2012 Ryder Cup Discussion Thread

[stogiesnbogies]

Originally Posted by dmnoland

The bottom line is Love was betting on not losing instead of stepping on his opponents throat and winning. In baseball you don't bench your best pitcher in the middle of a no hitter. Sure, he might give up a hit or even a run in the 9th but you still get a win. While I realize that Phil wanted to get benched and needed rest, Keegan clearly said he would go all day. Why not put him with Tiger who was red hot on the back nines? Saturday easily could have been an 11-5 outcome and ultimately altered the final outcome.

Right you are...Love was playing not to lose instead of finishing them off.....neither Poulter nor all the "Seve Spirit" they could muster would have brightened up the Euro clubhouse Saturday night if they were down 11-5.

And Love's Captain's picks of Stricker and Furyk did NOTHING as well.

[JerseyThursday]

Originally Posted by mazzamouth

Yep it is not his fault.. ask 98% of pro ball players and they say why blame the manager?.

Thanks for pulling a statistic out of thin air.

[Chas]

Look chaps ..... The Euros played their hearts out today, do the sporting thing and give them credit. Donald, Rose and Poulter particularly - british golf was not like this in the days of my youth I can tell you ... I'm a Furyk fan, of a sort, but I doubt we'll see him playing Ryder again. As they say over there, I think he's lost his bottle. Bogey bogey finish .... wtf I've missed watching two historic golf meltdowns on live TV over the years (Brookline 1999, 1996 Masters), glad I didn't miss this one. Epic is the word. Here's to you Seve ....

[newtogolf]

I went to the Jet game and watched them lose 34-0 (should of been 40-0) and then come home to see the U.S. team blew the lead and lost.  I didn't like the matchups yesterday, especially Stricker and Woods at the end but thought the lead was enough to compensate for the poor lineup.  I'll have to watch it tonight or tomorrow to see who messed up.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

I went to the Jet game and watched them lose 34-0 (should of been 40-0) and then come home to see the U.S. team blew the lead and lost.  I didn't like the matchups yesterday, especially Stricker and Woods at the end but thought the lead was enough to compensate for the poor lineup.  I'll have to watch it tonight or tomorrow to see who messed up.

Rex Ryan?

[Dave H]

I don't think DL3 did that bad a job as some of you are making out. I found it questionable that he sat Phil and Keegan on Saturday and didn't break up Woods and Stricker just to try something different, but despite that at the end of the day Saturday, the US team was in prime position to win the cup. The matchups were pretty good today but unfortunately the Euros flat our kicked our butts. Had the US delivered like we expected, those two questionable decisions would be nothing but footnotes. Congrats to the Euro team.

[newtogolf]

LOL, yeah with the way the Jets played today he can be blamed for just about everything.  Maybe his weight loss has caused him to lose his edge as a coach too.  I hate to say it but after watching Sanchez play, I'm ready to give Tebow the ball, he can't do any worse.

Back to golf....my biggest fear looking at the matchups was there Europeans could win enough to force the match to be decided by Tiger and Stricker.

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Rex Ryan?

[Reg5000]

Pretty simple.  Despite Tigers lackluster front nines and those unbearable tee shots for the first 2 days he didn't play all that bad.  Colsaerts was just a machine that one day and NOTHING AT ALL Tiger could of done.  Poulter and Rose were just so dynamic for the Euros making so many clutch putts.  Absolutely great job by Poulter and Rose and even the rest of the Euros.  But for sure the hurt and downfall of the U.S. was Stricker and Furyk.  I'm not trying to look like Im pointing fingers here but shit happens and they played very very poorly along with a very strong Euro team.  Exciting Ryder Cup none the less.

[BallStriker]

In the year of the "blown big lead," this really was a fitting finish....and was great drama

From an American, all I can do is tip my cap to team Europe and say contgratulations and well played.

[parsnates]

btw... If i was a betting man and had money on a draw... I would ve jumped on a plain immediately to go after Tiger... What the hell was that all about!!??

I used to wish I could putt like Tiger. Now he putts like me.

[Monte the Bear]

Well, first off, that was great spectacle. You are all ragging on DLIII for his picks and his decisions, but you definitley were not ragging on him at 10-6 on Saturday night. The American team were a birdie machine, and despite Poulter's heroics on Saturday afternoon, the USA traditionally are stronger in singles. That said...

1. we Europeans were mightily surprised that Stricker and Furyk were the captains picks - we really thought that Mahan or Bo Van Pelt would have got in. The course was set up with zero rough - you needed birdie machines on the greens you set up. That gave us hope.

2. you had rookies, we had only one. Everyone on this board has never faced pressure like teeing it up for your country.

3. Tiger Woods won three times this year - instead he bought his 6 handicapper game. He looked tired and generally pissed off at the crowd - I think he gave that putt to Molinari just to piss off the jerks in the USA-USA-USA bleachers.

4. we played great on Sunday.

5. Bubba Watson is a streak player. Matt Kuchar...we won't forget that one footer, you wanker.

Looking forward to France. We'll have rough there, so your boom and putt boys can't spray it everywhere and still get a shot at a win.

All best.

Oh and here's a little video for you

[Infamous 273]

say what you want about stricker and furyk - mahan et al. would've gotten eaten alive out there today.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Monte the Bear

Looking forward to France. We'll have rough there, so your boom and putt boys can't spray it everywhere and still get a shot at a win.

What's happening in France? Why do you want to wait until 2018?

[Monte the Bear]

Originally Posted by Shorty

What's happening in France? Why do you want to wait until 2018?

Well, the next one is in Scotland and the Brits know how to treat the game.

The French will be more like your average Cubs fan.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Monte the Bear

Well, the next one is in Scotland and the Brits know how to treat the game.

The French will be more like your average Cubs fan.

Oh, I see.

[Chris E]

Right you are, I am not really a fan. I don't really dislike him immensely like I do the NYJ's lol, but I find him somewhat fake. I dislike Watson much more but who cares. The only good thing for me this whole time was seeing him get his ass handed to him on Sunday by a class act like Donald.

Anyway, I did a youtube search and I could not find it but I should be more clear on what he said. He said "they", as in both he and Bradley would be too spent to play. He said they knew they were not supposed to play that afternoon, so they poured everything into that morning match. On the 10th hole he told Love this. I find it incredible somebody would say that, and I don't know about you but I don't have an emotion meter so I can tell when I will stop playing good golf. He did not say it was physical tiredness like you allude to, and besides that has nothing to do with Bradley as you say.

FYI, the question was asked to Love in the press conference, and Mickelson jumped in and answered. Bradley just sat there so I'm not sure how much he was on board with this. After Phil, Love started blabbing about it, so I give Mickelson credit for standing up and you could tell Love was glad he was able to get some cover for this issue.

Personally, I think Love was in a corner with all of his "everybody is gonna sit" talk. Why do that? Has somebody come up with the idea that the only reason we have been getting stomped is because people are tired? Also, with being rigid on his pairings. Miller made a somewhat derogatory comment I believe Saturday that it seemed Love wasn't doing much, just letting guys do what they want. I agree.  If Tiger can't play with somebody else then he should have sat him the whole day on Saturday. If guys start whining about not getting to play with their buddy then WTF is up with that? Cut the "we are a team" talk if that is the real deal. Stricker was terrible and Tiger should have been paired with somebody else Saturday.

FInally, yes for me Rose's last two holes was the uh-oh moment when I personally thought they were gonna lose but I agree it was off the rails before then. Yes, it was cumulative like WTF was that with Snedecker Sunday, Furyck, Stricker's putting. At the end of the day, the performance of Tiger was probably the biggest disappointment. Even as well as he played the back 9 Friday and Saturday, he still missed some very makable putts at the end that he would make before. He played poorly Sunday. His play Friday morning was attrocious. That dude is not the same, and I don't think he will be unless he really comes to grip with his personal life. It's not physical or his swing.

Originally Posted by clubchamp

It's obvious you dislike Phil which is fine but...

He's 42 years old with arthritis resting him was probably a good idea especially if he says he is tired. Bradley on the other hand probably could have played but Davis said his plan was to rest everyone with singles in mind.

Really your turning point was Rose making the birdie on 17 because for me losing the first 3 matches set the tone for the day. Rose made a nice birdie at 17 was Mickelson supposed to give him the finger and walk to the next tee? It was a great putt and Mickelson didn't mope about it because it's one those things you can only admire getting down about it isn't going to help at that point.

The loss falls on everyone from Tiger to DL3 the US overall didn't perform today it wasn't one mistake.

[Wansteadimp]

Originally Posted by Dave H

I don't think DL3 did that bad a job as some of you are making out. I found it questionable that he sat Phil and Keegan on Saturday and didn't break up Woods and Stricker just to try something different, but despite that at the end of the day Saturday, the US team was in prime position to win the cup. The matchups were pretty good today but unfortunately the Euros flat our kicked our butts. Had the US delivered like we expected, those two questionable decisions would be nothing but footnotes. Congrats to the Euro team.

You can say all you want about sitting Phil & keegan but Olly sat Poulter on Friday afternoon, I mean really? Apparently Olly and Peter Hanson had stand up rows because Hanson wanted more matches - though the argument I can play as badly as Lee doesn't hold much water.

So happy now though.

Maybe less is more - Olly only had two picks and came up with Poulter and Colsaerts - which worked out okay.

[Paradox]

I say both Furyk and Stricker are done with Ryder Cups.  I really didn't think they shoulda been picked this year, especially Furyk but he actually turned out to have done more than Stricker.  I think if Tiger had a partner the first two days, it woulda been a different set of circumstances.  Stricker just looked to have no control over the pressure this time around when he's usually a pretty steady player.

I also thought the lineup for the US was a bit odd for the Singles, as well.  First guy off shoulda been your hottest player, IMO.  Get the heat on the Euros early and make it seem even more daunting to come back.  Alas, nothing left but the crying now..as they say.