Ryder Cup Analysis/Write-Up...Enjoy the Read.

I'll preface this with the age old fact that hindsight is 20/20.

However, being 30 years old and having the passion for the game of golf that I do...there are very few things in the sporting world that have the importance of the Ryder Cup.  In 2 years when golf returns to the Olympics and we get the Aussies and South Americans and Asians into the mix we will see...but for my golfing life it's been all about USA vs. Europe. 

I was there in 1999 at Brookline when the greatest comeback happened.  I can replay every damn shot in my head from the back 9 of that penultimate Sunday singles match.  That was the first Ryder Cup that I can remember...Tiger Woods was just coming onto the scene and with "young" stars like Mickelson and Furyk and Leonard the US looked prime to keep the domination going for years to come.

Then...it didn't happen.

The 2001 matches were tragically delayed a year because of the attacks of September 11th, 2001...but heading into the 2002 Ryder Cup the US was the heavy favorites with 4 out of the top 10 golfers in the world on their squad.  Then guys like Phillip Price, young Sergio Garcia, old Colin Montgomerie, and the home crowd showed up late and the Euro's found a way to win.

At the time it seemed like a blip on the radar.  But it was a blip that turned into another blip in 2004 with the Mickelson/Woods debacle and one of the worst defeats of all-time.  2006 gave us the legendary US golfers JJ Henry, Vaughn Taylor, and Brett Wetterich?  Seriously...those guys were on the Ryder Cup team.  3 out of their combined 5 wins came at the Reno-Tahoe Open...which we all know is a hotbed of talent on the PGA Tour. 

And then...there was 2008.  Possibly even a worse team than 2006...5 rookies, no Tiger Woods, and a beastly European team looking to make it 4 in a row.  But the US won behind brilliant captain work by Paul Azinger working his team into little "pods" of players that seemed to bing and bang off each other.

2010 should have been another great win for the Americans...but it was the first appearance of the young studs of Europe and their putting brilliance.  Graeme MacDowell, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald all winning HUGE matches on Sunday, but most notably the choke job of Hunter Mahan in the anchor match when all he needed was a freakin half point.

2012 was the miracle at Medinah...and I don't really need to go into much detail about that because it still pisses me off to this day.



So now I'll go into this year.  Team Europe had 6 of the top 20 golfers in the world while the US had 8 of the top 20 in the world...including the absence of Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson which would have made it an even 10.  The United States team was favorites going into the matches.  Somehow.  The captain Tom Watson selected Keegan Bradley,  Hunter Mahan, and Webb Simpson as his captain picks...they had a very respectable 8-5-3 record combined heading into the week. 

The US player with the worst winning % on the team with experience was Rickie Fowler @ 33.3%...HE PLAYED EVERY SESSION...AND DIDN'T WIN A SINGLE MATCH.

The 2nd worst winning % was Jim Furyk....HE MISSED ONE SESSION....AND WENT 1-3

The BEST winning % was Keegan Bradley....HE MISSED THE ENTIRE DAY SATURDAY

The 2ND BEST winning % was Zach Johnson....HE MISSED 2 OUT OF THE 5 SESSIONS.

It's quite clear what the problem is with the United States Ryder Cup team...and Brandell Chamblee nailed it perfectly in his Post-Ryder Cup comments.  These guys just aren't playing up to their world ranking.  They are shiiting their pants on the big stage in epic proportions.  Phil Mickelson wants to put it on the captain's choice and his method of putting players out there.  I agree in a way...it's been an absolute atrocity in regards to the pairings and who is rested and such.  There was no way in hell Rickie Fowler had a shot today against world #1 Rory McIlroy after playing 36 and 32 holes in the first two days.

The US team runs out of steam every single day. 

The US team can't make the big putts when it matters.

The US team can't figure out the right combination of players to take down the top Euro teams.

I can remember watching the Ryder Cup in red, white, and blue every single year since 1997...and I've been "privileged" to see a whole 2 victories.  It needs to change soon...and it needs to change with the attitude and effort being put forth by the United States golfers.

We don't need dumbass Bubba rooting the crowd on to make more noise as he snaps drives into the rough on the 1st hole.

We don't need veterans Mickelson and Furyk choking away putt after putt after putt and cheering on the Euros after they make a huge charge (Mickelson last year with Rose).

Basically...after typing all of this and getting more and more pissed off...the moral of the story is that the United States needs to realize that they are NOT the kings of the golfing universe any more and they need to wipe their smug looks...pumping up the crowd...shaving letters into their head...practicing at other courses...changing clubs the week of the tournament b.s. attitude off the board and start over.

Now I'm going to go into deep detail on my strategy as the fictional captain of the 2016 US Ryder Cup team.

Day 1 Morning -

Borrow the brilliant idea of Paul McGinley  this year by pairing the most senior players with the most rookie players for the first two matches of the day.  The rookies are so anxious to get out there while the veterans know how to deal with such pressure and can limit these nerves.  It will balance each other out and if I'm the captain I work that to my advantage heading into the 3rd and 4th grouping.  With those groupings I want to take the most possible advantage of my team...the 3rd grouping I want to be the "wild card" and get pumped up on the crowd and nothing else.  The 4th grouping I want to have the best mix of pumped up and experience based on who I have left.  So with this year's group it would have been like this..

Mickelson/Speith vs.....
Furyk/Reed vs....
Watson/Fowler vs....
Bradley/Zach Johnson vs.....

Now looking back on things those are some pretty formidable pairings.

Looking forward to the afternoon pairing the FIRST thing I want to get out there is the four guys that had to sit out the morning matches.  Match them up based on statistics that would best meet the format.  If it's alternate shot I'm matching the best driver out of the 4 left out with the best putter out of the 4 left out...and so on.  For this Ryder Cup it would be...

Walker/Kuchar vs...
Simpson/Mahan vs....

The 3rd and 4th match of the afternoon would be the best guys that performed in the morning depending on how soon the names need to be released.  Make sure that they are the guys that handled the pressure best and hit the most fairways and greens.  I don't care about birdies...I care about guys that hit fairways and greens.

More to come later!

Please put our team in better outfits. The big bold Ryder Cup, American flag with 13 stars and the red pants have to go. They were outfitted by Ralph Lauren. I would 3 putt all day in those outfits. Let's go subtle and understated.

I think two things, it means more to the Euros and also they are closer. I think if everyone on the team were as close as Phil and Keegan, we would be much better. The Americans just aren't a close group. Darren Clarke was talking about how many of the guys on the Euro team were always having dinner and hanging out. Not sure how much that goes on with the American guys. Just my two cents.

1.Folwer played very well and was up until 3 match where I assume fatigue set in and in singles against Rory pretty sure doesn't matter who was out there, 7 birdies and an eagle in first 13 will win most days.

2. I would say outside of Reed, Furyk played the best golf on the team over 3 days.  Sometimes it doesn't show up in points, see partners.

3.  I really like Bradley but he was bad the match him and Phil won(as was Phil and both euros) overall and he was all over the map in 2nd match.  He got fisted in singles so his previous record means nothing.

4.Mick and Furyk both played well on sunday, if you want to talk choke see Mahan and speith on sunday.

Who played good all 3 days for US outside of Reed? Watson mis-managed the team and also took 3 bad captins picks. 

 

Absolutely agree there...and it goes very well with what Brandel Chamblee said on the post-game coverage.

It's not about the captain's picks or the pairings...it comes down to how these guys show up and play. 

Furyk played very well compared to his past performance...but wasn't given the chance to make it matter.

Reed played fantastic and his energy was very similar to that of Fowler, Watson, Weekly in the past.

Never really liked Reed until past weekend, love the fact he thinks he can play with anyone.  I have grown to like Tom Watson so really don't want to put it on him but it is to bad he didn't have another week or so, got to think Horschel would have been there instead of Webb.  Again not sure it would matter, Euro seem to get all the breaks and make all the putts outside of 10-15-20 feet.  Still one of my top 3 favorite sporting events to watch.