2014 Ryder Cup

Three in a row... they let us bring in the rest of Europe when we were losing every time, so only fair we give them Canada and Mexico now 

You jest, but I heard one of the twats at Golf central say the same thing. He also said that the Americans would win if the best 12 ranked players from each side were chosen.... might water down his claims to sanity.

Although his wish to see Horschel in the team made sense. But I guess a broken clock is right twice a day.

Anyone that likes a sport where a dude tries to hit a ball with a stick has issues and needs to be examined.  Prolly ghey as well.

I thought they pretty much had the best ranked players, barring the two (Horschel and Kirk was it?) who shone in the end of season events after the team was picked.

Anyway, who will be the next captains? Darren Clarke perhaps? Sure he'd be a popular choice. Talk of the Yanks going back to Azinger, the only one of their last seven to find the winning formula... won't be another man in his 60s I'm sure, but can't think who among the younger crowd stands out.

If they go for Azinger it's going to be ugly in two years time.

Mickelson clearly has his views on the situation, maybe it's time for him to throw his own name into the ring, though he might feel he has one more as a player in him.

I see Mickelson is also calling for Azinger

I like the idea of fat Phil captaining the seppos...given his unpopularity among other players they could be whitewashed next time

Went to bed as Europe fought back from an early deficit to have as much blue on the page as the US had red. McIlroy was immense. Rose's fightback was impressive.

Congrats to the Euros on winning another Ryder Cup.

horace wrote:I like the idea of fat Phil captaining the seppos...given his unpopularity among other players they could be whitewashed next time

Tiger could be his deputy...

Maybe they need to follow the popular footballing route and get an overseas manager.

How hard can it be to "manage" a Ryder Cup tournament anyway?

Well, it's easy if you win...

Getting the right pairings, wildcard picks, singles "batting order" and most importantly, team spirit is as tough as managing in any sport. It's not without good reason that it's pretty much a full time role for the best part of two years, and nobody does it in back to back cups any more.

In the past the Yanks had the majors and ranking points, while Europe had the team ethic to carry them through. In recent years Europe has caught up on the former without losing the latter, which has proved elusive for the Americans, and it's not just down to Tiger as he wasn't even there this time.

JGK wrote:How hard can it be to "manage" a Ryder Cup tournament anyway?

Ask Nick Faldo, who totally alienated the entire team with his tactics and demeanour, presiding over a pretty calamitous loss that he's still passing the buck over (badmouthing Sergio this week for his performance in that tournament) many years later.

Also, McGinley's wildcard picks were pretty shoddy - only Lee Westwood contributed a win, Stephen Gallacher might as well have not been there.

Could've made all the difference. It didn't, but it could've.

Well, he didn't give Gallacher much of a chance really - he had a poor first game in a gamble of a pairing with Poulter which didn't work out, and wasn't used again until the singles - where he actually played pretty well but was edged out by Mickelson. Unfortunate he didn't register on the scoreboard in what will probably be his only Ryder Cup. Westwood and Poulter added plenty in terms of leadership even if not at their best, both probably future captains... in terms of alternatives, there was a case for Donald I suppose but not too many disagreed with the picks at the time. Leaving out the only Scottish candidate who missed out on automatic by a single shot wouldn't have made him popular with the home crowd!

The American picks were more questionable, or perhaps the system was, they should have waited a couple of weeks and gone for the form players. Their other issue is they've got lots of players with a track record of losing, and given golfers' long careers some of those will keep qualifying time after time, making it hard to really break with the past.

The quality of golf was outstanding. And I think Europe simply has the better players at the moment. You could argue that McIlroy, Rose, Kaymer, Stenson, and Garcia, are the five best players in the world. All on the European team.

 Apart from Mickelson (who is in decline) the USA team always looked a bit average to me. Speith is ok but overrated, Fowler is consistent but at the end of the day has only won once on the PGA Tour in his career so far (but I rate him as the best of the American younger brigade), Patrick Reed looked overwhelmed by the occasion and couldn't handle the jibes from the crowd....They looked mentally weaker.

Henry wrote:The quality of golf was outstanding. And I think Europe simply has the better players at the moment. You could argue that McIlroy, Rose, Kaymer, Stenson, and Garcia, are the five best players in the world. All on the European team.

 Apart from Mickelson (who is in decline) the USA team always looked a bit average to me. Speith is ok but overrated, Fowler is consistent but at the end of the day has only won once on the PGA Tour in his career so far (but I rate him as the best of the American younger brigade), Patrick Reed looked overwhelmed by the occasion and couldn't handle the jibes from the crowd....They looked mentally weaker.

I thought Reed didn't drop a point?

Spieth is hardly that overrated. Spieth, winner out n majors is ott, but he's brilliant for his age. I'm not a fan of his, but his talent is undeniable. He will get better, and he should improve in shutting down matches (and tournaments) with age.

In hindsight, we can say McGinley's wildcards didn't work apart from Westwood, but Poulter was a certainty and Gallagher really deserved his chance the way he played over the year. And surely Francesco Molinari didn't miss by much.

I would like to see Azinger again. Sure, things will cross the line as it always does with him, but at least it will be a contest.

JGK wrote:

Henry wrote:The quality of golf was outstanding. And I think Europe simply has the better players at the moment. You could argue that McIlroy, Rose, Kaymer, Stenson, and Garcia, are the five best players in the world. All on the European team.

 Apart from Mickelson (who is in decline) the USA team always looked a bit average to me. Speith is ok but overrated, Fowler is consistent but at the end of the day has only won once on the PGA Tour in his career so far (but I rate him as the best of the American younger brigade), Patrick Reed looked overwhelmed by the occasion and couldn't handle the jibes from the crowd....They looked mentally weaker.

I thought Reed didn't drop a point?

Indeed. He was the Yanks' best player. He did let a jibe about his missed tiddler the previous day get under his skin, but looked fired up by the remark rather than overawed.

Reed's miss was as funny as f**k ...I tried to (unsuccessfully) post it on here ...!
It's worth a giggle over (if someone can post it) - especially if you find the fat f**ker nauseous !

Comfortable win in the end for Europe - with McIlroy and Donaldson leading the way.
G Mac was cool as was Rose and Dubuisson - but for my money, Thomas Bjorn and Gallagher were ballast over the 3 days.
Missed Luke Donald ...

Just to add one thing, it was great to have ad free coverage from the worldwide ET productions, but Sky's direction left a lot desired. Barely saw Dubuisson-Johnson and Westwood-Walker might as well not have happened despite being sensationally low scoring.

Yeah, it's not easy to follow 12 matches at a time, but the coverage was CBS/NBC level shite.

tricycle wrote:Just to add one thing, it was great to have ad free coverage from the worldwide ET productions, but Sky's direction left a lot desired. Barely saw Dubuisson-Johnson and Westwood-Walker might as well not have happened despite being sensationally low scoring.

Yeah, it's not easy to follow 12 matches at a time, but the coverage was CBS/NBC level shite.

It's not just me then: I thought Sky's coverage was awful, especially on the first morning when they missed loads of second shots and putts on the opening holes as they gave peiority to the tee-shots.

Money talks though; there's more chance of Mickleson being the next USA captain than there is of the BBC getting the rights back any time soon.

Yeah, no way this event goes back to the BBC. Tis a shame, although I do prefer the commentary team we get here (Donnelly, Humphreys, Townsend, Hutchinson and Johnstone) to the BBC's.

Just continuing on the throwing Watson under the bus theme- a team member texted Alan Shipnuck, usually a good writer, that Tom Watson, though he was rarely right, was never in doubt.

And they're wondering why this team never win the Ryder cup....

Basil wrote:

tricycle wrote:Just to add one thing, it was great to have ad free coverage from the worldwide ET productions, but Sky's direction left a lot desired. Barely saw Dubuisson-Johnson and Westwood-Walker might as well not have happened despite being sensationally low scoring.

Yeah, it's not easy to follow 12 matches at a time, but the coverage was CBS/NBC level shite.

It's not just me then: I thought Sky's coverage was awful, especially on the first morning when they missed loads of second shots and putts on the opening holes as they gave peiority to the tee-shots.

Money talks though; there's more chance of Mickleson being the next USA captain than there is of the BBC getting the rights back any time soon.

It should be a "listed" event, the final day certainly... deserves to be given national importance alongside the Olympics, World Cup, Wimbledon, major club football finals etc. It's only three days so doesn't require the scheduling hours of say Test cricket. They could surely do what they do for the Masters I think now, first two days exclusive to Sky and the final round free to air.

Although if the Yanks don't get their act together it could become a non-event again before too long. Although they have a few good youngsters, golf in America is seemingly going through something of a post-Tiger era slump, whereas there are lots of untapped markets which could yet strengthen Europe's hand even further. To date it's been based around the UK and Ireland, Scandinavia, Spain, Germany, occasionally Italy and France... that leaves potentially dozens of countries with growth potential.

The fall-out from Mickleson's outburst is certainly gathering momentum, with condemnation outweighing support by some appreciable margin, according to media reports in the US.

Basically what he did wrong IMO was to, almost immediately after the annihilation, express his personal views
(not necessarily that of his team) outside of the hallowed walls of the dressing room - and this was bad form.

Compare it perhaps to KP mouthing off against Cook immediately after the Ashes debacle ... he wanted to... he hinted at it ....
but when all was said and done, he held his tongue and his counsel.  His book, I'm sure, will tell all !

Watson, in his wisdom, whilst perhaps open to criticism with his captaincy, used a phrase which summed the situation up perfectly.

"It's up to the 12 players in the team (not pods) to play at their best ....to win ..." (or words to that effect) - and the bottom line
in this Ryder Cup was that, apart from two rookies and a couple of seasoned pros, the rest of the US team, overall,
played uncompetitive golf, or, worse still, buckled under the relentless pressure created by the Europeans.

Much as I admire Mickleson for all his achievements, I believe he was totally wrong and out of order to mouth off as he did.
It has not only jeopardised his future participation in the competition but also that of Paul Azinger, the 2008 US captain,
whose praises Mickleson sung aloud whilst openly criticising the legend that is Tom Watson to the millions of
viewers across the globe.