I would give my eye teeth to see these misguided souls at the Travelers Championship try to spray paint any of the Augusta National property, even the porta-potties (“Distractions fail to deter Scheffler,” June 24 GGP).
Somewhere along the way, some parents punted their parental obligations and values and left the door open for their kids to become misfits and rather pathetic protesters.
I congratulate the police and security people in Cromwell, Connecticut, for quickly harnessing these lawbreakers and hope indictments and prosecutions are severe. I’m 80 years old and was raised right and taught to respect other people’s and public properties. Were I to break the law or damage others’ properties, I would expect to face the charges, especially at home.
Our values and respect for ourselves and others seems to have changed dramatically recently. It’s time to start a rapid change.
I congratulate my fellow Longhorn Scottie Scheffler for his steady and gracious playoff victory over his friend Tom Kim. Seeing their faces and conversing so respectfully and genuinely during the finishing holes and the playoff demonstrates what the game of golf has taught me: respect yourself, respect your fellow players, enjoy the beauty and presentation of the course, and hope you play your best. If these feelings are good enough for golf, then let’s carry them forward every day we are blessed to be alive.
Mike Edgar
Austin, Texas
Give yourselves a double bogey, Global Golf Post, for your coverage of the play stoppage at the last hole in regulation of the Travelers Championship (“Distractions fail to deter Scheffler,” June 24 GGP).
All you needed to write was, “Play was temporarily suspended to attend to minor damage on the 18th green caused by five idiots who couldn't care less about the game or the stakes involved for Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim. Police quickly tackled the cretins while the thousands in attendance showed their disapproval with chants of ‘USA, USA,’ as well as other, unmentionable epithets. Their stupid actions had no effect on Kim, who subsequently drained a 10-foot putt to force a playoff.” Period.
Unconscionably, you went so far as to give the morons the publicity they wanted by sharing the name of their group and uncritically relaying the absurd idea that a lightning strike earlier in the tournament was itself caused by climate change.
The writer and editor could have perhaps used a little more time for reflection to avoid giving those jerks the attention they so desperately crave.
Scott Gough
Parker, Colorado
Well done on this week's issue (“Yang hangs on,” June 24 GGP). A nice balance of the pros (men and women), international, amateur, good and bad, and important news, including changes to signature events and PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
Two thumbs up on this one.
Violet Horvath
Honolulu, Hawaii
How can someone divisive help unite anything? Ron Green’s piece had me laughing at the gushing over the suggestion that Bryson DeChambeau is somehow a force for good in the game, and how Green so easily bought DeChambeau’s phony I want to share it with everyone line (“Divisive DeChambeau could help unite pro game,” June 24 GGP).
DeChambeau did not stay around at the U.S. Open site post-championship to share the win with everyone. He did not walk through the cul-de-sac of his neighborhood to share the win with his neighbors. He did not carry the trophy in his hands and walk through Nashville’s downtown streets before the LIV Golf event to share it with everyone. He did it to say, Look at me!
Green should read between the lines in DeChambeau’s quotes. It’s all right there. It’s all about him, all the time. Just as LIV is all about them, all the time.
DeChambeau is a master at deception. What he says is the opposite of what he is doing. He does all these things not for others but for himself, and he couches it in terms of being for everyone else. It’s downright hilarious, and golf writers – so desperate for a good story – are putty in his hands. Green is being played, and he doesn’t even know it.
Green is correct about one thing: Bryson DeChambeau is divisive. But Green is dead wrong about the other. DeChambeau will only widen the divide between the two tours as his obnoxious personality and cartoonish style clearly define the difference between them.
Ron Garland
Prescott Valley, Arizona
When I was a kid, we would go to the old Insurance City Open at Wethersfield Country Club. I remember walking inside the ropes (there weren’t any) following Gene Littler. The ICO was a “B” tournament, at best, with a low purse.
In the 1970s, Canon and Sammy Davis Jr. teamed up and elevated the purse. You can argue that without Sammy Davis, Jr.'s involvement there would be no Travelers Championship and no $20 million “signature event” purse. Golf Channel and CBS spent many minutes during the weekend’s telecast interviewing the CEO of Travelers and praising Travelers for all that it has done for the tournament. Jim Nantz made an early reference to Wethersfield but never mentioned Sammy Davis Jr.
Tiger Woods’ signature Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club was languishing as the Los Angeles Open in the early 1970s despite its history with Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer. Glen Campbell signed on to help resuscitate it as the Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open. Would it be the $20 million signature event named for Tiger Woods if Glen Campbell hadn't stepped in? But nowhere during the Genesis Invitational coverage will you hear any mention of Glen Campbell.
It’s too bad that neither is still here to see what they helped create.
Charlie Jurgonis
Fairfax, Virginia
No Olympics for three of the four Dutch golfers who qualified. Can't finish in top 10? Next!
I hope the Netherlands Olympic Committee realizes these are the Summer Games – no speed skating in Paris. Maybe they should just stay home if top 10s are the measure for participating. Maybe the bicyclists have a chance, but really, try quickly naming the top world-class Dutch athletes – while we're young, please.
Maybe the International Olympic Committee could issue a special invite as has been done for individual athletes in the past when, for various reasons, their country isn't qualified or otherwise has been excluded.
The Olympics lost it for me when the pros took over. Seeing the professionals from the NBA, PGA Tour, NHL and other leagues compete against one another in national pickup teams isn't that interesting. When the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team made up of college players beat the USSR to advance to the gold-medal game, which they also won, that was exciting and a great moment in sport. Our NHL guys beating your NHL guys, not so much.
The Dutch can treat their athletes as poorly as they choose, but it's a bad look.
Blaine Walker
St. Paul, Minnesota
My wife commented that putting to win $4 million must create a lot of nervous issues. I’m not sure. If I have $12 million in the bank already, maybe not. Even if I come in second, I still get over a million. I think that the issue is determination.
Jon Haas
Orange Park, Florida
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