2021 (2020) Ryder Cup

[DaveP043]

17 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Paul Azinger calls out Brooks Koepka for Ryder Cup comments, suggests he should 'relinquish his spot' | Golf News and Tour Information | GolfDigest.com

The Zinger was the 2008 US Captain. He’s not the best announcer, but I agree with his take.

I read some of the stuff Brooks said, and he doesn't seem to be really gung ho.  So I can understand Azinger and others who are critical of these comments.  Most players would LOVE to play in even a single Ryder Cup, and are rabidly enthusiastic about the matches if selected.

On the other hand, he's pretty honest, the formats and requirements ARE way different from any individual player's normal procedures.  The best players have fine-tuned their schedules, both on and off the course, so It HAS to be an adjustment to follow a schedule set by someone else.  And yes, having played a bunch of fourball match play, and at least some foursome match play (the Newport Cups are an example), they require a change in mental approach as compared to individual stroke play.  To me, if you're going to adjust successfully to this stuff, its critical to recognize the ways in which you'll need to adjust.  

[jmanbooyaa]

I don’t see anything to be up in arms about. He was being honest about his prep on tour vs cup. I bet more of our players feel this way. I guess we shall see how it plays out next week. 

[iacas]

The same excuses are true for the Europeans though.

[jmanbooyaa]

I would agree. There is only a small number of players who are amped to play. Spieth and Thomas and Poulter Sergio come to mind. 

[Zeph]

15 hours ago, jmanbooyaa said:

I don’t see anything to be up in arms about. He was being honest about his prep on tour vs cup. I bet more of our players feel this way. I guess we shall see how it plays out next week. 

Yeah, I don't really see the problem with what he said in the interview.

Quote

It’s different. It’s hectic. It’s a bit odd, if I’m honest. I don’t want to say it’s a bad week. We’re just so individualized, and everybody has their routine and a different way of doing things, and now, it’s like, OK, we have to have a meeting at this time or go do this or go do that. It’s the opposite of what happens during a major week.

 [...]

It’s tough. There are times where I’m like, I won my match. I did my job. What do you want from me? I know how to take responsibility for the shots I hit every week. Now, somebody else hit a bad shot and left me in a bad spot, and I know this hole is a loss. That’s new, and you have to change the way you think about things. You go from an individual sport all the time to a team sport one week a year. It’s so far from my normal routine.

Nothing wrong here imo. He's not the biggest fan of team events and isn't quite comfortable in it compared to every other week where it's just himself. Just because he's one of the best players in the world doesn't mean he's supposed to be a huge fan of team events. IIRC, Tiger didn't come across as the most enthusiastic player in those events either, at least not in some parts of his career.

People are different and not everyone enjoy playing in a team. Some love that stuff and soak up all the energy. Others have their energy sapped by those things.

It is of course the same for every player, deviating from the typical tour routines, but people deal with it in different ways. Brooks might be one that struggle more with the transition, but I doubt he's the only one.

[cipher]

I pretty much agree with the assessment of the course here. I will be there tomorrow for the practice round. 

[jmanbooyaa]

@cipher enjoy the day. Have you seen the tickets have been dropping in price? I saw $200 for Saturday posted. To be honest I have never been to a PGA tournament and have no idea if $200 for a day is considered good. 

[cipher]

11 minutes ago, jmanbooyaa said:

@cipher enjoy the day. Have you seen the tickets have been dropping in price? I saw $200 for Saturday posted. To be honest I have never been to a PGA tournament and have no idea if $200 for a day is considered good. 

I have not seen anything about that.  I actually am the guest of a business supplier of ours. They invited me and one other person to attend, I am currently working on finding a +1.  Haha

[jmanbooyaa]

Make sure you hit up the souvenir tent. I hear it is huge and only 10% of the items can be bought outside of event. 

[Wanzo]

4 hours ago, cipher said:

I pretty much agree with the assessment of the course here. I will be there tomorrow for the practice round. 

Thanks for sharing.  I’m going Friday so need to figure out a plan of attack on where to watch.  

[jmanbooyaa]

Enjoy @Wanzo

[colin007]

On 9/14/2021 at 12:23 PM, iacas said:

Brooks sucks.

I totally agree with Brooks, and I don't think he's alone. I always got the impression that Tiger hated the RC and would've skipped it if it was in any way possible considering the optics. I would skip it if I were Brooks.

[Vinsk]

51 minutes ago, colin007 said:

I always got the impression that Tiger hated the RC

Really? Tiger is the ultimate competitor. I can’t imagine he disliked the RC. My opinion is not popular but when you’re a world class professional athlete with millions of dollars and have way above normal resources and luxuries I don’t think it’s much to ask to show some enthusiasm to play on a USA  team. Poor guys have to go to the gym at 5am? Oh, gosh that’s just awful. Never mind the millions who do that then go to their monotonous 8-5pm job. Shut and play golf.  Have Chauncey make you a nice drink on your private jet on the way home. 😳😄

[Vinsk]

On 9/17/2021 at 3:01 AM, Zeph said:

Nothing wrong here imo. He's not the biggest fan of team events and isn't quite comfortable in it compared to every other week where it's just himself. Just because he's one of the best players in the world doesn't mean he's supposed to be a huge fan of team events

Maybe so. But I guarantee Brooks would whine like a baby if he wasn’t selected. He should just ask Sticker to pick someone else if he feels that way about it. 

[colin007]

3 hours ago, Vinsk said:

Really? Tiger is the ultimate competitor. I can’t imagine he disliked the RC. 

I would like to say this is what he told me over Shirley Temples on his back deck, but it's really just my impression of his attitude and body language. Just a hunch.

[cipher]

@Wanzo or anyone else going. Eat a big breakfast before you go, because the food situation there is a mess.  If you want any hot food I hope you like hotdogs, because that was basically all they had, and some of the tents had nothing and not even close to enough staff to service the needs of the people in attendance.  I would hate to see what happens when it gets really busy, Friday-Sunday.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, cipher said:

@Wanzo or anyone else going. Eat a big breakfast before you go, because the food situation there is a mess.  If you want any hot food I hope you like hotdogs, because that was basically all they had, and some of the tents had nothing and not even close to enough staff to service the needs of the people in attendance.  I would hate to see what happens when it gets really busy, Friday-Sunday.

Don’t you think it’s just that way for now? Seems by Friday-Sun they’ll have a much larger staff/food set up.

[cipher]

16 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Don’t you think it’s just that way for now? Seems by Friday-Sun they’ll have a much larger staff/food set up.

Probably very likely, but I would not personally count or rely on that being the case.