2016 Ryder Cup Discussion Thread

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

Guess Sergio the no-hit wonder did well to halve with Phil, then.

Look, I know this is dragging this off-topic, so I'll say this and then I'll stfu. I don't like seeing a "one hit wonder" tag applied to golfers who have won a major. The term comes from the music industry, where plenty of completely talentless, tuneless, vapid, soon-forgotten idiots have had a No 1 hit by virtue of marketing, autotune and slick production. I don't believe any golfer who has won a major is a "one hit wonder." If Mr. Willett never wins another golf tournament in his life, well, he still won a green jacket in 2016.

That's your value system. Others might find the term fine.

[Database Head]

29 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

 

That's incredibly puerile. He turned up amongst his peers, showed willing, and got beaten in matchplay. No shame in that.

How many Majors  Sunday club competitions have you won with your 30 handicap?

It was childish but......  He hasn't done anything since the masters win including dropping 0 - 3 and not helping his team one bit today.  We shall see how his career pans out

Edited October 3, 2016 by Database Head

[Gunther]

12 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

Guess Sergio the no-hit wonder did well to halve with Phil, then.

Look, I know this is dragging this off-topic, so I'll say this and then I'll stfu. I don't like seeing a "one hit wonder" tag applied to golfers who have won a major. The term comes from the music industry, where plenty of completely talentless, tuneless, vapid, soon-forgotten idiots have had a No 1 hit by virtue of marketing, autotune and slick production. I don't believe any golfer who has won a major is a "one hit wonder." If Mr. Willett never wins another golf tournament in his life, well, he still won a green jacket in 2016.

And I'll say this to that:  I hold a bit of a grudge against those lower echelon golfers who somehow sneak majors away from the greats.  Duval, Micheel, on and on.  If you wanna be great, be great.  Time will tell if Will wants to be great.  I don't think he does, he's got his paycheck.  He's done.

Edited October 3, 2016 by Gunther

[Valleygolfer]

14 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

Guess Sergio the no-hit wonder did well to halve with Phil, then.

Look, I know this is dragging this off-topic, so I'll say this and then I'll stfu. I don't like seeing a "one hit wonder" tag applied to golfers who have won a major. The term comes from the music industry, where plenty of completely talentless, tuneless, vapid, soon-forgotten idiots have had a No 1 hit by virtue of marketing, autotune and slick production. I don't believe any golfer who has won a major is a "one hit wonder." If Mr. Willett never wins another golf tournament in his life, well, he still won a green jacket in 2016.

Amen... I feel the same way about Tiffany...

 

 

[Database Head]

I can't believe nobody commented on the poor attitude of Jordan Spieth.  He threw his club on the par 3, acting like a total brat.  Then later on his approach he punched his hand and looked a little out of control.  

He didn't represent himself or the US today very well....

[Valleygolfer]

5 minutes ago, Database Head said:

I can't believe nobody commented on the poor attitude of Jordan Spieth.  He threw his club on the par 3, acting like a total brat.  Then later on his approach he punched his hand and looked a little out of control.  

He didn't represent himself or the US today very well....

You did. Twice now. No one cares. We just happy about winning. I'd be pissed too if I everything I tried to get ahead went south.

[CarlSpackler]

11 minutes ago, Database Head said:

I can't believe nobody commented on the poor attitude of Jordan Spieth.  He threw his club on the par 3, acting like a total brat.  Then later on his approach he punched his hand and looked a little out of control.  

He didn't represent himself or the US today very well....

He let his frustration got the better of him. It happens. 

[ScouseJohnny]

29 minutes ago, Gunther said:

And I'll say this to that:  I hold a bit of a grudge against those lower echelon golfers who somehow sneak majors away from the greats.  Duval, Micheel, on and on.  If you wanna be great, be great.  Time will tell if Will wants to be great.  I don't think he does, he's got his paycheck.  He's done.

I guess I can understand that viewpoint. I actually agree with you, in the sense that I think we likely saw the best of Danny Willett in April 2016. Maybe life is unfair, on the basis that the likes of Monty, Westwood, (probably) Sergio etc have to live with the "greatest to never win a major" label, and then Jordan Spieth had a brain-fart one day and Danny Willett picked up a green jacket - but, well, he still won a major, and I don't think those are acquired completely fortuitously (unlike many one-hit wonder records....)

Edited October 3, 2016 by ScouseJohnny

[Hardspoon]

17 minutes ago, Database Head said:

I can't believe nobody commented on the poor attitude of Jordan Spieth.  He threw his club on the par 3, acting like a total brat.  Then later on his approach he punched his hand and looked a little out of control.  

He didn't represent himself or the US today very well....

Nobody commented on it because it's not that big a deal. Stenson threw a club too; neither of them were "being a brat".

If you want your professional athletes to react like mindless automatons, maybe just start watching professional chess or something. 

[Jeremie Boop]

2 minutes ago, Hardspoon said:

Nobody commented on it because it's not that big a deal. Stenson threw a club too; neither of them were "being a brat".

If you want your professional athletes to be mindless automatons, maybe just start watching professional chess or something. 

I felt a bit sorry for him because you could tell he was trying very hard not to let his frustration out and then lost it with that club toss. In his interview he even mentioned that his mistake in the last Ryder Cup singles match was that he let his opponent see his frustration and he did the same thing today. I think it's better to let the frustration out so it doesn't fester and then turn into something like the club throw. He's still young so I think he'll eventually find a way to deal with the frustration, or maybe he won't. It's not all that uncommon to see these guys throw a little tantrum now and then, I mean, it's a lot of pressure out there.

On a different note, Ricky really surprised me today. When I saw that pairing I thought for sure it was going to be a win for the EU team. Phil was rock steady today as well for the most part, I mean 10 birds? Wow, and so many clutch putts. Having that match end all square was very fitting given the way he and Garcia played. On the EU side, Cabrera Bello and Pieters were the biggest surprises on that side for me, being in their first Ryder Cup and playing stellar. Pieters did look a little shaky the in the morning on the first day but definitely calmed down while Cabrera Bello was solid the whole time.They are going to be two to watch in the future I think. Pretty much all the matches were excellent to watch, seeing the US fight back in so many of them to win was pretty awesome. This is probably the first Ryder Cup that I've watch almost in its entirety and I don't regret a minute of the time I spent. 

[Natural Patrick]

1 hour ago, Gunther said:

And I'll say this to that:  I hold a bit of a grudge against those lower echelon golfers who somehow sneak majors away from the greats.  Duval, Micheel, on and on.  If you wanna be great, be great.  Time will tell if Will wants to be great.  I don't think he does, he's got his paycheck.  He's done.

Well Duval was the number 1 ranked player in the World at one time. I doubt he sneaked much by anyone. Sure he fell of the face of the earth in the golfing world. To put him in the same category as Micheel ,is a bit of a stretch.

[Kloeshuman]

All in all, I thought this Ryder Cup was pretty cool. A lot of amazing shots were made by both teams. I was happy to see the U.S. Finally  win it back, but I won't say that the Europe didn't play well either 

[CCC]

6 hours ago, Hardspoon said:

 

 

 

In all seriousness, this is why you just put your order together, and let them play. Can't stress too much about possible pairings (also, they don't actually control pairings).

Hardspoon, I knew that the captains don't control the pairings for the singles match. They post their starters - blindly.

I also knew that the strongest (most successful) players would be front loaded at the beginning. The Euros had to, because they were behind. DL III and Reed knew this. Reed stepped up and took on the challenge.

Reed is now the giant killer. He did it. I am so proud of him. And, I'll always be one of his fans. Forever.

BTW - Snedeker won all of his matches. 3-0.

Later, Reed asked RM, "when will we meet again"? Love it.

This was Golf at it's best. I'm so impressed how well these guys played. Amazing.

[natureboy]

On 10/1/2016 at 8:35 PM, Hardballs said:

Just saying what I'm seeing, even Reed gestured to them to be quiet during roses putt, I actually like the crowds involvement, it makes the atmosphere what it is, and I'm loving reeds passion, he's like the Ian poulter of the USA! Wasn't aware of the "Fore!" Shout to Simpson, you're always gonna get a few dicks in a crowd, but it does seem a bit hostile at times! Great viewing though!

My perspective was limited as I only watched the internet feed. I'll accept the word of the Euro players.

I don't think Willett was quite on form coming in, but just the situation of his brother's article underscores to me how off-course distractions like that can impact play.

I absolutely agree with no bs when players are hitting shots. That's unacceptable and credit to the MN fans for calling out the jerks who did it and captain Clarke for acknowledging that. I also agree on kicking spectators out who lob profanity / verbal abuse. A little taunting / mocking along the lines of the guy who got brought onto the practice green to hit the putt or booing a player who doesn't do a dance on crowd request at the first tee seems in the spirit, IMO.

The BBC article I read made it sound like it was more than 'one or two' who were shouting 'fore' on the first tee before Webb Simpson hit. A bit rough on a rookie, but as long as it's not during a shot it seems part of the expected atmosphere to me. Not how I would choose to participate as a spectator, though.

Edited October 3, 2016 by natureboy

[Golfingdad]

5 hours ago, Gunther said:

And, c'mon dude, put ur hat back on.

And Kaymer.  And Sergio.  And I think Fitzpatrick, and maybe one or two others.

Now I wonder if the SOLE reason they wear hats is for sponsor advertising.

[natureboy]

8 hours ago, Natural Patrick said:

Ultimately Reed will be tamed by the Superior Rory... Really... because I'm curious Hardballs, how does that taste? 

I thought the same thing too. In the end it was very close. Props to Reed for elevating his game like that. He should do some team seminars in the ramp-up to France '18.

7 hours ago, Hazsa said:

At least it'll be two years before being subjected to 'USA USA USA' over and over again.

As a supporter of team USA, even I find that chant a bit overused. I'd like to see a more creativity, but I guess it's an easy one to get everyone doing together.

7 hours ago, Hardballs said:

Hahaha, I've been waiting for this! seriously, although a talented guy, I never knew Reed was capable of playing golf consistently to that standard, he was the man of the tournament, he earned all his points and I tip my hat to him and your team!

I was in favor of giving Rory the point too, but this is where match play is different, I guess. Reed showed real moxie in going toe-to-toe with a top dog. Classy concession on your part. 

7 hours ago, weekend hacker1 said:

Absolutely. But maybe that doesn't make a better captain. To be fair, we wouldn't have won no matter the captain.

I think your point about Darren having a jolly was a bit unfair.

I thought the U.S. was stronger on paper and as someone rooting for U.S. I was frequently thinking, "dang, those pairings look tough for the U.S. team". Impossible to predict how someone is going to respond in the unique format - look at Reed (though now is looking like rising above his paper performance is the expectation). Kaymer is a multi-major winner and former #1. With all the rookies he made sense to me as a pick even though he was off top form. I thought splitting up Stenson / Rose was a smart move to help protect his weaker rookies / add some firepower. Clarke also handled the Pete Willett situation well, IMO.

Rather than Clarke making bad decisions, I think this was more a scenario of the U.S. making sharper / more informed ones.

4 hours ago, Valleygolfer said:

Amen... I feel the same way about Tiffany...

 

Can I report this post for being abusive?

3 hours ago, Jeremie Boop said:

he was trying very hard not to let his frustration out and then lost it with that club toss.

On a different note, Ricky really surprised me today. When I saw that pairing I thought for sure it was going to be a win for the EU team. Phil was rock steady today as well for the most part, I mean 10 birds? Wow, and so many clutch putts. Having that match end all square was very fitting given the way he and Garcia played. On the EU side, Cabrera Bello and Pieters were the biggest surprises on that side for me, being in their first Ryder Cup and playing stellar. Pieters did look a little shaky the in the morning on the first day but definitely calmed down while Cabrera Bello was solid the whole time.They are going to be two to watch in the future I think. Pretty much all the matches were excellent to watch, seeing the US fight back in so many of them to win was pretty awesome. This is probably the first Ryder Cup that I've watch almost in its entirety and I don't regret a minute of the time I spent. 

I think some pretty intense few years may have been a bit mentally draining for Spieth. He should make sure to get a lot of non-golf distraction in during the off season so he comes out fresher next year. Not great to see frustration get to him. Clearly doesn't help him play better, but at least he cares about performing well for his team.

In terms of strokes gained (especially toward the end of the season), I think Rickie was doing better than Rose - especially in the putting department. So despite Rose's gold medal, it was likely to be a close match. I think Rickie has a 'try too hard' mode sometimes and maybe by the end of the event he was a little more relaxed to just play and rely on his strong regular game. Some guys respond better to emotional intensity (Reed) while Rickie may perform better in a calmer frame of mind. Hopefully he's getting more comfortable (or finding the right intensity balance) the more Cups he's in, because he's likely to be in quite a few more.

Pieters and Bello really helped keep Europe in it.

Edited October 3, 2016 by natureboy

[FinTurma]

Congrats from a Team Europe supporter to Team USA for a great win! USA simply played better and made some better tactical choices.

I think Clarke made a few mistakes, trusting Westy and Kaymer, even though they were playing poorly. He should've played Bello, Wood, Sullivan and maybe even Fitzy more. Anyway the Ryder Cup was great again!

Have to say that Danny Willett is not growing on me. Just saw him tweeting that his brother was in fact right, what an unfortunate thing to tweet from Danny. He is definitely going down in my book, he just couldn't rise above it and let it go. His brother's article started all this nonsense. OK, fan behaviour was out of line at times, but you have to counter by playing good, not whining. 

Once again well played team USA!!

Edited October 3, 2016 by FinTurma

[Hazsa]

1 hour ago, FinTurma said:

Congrats from a Team Europe supporter to Team USA for a great win! USA simply played better and made some better tactical choices.

I think Clarke made a few mistakes, trusting Westy and Kaymer, even though they were playing poorly. He should've played Bello, Wood, Sullivan and maybe even Fitzy more. Anyway the Ryder Cup was great again!

Have to say that Danny Willett is not growing on me. Just saw him tweeting that his brother was in fact right, what an unfortunate thing to tweet from Danny. He is definitely going down in my book, he just couldn't rise above it and let it go. His brother's article started all this nonsense. OK, fan behaviour was out of line at times, but you have to counter by playing good, not whining. 

Once again well played team USA!!

This. Dropping Rafa and Wood on saturday and overusing Westwood and Kaymer were big mistakes for me. However from a Team Europe position I'm inclined to look at the 'what if' moments. What if Mcilroy/ Sullivan had kept it together against what we all thought (and I still think) was a beatable Foursome partnership in Fowler and Mickelson? What if Westwood had made those short putts on 17 and 18? What if Rory had made his short putts on Sunday? 

But this would be overlooking the reality that Team USA also missed a few opportunities, but overall played some pretty spectacular golf and made an insane amount of clutch putts that put so much pressure on the few European veterans. Overall their team was so much stronger in depth. Hopefully players like Casey, Donald and McDowell will find form and qualify for 2018. 

As for Willet, he's looking more and more like one of those obscure 1 Major wonders isn't he? Showed nothing all week for a Masters Champ.