The tour de force that is Mary McKenna, Irish golfing legend and all-round good egg, has departed these shores and is now back in Ireland, cameras at the ready to capture more glorious spring and summer snaps.  We’re very happy she accepted the role of the blog’s chief photographer (unpaid position, of course) ten years ago at the inception of these ramblings.

We did spend a lovely weekend in Lichfield with the sister – well, MOST of it was lovely.  We had a stressful time listening to the radio, exhausting every ounce of willpower in order to get Spurs over the line for their first victory this year.  For a spell of a handful of minutes it looked like Tottenham would make up a couple of much-needed points on West Ham but a late goal put paid to that.  As Patricia says, “It’s the hope that kills you.”

Quelle relief when the final whistle blew.  And Mary doesn’t even like football.

There’s no doubt there’s one family in the golfing world that is, well, on top of the world just now – and that’s the Fitzpatricks.  Matt, multiple winner on the PGA tour this year and No 3, partnered with little bro, Alex, who won his maiden DP World tour title in India at the start of the month, to snatch the Zurich Classic of New Orleans title with a last-gasp birdie at the 72nd hole.  Mum and Dad were on hand to witness it all and to see their younger boy gain his PGA tour card and exempt status through to the end of 2028.

This is the stuff of dreams by anyone’s standards and it was the feel-good story of the week without a shadow of a doubt.  To share it with the whole family must have been joyous for all of them.

Alas, it seems that the opportunities for this sort of springboard in the world of golf are lessening.  There was plenty of news during the week to spark speculation and conjecture about the direction and future of various tours.  The PGA Tour have, as expected, dropped their opening two events in January 2027 in Hawaii and under the stewardship of Brian Rolapp, the new commissioner, sorry, chief executive, we are likely to see a shorter, consolidated schedule with limited fields and no cut.  Apparently, it’s all in the name of getting the best players in the world to play against each other more often.

I don’t find anything that is being promised remotely attractive.  Smaller fields and no cut is limiting, limiting, limiting.  The more open golf is, the healthier it’ll be.  Removing full fields and the cut takes away any jeopardy for the players who are having an off week – they’re going to get a hefty cheque no matter how they play.  I like seeing unknown players excel – we could witness a life-changing moment for them (as we did with Alex Fitzpatrick) which is something that draws in all sports fans.

The top stars will always wish to be in charge of their own schedules and they will ink the majors (none of which the PGA Tour controls) into their diaries first and foremost.  After that they will decide on where they’ll play.  With the prizemoney on the PGA Tour so elevated now and with the fields shrinking, stagnation beckons.

There has also been speculation swirling around the LIV Golf Tour and its ability to survive beyond the end of this year.  It’s reported that PIF, who have sunk $5 billion into the league, are withdrawing their support and now outside funding is being sought for future years.  How this year pans out for the players will be more than a little interesting.  Those whose contracts come to an end may well be seeking a route back to the conventional golfing landscape while those with ongoing contracts might find themselves with nowhere to play.

Perhaps we’re about to seriously enter the era of the Youtube Golf Tour.  (Yes, it’s already a bit of a thing!)

I’m a bit depressed at the moment about the women’s game, the coverage it receives and its future – as are some of the blog’s correspondents.  There’s either poor coverage or too little coverage.  I don’t have the answers to the perennial questions of how to secure sponsorship to the value needed to provide a top-class event with a captivating broadcast.  The first major of the year, the Chevron Championship should have provided all we wanted – but it was frankly quite unexciting and I was channel-hopping to find the Fitzpatrick brothers instead.

Nelly Korda, supreme athlete and wonderful golfer that she is, always looks as if she’d quite like to be somewhere else.  Korda won her third major and in the process recaptured her place at the summit of the world rankings.  Mind you, the sparse crowds didn’t help, but why is women’s golf not forging onwards and upwards in this era of genuine and burgeoning interest in all sorts of women’s sports?  The answer to that question seems to elude better brains than mine.

Meanwhile, I suppose I’ll just have to cross my fingers and carry on dreaming of a female Seve appearing on the scene to provide that extra something that might just pull the crowds in.  Goodness knows, the players deserve it.

The good thing – one of the many – about having a sister who writes about golf and does the heavy lifting is that it leaves me free to meander any and every which way.

At the moment I’m re-arranging the shed, a classic blog-avoidance strategy.  It’s not a big shed and it doesn’t have an awful lot in it but it’s amazing what odds and sods emerge from dark, cobweb-strewn corners as the spiders scuttle off in alarm and annoyance.

There’s a table in there – it used to be very smart and sparkling  but over time it’s moved down in the world and is now a bit wet and grubby from its years as a dumping ground for pots and assorted garden junk; at least it’s still very useful and is being remembered for its heyday.

There’s also an old cupboard – minus its doors now – that was made by a friend’s husband and is still much treasured and serves as a wee memorial to him, even though he was a Liverpool fan…He made it to measure for a spot in our old house and it works very well as shelving for extra logs, the fermenting bokashi bin, garden hose, spare tiles and sundry other bits and pieces.  Thank you Mick.

I was interested to read that Justin Rose was putting a new set of clubs in to play at the Cadillac Championship at Doral, over the famed and once ferocious Blue Monster course.  It probably still is a fearsome test but it’s a while since the PGA Tour has been there and the venue’s official title is now Trump National Doral, being part of the Donald’s portfolio.

Many years ago I had one of my best-ever – and most expensive – pedicures at Doral and it was worth every cent.  Sadly, I hadn’t the nerve to put it on expenses.  It was there that I was watching Greg Norman, pretty well in his pomp, playing the last and overheard two old dolls, blue-rinsed, immaculately clad, with painted toenails to rival mine, being classically pass-remarkable:  “I’ve always liked Greg,” one of them said.  “He’s got such a great pair of buns.”

Well, golf never has been just about 5-irons to five feet…..

Thank goodness.

Back to Justin.  He’s now the main face (along with brand ambassadors Michelle Wie West and Ian Poulter) of McLaren Golf and has been very involved in the development of the clubs.  Precision engineering is a large part of McLaren’s game and Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren Racing and Lando Norris, the reigning F1 world champion, are both golf nuts, so why not diversify?  As Jack Rix, of Top Gear, cracked:  all the company needs to do now is design a McLaren you can fit the clubs in….

It remains to be seen how well the experiment works and whether it gives Justin the extra edge he needs to win another major.  Even if it takes until next April to sort things out, everybody’ll be delighted:  orange and green co-existing happily, wonderful, a dream come true.

I remember, years ago (isn’t everything?), Ian Woosnam turned up at the Australian Open with a new set of clubs – Marumans I think – and couldn’t get on with them at all, for whatever reason.  Perhaps his involvement in the research and development had been minimal, who knows?  The clubs didn’t last the week because Woosie went in to the pro’s shop at Royal Sydney and bought a set of the clubs he used to play.  It didn’t remain a secret for long!

Did he win?  Did he even make the cut?  No idea, I can’t even remember the year, though Woosie was one of the best players in the world at the time.  A bit of diligent research might reveal all but it’s getting late and my reliable resources are limited; there’s no room for archives here and Wikipedia, useful though it is, has its limitations.  Chat bots?  Aaaagh.  Too dangerous for me.

Back at Doral, Justin started with a double bogey seven at the 1st, then had three birdies in four holes before another double bogey seven, at the 8th.  He finished with a 74, two over par but this is one of those so-called signature events and there’s no cut, so the new irons will continue to be properly tested in competition on a proper golf course.  Wonder if the timings will allow Justin to attend the Miami Grand Prix in person?  Presumably the golf won’t want to clash with the cars.

Talking of cars, well,  motorised vehicles anyway, Maureen, Mary McKenna and I took a couple of buggies to tour the humps and hollows of Whittington Heath last week – to see what they could remember of the course (the visitors, not the buggies).  They had a bit of trouble working things out because the HS2 railway works had them a little discombobulated (join the club) but it was a nice day and we enjoyed the ride – until there was a plaintive cry from Mo:  “I think I’m running out of juice…”

We decided on the shortest route back to the clubhouse but it was over rough terrain and Mo conked out some way from home.  Mary and I motored on to summon help and Jordan, a reassuringly large presence in the pro’s shop, came to the rescue.  He had some very promising results in the long-driving (strato) sphere until a dodgy knee intervened but he was just the man to help us in our hour of need.  Many thanks, Jordan.  Hope there were no ill effects.

The pictures tell the story.