From the Rough's Ryder Cup Picks

Today is the day when Davis Love III picks his four Captain's Picks for the 2012 US Ryder Cup team. At 10:15 a.m., fortunes will be made, hearts will be broken, and the world will never be the same. Well, not really. But wouldn't that last line have sounded great read by that movie trailer voiceover guy? I digress. Before the cat's out of the bag (and in the hope that I can acquire some "premonitive punditry street cred" in these early outings on my blog, here are my picks for the Ryder Cup Captain's Picks.

1. Steve Stricker -- The veteran. THE partner for Tiger. Typically an unGodly putter, even though he's been a bit flat this year. Hey, between him and Tiger, I'm sure they'll drop a few. Oh snap! (Huge fan of both of them, actually).

2. Dustin Johnson -- Has anyone noticed that the formerly flakey DJ is playing his ass off lately? Dustin's length off the tee is going to be a huge asset (is that redundant use of the word "ass"?) at Medinah, and his short game has been downright impressive lately. Look for DJ to take someone apart in match play this year, perhaps to the world's surprise.

3. Brandt Snedeker -- Not the longest guy off the tee, but at #1 on the tour for strokes gained this season, Sneds is a putting machine. Match play is won with putting. If he and Stricker get hot, fuggettaboutit.

4. Jim Furyk -- Furyk's experience will not be lost on Davis Love III, despite that he's had a disappointing season, overall. Furyk also brings to the US side what Graeme McDowell offers to the Europeans--acccuracy off the tee. At #5 on the tour for driving accuracy this season, Furyk brings a lot more than just experience, morale and Five Hour Energy to the team.

Let's hear what you think after the picks are announced!

Rory holds on to win the Deutsche Bank Birdie-Fest, er, Championship

Ireland's Rory McIlroy overcame a three stroke deficit going into the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, and managed to hold on through a photo finish against Louis Oosthuizen this afternoon at TPC Boston. I'm glad to see these boys could cope with this brutal setup and eek out modest performances of -20 and -19, respectively. Seriously, though...-20?

Last week at the Barclays, I overheard Ian Poulter complaining about how ridiculously unreceptive the greens were at Bethpage Black on Saturday. I can't post exactly what he said here without using a lot of this stuff... %$#@ ... but his general point was that the pros play four majors a year, in which the expectation is that they're going to get the crap beat out of them for the jollies of golf fans everywhere--the rest of the season, they should be allowed to play the game the way it's meant to be played. He might have had a point. So what do you think? Should these courses be set up to let the guys put on a show, or should the courses be toughened so that the pros get beat up like the rest of us do on a typical Sunday?

Welcome to From the Rough

Welcome to From the Rough! Like a lot of you, I'm a mid/high-handicapper (a 19 as of today) who got the golf bug BAD a few years back. I did not grow up playing golf. Actually, I was and am a musician (now in the business side of music) and I played guitar semi-professionally for many years before work obligations and, well, life took me "off the road" for good. Having grown up in a musical home, by the time I was in college at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, I was the guitar equivalent of a single-digit handicap, I suppose. Thus far, I've had a harder time getting my handicap down than I did playing music, but I'm still a maniac for the game and play all the time, wherever I can.

I wanted to start this blog for beginning through advanced-intermediate golfers who love the game to hang out and talk about golf gear, great golf courses, travel and, of course, the PGA tour. So welcome, come on in, and let's get started. Fore!