Okay, something has to be done about these lop-sided shellackings. The Ryder Cup formula just isn't working, at least not for the U.S.
What to do?
Here are a few options off the top of my head. Vote your favorite or vote your own (other). Then post your comments on the thread. This nonsense has to stop!
On paper you guys should have a great shot and changing the rules just because USA is not winning is not the solution. Ok, the USA has done poorly the last few years but that will eventually change at some point and when it does - don't you want to feel that you won because you fairly won, and not just because you changed the rules....
I went w/ the Tiger option, but not because of Tiger. I'd just like to see the captain have more control over the makeup of the team. We've got some guys who just can't seem to get it done in match play but will likely be on the team for quite a while because they're good on tour.
Dunno if there is any truth to what some of the announcers said: "Europeans tend to play a lot more matchplay than Americans"
I'd say at least 75% of the rounds I play are in some kind of match format. Either team or individual.
Any difference there?
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When James Durham recorded 94 at the Old Course at St Andrews in 1767, he set a course record that lasted 86 years. Golf: A curious sport whose object is to put a very small ball in a very small hole with implements ill desiged for the purpose - Sir Winston Churchill
Dunno if there is any truth to what some of the announcers said: "Europeans tend to play a lot more matchplay than Americans"
Thanks for this, metallion.
Conducting more match play events on the PGA TOUR is definitely another option. Especially in Team Format. Learn to win -- with a 'buddy.'
Could it happen?
Yes.
Will it happen?
Probably not.
Why?
Because it is not the 'culture' of the PGA TOUR. Never has been and never will be. The TOUR is a nomadic tribe of truly independent contractors. Each pays his own bus fare, room, meals, and caddy. Those who don't perform, don't eat, and they're back to Triple A -- read Nationwide Tour -- in a heartbeat. From there, it is to a Player's Oblivion of mini-tours and club jobs. These competitive folk most definitely are NOT 'team players.' They cannot afford to be.
In fact, they are The Meateaters. And the meat they eat is that of those against whom they compete every day.
When paired with their natural enemy, they just don't know how to function.
All of the above deserve to be efforted to some degree. However, I chose to afford the captain greater latitude in determining the composition of the team. There is a tremendous hole in this logic, but I will get to that.
My thoughts are that the current quantitative qualification is unreliable beyond the first 5 or 6 players. It does not take into account the momentum of the player, consistency, durability, persistency, or tenacity. Leave us not forget the value of experience, either. If they tracked this statistical process for 5 cycles (heaven help us), I am willing to wager it would show it has no validity in predicting the success of an individual in the Ryder Cup. Of greater importance, it denies the necessary long term "breeding" or perspective of the Ryder Cup institution, which needs to be taken beyond our quarterly earnings per share mentality.
Foremost, it should be explained to the PGA selection committee that denial is not a river in Egypt. Their assumption that stats will devine their Dream Team, obviates the reality that some players thrive beyond anticipated capabilities in the Ryder Cup formats. And quite often it is purely a result of teaming the proper players. A smart captain picks by twos, or picks a wild card who melds with a member of the core. A smart captain also pulls Tiger aside and tells him to make one pick. He tells him to make it good, because that is with whom he is going to be partnered. And he, as the best player in the world, will be held accountable for the outcome.
A smart captain. That's the hole in my selection. Four bad player selections is twice as bad as two. Which nicely scurries me to what I see as the true reason the US teams' effectiveness has smelled like my golf shoes after residing in my car trunk all summer.
As a part of undeniable realities, justice has a way of insisting upon itself. The US will be fighting a karmic uphill battle until Larry Nelson is made captain. Call it bad karma. Call it the Larry Nelson Curse. A pox which that fine man would graciously never wish upon the appropriate PGA demagogues. However, being basically intemperant and lacking Nelson's distinguished character, I most effortlessly wish upon them just desserts for denying the imperative choice. This is until this wrong has been righted, and justice and Nelson have been properly honored.
I hope that's not over the top. The Ryder Cup deserves consideration without politics, and abandonment of the cold statistics which replace thoughtful judgement.
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