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After my recent travels I’ve started to rediscover some of my old passion for music.  My MP3 player has been a trusted partner and one which has made the miles go faster.  One band I’ve always liked, since their first album (Youth and Young Manhood), is Kings of Leon.  Besides making good music I’m also interested in their background: three sons of a Pentecostal preacher and their cousin.

I’m beginning to question my loyalty though having just learned that these fine young men have besmirched the good name of golf by pissing on the hallowed ground.  Relaxing with a few beers at a nearby hotel, after ‘T in the Park’ (a music festival) rather than finding a toilet, the band decided to relieve themselves on the 17th fairway at the Old Course, St Andrews.

Their only saving grace was that despite their rock ‘n’ roll antics the band admitted they stayed in the rough at all times and seem genuinely remorseful for their actions.  Based on this, I propose to give them a second chance and pretend I didn’t hear about this shameful episode………what would Alice Cooper say?

America won the 37th Ryder Cup in emphatic style at Valhalla, Kentucky over the weekend, claiming their first win in nine years by 16 1/2 to 11 1/2. Team US led from start to finish, and in reality, never looked like surrendering their advantage. Europe played catchup over the three days and went into the final day’s play two points behind and needing to win 7 of the singles games to draw and retain the trophy.

As the talismanic Anthony Kim crushed Sergio Garcia, five and four, in the first game it never looked like happening and the American Ryder Cup rookies, continued where they left off as they dominated the final afternoon’s play.

The only beacon of light for Europe came from the one player whose selection had been criticised - Ian Poulter.  Poults played like a man possessed, showing aggression, focus and determination; much of which was sadly lacking across the rest of the European team.

As the recriminations begin; poor leadership from Faldo, unsporting crowd behaviour and even Poults being body checked by Kim, there is no getting away from the fact that over the three days, the best team won!

Congratulations to Team US!  We’ll see you again at a wet and windy Cetlic Manor,Wales in two year’s time.

As the cleanup operation ends after hurricane Ike, the serious preparations now begin for the 37th Ryder Cup, which starts Friday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.  The United States will attempt to end its Ryder Cup drought against the Europeans, despite arguably starting as the underdogs, to win for the first time since 1999

Lets take a look at some of the contributing factors which could determine the outcome -

Players - Europe go into their Ryder Cup defence with seven members of the world’s top 20 (and none outside the top 50) compared to America’s six.  The US has 6 rookies - advantage Europe

Home Advantage - Not only does the US have home advantage but also two players who hail from Kentucky - JB Holmes and Kenny Perry, who as local boys should whip the spectators into a frenzy and ‘get the crowd rocking’ - advantage US

btw does anybody know What does JB stand for in JB Holmes? J is for John and I’m not sure about the B. But I do know he went for JB to avoid being confused with the dead 70s porn star.

Captains - Nick Faldo is known for his meticulous preparation whereas Paul Azinger is considered more of a ’seat of his pants’, type of guy - contrast their time keeping for their respective press conferences  - Faldo arrives on time, while Azinger arrives late and keeps the press waiting.  Zinger has admitted that as Golfing co-presenters, Faldo was always better prepared.

However, Zinger says he has a cunning plan, so it just remains to be seen exactly what this ‘concept’ is - surprisingly though Azinger admitted that he didn’t realize how good Sergio Garcia is (perfect record of eight wins from eight matches in the alternate-shot format) - you would have thought he’d seen that one coming! - advantage Europe

Much has also been made of the respective WAGS, but this is a serious golfing website, don’t you know - so we’ll just ignore that!

By any reasonable measure you would have to favor the Europeans, but golf is not a rational game, and for that reason I still have it wide open.  Whatever the result, lets hope that golf is the winner with a close and competitive Ryder Cup.

A while ago I mentioned I would be travelling to India, and so here I am - this post comes to you from my Hotel room in Chennai, the third and last city on my visit.

What’s it like in India? - it’s madness! The chaos, the pollution and the poverty is something to behold. Golf is the furthest thing from my mind right now, as I’m sure it is for your average Indian citizen.

Just walking to the shop is like an assault course: kids begging for money, those that can’t stand grabbing at your legs as you walk past and everybody else trying to sell you all manner of things.  All of this combined with the heat and the smog is a heady mix and your hotel becomes a welcome respite, away from the incessant horns of the traffic.

Each time you get into a taxi or a rickshaw, you take your life into your hands.  There doesn’t appear to be any discernible rule of the roads and it’s every man for themselves.  It’s all a long way away from the tranquility of the Golf Course and should make us all grateful and appreciative of what we have.

On the upside I got a haircut, head massage and shouder rub for 7 bucks!!! - ho hum

Ian Poulter has stabbed me in the back and made me look a right idiot!  Having previously held him up  as a paradigm of virtue he’s now backtracked on his commitment to the Ryder Cup and instead chosen to chase the yankee dollar. Poulter has decided to remain in America to compete in this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship rather than  play at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles - the final Ryder Cup qualifying event.

A top five finish at Gleneagles would have almost certainly meant automatic Ryder Cup qualification, but Poulter must now instead rely on a wild card entry. During his press conference Colin Montgomerie was uncharacteristically diplomatic when asked to explain the move, although there was veiled astonishment at Poutler’s decision.

Poulter has now cited commitment to his schedule as the reason, although some are speculating that he and Faldo may have already done a deal. The Ryder Cup is history but world ranking points and prize-money will always be there.

Given that the Ryder Cup is hardly an unexpected surprise (it’s been around since 1927) it does make you wonder why it couldn’t have been accommodated much earlier in Poulter’s schedule anyway.

I apologise to those people I may have misled in my previous article, who perhaps have drawn the conclusion that Poulter was a principled man with the best interests of golf at heart.

adjective:aspiring u'spIring - desiring or striving for recognition or advancement