Hooks & Cuts: Golf's Game 7

• By Rich Lerner
• Aug 31, 2012 10:38 AM ET

For Ryder Cup hopefuls Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Nick Watney, Brandt Snedeker, Hunter Mahan and Jim Furyk, the Deutsche Bank Championship has a Game 7, do-or-die quality to it. Steve Stricker feels like a lock. A Watney selection validates the importance of a playoff victory, a move that would please PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, to whom Davis Love’s always been very loyal. That would leave five guys fighting for two spots, five guys desperate for a big week.

More Hooks & Cuts from the world of golf:

• Buddy of mine struggled through his opening nine and pit-stopped at the bar for the 12-ounce quick fix at the turn. He responded immediately with a birdie. The caddie quipped, “They don’t make ‘em big enough.”

• At a charity event in New York City, D.A. Points was asked just how good Rory McIlroy’s action really is. Points said with emphasis, “Unreal.”

• On cue, instructor Brad Brewer noted that Sam Snead swung to the rhythm of “Blue Danube.” Sadly, I’ve been swinging to AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell.”

• I’ve encountered very little discussion in my recent travels about the Augusta announcement. Had they turned No. 13 from a par 5 to a par 4 or made No. 12 a 200-yarder, you would have heard an outcry. Most people care mostly about the tournament.

• Lydia Ko channeled Annika Sorenstam and Mother Teresa. After a cold-blooded display of clutch golf, the 15-year-old amateur said if she could have collected the $300,000 winner’s check she would have bought a dog and then given the rest of the money to the poor.

• Seeing Phil Mickleson at The Barclay’s with the claw grip is like seeing your spouse with a brand new hairdo. They ask, “What do you think?” You say, “It looks nice.” They say, “You don’t like it, do you?”

• It would be difficult to hold a Ryder Cup at Bethpage because of the few rowdy fans who think New York residency grants them license to act like jackasses. It’s not a Jets game; it’s a golf tournament.

• I get that Watney jumping from 49th to first in the FedEx Cup standings is questionable after not posting a top-five finish all year. But if, as the party line goes, the playoffs are a brand new season, then look at Watney as a team that underachieved in the regular season but like the New York Giants is capable of catching fire and winning it all.

• The wear and tear of life, its ups and downs, show up in putting. That’s why, as Peter Kostis has pointed out, you don’t see many guys in their mid to late 30s become better putters. That’s why Tiger, while still formidable, is not the player he once was. Putting. Life.

• I’m betting Fred Couples and Colin Montgomerie headline the next Hall-of-Fame class. It won’t match the Dan Jenkins and Peter Alliss comedy hour from this past May, but it’ll be a good night’s entertainment.

• I can already feel the rumble of the Ryder Cup. Europe may have a slight edge on paper, but Chicago suits up as America’s 13th man. And yet, the Euros counter with two guys who are fan favorites in the States: McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. That’s why Love has to be happy that both Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter made the squad. It wouldn’t be a Ryder Cup if a couple of guys didn’t get under the skin of the opponent and rile up the home base.

• Cab driver said to me, “I’m not a golfer. It’s foreign to me.” I responded, “That’s okay. I am a golfer and it’s foreign to me, too.”