The Loop

Missing Links: Phil Mickelson looking ahead...to 2015 and '16, and Bubba Watson's apology tour

August 20, 2014

Stories of interest you might have missed…

Phil Mickelson is looking ahead, not to the Barclays, not to the FedEx Cup playoffs, but to 2015. "Work on my fitness, work on my golf game and really focus on 2015. Because 2015 is when the points start accumulating really for the (2016) Olympics," he said in this story by the Newark Star-Ledger's Brendan Prunty.

/content/dam/images/golfdigest/fullset/2015/07/20/55ad7a1ab01eefe207f6f13c_blogs-the-loop-Phil%202015.jpg

Ridgewood Country Club's history began, more or less, when its assistant professional Byron Nelson, on a challenge, hit a flagpole on his second attempt. The year was 1935, the same year the Ryder Cup was played at the Paramus, N.J., club. Andy Vasquez of the Record looks at Ridgewood's history, to which it will add by hosting the Barclays this week.

The LPGA is leaving the Rochester area, ending a 38-year run that has produced several send-offs. The New York Times has another. "The area is losing more than one tournament. It is losing almost four decades as a spot on the LPGA schedule," writes Matt Higgins. The consensus opinion is that LPGA players hope to return one day."Most cities we go through, they don't even know we're in town sometimes," Brittany Lincicome added. "So this community really comes together and loves the LPGA, and I would love to come back."

Is the spate of injuries that have plagued PGA Tour players of late just coincidence or is there more at play here? "The question you have to ask," U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson said, "is whether the workout ethic of players today is causing these injuries." John Paul Newport of the Wall Street Journal has the story.