{"id":2781,"date":"2008-08-14T06:00:21","date_gmt":"2008-08-14T10:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/?p=2781"},"modified":"2008-08-14T00:16:39","modified_gmt":"2008-08-14T04:16:39","slug":"captain_azinger_is_on_the_clock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/thrash_talk\/captain_azinger_is_on_the_clock","title":{"rendered":"Captain Azinger is on the Clock"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ThrashI want to start by congratulating Padraig Harrington on his second consecutive major victory. Over the past 13 months, he has gone from one of the best without a major to one of the best, period. As for Sergio Garcia, maybe next time. Speaking of Harrington and Garcia, they will both be stalwarts on Nick Faldo’s favored European Ryder Cup team next month.<\/p>\n

The European golfers still have a couple more events to lock in their spots on the team, but the eight guaranteed United States spots have already been decided. Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis, and Boo Weekley locked in their spots after the PGA Championship. Captain Paul Azinger has a few weeks to decide the remaining four golfers that will represent the Americans at Valhalla.<\/p>\n

Azinger could go down the list and pick the next four in line, but that’s not happening. Unfortunately, after looking at the standings, it’s hard to find four guys worthy of a spot on the team. That doesn’t bode well for the U.S. chances, but you never know. I’ve studied the standings long and hard, and these are the four guys most worthy of a captain’s pick.Steve Stricker<\/strong>
\nSteve Stricker has had an up-and-down 2008 so far, but things have started to go in his favor the past couple months. Stricker started the season with four top-ten finishes in his first seven events. Then, his storied problems off the tee re-emerged, and he missed five cuts in his next six events. Since then, he has started to round back into form, and that’s why he gets the first captain’s selection.<\/p>\n

Steve Stricker could have made the team automatically if he would have finished a couple places higher this past weekend at Oakland Hills. It literally came down to a place or two between he and Boo Weekley for the last guaranteed spot. Stricker doesn’t have any Ryder Cup history, but he played exceptionally well at last year’s Presidents Cup. Good putters are hard to come by, and while this guy hasn’t had his best year on the greens, he is still one of the best in the last few years.<\/p>\n

Sean O’Hair<\/strong>
\n\"SeanCaptain Azinger wants winners on his team, and Sean O’Hair fits the bill. O’Hair won the PODS Championship earlier in the season and followed that with a tie for third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. If it wasn’t for a pulled chest muscle in the middle part of the year, his year could have been even better. Since the mid-season struggles, he has bounced back with a couple top-12 finishes in the past month. O’Hair is definitely playing well enough to get a captain’s pick.<\/p>\n

Like Stricker, O’Hair doesn’t have any Ryder Cup experience. Sean O’Hair has a very calm demeanor, and that should serve him well in pressure situations next month at Valhalla. And when it comes to talent, there aren’t many young American with any more than this guy. It’s time to throw him to the wolves and get him some matches under his belt.<\/p>\n

D.J. Trahan<\/strong>
\nTrahan’s credentials are pretty even with those of O’Hair. Trahan won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic early in the year, and then he fell off the radar for a few months. After a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open and a few more top-25 finishes since, he is definitely back on the radar.<\/p>\n

Like Stricker and O’Hair, Trahan has zero Ryder Cup experience. Do you see a theme here? Judging by recent Ryder Cup results, that may not be a bad thing. It’s time for some new guys to step up and get experience in the event. It took awhile for Trahan to get my full support this season, but he is as good as any other choice right now.<\/p>\n

Steve Flesch<\/strong>
\nIt wouldn’t be fun to get through this article without one surprise would it? Steve Flesch may not be high enough in the standings (23rd currently) to get a serious look, but he should. Not many guys can say they finished in the top six in two majors this season. Flesch struggled on Sunday at Augusta, but he still walked away with a tie for fifth. In case you are wondering how he is playing right now, he finished sixth at last week’s PGA Championship.<\/p>\n

Picking a fourth golfer was very tough, but after looking down the list, Flesch was the first guy that caught my eye. The others ahead of him aren’t playing worth a flip right now, and it would be nice to see someone on somewhat of a hot streak going in. Much like O’Hair, Flesch has a solid demeanor for pressure situations, and while he doesn’t have any Ryder Cup experience, he has been around long enough to get the job done.<\/p>\n

Others Considered<\/strong>
\n\"BrandtIt was pretty easy to pick the first three, but things got difficult when it came to picking number four. Hunter Mahan and Brandt Snedeker were the next two in line, but they aren’t playing well enough at the current time. Mahan has had a terrible season compared to his 2007 campaign, and just when he was starting to turn things around, he missed the cut badly at the PGA Championship. His recent comments about The Ryder Cup will put a bullseye on his back the entire week of the event, and that’s not something a youngster can overcome easily.<\/p>\n

As for Snedeker, he probably would have been the last pick if he would have finished a little better at Oakland Hills. Since his tie for ninth at Torrey Pines, however, he has a tie for 43rd, tie for 24th, and three missed cuts. That’s not good enough.<\/p>\n

And before everyone gets on me about leaving off Woody Austin and Rocco Mediate, take a look at the facts. Austin has had only two top-10 finishes since April, and they came at the Buick Open and John Deere Classic. Those aren’t necessarily top-notch events.<\/p>\n

As for Mediate, his season has been highly overrated. Other than his tie for sixth at Memorial and runner-up finish at Torrey Pines, he has been pretty mediocre. Fans will probably want to see Mediate at Valhalla next month, but hopefully Paul Azinger doesn’t fall into the media-hype trap.<\/p>\n

The Final Say<\/strong>
\nAfter doing all this research, I’ve come to one conclusion. The United States is in trouble regardless of who is picked. Quite frankly, there aren’t many Americans playing well right now. There are multiple Europeans that will be worthy of a captain’s pick, but it was really difficult to find four worthy Americans to represent our team next month.<\/p>\n

It would be intriguing if Paul Azinger picked a guy like Colt Knost who has won a couple times on the Nationwide Tour this year and is a former U.S. Amateur winner. He obviously plays well in match-play format, and he is playing well right now. It’s worth keeping an eye on anyway, and everyone knows Azinger isn’t afraid to do something crazy like that.<\/p>\n

It’s your turn to let me know what you think about this week’s article. If you were in Paul Azinger’s shoes, which four golfers would you pick to round out the United States Ryder Cup team? If you have anything to add, please comment below or discuss them in the forum<\/a>. Thanks for reading this week’s Thrash Talk!<\/p>\n

Photo Credits: © The Sand Trap .com.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find out which golfers Paul Azinger should pick for this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[98,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hot_topics","category-thrash_talk"],"yoast_head":"\nCaptain Azinger is on the Clock (Hot Topics, Thrash Talk) - 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