President's Cup Matches Discussion Thread

[rehmwa]

Bill?  no problem, good argument to take him

Phil?  I'm not a fan of the rationalization for him.  It's his time to start lobbying for captain and assistant captaincy.

[Chilli Dipper]

B Haas was the 11th ranked guy here (first one out) so with that as cover it's pretty understandable to see why Jay would put him on. Based solely on recent performance, Mickelson is a much more debatable pick with the likes of Horschel or Koepka as seemingly better alternatives. I also would have liked to seen either or both of those guys get a chance this year as a potential trial run for the RC next year. Anything can happen when you're dealing with international play on the other side of the world but I still think the American squad has a big advantage here and is looking like a pretty stacked team. Scott is a disaster right now and Oosthuizen is just unpredictable.

The only reason Bill Haas would be considered a controversial pick is because his dad's the captain. He's been on the last two Presidents Cup teams, and he's top-30 in both the FedEx Cup standings and World Golf Rankings. Some people will say he's a safe pick, not a spectacular one, but that's different from saying he doesn't belong on the team. In Phil's case, if this was the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine next year, I'd want Phil on my team for all the intangibles he brings to the table. But these matches are being played in Korea, not Minnesota; there isn't going to be a big pro-U.S. crowd that he can feed energy off, like he and Keegan Bradley were able to do at Medinah a few years ago. I would have rather seen Koepka or even Justin Thomas, who don't have much experience playing on a big stage, earn the opportunity to compete in that atmosphere ahead of next year's Ryder Cup, when both of them should be contending for places on that roster. (Also worth mentioning: if this was the Ryder Cup, only the top nine players in points would automatically qualify for the team. Tenth place on this team is Chris Kirk, who's been struggling with injuries for most of the summer. If only the top nine qualified for this team, I'd bet Kirk would be the one who gets left out.)

[Natural Patrick]

Interesting for those who say Justin Thomas. Brandt Snedeker or J.B. Holmes either one, get my vote over Thomas.

[skydog]

Interesting for those who say Justin Thomas. Brandt Snedeker or J.B. Holmes either one, get my vote over Thomas.

x2 on that.

[GolfTheMoon]

I don't know how many people are following this, but it probably would have been helpful to include the names of the picks.

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/haas-tabs-son-mickelson-presidents-cup-picks/

This completes the teams on both sides.

U.S. Team:

Jordan Spieth

Bubba Watson

Jimmie Walker

Zach Johnson

Jim Furyk

Rickie Fowler

Dustin Johnson

Patrick Reed

Matt Kuchar

Chris Kirk

Bill Haas

Phil Mickelson

International Team:

Jason Day

Louis Oosthuizen

Adam Scott

Hideki Matsuyama

Branden Grace

Marc Leishman

Anirban Lahiri

Charl Schwartzel

Thongchai Jaidee

Danny Lee

Steven Bowditch

Sangmoon Bae

Anyone know why its the US vs. Everyone Else? I think it'd be much more interesting if the top nations had to choose 4 players or something. More like the Olympics. I'd like to see the US vs. UK vs. Canada vs. Australia vs. Japan vs. South Korea. Or something like that. It would allow each country/region to show off what they've got, and it would put more pressure on the four players from each country to really play their best. They wouldn't have 11 other people on their team to lean on.

[Rick Martin]

Should've picked Tiger

snoozefest event...nothing like the Ryder Cup

[mchepp]

Bill was a good choice. I think if any other Captain picked him it is non-discussion. He has been consistent for a long time now and deserved the pick.

Phil is interesting. He did the exact minimum necessary to get the pick. Make the cut at the PGA and at least one of the cuts of the first 2 playoff events and he would get the pick. He has the most experience of any anyone in the world at team golf and the reality is he can get hot. My prediction is that he plays well the first 2 days and then fades on the last to lose his singles match. If his record is better that .500 then he was a successful pick because he likely brings so much mentoring and experience to the table.

I think they were both reasonable picks.

[billchao]

The only reason Bill Haas would be considered a controversial pick is because his dad's the captain.

I agree. It's not really a stretch for a captain to pick the 11th man on the list. Plus, the guy won a FedEx Cup (in dramatic fashion, to boot), so you know he can it done when the pressure is on.

Phil is interesting. He did the exact minimum necessary to get the pick. Make the cut at the PGA and at least one of the cuts of the first 2 playoff events and he would get the pick. He has the most experience of any anyone in the world at team golf and the reality is he can get hot. My prediction is that he plays well the first 2 days and then fades on the last to lose his singles match. If his record is better that .500 then he was a successful pick because he likely brings so much mentoring and experience to the table.

Phil is the pick I don't understand. I know he brings a lot of intangibles to the team, but couldn't he have done that in some kind of assistant captain or non-playing role? His best playing days (even just this season) are behind him.

[RFKFREAK]

Interesting for those who say Justin Thomas. Brandt Snedeker or J.B. Holmes either one, get my vote over Thomas.

x2 on that.

X3.

I'm starting to see that the media is hyping him up like they hyped up Spieth before his performance this year.

I like the Phil pick.  It's a major reason why I'll be paying attention.

[Ernest Jones]

X3. I'm starting to see that the media is hyping him up like they hyped up Spieth before his performance this year.

Yeah, and look how that turned out! ;-)

[RFKFREAK]

Yeah, and look how that turned out!

With me never rooting for Spieth!

[RGoosen]

They always pick the older guys with "experience". (experience losing... like Dave Love picking Furyk and Web Simpson in the Ryder Cup). I would have bet before hand that Haas and Mikelson were going to be his picks. I wanted Brooks Koepka and J.B. Holmes. Oh well. :(

[Mac62]

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but it seems strange not to see Justin Rose on the International Team.  #8 OWGR and #5 FedEx Cup rankings, 7 top 10 finishes this season, one of their best players at the Ryder Cup last year and he's not in the lineup?

[RGoosen]

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but it seems strange not to see Justin Rose on the International Team.  #8 OWGR and #5 FedEx Cup rankings, 7 top 10 finishes this season, one of their best players at the Ryder Cup last year and he's not in the lineup?

He is not eligible for Presidents Cup. He has to wait until the Ryder Cup which he is eligible for.

[MacDutch]

The obvious thing you are missing, is that European players do not play the Presidents cup. Rose is an Englishman.

[Mac62]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac62

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but it seems strange not to see Justin Rose on the International Team.  #8 OWGR and #5 FedEx Cup rankings, 7 top 10 finishes this season, one of their best players at the Ryder Cup last year and he's not in the lineup?

He is not eligible for Presidents Cup. He has to wait until the Ryder Cup which he is eligible for.

The obvious thing you are missing, is that European players do not play the Presidents cup. Rose is an Englishman.

And therein lies the obvious I was missing - I didn't realize the International Team didn't include Europeans!  Thanks gentlemen!

[rolopolo]

Really, how so ?

Sorry for the late response! I just think that An has done more than Bae this season, he just missed the auto qualifying, is clearly a tremendous match-player, and he is just outside the top 5o in the world (think Bae is around 100th?).

I think if I was in my An's shoes I would find ti difficult to understand why i wasn't picked.

[Chilli Dipper]

I want to make one last point about the make-up of this U.S. team. The qualifying criteria used by the PGA Tour in selecting which players qualify for the roster is different from what the PGA of America uses for the Ryder Cup, and those differences really screwed over Brooks Koepka's chances of making this team. All FedEx Cup results dating back to the 2013 BMW Championship (immediately following the selection of the 2013 team) factor into the points standings, with 2015 season points counting double. those rules don't work in Koepka's favor, since he didn't earn his tour card until the end of last season. On the other hand, the Ryder Cup's selection criteria counts money earnings from the current PGA Tour season (with that year's majors counting double), plus payouts from the previous year's majors. Since Koepka finished T-4 at last year's U.S. Open and T-5 at this year's paycheck, and was within the top-12 on the money list going into the playoffs (he's now 18th, thanks to missing consecutive cuts), he probably would have qualified for the team automatically if Ryder Cup qualifying rules were in effect. Instead, someone who is undoubtedly one of the best twelve American golfers at present will not be representing his country next month. That's not all Jay Haas' fault: that's the PGA Tour's fault for keeping a points system that rewards playing well on tour for two seasons, instead of incentivizing more recent form.