My feedback is about the Rory McIlroy retaliation with the Texas golfer, other player-fan interaction and McIlroy’s chances at Augusta (“Rory reaffirms his brilliance, March 17, GGP). When did players become so sensitive and soft that they take phones from fans and have them removed from the event? As much as Golf Channel, NBC and a large majority of fans love McIlroy, there are plenty of fans who don’t adore him. That’s OK. It’s part of being a celebrity. Can you imagine how many people Sergio [García] could have kicked off the course in his day? How about poor Colin Montgomerie? Did Jack Nicklaus have fans removed when they were calling him fat boy when he played against Arnie? Of course not. He ignored them and used it as fuel. Rory decided to be the mouthpiece of the PGA Tour vs. LIV and that was a polarizing position. Deal with it. Ignore the fans who talk or have your caddie handle it. Stay above it, man.
I marvel at his skills on the golf course, but that does not mean he’s my favorite player by any means. I personally think he has a huge mental hurdle to deal with in majors and especially at the Masters. It’s hard to imagine him not winning there, but how many would have said the same about Ernie Els and Greg Norman? If he can do it, I think he may go on to win four or five more majors. He is just too good to keep letting them slip away. Unfortunately for him, Scottie Scheffler may have something to say about it as well. One thing is for certain, there will be a lot of fans there to watch him win it or crash and burn again.
Lee Howard
Atlanta, Georgia
I can’t help myself to submit my first-ever feedback to GGP when I see how you continue to underrate a great – and still growing – PGA Tour player like Sepp Straka (“Reading Europe’s Ryder Cup tea leaves,” March 17, GGP).
The Austrian seems to truly sail under the radar of most of the US/UK-owned media who are mainly focussing on their compatriot players. Sepp didn’t only come 14th at the Players, he is also the actual FedEx Cup No. 2 and 11th in OWGR, which actually makes him the fourth-best European player in the world.
Even when another Austrian, Bernd Wiesberger, had an amazing season in 2019 with three wins and nearly won the DP World Tour Race to Dubai – before he went bananas and joined the LIV circus – GGP did not give him a lot of exposure in their publications.
My point is to please show a bit more fairness to non US/UK players and give them the attention they deserve in your articles. I truly enjoy reading your weekly magazine, so I am not criticising you at all. Just open your horizon a bit and realise there are some continental players who week by week produce great golf – European golf – which we all can be very proud of. Yes, especially for the upcoming Ryder Cup, where we will certainly need PGA Tour-experienced players who can cope with the expected fierce atmosphere and the madness from the ruthless Yankee fans.
Gernot MacSchmid
St. Julian’s, Malta
Good column about the probable European Ryder Cup team (“Reading Europe’s Ryder Cup tea leaves,” March 17, GGP). I still maintain that with Ludvig Åberg and Thomas Detry among others (García?), they will be formidable.
Bob Ferguson
Ravenel, South Carolina
One of the lovely stories from Sunningdale (“Sunningdale Foursomes provides refreshing departure,” March 17, GGP) that got overlooked was the two very young English amateur golfers, Mariella Buchanan (14) and Rosie Rooney (17), who were the only all-female amateur pairing to make it to the third round.
Both part of the England Regional program, they managed to surprise some hardened professionals. In their first round they had to navigate Andrea Lignell (third at Augusta in 2023 behind Rose Zhang) and Ellen Hume (2019 English Women’s Amateur champion), both of whom had recently turned professional. The young ones got it over the line on the 20th hole. They then had to turn straight around (with no lunch break) to play two seasoned golfers (a pro and a past touring professional) whom they beat, 5 and 4.
In the third round they had two pros (Tomasz Anderson and Mark Laskey), where Anderson produced an albatross (one of the few ever seen at Sunningdale) on the first hole of the Old Course. Four down after 5, the girls appeared to be struggling but by winning four holes on the bounce, they got them back to all square on the 10th.
The carry on the 11th for someone as young as Mariella was a stretch, but the girls took the men to the 18th hole. What a great event!
Nigel Laughton
Bath, England
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