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The Ryder Cup....Starts Friday...
For one week Louisville Kentucky will not be known for being the birthplace to one of the greatest sportsman ever Mohammad Ali but for hosting the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla.
Europe go into this match as firm favorites having won the last three cups and five of the last six. Nick Faldo one of the all time greats of european golf captains the Europe team and Paul Azinger captains America. This is the 37th Ryder cup and promises to be as close as most have been over the last ten years with both teams looking strong at the top end but lacking cup experience towards the bottom. The Americans are without the worlds best player in Tiger Woods and it will be interesting to see if this has a good or bad effect on the team as much has been made over the last few Ryder cups about how he has beeen influencing decisions made by the captains. Europe are without Colin Montgomaire who failed to make Faldos pick and also missing is Darren Clarke..now this could come back to haunt Faldo come Sunday as both of these players have been the backbone of the european team come the singles. The foremat changes slightly this year with the Americans choosing to start with Foresomes instead of the usual Fourballs on the first morning...but whatever way these matches are played i think we will be in for a thrilling finish. The course has been set up for the big hitters with Azinger hoping this suits his players better then that of europe...This is something i dont think will give an advantage to either team as both have great ball strikers and as usual the winning of the cup will come down to team selection, the short game and of course the players holding their nerve best. It would be great to hear all your thoughts and also who you think will be victorious come Sunday evening.... |
Now I quite like Ian Poulter.... but I think his inclusion over and above Montie and Darren Clark is strange, got to say I would have gone for Darren Clark as he seems a real team player and can influence big games.
As ever I think this will be a close affair, and hope that Europe can edge it, they have in the past played more as a team than the individuals of the USA, and I can not see this changing. However, If Europe do not go into the singles with a lead, I can't see them winning overall. Ok, I hope that Europe will win.... It will be close, so I'm going for a tie (and hence Europe retain the cup) or Europe by .5 What ever happens, it will have us on the edge of our seats for most of the weekend. |
Good points Lee...
I think the big problem Faldo had was that Darren Clarke hadn't played much on tour until the last few months and Monty has been on the whole awful all season this allowing a few lesser names to get in towards the bottom of the automatic selection....
Maybe we need to review our selection process and go like the Americans do with the top 8 and then 4 picks....would Clarke and Monty have got in then...? i think they would have and to be honest our team would have been a lot stronger even taking into account Montys form. |
Well me and some friends will be playing our own ryder cup well gloucester invitational lol but i think it won't be that close i think europe are far a stronger team than usa so go for a win by more than 5
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Poulters selection has been questioned by some in the media, probably Faldo haters, even though his world ranking is higher than both Clarke and Monty. I personally dont think that picking Monty was an option, even taking his incredible Ryder Cup Record into account. I feel sorry for Clarke as he is probably playing better than Poulter at this moment, but Faldo's picked his team and we have to support them.
We still have plenty of experience with Westwood Garcia etc and with the European rookies knowing the established players, this should enable them to settle in quicker and therefore an European victory by 2 points should be achievable. Bally is Moor Hall GC any good? Playing it Wednesday |
PT if it's the one in sutton then yes i have played it a few years back if i remember it's not a massively long course but plays really hard due to the narrow fairways think it's a bit pricey you should go on yourgolftravel.com they have some cracking deals we got bed breakfast 3 course eveing meal 2 rounds of golf at the gloucester ramada for just over 80 quid another good course up this way is the welcome menzis at stratford superb course good luck for wednesday post your score
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Yes it is, thanks for the warning. Its a corporate freebie, overnight stay in the hotel, food, drink and golf, hard life but someone has to do it o:D
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bloody hell thats a good freebie enjoy it mate just had a look at the hotel looks nice
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As long as the lagers cold and the bed warm, thats all I need. Will try to do myself justice playing off 11. Not played much in the last couple of years, probably need to get my handicap sorted. Got my excuses in already o:D
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lol
Glk P_T ..mind ya back with the swing B (:....:'D
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Shot 90, 29 pts, not bad. 1st game in 6 weeks. Course decent apart from the 4th. Drinking till 1.30 Tuesday night, found out we were teeing off at 8.24 :'D
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well done mate not a bad score for a new course i'll post mine on monday lol that should be fun t'ing off sunday at 2.06pm then drinking til late and t off on monday at 9.34 oh god i'll be over the limit if we have a buggy :eek!:
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Good for the nerves, last man standing is better to win then the golf. Next year no one will remember who won the golf 8-P
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loool i'll bear that in mind i brought the losers trophy as we all had to put up a prize maybe i should leave it at home save me taking it there only to bring it back
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Getting back to the OP, I cant help but think that whilst it is not in doubt Europe have the stronger team, 1-12, on paper, America will prevail in this years Ryder Cup.
I think it will be very close, but on hearing how Azinger has set the course up, and I think he will be very astute in sending out the Kentucky pair of Kenny Perry and JB Holmes together early on, I think the crowd will soon become as raucous and partizan as they did at Brookline, and I just feel that the Americans will be more "together" this time around - for once being the underdog, for once having that siege mentality, and not having the Tiger Woods quandary to deal with. I dont think the Europeans look as strong as they have done over recent years - Poulter has floundered on the US Tour events he has played this year, Soren Hansen hasnt played much at all over there, nor has McDowell or Wilson - and while the States team has more rookie players in there, there is no doubt they have an advantage by being on home soil, with a huge base of fans whooping them up. I think Faldo will rue his choice of wildcard players also. With America being 5/4 I see them as the value from a betting perspective, and though I hope im wrong, and know it will be close, I fancy them to shade it and will be having a decent tenner on the correct score - hedging my bets over : USA win 15-13 @ 10/1 USA win 15.5 - 12.5 @ 12/1 USA win 16 -12 @ 14/1 |
Have to agree with Sparkey
The european teams looks weak at the bottom and thats where the problem lies..
The foursomes and fourballs will as always be critical for the europeans and although you would think Faldo will have to pitch in the rookies somewhere on the first two days its just where and when he does this.... If the europeans start badly then he might not even play any of them till the singles something that has happened before when things were going wrong. I just feel not having the experienced players who have played many times in America (Monty, Clarke and of course Donald) the rookies will struggle on courses that are compleatly different from here in Europe.. A lot will fall on the shoulders of Garcia, Westwood, Jimenez and Harrington and i can see these boys playing every game... Faldo has always been his own man and this might be the europeans downfall as im sure Faldo will go with what Faldo thinks and this could be the deciding factor come late Sunday night. For me the Americans look stronger 1-12 and i think if they can stay in touch through the first two days then i make them favs to lift the cup come Sunday... My predictions... USA 16-12 USA 18-10 EUROPE 15-13 Should be great viewing.......... |
Pairings...what would yours be...
For the first round foresomes....
KARLSON & STENSON GARCIA & JIMENEZ WESTWOOD & CASEY HARRINGTON & ROSE.. Just my thoughts.... |
Mine Would Be....
Garcia/Westwood
Rose/Casey Jiminez/Karlsson Harrington/Wilson |
Garcia / Westwood
Harrington / Jimenez Rose / Poulter Casey / Stenson |
I make that 3 and 1/2 points to me o:D
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Lol PT.....theres still tomorrows fourballs and of course Saturdays then its guess the draw for Sunday....first to 141/2 points
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As long as I dont have to put any of the hard earned down I am ok
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it looks like it's gonna be a very tight ryder cup some excellent golf being played and some pretty amazing shots around the green
brilliant viewing:clap::clap::clap: |
Yep great stuff.....i thought it might not be as good as past years but after watching it so far i think it will be as good or better then the last few..
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and to be fair to poulter he is pulling his weight
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Hes pulling something....... hacker..loooooool
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loooool Tony i wouldn't mind to be able to hack like him beats working for a living
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The afternoon tie yankee
Was looking quite good till Fat Phil holed that monster at 17.....:'D:'D
at least ive backed the yanks to win...o:D |
Well done Sharkey and Tony, not for the first time has sentiment affected my judgement. Very unlucky on your 16-12 bets. Still think Faldo was ok, the "stars" Garcia, Harrington and Westwoods combined contribution was 2 points out of a possible 15. If they got another 2 1/2 between them we would of retained the cup
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Cheers P-T....was a double wounder....seeing the Yanks beat the Euros and then miss out on a nice consolation cash by .5 of a point!!!
Yes, on paper it does seem that Faldo's selection process was justified, especially of Poulter....I do think he was caught short in some of his pairings and i was mystified by his singles order of play...when you are behind and in need of a fast start then surely you need your form players out first? Maybe it would have made no difference at all, but whilst he did not much wrong, i think Azinger was a little cuter and more astute with his selections which made all the difference - that and the Americans putters were much hotter than the Euros! But a great Ryder Cup, roll on Celtic Manor in 2010! Bookies say Olazabal will be next Captain....but surely Woosie at 3/1 is a good bet? A Welsh captain on a Welsh course? |
Thanks PT....
To be honest with you i thought from before the Ryder cup started that the American way of selection for this one was a lot better then ours, Azinger has the chance to pick 4 in form players where as Faldo only had the choice of 2.
I dont do this very often but even though i backed USA i really wanted Europe to win come the last day, winning cash wasnt as important as a european victory Saturday afternoons fourballs where the American crowd and one or too of their players went compleatly over the top and to be honest embarrased not only America but themselves with some of the comments , cheering of missed putts and some appalling sportsmanship ..... This was the turning point for me when the winning of cash went out of the window... As for Sunday....where was Faldo when Garcia was losing his head..?...throwing mini cans of beer into the crowd and joking with DJ Spoony..(WTF was he doing round the team..?)....this is golf not a night out with Rio Ferdinand.. Faldo in my opinion has to be blamed for not being able to motivate the bigger names when they clearly needed it.....Like you said...Harrington, Westwood and Garcia were all poor.....Stenson wasnt really on his game ...Jimenez has never really been good enough....Hanson looked lost in the company of some great players and Oliver Wilson who showed some heart was in a couple of years too early.. That leaves...Casey who from tee to green was superb, shame he couldnt putt... Karlson...played well but never really had the right partner.. Rose...steady as usual and pulled off a great win in the singles... That leaves the best two players we had....McDowell tried his guts out and played some unbelievable golf...hopefully he will be around for many Ryder cups to come.. Last but not least...our beat player by a street...POULTER...alright i gave him a roasting after the first mornings fk up on the 18th but from there on in not only was he the best player on any side but he showed great spirit, heart and that will to win...:clap: If this weekend would have been a major at Valhalla there would have only been one winner....IAN POULTER.. |
I dont think you can say too much about the American celebrations...ok, they had some larger than life characters who gave it plenty when they made their putt or won a game, but realistically no more than the Europeans gave it at the K club in front of their own crowd....I actually thought the level of sportsmanship between the players was very good, and Kim/Garcia apart you could see that it was played in great friendly spirits which i think brought out the high standard of golf on show.
Ultimately, Azinger was the better Captain and the American 1-12 were the better team over the 3 days - our guys performed admirably but to me it seemed obvious were gonna come up short as like Tony says, Azinger had more scope to pick more in form players which made alot of difference in the overall balance of the team. I still think that at 9-7 going into the singles Faldo really needed to front load his team - it seemed ridiculous to me to see Harrington, Westwood and Poulter still on the course when the Americans scored the winning point - Robert Karlsson was underused and if Garcia needed a rest why play him in the fourballs rather than the foursomes, where he would make less shots? Its those little things that could have made the difference but overall, as disappointing a result as it was, the best team won - and for once, they were a team. Better without Tiger than with him? |
Spot on Sharky
The best team did win no doubts about that...Getting back to Faldo....to only have Olazabal as your eyes and ears around the course was utter madness...Azinger had Ray Floyd and Dave Stockton ( both previous captains)....Faldo wanted to "do it his way " and thats why we failed...your so right about wasting three big players at the end...didnt the Americans do that with Woods a few years ago..?
The Garcia / Kim thing was a little embarrasing to both teams and ultimitly cost us any chance of a Garcia point in game one.. The Bo Weekley exploits on the Saturday afternoon were bang out of order but at least he did the sensible thing and seek out Westwood to apologise...Something Justin Leanord didnt do after the dancing around the green incident at Kiowa Island.. Hopefully we will have learnt something about selecting our team for the 2010 Ryder Cup and im sure Woosie will captain that team and make a better job then Faldo... |
I think this "Captain" thing is overstated, once the comp starts. We all know what American crowds are like, so there was no surprises there, remember Mrs Doubtfire. We missed putts, that is why we lost. We won the 1st 4 games 2 1/2 to 1 1/2, if we continued that right through we would have won. No excuses the better team won and if any sportsman cant pick himself up in that atmosphere he should not be there.
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How did your weekend go Bally, or is it still a blur?
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