Ryder Cup political maneuvers, Hoylake “blowing up” 17th hole, FEC Playoff problems

Brendan is at the beach with family, covered in sand and Oars & Alps sunscreen, and looking for a break from the “vacation.” And Andy is ebullient about getting a new couch. So this is a punchy episode on a range of subjects -- the field list at the 3M Open including the scion of a Dockers enthusiast, as well as some bigger names grinding to make an improved playoffs cutoff. That includes Justin Thomas, who is covered in some detail vis-a-vis the Ryder Cup. The two majors, the Senior Open and Evian, are also covered tersely with some critique for Champions Tour golf given Steve Stricker and Stew Cink are just no-showing. The U.S. Junior is given “ECCO event of the week,” with some questions about what actually constitutes a “junior” given that some full-blown college players are in the field. There’s also an “All-Name Team” from that event. There’s a lot of yelling about a little Courier Cup points bylaw that has jammed Akshay Bhatia from being in a proper spot on the points list. News hits on a report that the much-hyped 17th hole at Royal Liverpool, “Wee Eye,” will be “blown up” and made much fairer.