Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman is holding a live press conference today to announce the final two captain’s for September’s team. We’re going to be live blogging all the way up through the press conference.
10:52 – Lehman: “I obviously hurt for the guys who didn’t get pick, but I feel tremendously confident with this squad.”
10:50 – Lehman: “Brett Wetterich makes a ton of birdies. He’s long and he’s strong [ed: “he’s about to get his freak shit on?”]. JJ Henry drives the ball straight. He’s way underrated. Zach Johnson, another solid ball striker and a great putter. He’s got everything you need. He’s not lacking. Vaughn Taylor – I’m not sure you can rate how much a guy hates to lose. But Vaughn really hates to lose.”
10:48 – On Rollins and Kelly: “They both have been quite inconsistent. At the end of the day, that was the defining moment for me. A lot of good golf and a lot of missed cuts. Nobody would question their passion. Jerry rolled the dice with the PGA, not playing the previous two weeks. At the end of the day, you have to know what to expect from your guys. Part of the reason I selected the two guys I did is that I know what I’ll get day after day, round after round, shot after shot. To me that’s important, to their teammates that’s important.”
10:45 – Cink: “I think it’s interesting how guys in a pairing will assume the leadership or follower roles. Tiger and Phil have a natural leadership position because of their wins.” Verplank: “I heard all these stories about how nervous I’d be, and when I got on the first tee, I was so calm. I said ‘how can you be nervous doing this?’ I’ll try to impress that upon the four guys who have never played. If you can’t enjoy it, you probably shouldn’t be playing golf.”
10:39 – Lehman dodges a question about how his “list” worked (top ten Americans each week) by saying that “I don’t know that this is the time to talk about that. I’m pretty pleased with the system. The system that gets the guys who are playing in the year of the Cup is the best system.”
10:38 – Lehman: “I’ve had great input from past captains. In fact, last night, I talked to Tom Watson for 25 minutes.”
10:36 – Lehman on a mail-in: “I think I got a vote for Michelle Wie and a write-in for Paula Creamer.” Paula Creamer kicked so much butt at the Solheim Cup, I’m not sure she wouldn’t have been able to help our team.
10:33 – “A lot of your players haven’t won in awhile, and both of your picks.” Lehman: “That’s the nature of International golf. These guys play well under pressure.”
10:31 – “Will Tiger and Phil be consulted as player advisors re: the pairings?” Lehman: “It becomes my decision. I’ve got all sorts of opinions. The one thing that’s common is their desire to win.”
10:28 – Lehman: “If I ever hear someone question Tiger Woods desire to play in the Ryder Cup again I’ll go crazy.” Tiger and Phil have both taken a leadership role, according to Tom.
10:22 – Cink and Verplank are on the phone now talking to the media about when they found out. Both players said they were nervous when they didn’t find out anything last night. Verplank slept with a phone under his pillow last night! That’s nerves for ya.
10:22 – Lehman says that the team will have formal practices before heading to Ireland. I think they are going to need all the help they can get when they head to European soil. Lehman also wants everyone to play before the singles matches.
10:20 – Lehman gets asked the question: “Why not Davis Love.” I had the over/under for this question at 2 minutes. The reason for not picking DLIII? Lehman says it’s because he hasn’t played well. Duh!
10:18 – Lehman says he chose Cink and Verplank because he knows both players will be a perfect fit for the team. He said that there were four guys who he felt fit the mold of this team, but that Cink and Verplank were it.
10:15 – Lehman chooses Cink and Verplank after all the talk about DLIII and Couples. I don’t mind the picks though since both players are perfect for the squad.
10:13 – We have sound at 9:12 online. Thanks PGA Pipeline for the GREAT program.
10:00 – Rich Lerner looks very nervous… and he should be! The live video feed currently lacks sound. We’re awaiting the arrival of Tom Lehman.
09:50 – Just a couple more minutes until the press conference. If you don’t have a way to see Lehman on television, you can go to the link provided to watch it over the Internet.
Cink and Verplank, I cannot say I’m disappointed. I figured it would end up being Cink and Love but Love did not do anything over the weekend to boost himself. He has some emotional issues it seems like.
It’ll be a good Ryder Cup, anyone know when the Euro team is set?
Stewart Cink and Scott Verplank were pretty obvious picks, at least to me. I knew Lehman was picking these two after his interview on the The Golf Channel last Tuesday or Wednesday night.
Good picks Tom! There shouldn’t be any controversey whatsoever. These guys were the best for the job.
I can see the logic behind these captain’s picks. You could argue for some other players, but they are not that much better or worse than these two.
We will probably be underdogs on paper for the first time. Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe having 4 rookies is a good thing.
We will have to sit back and watch how this team unfolds. History is not on our side. I just hope they play as a team and play well (as opposed to how they have played in past ryder’s).
If they play well, they can actually win. If they don’t, I can see a similar result to the last ryder cup.
Well done Tom Lehman,
You can’t dispute any of his selections or his reasoning.
The USA Team will wipe the floor with Europe this time around. I can’t see the Europeans winning any more than 7 or 8 matches for the whole week.
There will be too much pressure on Europe’s top guys to repeat their previous efforts. Monty looks spent after Winged Foot, the Irishmen will be feeling a different sort of pressure at home, J.M.O is not the same player he once was, and Woosie is no Bernhard Langer. It will be up to Sergio and Donald to carry the whole team and that’s a big ask.
Lehman can start planning the party right now if he wants.
Cheers
Dave
Great picks Mr.Lehman ! I had the honor to meet Mr.Lehman at the St-Francis Golf Club in 1995 .I believe it was , the day after he was second to Corey Pavin in the US OPEN at Shinnecock Hills ! I Know how Tom feels for the guys he did not pick because he is such a gentleman ! I am sure he is going to be a great Captain for the USA team ! Just remember the incident with Severiano Ballesteros in another Ryder cup , and how Tom handled the whole incident and acted as a great man in telling the crowd not to boooooo Seve ! That is the illustration of a good man ! I wish Tom and the team good luck in the Ryder Cup matches !