Past Parallel 9.30.24
⛳News and Notes
🏌️♂️🏆The US Team defeated the International Team in the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal, 18.5-11.5. Future Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley clinched the winning point, perhaps fittingly, after having been involved in American Team losses and personal “snubs” in the past. The Americans comfortably cruised to their 10th straight victory, though it did not come without some contention and fireworks. Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim emerged from the International side as significant role players attributing to the chippy environment between the two teams. As far as the golf, the Saturday afternoon session was as high level as is gets.
Even with player buy-in and PGA Tour advertising, the event lacks juice. Not that it doesn’t come without interesting moments and competitive play, but the Americans are obviously the superior team—the result was inevitable. With this dominance comes boredom, even with Tom Kim chirping as much as he did. I’ll be curious to see the TV ratings, competing with a big college football Saturday and the juggernaut that is NFL Sunday. The PGA Tour has to find a way to spark creativity and parity into the event. The most obvious suggestion is a mixed event, but I lack faith in that ever happening.
🏌️♂️Angel Hidalgo defeated fellow Spaniard Jon Rahm in a playoff to win the Spanish Open. The countryman was clearly emotional following his victory, having won his first DP World Tour event in his home country.
Four-Ball
🧘Mind/Body- I’ve been really enjoying the Kindle app, and have found having a book on my phone to be a nice replacement for doom scrolling. Whether it’s a book, tabbed articles, or newsletters, keep stock of some literature on your phone. It’s a great way to benefit yourself by gaining knowledge while avoiding other addicting apps.
🧘Mind/Body- Recently, I’ve been thinking about days of the week. Society is so fixated on this concept of a defined week. For a lot of people, Sundays are characterized as the “scaries”, fearing the anxieties and stressors of Monday. Monday is identified as the worst day of the week, as it’s when most people begin work. People find their groove in the middle days, and then Friday and Saturday are celebrated, as people generally have personal time. The vicious cycle continues week after week, and time continually passes.
I invite you to think about days and the concept of a week a little differently. Stripping away the labels of a day (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) detaches us from this weekly social construct. Each day the suns comes up and goes back down. All days are created equal with the same amount of time, 24 hours. By looking at each day as just that, we can better focus our intentions without getting caught up in a day’s identity.
The current concept of a week is a rollercoaster ride. By ridding ourselves of this idea, we can hop off the ride and go back to walking our path. A rollercoaster does not go anywhere, just ‘round and ‘round. A path, on the other hand, is scenic, enjoyable, and endless, all while moving in the appropriate direction.
💪Exercise- Foundation Training, a program catered towards spinal hygiene, has been a priority of mine for some time. The training program is all bodyweight and focused towards longevity, pain prevention, and higher performance. It’s fantastic as a safe lower body/core strengthening method. Check out the original 12 minute Foundation Training exercise below and explore their Youtube page for more exercises. A lot of the training revolves around “Founder’s Pose”. I recommend adding the 12 minute video at the beginning of a lower body workout. Trust me, it will light you up!
🌍🏔️🌀Happenings- As many of you know, Hurricane Helene rocked the Southeast last week, specifically our beloved western North Carolina mountains. The damage is catastrophic and it will take a long time for the area to recover. Here are two links I’ve found to be most informative on ways to donate, (WRAL, Blue Ridge Public Radio), if you are interested. Anything helps.
Content for the Curious
🎧Fried Egg Golf- What’s Next for LIV Golf?
🎧On the Mark Golf Podcast- Adam Scott