2016 Ryder Cup Discussion Thread

[MacDutch]

5 hours ago, natureboy said:

Willet's bro and Phil Mickelson would be wise IMO to reign in their need to be the centers of attention and let the focus be on good golf.

Most of us get enthused to see an exciting golf event between two highly talented teams of golfers. A good rivalry can be conducted with respect and class. At times some U.S. player rhetoric was disrespectful ('not fit to caddy for us') of the opposing team. Not a great moment for the U.S. team image, IMO. Willet's brother's comments are right in line with that kind of jingoism that I agree with Jack Nicklaus does not belong in the Ryder Cup. Competitive fire, okay. Enthusiastic, partisan crowds, sure. Soccer mob mentality, no way.

Willett's brother is not a part of the Ryder cup team. Willett made appologies:

http://m.bbc.com/sport/golf/37500790

[FinTurma]

Willett's brother tried to be funny, but he was way offline. Bad effort in dry humor..

He should've not written anything like that. It's just going to make things harder for his brother and I'm sure Danny W. is gonna hear it from the crowds.

[newtogolf]

Pretty sad Peter is trying to cash in on his brothers fame and good fortune by being an selfish idiot.  If the Europeans do lose, a big fat finger is going to be pointed at Danny and his brother (though likely the article will have nothing to do with their loss) for firing up the Americans.  I also expect Danny will get some extra heckling from the fans thanks to his brother.  

[nevets88]

Pieters swing:

2 hours ago, FinTurma said:

Willett's brother tried to be funny, but he was way offline. Bad effort in dry humor..

He should've not written anything like that. It's just going to make things harder for his brother and I'm sure Danny W. is gonna hear it from the crowds.

I'll be looking for people with "Lego Man hair" getups in the gallery. Or something w/cargo shorts and boat shoes or whatever he mentioned in the rant.

[nevets88]

[skydog]

I've only been to Europe a few times but from my experience, cargo shorts are infinitely more ubiquitous among Euros (especially in GB) than you see here in the States. Just saying...

And can we get a stats guy to pull basement dwelling stats of Euro youth vs. USA youth...my guess is it's higher among Euros.

And I have no idea what lego man hair means.  

[Gunther]

17 minutes ago, skydog said:

I've only been to Europe a few times but from my experience, cargo shorts are infinitely more ubiquitous among Euros (especially in GB) than you see here in the States. Just saying...

And can we get a stats guy to pull basement dwelling stats of Euro youth vs. USA youth...my guess is it's higher among Euros.

And I have no idea what lego man hair means.  

That may be true but I do have to cop to kinda devolving into a jelly face myself, so he nailed that one.  Lol.

[iacas]

16 hours ago, Chris E said:

And again, I don't recall Duval saying that the players need to hit good shots in response. He said they have lost by freakish luck shots and captain issues, for example.

He also said the Euro players played better, and deserve some credit, too. Though their world rankings are lower, they often come in with more wins, etc.

Over 18 holes of match play, and over the Ryder Cup format of 28 points, two matches that go one way could easily go another way and the entire outcome could be affected.

Consider that if you think a 16-12 win is a blowout victory, if just two matches over the span of those 28 matches go the other way - if the U.S. wins the 18th hole twice to win 1 up instead of losing 1 down - the matches are halved 14-14, and then it just takes halving a third match, maybe in singles, to win the Cup outright.

Even 16-12 or other margins of victory that appear large are quite small. Golf is often decided by the smallest factors. Look at how often top players are knocked out in the World Match Play. Happens all the time. 18 holes is a small sample size. That's why majors are contested over 72… and they almost never, ever, ever shorten them. The more holes you play, the more likely the "better" golfers come out on top.

You can say "the past 20 years" all you want, but it's not 20 years, it's 10 Ryder Cups, and the U.S. has won two of those.

E 16.5 - 11.5
E 14.5 - 13.5
E 14.5 - 13.5
U 16.5 - 11.5
E 18.5 - 9.5 (there's a true blowout)
E 18.5 - 9.5 (ditto)
E 15.5 - 12.5
U 14.5 - 13.5

And it's convenient to say "20 years" because of course the U.S. won in 1991 and 1993. So I could say 4 of the last 12, which sounds a lot better than 2 of the last 10, or 1 of the last 7.

[Zeph]

16 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

It's all in the first minute of the posted video.  Chamblee says "leadership" wins matches, and Duvall says "it boils down to making putts and executing good golf shots."  Heck, it's the title of the video on the article.

And it turns out it's actually a combination of both. One can't boil a victory in golf down to any single action.

[cromulent]

1 hour ago, skydog said:

I've only been to Europe a few times but from my experience, cargo shorts are infinitely more ubiquitous among Euros (especially in GB) than you see here in the States. Just saying...

And can we get a stats guy to pull basement dwelling stats of Euro youth vs. USA youth...my guess is it's higher among Euros.

And I have no idea what lego man hair means.  

Basements are something of a rarity over here. Attic /loft and shed dwellers may be more prolific.

[nevets88]

 

 

 

[skydog]

36 minutes ago, cromulent said:

Basements are something of a rarity over here. Attic /loft and shed dwellers may be more prolific.

lol touché then.

[Golfingdad]

2 hours ago, skydog said:

And I have no idea what lego man hair means.  

I presume. :)

[eich41]

3 hours ago, newtogolf said:

Pretty sad Peter is trying to cash in on his brothers fame and good fortune by being an selfish idiot.  If the Europeans do lose, a big fat finger is going to be pointed at Danny and his brother (though likely the article will have nothing to do with their loss) for firing up the Americans.  I also expect Danny will get some extra heckling from the fans thanks to his brother.  

I think everyone is ignoring the bigger issue with Willet's brother.  Forget the Ryder Cup (although lobbing bulletin board material around doesn't help anyone).  Think about what this moron just did to his brother's career...  Willet's American popularity (which let's face it is much more important and lucrative than being popular in Europe) just took a massive hit that likely won't fade anytime soon.  Sure, it was probably somewhat tongue in cheek, and it was written by his brother not him, but regardless there has been significant damage done.  I sure hope his brother got paid well to write that drivel, because he likely has cost his brother millions of dollars in earnings as his popularity takes a hit and endorsement deals come off the table.  

[RussUK]

1 hour ago, cromulent said:

Basements are something of a rarity over here. Attic /loft and shed dwellers may be more prolific.

Yep, cellars are quite common though, ideal for hiding the odd dead body and such like 

[Golfingdad]

35 minutes ago, eich41 said:

I think everyone is ignoring the bigger issue with Willet's brother.  Forget the Ryder Cup (although lobbing bulletin board material around doesn't help anyone).  Think about what this moron just did to his brother's career...  Willet's American popularity (which let's face it is much more important and lucrative than being popular in Europe) just took a massive hit that likely won't fade anytime soon.  Sure, it was probably somewhat tongue in cheek, and it was written by his brother not him, but regardless there has been significant damage done.  I sure hope his brother got paid well to write that drivel, because he likely has cost his brother millions of dollars in earnings as his popularity takes a hit and endorsement deals come off the table.  

I disagree.  It looks like he's played OK the last couple of weeks but prior to that after the Masters, he's done nothing but play poorly.  That is what would keep him from making a lot of money, not his brothers twitter.

[boogielicious]

39 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

I presume. :)

The fans should sing, "Everything is Awesome" everytime Willett walks by!

[eich41]

4 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

I disagree.  It looks like he's played OK the last couple of weeks but prior to that after the Masters, he's done nothing but play poorly.  That is what would keep him from making a lot of money, not his brothers twitter.

I don't disagree with your take on his play since winning the Masters, however, endorsements are absolutely 100% more about a player's reputation and popularity, than their performance on the course (See Rickie Fowler, et al).  Without a doubt this drivel from his brother will negatively impact Willet's popularity (right or wrong).  The less popular he is, the fewer endorsements and/or the lesser the value of those endorsements.  If you don't think that this piece has negatively impacted Willet's pocketbook, you are mistaken...

Edited September 29, 2016 by eich41