2014 Ryder Cup Discussion Thread

[Crim]

If Mahan was given a free 3 up going into the back nine....I'd still bet on Rose.

[Silent]

I'm happy Poulter is on our team. He didn't play that well so far, but what he did on hle 16 and 17 (?) today, is typically him plus what he brings to the dressingroom is amazing I can imagine.

[atb5079]

So did USA just suck today or Europe really play some great golf? I didnt see anything but Poulter's absurd holeout.

[Crim]

So did USA just suck today or Europe really play some great golf? I didnt see anything but Poulter's absurd holeout.

A little bit of both.

Other than a few decent holes and the hole-out...Poulter has been very mediocre.

[mvmac]

So did USA just suck today or Europe really play some great golf? I didnt see anything but Poulter's absurd holeout.

From what I saw, Europe played very well. In the Rose/Stenson match, the foursome had 21 birdies in 16 holes (Europe won that match). Kind of been the theme, USA plays well but Europe just takes it to a different level.

[atb5079]

Well there is still a glimmer of hope tomorrow. I'm gonna be optimistic.

[chasm]

So did USA just suck today or Europe really play some great golf? I didnt see anything but Poulter's absurd holeout.

The McDowell/Dubuisson pair were immaculate, to rifle in birdie after birdie playing foursomes is really something. Westwood/Donaldson not that far behind. The rest was pretty close, though McIlroy and Garcia were certainly better today than yesterday.

[Gunther]

Just 1 thing to say: God dammit.

[ChrisP]

So did USA just suck today or Europe really play some great golf? I didnt see anything but Poulter's absurd holeout.

I thought Dubuisson/McDowell, Stenson/Rose and Westwood/Donald played some really great golf. It would have tough for any combination the USA threw out there to beat them. McIlroy/Garcia played solid as well.

I just think Europe is a better team. This is the strongest roster they ever had and they're showing their muscle. I actually think the US has played as good as it can play given their roster. Now if we had a healthy Tiger and maybe a Kirk or Horschel who have been red hot of late, we might be able to keep this thing a little closer. But kudos to Europe....they are absolutely loaded and showing why. If Jesus Christ himself was the Captain of this team, the score wouldn't be much different.

[CarlSpackler]

::sigh::

[chasm]

I don't disagree that Europe has the stronger team. But it's interesting to me that they seem to be much stronger in matchplay than they would be week-to-week on the PGA tour. Not sure why that is, but watching Westwood, for example, he appears to be utterly confident in this format despite having ahd a relatively poor year in tournament play.

[ilikefishes]

Ah, it all comes down to putting.

[skydog]

I'm beginning to think the Euros may have won this year regardless of what pairings we put out there but I can't help but think Tom is underperforming here. It seemed like a no brainer to play Phil and Keegan in both morning sessions and then bench them in the foursomes, and needless to say, benching Spieth and Reed yesterday was idiotic. Playing Furyk (old and not a good RC player) and Kuchar twice today also made no sense to me. Tom needed to break the status quo in terms of picks and pairings this year for us to have a chance...his picks were status quo and his pairings have only broken the status quo in the wrong way. I think the matchups tomorrow are as good as we could hope for, but obviously we need a miracle.

[atb5079]

I thought Dubuisson/McDowell, Stenson/Rose and Westwood/Donald played some really great golf. It would have tough for any combination the USA threw out there to beat them. McIlroy/Garcia played solid as well.

I just think Europe is a better team. This is the strongest roster they ever had and they're showing their muscle. I actually think the US has played as good as it can play given their roster. Now if we had a healthy Tiger and maybe a Kirk or Horschel who have been red hot of late, we might be able to keep this thing a little closer. But kudos to Europe....they are absolutely loaded and showing why. If Jesus Christ himself was the Captain of this team, the score wouldn't be much different.

I've been disappointed with Kuchar and Phil's/Keegan's play thus far. Really would be interesting to see how a healthy Tiger, DJ and Horschel on the team would change things. Also have really like Jimmy Walker's game this week. He impresses me a lot. Not sure why it took him so long to be a factor on tour.

[mvmac]

Ah, it all comes down to putting.

Just wanted to share this thread with you, might change your mind about "what it comes down to". Ballstriking is king.

[RandallT]

I've been disappointed with Kuchar and Phil's/Keegan's play thus far. Really would be interesting to see how a healthy Tiger, DJ and Horschel on the team would change things. Also have really like Jimmy Walker's game this week. He impresses me a lot. Not sure why it took him so long to be a factor on tour.

I'll just point out that today Kuchar/Watson played pretty well. I believe they technically shot -8 for 16 holes.  Compared to Rose/Stenson, it just SEEMED like they weren't doing well.

But Kuchar did lose twice to Donaldson/Westwood, once with Furyk and once with Z. Johnson. We really needed those wins. 0-3 for him hurts. Totally agree.

I'm still not clear why Phil/Keegan were both on the bench for the entire day. Something seems off with that. They are our emotional leaders, and we needed that spark today. Phil is the natural leader on this team to me. He set that playful but aggressive tone early on by saying we don't litigate with each other. This team was "his" in a sense, because he gravitated toward that spot naturally, whereas Furyk or Kuchar remain more quiet, steady types.  If Phil was tired, fine- play him just once today. But he and Keegan won a match on Friday, before looking tired in the afternoon. From the reports I've seen, they both were dying to get into the hunt. Tom Watson's explanation seems weak, and I don't see why they were both benched the whole day.

Tom Watson seems to leave out the team dynamic aspect of his decisions. He needs his emotional players who are dynamic to light it up. Sitting your emotional players because they're not playing well enough may seem smart on paper, but there's more than just the score- there's an emotional aspect to having Phil in the game that we need. Spieth/Reed have been great overall, but their not the guys who can create momentum. Mickelson/Bradley is the big group who can get that team mojo going. We needed them in the fight, leading the way with their passion.  We were just flat today. I think that reflects on the Captain to some degree. He didn't help set a positive tone. His press conferences were hard to watch, and I would think his team sessions were likely similar in tone.

(Disclaimer: this is all uninformed opinion, of course, but it was good to get off my chest- even if I really have no idea with the actual reasons Tom had to make the decisions he did. Tom is obviously vastly more experienced at competitive golf than I'll ever be, but as a manager of people, I just can't get over that nagging feeling he let the team down with his leadership and decision-making style.)

[Spitfisher]

when it comes to match play, if I were putting together my team.....I don't think I would have picked Bubba or Kooch. maybe they just come across to me as too  Gee whiz or too nice. Match play takes focus and ability to continue to step on your opponants throat, even when you are up by 4 holes.

[MS256]

"If I had known it wasn't going to work, and if I had a week to think about it, I would have called a different play." (Bear Bryant) Coaches can't win unless they win. If it works the fans sing praises to their names and if if doesn't work they are bums. ;-) I was afraid we would get smoked in this thing but we played just good enough before this afternoon to give me a little bit of false hope.