be cute and funny on air now that the same people are all going to start to like you?

The bottom line is that the players from his generation and mine really don't want to have anything to do with him.

It should be interesting to see how Faldo responds. 

Faldo tied for the lead at Senior Open

Despite an Associated Press headline reading, "Faldo lacks confidence as he makes senior debut in British Open at Muirfield," the 6-time major champion fired a 3-under 68 on Thursday to tie him for the lead at the British Senior Open at Muirfield.  Faldo, who missed the cut at last week's British Open at Carnoustie, has spent most of his time this year broadcasting for CBS and working on different course designs. 

Faldo criticizes top British golfers

Derek Lawrenson of the Daily Mail writes, "Nick Faldo yesterday delivered an impassioned wake-up call to Britain's leading golfers, claiming their extraordinary wealth has stunted the desire to win major championships."  Britain's top players include Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Justin Rose, and Ian Poulter--none of them have won major championships.  Faldo is a six-time major champion and will be playing his first tournament of the year this week.