The Ryder Cup
 

I'm gettin' the vibe that the chemistry is totally different this 'go round. US wins, and one of the rookies like Zach Johnson steps up big time. We need someone to cover Phil anyway. TW goes into overdrive and the Euros hand the Cup over. Just a vibe at this point.

T., I hope your right...but I just don't see it happening.

I know we get buried in the 4 somes pard, but I just feel like they've got a different attitude...............hope I'm right.

I am gonna miss all of Saturdays play, but my butt will be parked in front of the TV on Friday and Sunday.

Kev,

To start I hope we go with what works. No matter the rookie numbers here, I think you have to pair Toms and Michelson for the team event. Out of this group, I think this is the only successful pair (that Toms can stand Mick also) with its past history. Why Haas tried what he did 2 years was not explainable.

I'm interested to see who gets paired with whom for the team matches.
I'm sure we will see Woods and Furyk...

*Sutton was the captain 2 years ago

I think the American guys are a bunch of asses. They proved it again in a press conference I saw where Tom Lehman was acting like a complete jerk, saying he was going to disregard certain rules the golf club and the European golf club had wanted everybody to follow. Chris Dimarco is another smug ahole. I hope they go down as bad as 2 years ago. How can you not like all those euros, especially Darren Clarke? Such class from their team and just utter rudeness from the US side. Notice I dont say "us" because I am not backing this bunch of jerks (except for Tiger).

I played baseball and basketball with Brett Wetterich for about 5-6 years growing up, he's a nice guy, I hope he does well, I don't follow Golf, but I always like to see how Brett's doing...

Whos Brett Wetterich?

He's on the Ryder Cup Team, not well known, but he won the Byron Nelson this year and had a couple of decent finishes...

I'm Dyslexic (sp) when it comes to Haas and Sutton

No way the Americans win this. What kind of last minute odds can I get on the Euros? ;)

90cents for every dollar bet.That is the best I have seen this week.If anybody can find even money,then post.

I find it funny that Tom Lehman is trying to instill a sense of comradery in the US Ryder Cup squad, like Europe always has. Its just not going to work. What we have here are a bunch of snobby, spoiled brats who dont like one another but are attempting to fake it to try and beat Europe.

He got each US member to sing their college song and some like Tiger were very reluctant. Lehman is very lame and needs to be more creative, not copy things that Europe have been doing for years.

Tim, the US has always had a sense of comradery. I had the great fortune of sitting in a small group with Curtis Strange about a year after he was captain and listened to him talk for over an hour. The behind the scenes stuff that never makes the press and the characteristics of the US players was very enlightening to say the least. Trust me, those guys want nothing more than to be one team and gel as a team. I think they almost try too hard.

I think there enormously big egos get in the way, and I am sorry, I just cant root for this crew. I like the way the euros act and its easy to see there is nothing phony about it. Phil Mickelson, yuck. Its a very individualistic sport here in the US, exactly like tennis. Much more talented than the Euro team but they will lose in this type of set up.

The Euros were never expected to win for years...and they played with a "nothing to lose" attitude. Now that they have won the last few times it has been played, be interesting to see if they play the same way. The US is a huge underdog here and it will be interesting to see if they play the same way. They have nothing to lose, as they are not expected to beat Europe with the team that has traveled over to Ireland.

I'd be very surprised if the US won this.

All I know is that Garcia has been shooting his big mouth off all over Europe...this from a guy who folds up his tent everytime Tiger walks by. Tiger wants to win this...nobody can doubt his resolve...now he's got that rag printing pictures that they claimed were of his wife and Garcia's big mouth to really get his attention! I'd love to see those two face to face at some point! Look for Tiger to take his game to a place where nobody else has ever gone this weekend!

tIGER wins t he ryder cup

early pairings for friday 4 ball
 

tiger / furyk vs Harrington/ Monty

Stewart Cink / J.J. Henry vs Paul Casey / Robert Karlsson

David Toms / Brett Wetterich vs Sergio Garcia / Jose Maria Olazabal.

Chris DiMarco / Mickelson vs Darren Clarke / Lee Westwood


Man - If Tiger and Furyk don't win the first match it will be a long day !

In the 2nd match Casey has been on fire lately, while JJ is a rookie and Cink may suprise.

The 3rd match, Toms has had an off year due to injury and Wetterich is a rookie, while Sergio is great in this type match and Jose is solid.

The Dimarco/Mickelson duo is a question here as is the Clarke/ Westwood pairing. Of course, Clarke is a huge fave there, but he has not played much due to his wifes illness/death, and Westwood has not been playing well. Dimarco seems to thrive on the Cup competition and I hope he helps Phil settle down since his collapse in the PGA.

A 2-2 tie would be doing well for us here.

Unfortunately , I'll be out of town for most of it, but hope to see the US team give them a serious run this time.

Whatever that means???
Of course he's only one player...but if he dominates, look for others to pick up their games as well...I predict the US surprises and wins this...and it won't be close!

I'm just shaking my head at this. Tiger/Furyk definitely a great pairing, but a no Toms/Mich pairing. Aye! They are 3-1-1 together. Europeans have 3 pairings that have gelled together to start off. 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 Europe leads.

Here's a story about Brett, it's pretty good.

His dad is one of the nicest guys you could meet, he would drive Brett and I to Basketball and he coached our Baseball team. I haven't seen Brett in a long time and we were never close friends, but it's pretty cool to see him do this...

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs...20451/-1/CINCI

The American team plays as a 12some on the 9th hole the other day. Looked like 12 people who pretended to be having fun but deep down wishing they were in a tournament which paid 1 mill to the winner. Bunch of phonies (save for Tiger). Dimarco really has to lose that chip on his shoulder.

Europe 2.5 - 1.5 USA after morning's play. Great start!

Some interesting pairings this afternoon with Donald and the irrepressible Sergio (who's been on fire this morning) playing Tiger and Furyk very much the highlight.


If Sergio putted like he does in the Ryder Cup all the time, he'd be the second best player in the world!

Thats a great start. We've been defeated badly in four ball recently and left the singles guys a lot to do on Sunday.
Our singles will crush them if not too far back on Sunday.

HARRY!!!! They are just now showing it on TV over here!!!!

great story on wetterich, pointg.....hope he does well the rest of the way!

Sergio is the most overrated player in the world....hands down. He is talented, yes, but the PGA Tour and Euro Tour is full of talented guys. All of them are great ball strikers, just like Sergio. He is nothing but a product of the media wanting a young, flashy, arrogant player to promote. It is a helluva lot easier to play when you have 11 other teammates backing you. In regular week to week stroke play tournaments, the kid has not lived up to a 1/4 of the hype surrounding him. Until he develops some kind of heart and grows a set of nuts, he will do nothing more than win a few lower tier tournaments throughout his career.

Did I call it or what?!

2-2 for the afternoon

No giving out results before it airs on TV, okay? Thanks!

please no scores
 

I'm watching the morning matches on tape delay this morning and figured I'd check out this thread for opinions. BUT, you'all posted the scores , so my viewing enjoyment is spoiled. Thanks ,but no thanks for the scoring update. I'm checking out of this thread. SPoil sports ! :mad:

I agree, lets not spoil it for those of us who cant watch live. Please note for the remainder of the tournament. We'll talk about it on Sunday when Europe is celebrating.

I'm just making predictions, and rejoice ONLY after Harry spoiled it. Watch out for those Europeans to be back in 4 hrs.

But no word from me about scores though until the end.

I don't think he has won a tournament this year.If he has,it is in Asia ,or TIMBUKTOO.

No but hes damn good at the Ryder Cup. 10-1-1. A lot better than Tiger or Phil. Guess that tells you something, hmmm?

Sorry, I just assumed that you'd have been watching it through the night!

In that case you wont know the score from this morning...it makes good watching!

The atmosphere at the Ryder Cup is far and away greater than at any other tournament played in the sport. Just listen to the roars of the tee, or when a putt is sunk. I wonder whether the European players, indeed EU as a continent, are more into this competition than the US. For the Europeans the Ryder Cup is a bigger event than any of the majors, but I can't help but think that the American players hold the opposite view.

Kev,

I'm not having that!

I'm sure you know a great deal more about golf than I do (I don't really follow it week in week out), but IMO Garcia is an amazing iron player, who is wonderful around the greens (Ballesteros-esque). Sporadically he can show his brilliance (normally on the first couple of days of a major, or in the Ryder Cup), and it is his putting which consistently lets him down. I don't think that he's a choker per se (unlike the likes of Clark, Harrington, Monty and poss Howell), but more that he seems to thrive playing amongst a team. Monty has proven himself Europe's best player over the last dozen years or so, but he seems only able to show his very best when the weight of expectation is off, or he feels the comfort of a team around him. I wonder whether Sergio will prove similar.

Harry,

I respect your opinion, but here is the way I feel about a few things.

1.) I don't put ANY stock whatsoever in ANYONE'S Ryder Cup record. I have played both types of formats, team and individual stroke play, in many tournaments and I will tell you that the two are about as far about as you can imagine. The only people that take any kind of stock in Ryder Cup records is the media. They either use it to drag a player down or build a player up.

2.) I wouldn't lable Monty a choker. Anyone that leads the Order or Merit for 7 straight years is doing something right. I like Monty and have a tremendous amount of respect for him. It's a shame that he never won over here in the US, but I don't think that will take away from the greatness of his career. He contended in quite a few majors over here and didn't pack it on Sundays. He was involved in that great US Open at Congressional, eventually losing to Ernie Els in an 18 hole playoff. Tom Lehman was the 3rd player in that playoff. I hate the fact that Monty was given a bad rap over here, I also enjoyed his "matter of factness"

3.) You say Sergio is a great iron player...yes he is, I agree, but so is every player out there. All those guys, on both tours, hit it great. I have been on the practice tee for PGA Tour events and Nationwide events and you want to know the difference in the two??? NOTHING!!! The guys on the Nationwide Tour strike the ball every bit as solid as the guys on the PGA Tour. If someone took a poll of players on Tour and asked them what the difference is in the top players vs. others, 99% of them will tell you "100 yards and in". Meaning, the top players can get the ball in the hole from 100 yards an in, taking only 2 shots to do so a great majority of the time. There are guys on every Tour that can hit 16-17 greens a round, but only shoot even par. Those guys are FANTASTIC ball-strikers, just like Sergio. But if you can't chip or putt, your gonna struggle.
Sergio is lucky that he has a great imagination around the green and is a good chipper, because he can't putt worth a crap. Yes, he has an occasional hot round or hot week with his putter, but for the most part he does not have it. He is the king of posting a great round on Saturday's in a major, but come Sunday when he is near the lead...BYE BYE....he has no heart and no nuts. He plays himself out of contention really quick and then when all the pressure is off him, he may make a couple birdies at the end of the round to make his finish in the major look better than it really was.
He is simply in the spotlight because he is young, brash, full of piss and vinegar, and the media looked at him for a while as a rival to Tiger. The media has finally realized that Sergio is not in the same ballpark as Tiger, but not many people are. He is back in the spotlight this week because of the Ryder Cup, but give it a couple weeks and he will be right back with the rank and file players of the PGA Tour....one of many great ballstrikers that can't putt, has no heart or sack when it matters....content to finish top 5 a few events every year and count their money.