2012 Ryder Cup Discussion Thread

[atb5079]

I really base it off of Westwood has proven over the course of his career he does not get the job done when needed. I like the guy, but he isnt a champion. Harrington is obviously a winner and he also would have provided some great mentoring as well. Most importantly, the guy can putt. Westwood is putrid at it.

[Chilli Dipper]

One minor detail against your argument: Westwood qualified for the team on merit. Harrington wasn't even close to being in consideration for a captain's pick.

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by atb5079

I really base it off of Westwood has proven over the course of his career he does not get the job done when needed. I like the guy, but he isnt a champion. Harrington is obviously a winner and he also would have provided some great mentoring as well. Most importantly, the guy can putt. Westwood is putrid at it.

When you say he does not get the job done when needed, do you mean to say he has never won a major?  Pretty sure there are non-major winners on both teams.  Other than that, with 13 more world-wide victories than Harrington his record looks amazing for a guy who can`t putt

Professional wins	39
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	2
European Tour	22 ( 9th all time )
Japan Golf Tour	4
Asian Tour	6
Sunshine Tour	3
PGA Tour of Australasia	1
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament	2nd: 2010
U.S. Open	3rd/T3: 2008, 2011
The Open Championship	2nd: 2010
PGA Championship	T3: 2009
Achievements and awards
European Tour Order of Merit winner	2000, 2009
European Tour Golfer of the Year	1998, 2000, 2009

Like Chili dipper said, he made the team on points, not as a captain`s pick.  If Harrington had gotten the job done more often the last two years, he would have made it on points also and not have had to rely on a captains pick.

[crayputter]

When does the pairings usually come out ? After the opening ceremony ?

[Golf Man]

Very strange for someone to suggest that Westwood shouldn't be in there - hasn't been quite as good this year as last but still 4th in World Rankings and has a brilliant Ryder Cup record. Harrington doesn't have a great Ryder Cup record and hasn't played well enough - and btw its his putting that has let him down this year - he has been good in every other aspect

Like most years I think it will be close, but I do think that the course set up will favour the Americans that bit more, which it should do as its their set up. I don't like the idea of no rough, which is apparently the way it is, but it does leave it a bit of a lottery

Molinari played his way in and deserves to be there - there are plenty of players who don't have great Ryder Cup records (look at Furyks and Mickelsons for example)

Europe have some very obvious pairings, US maybe less so due to having more rookies. I reckon the European pairings the first morning (presume its foursomes) will be

Garcia/Donald

McIlroy/GMac

Westwood/Hanson

Poulter/Rose

Lawrie, Colsaerts and Kaymer to come in for the afternoon. Molinari will play foursomes the second day

[ThominOH]

Originally Posted by crayputter

Can't wait !

Btw, does anyone also realise that this will be the FIRST Ryder Cup in the new millennium that doesn't have a guy named Woods as the World no 1 ?

That's six RC's that Tiger was the world no 1 going in.....just saying.....

Ray

You might want to check 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills..  and the OWGR for Sept of that year as well..  Vijay Singh might come to mind..  Just saying..

[JaxGolfer1]

Come on U.S. Americans!!!

[crayputter]

Come on U.S. Americans!!!

Hmmm....strange....what other Americans are there ?

[crayputter]

You might want to check 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills..  and the OWGR for Sept of that year as well..  Vijay Singh might come to mind..  Just saying..

My bad, mate....missed those 6 months from Sep 04 to Feb 05.... Ray

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by crayputter

Hmmm....strange....what other Americans are there ?

In North America you have Canadians and Mexicans with lots of other countries in Central and South America...kinda like how you have French Europeans, Spanish Europeans, etc.

[One More Time]

Originally Posted by WWBDD

Tiger just doesn't seem like a team player kind of guy to me.

Please explain why you say this. What in your opinion make some one a team player?

IMO the only thing that would make some one a good team player would be one that tries his best to win every match. I think Tiger will try to win every match.

[Fatphil]

Useless tidbit of information.  Medinah in arabic translates as "city".

[Wansteadimp]

Originally Posted by One More Time

Please explain why you say this. What in your opinion make some one a team player?

IMO the only thing that would make some one a good team player would be one that tries his best to win every match. I think Tiger will try to win every match.

Avoiding pissing off your team mates to the point where it effects their game would be a good idea - Mssrs James and Brown were guilty of this in the late 70s I believe.

Faldo was supposed to be a bad team player ie grumpy and and didn't interact well with the rest of the team - though winning 25 points will get that overlooked.

[Golf Man]

Originally Posted by One More Time

Please explain why you say this. What in your opinion make some one a team player?

IMO the only thing that would make some one a good team player would be one that tries his best to win every match. I think Tiger will try to win every match.

Not as simple as trying his hardest in this format in particular

One thing that has been levelled at Tiger, with some justification imo, is that he doesn't view the Ryder Cup as important, meaning that he doesn't maybe raise his games as much. Compare him with teh likes of Garcia or Poulter - always seem to play their best at Ryder Cup. Also due to the nature of it the time off course is hugely important - if you have a divisive presence in the locker room that will translate on course (Europe have been renowned for having great spirit and sense of togetherness - the best example of a divisive presence was our captain in 2008)

Also you are playing with someone for the first two days - and you need to adjust for this (whether its reading putts together or barely speaking - it depends on the personalties) . I can see that Tiger may not be considered a team player in this sense (himself and Mickelson together was actually funny)

That said I think if he finds the right partner then he's not an issue - and he seems to have that in Stricker

[rustyredcab]

Went to the practice round day yesterday. Regarding the course: the greens looked fast and the rough was very short. I've had the privilege of playing there more than a few times (non in the last few years) and I never saw rough like I saw yesterday. Talk in the crowd was the US set the rough up short because our guys are likely to miss more fairways.

The crowds should be huge this weekend. They were big yesterday and it was a short practice day. Grandstands near greens were often full yesterday. Can not imagine Sunday. The course has a few natural bottle necks because of bridges and proximity from green to tee on some holes. I do not know how people will get around. On the plus side, remote parking worked like a charm and they seem ready to get everyone to the course and onto the property. If you are going, I recommend parking in the remote lot off Glen Ellyn Road. Go South from Army Trail Road (faster to get into the lot if you approach from the North). Lots of big shuttle busses and you get dropped off pretty close to the entrance. It was free parking yesterday.

[Dave2512]

Anyone know if the opening ceremony is streaming? I couldn't find anything on google.

[WWBDD]

Originally Posted by MEfree

In North America you have Canadians and Mexicans with lots of other countries in Central and South America...kinda like how you have French Europeans, Spanish Europeans, etc.

Can't speak for Mexicans, but Canadians call people from the US Americans.

[WWBDD]

Originally Posted by One More Time

Please explain why you say this. What in your opinion make some one a team player?

IMO the only thing that would make some one a good team player would be one that tries his best to win every match. I think Tiger will try to win every match.

I think Tiger plays for Tiger, which obviously works great in an individual sport. It hasn't seemed to translate well to the Ryder Cup format. When questioned about past performances, he stated something like he let the team down by not getting all his points, but that's only one aspect of team play. There are many other factors which he seems to not get as stated by posters above.

Having said that, he seems to do fine in the President's Cup.