Wilkommen bei den Schatten » Rio?6. Endless propagandizing T

Rod Pampling, who was ranked 451st coming into the week of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, pulled off just his third victory in more than 300 career PGA Tour starts.Can the Aussies victory catapult him into a career resurgence at 47 years old? Which top-10 finisher in Las Vegas turned the most heads?Those are just a pair of the pressing topics in golf that were talking about in this weeks edition of Monday Four-Ball.1. What does it say about the PGA Tour that Rod Pampling can go a decade between victories?SportsCenter anchor Jonathan Coachman: It says to me that it is deep with talent. Pampling actually beat a former U.S. Open champ and a guy who just played in the Ryder Cup. I like watching tournaments that are not just a bombers paradise and anyone in the field, if on their game, can win on any given week. It also tells me that guys that are getting into their upper 40s are keeping themselves in better shape, allowing them to compete for four rounds and not fade down the stretch.ESPN.com senior golf writer Michael Collins: It says the PGA Tour needs to make some more clerical errors by accidentally increasing the field size to 144. It also shows just how razor blade-thin the difference is between those who win tournaments on the PGA Tour and those who just play on the Web.com Tour.ESPN.com senior golf writer Bob Harig: It says more about golf, a very unusual game in that way. Pampling went from just barely getting his PGA Tour card for this season to now having secured it for two-plus years based on a great week.ESPN.com senior golf writer Jason Sobel:? We need to stop saying never. Whether its Tiger Woods winning another major or any other seemingly improbable result, lets remember to always keep the door open for possibilities. Hell, the Cubs just won the World Series. Pamplings win after a decade away from the winners circle shouldnt even make us blink anymore.2. Who makes the most of their finish last week for the rest of the year, Rod Pampling or Lucas Glover?Coachman: Glover. This one is easy. I just dont believe that Pampling -- with his age and lack of finishes the past 10 years -- can be in the money very many times. At times we have seen Glover the past couple of years start to get his form back that allowed him to win his major. I dont expect much from either guy, but my answer for this question is Glover. I do hope that they both prove me wrong. I love to see guys compete well this late in their careers.Collins: Glover. I expect to see Glover make it through to the BMW Championship during the FedEx Cup playoffs. This makes two straight top-five finishes, but more importantly, Glover is 32 under in his past eight rounds, which means hes really feeling good about his putter.Harig: Pampling already has. He had to play in the Web.com Tour finals in order to make it onto the tour, and now he has a full status through the rest of this season and two more. Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, has helped himself greatly, but has nowhere near the guarantees that Pampling has now afforded himself.Sobel: It was an unfortunate finish for Glover, but I think hes still got some game. Wouldnt surprise me to see him contend a few more times this season and maybe claim his fourth career victory -- which would be just his second since the 2009 U.S. Open.3. Biggest surprise top-10 finisher in Vegas?Coachman: I will go with Aaron Wise, who tied for 10th. This kid is fresh out of college at Oregon. I think you need time to adjust to this lifestyle. When you dont have your PGA Tour card, the pressure of earning money goes along with the added pressure of needing a top-10 finish to get you in the next weeks tournament. I loved watching him help win the national title last year and hope that he can continue to play well the rest of the fall.Collins: Pat Perez. It was only his second start coming back from shoulder surgery earlier this year. His first start was at the CIMB Classic, which has no cut, and he finished T-33. With the pressure of needing to play well in a limited amount of starts (hes on a medical exemption this year), a T-7 finish means the world to Perez.Harig: Geoff Ogilvy. The 2006 U.S. Open winner had just two top-10s over the past two seasons and had to use a one-time exemption this year for being among the top 50 money winners all time just to play on tour this season. Now hes on his way to securing his card via the top 125 for next season.Sobel: Not sure if Id call it a surprise, but NCAA individual champion Wise had missed the cut in three of his first four PGA Tour starts, but finished T-10 this past week, thanks to a final-round 68. And yes, thats a meaningful delineation: It was just enough to qualify him for this weeks event at Mayakoba, at which he can build on that success.4. Thumbs up or thumbs down to the report that the European Tour is considering holding a 72-hole official tournament at night?Coachman: Thumbs up. This would be awesome. I think playing at night is just insane and if they can have a championship course that is completely under the lights, that can be the start of every tour doing it. Players would scramble to put that tournament on their schedule immediately.Collins: Thumbs up. Have them play in Iceland in July. If you dont get the joke, you failed junior high geography. Seriously though, I play a lighted golf course and its a lot of fun, but the depth perception and green reads are definitely different. Seeing pros play a tournament that counts would be great.Harig: Thumbs up. As long as it is done properly -- i.e. they provide enough light on all of the holes to see well -- it is a great idea that will draw interest. Golf needs to strive for unique formats and playing circumstances in what is a very long year.Sobel: In an industry where so many people/organizations too often grumble about the need to grow the game without putting any concrete ideas into action, Im a big fan of trying things. If it doesnt work, fine. But golf isnt going to grow by stagnating in the status quo. I like when chances are taken, especially in tournament formats that are too often too similar on a weekly basis. Michael Irvin Womens Jersey . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Tony Romo Youth Jersey . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. http://www.shoptheofficialcowboys.com/Customized/ . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Daryl Johnston Youth Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Emmitt Smith Cowboys Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Ten weeks ago, I penned a piece beginning with my own Olympic dreams as a 14-year-old mesmerized by the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, just two hours from home. By the end, I had done a nearly 180-degree turn, understanding the position of golfers who have chosen not to participate in the Olympic Games.I still stand by that, as professional golfers are independent contractors. Whether players such as Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson or Adam Scott have any regrets about not competing in Rio are solely their own and no one elses business.They shouldnt have had to publicly rationalize their decisions, either. But those decisions are also in the rearview mirror.Overall, the Olympic experience was a good one for golf. Im still not sure who needed each other more, golf or the Olympics, but it was a win.Perfect? No. Needing improvement? Certainly, but still very positive.So, lets take a look at the thumbs up and thumbs down for the two weeks of Olympic golf competition.Thumbs up1. Quality of play Both Justin Rose and Inbee Park shot 16 under par in winning their gold medals. While Parks victory was a runaway, the competition for the remaining five golf medals was keen and riveting, with Lydia Ko holing a 7-footer for a silver over Shanshan Feng. Stacy Lewis also missed a putt at the final hole that could have set the stage for a three-way playoff for the bronze.2. Parity among the medal winners Six medals to six different countries. From Great Britain, Sweden and the United States on the mens side to South Korea, New Zealand and China in the womens event, golfs global appeal was only reinforced.3. Television exposure While the overall rating numbers were very good for both weeks, perhaps the biggest boom will someday be seen in China, where golf is still in its infancy.Even Chinas Feng said her thoughts were on performing for her people at home, because normally, golf is only shown on golf-specific outlets, whereas this competition was shown throughout China, reaching billions of those who had never been exposed to the game.4. Pairings observations Brazilians Adilson da Silva and Miriam Nagl both hit the opening tee shots for their respective competitions. There was also terrific balance of star pairings throughout the opening day for each competition, with nearly every group having a representative from Europe, North America and rest of the world.5. The dark horse/who-in-the-world-is-that factor Australias Marcus Fraser and Indias Aditi Ashok had everyone searching the internet to find out who they were and how they got to Rio. They each were the Eddie the Eagle of the golf competition, but even better.6. The Olympic Golf Course Purposely built for these Olympics, the course was superb. It is now open for play as the first public course in Brazil.Consideration was given for the usually windy conditions during design and construction. The surfaces (zoysia and paspalum grasses) are extremely tolerant of varying weather conditions. Players were presented with options as to how to play certain shots, and the green speeds, in the 11-foot range on the stimpmeter, allowed for creativity, aggressive play and heroics.Let this be a lesson to those setting up major championships, all the way down to your club member guest: Faster isnt always better, but thrilling golf with scoring potential is.7. New lingo Zero emphasis on a top 10. That just isnt going to get it done at the Olympics. We now have a battle for silver and a back-door bronze. Love it.Thumbs down1. Pace of play The final mens pairing played in five hours on the last day, and the women took 5 hours, 45 minutes on their first.dddddddddddd That is certainly not going to help grow the game.Officials made it clear to the women after Day 1 that the pace was unacceptable and even gave Brazilian player Victoria Lovelady a slow-play penalty in the second round.Caddies seemed overly involved and, if anything, the women should have played faster after seeing the course both in person and on television the previous week.2. Format While 72 holes of stroke play is certainly most familiar in golf, there are other formats that would be more compelling. Much was spoken of the possibility of a team or mixed-team element, even by people such as Sergio Garcia, LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan and Stacy Lewis.Heck, even Matt Kuchar thought there was a team element to the competition less than a week before he departed for the games!When golf is re-evaluated for post-2020 inclusion in the Olympics in 2017, lets hope this gets some serious traction.3. PGA Tour schedule conflicts The LPGA Tour absolutely nailed it on this one: There was no competing event, so that the sole focus could be on the Olympics. The PGA Tour should follow suit and not force players to make a choice.Camilo Villegas withdrew from the Olympics to focus on keeping his status on the PGA Tour next year by playing the John Deere Classic instead of representing his native Colombia.Justin Rose lost two Fed Ex Cup spots by winning the gold, and three Web.com Tour players -- Rodolfo Cazaubon, Cheng Tsung Pan and Seamus Power -- also lost important starts on that tour to be at the Olympics.4. PGA Tour announcements of upgrades at the Tour Championship on the eve of the Olympics It was not quite as bad as the USGA announcing its new television deal with FOX and leaving longtime partners NBC and ESPN the night before the 2013 PGA Championship, but it was still very questionable when the focus should have been on the Olympics.5. Unreasonable focus on the players who werent in Rio There was phenomenal uproar about Day, Spieth, McIlroy, Johnson and Scotts absence. But even though Olympic soccer includes U-23 teams with three older-player exceptions, where was the equivalent noise about two of that sports biggest stars -- Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi -- not being in Rio?6. Endless propagandizing The nearly 24/7 messaging of legitimizing golfs inclusion in the Olympics got to be too much. Show the viewers great shots, the players passion and the displays of nationalism in the gallery. Tell me the stories that make me want to root for these players and let me make up my mind about golf being there or not. That did happen in the end, but there was way too much force-feeding at the start.7. Those who encouraged?Inbee?Park to give up her Olympic spotIt became the ultimate take that moment. The Hall of Famer earned every bit of her place on South Koreas team, despite a chronic left thumb injury. And how did she respond? Park, admittedly playing at about 80 percent, won the womens gold medal by 5 shots over top-ranked Lydia Ko. If Park never hits another golf shot, what a way to go out.Golf in the Rio Olympics was a win -- not a perfect score but darn good, despite the pitfalls faced. It won because golfers played at their highest level and on a beautifully setup test as great as any sport in the world -- and not because of messaging or posturing of administrators, federations or governments.Golf is just cool.And as far as golf staying in the Summer Games beyond Tokyo, it indeed makes the Olympics better too. ' ' '