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Ryder Cup Match Thread


dandydunn

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Agree and is this keeps if they don't win at Hazeltine they could lose interest, maybe we should let them pick Canadians.

Seems to be some murmurings about them inviting Aussies into the fold. Scott and Day would undoubtedly improve that American team.

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Big Phil wasn't over impressed with Tom Watson's management style, it would appear.

Think he's making a play for captaincy in a couple of years.

The USA have tried to do the same as Europe and change captain every time. It works for Europe and quite obviously doesn't for the Americans. They've just rotated it around whoever wants it - but it seems to me most people just wanted it to tick a box and get it on their CV.

I remember hearing someone talk about the difference between the US and European tours a good few years ago. Can't remember who it was but he said that on the Euro tour, in the hotels where most of the players were staying for a tournament, you would have players coming down to breakfast and sharing tables, a kind of 'morning John, mind if I join you' 'no problem Bill, what time are you off today' thing, and that attitude of players mixing and talking happened far more, whereas when he went to the US tour, everyone sat at separate tables and didn't talk to each other. So when it came to Ryder Cup, the Euros were far more used to talking to each other and knew each other at least a little already, whereas the US were starting from scratch. That's why the Europeans always come over as much more of a team.

Don't know if it's true or BS, and I can't remember who said it, so take it with a pinch of salt if you want.

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The USA have tried to do the same as Europe and change captain every time. It works for Europe and quite obviously doesn't for the Americans. They've just rotated it around whoever wants it - but it seems to me most people just wanted it to tick a box and get it on their CV.

The Americans have always rotated the captaincy. It's only recently that Europe started doing it too...

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Think he's making a play for captaincy in a couple of years.

The USA have tried to do the same as Europe and change captain every time. It works for Europe and quite obviously doesn't for the Americans. They've just rotated it around whoever wants it - but it seems to me most people just wanted it to tick a box and get it on their CV.

I remember hearing someone talk about the difference between the US and European tours a good few years ago. Can't remember who it was but he said that on the Euro tour, in the hotels where most of the players were staying for a tournament, you would have players coming down to breakfast and sharing tables, a kind of 'morning John, mind if I join you' 'no problem Bill, what time are you off today' thing, and that attitude of players mixing and talking happened far more, whereas when he went to the US tour, everyone sat at separate tables and didn't talk to each other. So when it came to Ryder Cup, the Euros were far more used to talking to each other and knew each other at least a little already, whereas the US were starting from scratch. That's why the Europeans always come over as much more of a team.

Don't know if it's true or BS, and I can't remember who said it, so take it with a pinch of salt if you want.

I heard Darren Clark talking about that at the weekend. He saying in the Euro Tour a lot of them will travel together and spend time away from the course together whereas in the States it's all private jets and no real mingling with each other.

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I heard Darren Clark talking about that at the weekend. He saying in the Euro Tour a lot of them will travel together and spend time away from the course together whereas in the States it's all private jets and no real mingling with each other.

Might have been Clark I heard it from, can't recall. But it obviously is easier to make a team out of people who are used to travelling and eating together, and know each other as more than nodding acquaintances.

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Can't see the USA winning this anytime soon.

It now seems to have flipped 180 degrees from the way the cup was in the 60s and 70s...

I'm not so sure about that. It will depend on the next generation coming through. The US colleges have recently changed emphasis a wee bit. They are concentrating much more on match play for more of their competitions. This will help them for Ryder Cups but that's not the main reason they are doing it. They believe that match play helps to breed a winning mentality. In any day of match play competition half the field are winners. In stroke play there is only one winner every day. In my experience, even at amateur level folk who are good in match play situations tend to be the same sort of folk who don't bottle it over the last few holes when they are on a good score in a medal round. There is no doubt in my mind that the more often a player wins (whether it's match play or not) the less likely they are to crack up under pressure.

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I'm not so sure about that. It will depend on the next generation coming through. The US colleges have recently changed emphasis a wee bit. They are concentrating much more on match play for more of their competitions. This will help them for Ryder Cups but that's not the main reason they are doing it. They believe that match play helps to breed a winning mentality. In any day of match play competition half the field are winners. In stroke play there is only one winner every day. In my experience, even at amateur level folk who are good in match play situations tend to be the same sort of folk who don't bottle it over the last few holes when they are on a good score in a medal round. There is no doubt in my mind that the more often a player wins (whether it's match play or not) the less likely they are to crack up under pressure.

Could be something in that. There's been criticism of the PGA tour before about players who've been on the tour for years, never won anything but earned tens of millions of pounds whilst being completely unrecognisable to your average golf fan.

I heard another thing on the captaincy this morning on the radio. Only two of the last ten US captains had been vice captains in the Ryder Cup before. Every single one of the European captains in that time had experience of being a vice captain.

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Could be something in that. There's been criticism of the PGA tour before about players who've been on the tour for years, never won anything but earned tens of millions of pounds whilst being completely unrecognisable to your average golf fan.

I heard another thing on the captaincy this morning on the radio. Only two of the last ten US captains had been vice captains in the Ryder Cup before. Every single one of the European captains in that time had experience of being a vice captain.

Yep. Thats something McGinley talked about and others have added to. McGinley himself said the vice-captaincy experience was massive for him. Not sure why Darren Clarke wasn't Vice Captain this team as he's surely favourite for next Ryder Cup but he has enough playing experience that he should know the role well. Jimenez will surely also be in line at some point. If we are bloody captains though, not sure about picking Torrance and Olazabal although I guess they also help bring experience to the team and management so it's not all bad.

Clearly some magic in the European team. Watson looked like a loner in comparison. They could do a lot worse than Mickelson when he's finished playing but I dont think he's done himself any favours by stabbing Watson in the face when it was barely over. I like big Phil but that wasn't his classiest moment.

I dont believe the Americans are as bad as they are made out to be. Medinah was a monumental collapse that shouldn't happen and I think they'd have given a better game at the weekend had they had better leadership. Watson lost the dressing room and made some serious errors. 7-1 in the foursomes won it for Europe and yet, there was still a brief moment on Sunday where singles could have gone USA's way.

Need a really good Captain in two years time. Jim Furyk wouldn't be a bad shout either. He'll surely be finished by then, seems a decent guy and despite a poor record, knows the Ryder Cup inside out.

Also, no issue with Patrick Reed at all. Shout on first tee was very poor form and his passion is what makes the Ryder Cup special. As others have said, no different to some of our players. As long as it stays respectful to opponents, Americans need more of it.

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Clarke might not have been an official vice captain, but he was walking the course with a group in the official gear on Saturday.

Wrt the americans, the other avenue they have is the Presidents Cup. Fred Couples has been captain for the last three of these and been successful each time. He's not captain next year though, so it might be that they're lining him up for the Ryder Cup captaincy in 2016.

They definitely have the talent, what's letting them down is the team thing. That's what affects the foursomes - even in fourballs, you're mostly playing your own game, but changing some tactics depending on situation, which you do in strokeplay as well. In foursomes though you're playing the ball from where someone else has put you and then not playing your next shot, so you need to have a lot of trust in the other guy.

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Clarke and McGinley had a bit of a falling out when Monty and McGinley were in the running to be captain. Apparently Clarke made a private promise to McGinley to back his bid but then supported Monty. They supposedly civil to each other now and no more but might explain why Clarke wasn't a Vice Captain.

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Think it's France. Jean van de Velde? :lol:

Ummm, no.

Be funny though. Dubuisson could be a superstar by that time, hopefully majors ahoy for that lad and some real hum-dingers between him, McIlroy and Fowler in the majors over the next few years - echoes of Nicholas / Player / Trevino in the early 70s.

I reckon Jiminez is the obvious next choice.

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If that's true then I'm truly gutted. Watson was my earliest golfing hero and has always been seen as one of the real gentlemen of the game. I've been lucky enough to meet him and I asked how I could cure my (then) slice with the driver. He said take a seven iron :lol: There were a few of us and he took the time to talk to us all and sign things. I've met Mickelson twice too, at Loch Lomond on the practice range and at Castle Stuart when I marshalled. I was on the 14th the four days last year and he was one of only two golfers (the other being Queiroz) who acknowledged us each day. Seemed a nice guy as well.

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