Ryder Cup captain announcements (and why Europe is going to win again!)

Well, the European and United States Captains announcements are now official. Hopefully we will not hear about the Ryder Cup for another year....fat chance of that!

So let's take a quick look at the process followed by the Euros and the Yanks to decide who will wear the inevitable checked jacket into battle at the 86th ranked American course, Hazeltine National.

The US choice, as you know by now, is the losing 2012 captain, Davis Love III. And the first choice of his four assistant captains is the losing 2006 captain, Tom Lehman. So, the much vaunted "Task Force" has made two decisions both of which are beyond comprehension. Nothing personal and both are very nice guys, but clearly not very good at leading Ryder Cup teams to victory, which would seem to be fairly high on the "Ryder Cup To Do" list. It's right up there with "Don't choose leaky rain jackets" and "Let's visit the golf course ahead of time and practice together!".

So why didn't the "Task Force" pick Fred Couples? He is universally liked (by the players) and has captained three Presidents Cups - oh, that's right and they won all three of those. But, and this is huge, The Presidents Cup is a PGA Tour owned event and the Ryder Cup, when played in the US, is owned by The PGA of America. In the alphabet soup that is professional golf administration, handing the captaincy to Couples would be tantamount to admitting that the Tour was right and the PGA of America was wrong. Forget about winning, this is about something much more important, golf politics.

And in Europe what did they do? That's right five officials and players got in a room, had a beer and decided in two hours that Darren Clarke was the right man for the job - a passionate Ryder Cup loving Irishman, loved by the players and the public. He bleeds Ryder Cup and is the anti DL3 - fun loving, beer drinking, inspirational and all set to continue the European dominance of Samuel Ryder's trophy.

So, once again the European Team find themselves one up and the match is still 18 months away!

Another Captain Snore! What no Freddie?

It looks like the PGA of America has outdone themselves with another snore inducing US Ryder Cup captain. This time it looks like Davis Love 3 will take over the reins from Corey Pavin in the unquotable department. What happened to Fred Couples and some charisma?

Let's hope that, at least, the golf lives up to the 2010 edition - the role of the captain is overblown anyway!

The Ryder Cup: Drama until the end

Well, we reached the finish line. And what an end it was with the Cup eventually going to the Euros by a single point. Mahan was beside himself at the press conference, but he isn't to blame for the defeat - his was just one point amongst many that could have been won by the US. As for his duffed chip, I would defy anyone reading this to even hit the ball under that pressure. I have been at several Ryder Cups representing team members and they make it look easy, but their heart rates are double the norm and they still get it done 95% of the time...remarkable.
After PlaneGate, (when the US plane left 3 caddies short), RainSuitGate, (when Sun Mountain weren't able to produce a rain suit that lived up to its name), and finally BagGate, (when the Belding bags let in water) all will be forgiven after a superb ending to the match. It is interesting to note that the Europeans didn't seem to have any wardrobe malfunctions - only the Americans. I wonder why that was?
No doubt the TV viewing figures were decimated by the 3 a.m starts on cable stations, but it didn't stop me or I'm sure many others switching on the coffee maker early and then flipping through all sorts of nonsense before finding USA Network. Johnny Miller was on form and by that I mean upsetting as many people as possible, including his suggestion that if Phil couldn't chip and putt he would play like a SoCal used car salesman - Phil was not amused and his win today was one in the eye for Johnny.
Watching golf in the US still requires an inordinate amount of patience after decades of watching golf on the BBC with no ads. The producers here have their favorites, like Tiger and they insist on showing more putting than actual golf shots, which is painful. Also, with an ad break seemingly every 5 minutes, it's tough to get into the flow of the game. Golf shot, putt, putt, ad, putt, putt, ad is not the way to watch our great game.
An epic 3 day event forcibly spread over 4 days with so many great story lines and wonderful golf. We couldn't have wished for more.

Calling George Costanza...white courtesy phone

Do you remember when George Costanza had the brilliant idea to outfits the Yankees in cotton uniforms? (if you don't then you are either very young or missed one of the classic Seinfeld episodes) Well, Captain Pavin and The Captainess followed George's lead and made a pretty awful decision with their choice of baseball style rain suits made by Sun Mountain. Sun Mountain make great golf bags...Rainsuits, not so much.
So, not only are the SM suits ugly, they don't do the one thing that a rain suit needs to do - keep out the rain! The picture show the new ProQuip jacket that the PGA of America bought from the Merchandise Tent as a replacement. I really like the European Flag on the sleeve, as I'm sure will the US team. The weather continues to rain on the Welsh Tourism Board's parade, which is a real shame, but at least it has provided a great story.

Woods is Missing!

Always the man to put the "i" in team, Tiger seems to have something missing on his rain jacket. Does his Nike contract preclude this? What do the other players think about this? I'm sure they are thrilled that he gets the preferential tailoring treatment. Answers on a postcard please...

Another sunny day in Wales

Nick Faldo in his inappropriate closing remarks at the last Ryder Cup made the Welsh Tourism Board apoplectic. He said "Don't forget your waterproofs" and this after the WTB had spent millions securing the event. Well, the politically incorrect Mr. Faldo could prove to be correct as the weather forecast from Friday is rain every day. That said the weather forecast is about as reliable as the US local forecast, so we'll see.

Quite why the US team sought to block out the sun on a dreary Welsh day on their arrival is unclear. Five of the team came in disguise with their sunglasses firmly on. Perhaps Captain Pavin didn't see them with their "shields up" as they were standing behind him. We thought he was in charge and yet he allows this to happen for the official arrival. Oh, yes, he has banned tweeting, but wearing sunglasses on a dull grey Welsh day made his team appear aloof and it's only Day 1.

Looks good on you though!

That's the worst jacket I ever saw....looks good on you though! It seemed the most appropriate line to steal from Caddyshack having seen these simply awful jackets the US team may be forced to wear should the weather in Wales turn nasty. What was Captain Corey thinking or was his arm twisted by The Captainess? I, for one, can't wait to see if Tiger and Phil put these on. Along with the purple cardigan featuring large red logo the US team is going to make quite a sight. Calling Marty Hackel...white courtesy phone!

Has the Ryder Cup jumped the Shark?

Fonzie was the first to do it, TV comedy Friends did it and now the Ryder Cup has joined the illustrious roll call of shark jumpers. There are not one, but two instances this week that conclusively prove that the governing bodies of the event have lost the plot.

The first, reported by the vigilant Stephanie Wie is that the wives of the players have been given a $7,500 dress allowance for the opening Gala Night dinner. No, that's not for the whole team, that's each. Just another great example of how out of touch the governing bodies are with the state of the game. Twenty-four millionaires are given a total of $180,000 for dresses - in Wales that would buy a row of houses, not a row of sequins!

I'm not quite sure what seed entrepreneur, Samuel Ryder would make of such an outrageous waste of money. I suspect he was a more frugal man. When he came up with the simple idea for The Ryder Cup in 1927 it was a match. Just a match between Great Britain & Ireland and the United States of America. Professional golfers playing a good course in a team format designed to find the best twelve. No wives, no hoopla, just the players and their caddies walking down the fairways. And now look at it, $7,500 dresses for the wives when the economy is in dire straights, 4 vice captains on each team, inferior golf courses and more hangers on than a U2 concert.

I wish we could get back to Mr. Ryder's original idea of 12 v. 12. I know it's not going to happen and that's a shame. The money generated by the event supports European Tour golf (when in Europe) and the PGA of America (when in the US) but one can look back and dream of a purer time in the game when the game was more important than the haute couture.

Of course another week couldn't go by without a Monty story. This time he is reported to have requested that the European Team room be soundproofed. The possibility of an American overhearing his inspirational nightly team talk is just too much for him and so, as above, more money wasted on a ludicrous request. Just who is saying "yes" to this request...we deserve to know. And while you are rebuilding the room please ensure that all the green M&Ms are removed from the European team room (they deserve yet another Spinal Tap moment)

Note - Surely, the $7,500 dress allowance will be spun by the time you read this...either in charitable donations or disappearing altogether

Tour Championship sans Tiger

No Tiger at the Tour Championship repeating his non-kissing of the Trophy. ( I can't bring myself to capitalizing the word Tour!) I guess that isn't too much of a surprise after his, er, slow start to the season, but it's still a big disappointment for the Ponte Vedra VPs. The next time the world sees TW is at the Ryder Cup, where for some reason everyone seems to think the Euros will win hands down. Well, that's not going to happen and the design of the event is such that it always comes down to the final day singles. Like Gentle Ben famously said "I've got a good  feeling!"

The FedEx Play Off system still favors those who play well for 3 weeks, rather than those who play well for the season and the expected moaning from the players who didn't make it is audible. Notables missing the East Lake event include Ryder Cuppers Cink, Fowler and McIlroy. Read their comments here.

Are you awake out there? The US Ryder Cup picks

Is anyone still awake after Corey Pavin's press conference. You won't need Ambien after listening to him at the Stock Exchange. The press would have been better served asking the Vice Captains questions, because Corey is just not good in that environment. What's up with all those Vice Captains by the way? Sluman was smart and was unavailable.

When Pavin read the names one by one, there was not a tinge of excitement in his voice. There were also no surprises. Woods - how could he not pick Woods?, Cink - see Woods!, Zach Johnson (the other Johnson is already in team) and Fowler. I think Fowler was a good pick and will add some fun to The RC - especially if he ends up playing the European version, McIlroy. Who knows maybe Captain Pavin can even get Rickie to the barber before the match starts. At least it will give him something interesting to talk about!

Ryder Cup picks - No Rose, are you kidding!

Of course only winning twice in the last couple of months on the PGA Tour wasn't enough for Justin Rose to make the team. What was Monty thinking not picking Justin? The day before the picks were announced Justin shot 65 in the WGC event, a day when all the players were under pressure. He has an outstanding record from the last Ryder Cup, he's a great team guy and obviously the preferred partner of Ian Poulter who is already in the team. Oh, that's right, he's not with IMG. I knew there was something. To pick Harrington and Donald (both IMG) ahead of Rose is just plain crazy. On current form he can beat both of them, which is to take nothing away form Padraig and Luke (they are both great players), and in early October we will find out if Monty's choices prove to be correct. I bet Monty is cursing Peter Hanson for keeping one of his world top 20 guys out of the team!

Monty's Choice

Only 4 days to go until Colin Montgomerie has to finally make his 3 player choices for the European Ryder Cup team for the early October match in Wales. With only 3 picks there are going to be some unhappy campers. Today, the 9 players in the team look like this. With 2 events this week at Gleneagles and Ridgewood, much can and will change.

Westwood

McIlroy

Kaymer

McDowell

Poulter

Fisher

Molinari - Francesco

Hanson

Jimenez

That leaves a handful of great players outside looking in. These include the obvious choices, Casey, Donald, Harrington, Langer, Rose and the less obvious but still possible Edoardo Molinari, Robert Karlsson and Rhys Davies from Wales. Now, Monty early in season was insistent that those players who supported the Johnnie Walker event in Scotland would be looked upon favorably. Nice try Monty! No one bought that and all the usual suspects are playing the World Golf Championship event in the US, so Monty backtracked and is now "understanding" of this decision. Really.

Peter Hanson winning last week certainly threw Monty a curve - he would have preferred a brand name guy in that spot, which could still happen.

My choices would be Langer, Rose and Casey. What do you think?

Tiger Out, Langer In....Watch this space

It's going to be a wild ride into the early October Ryder Cup in the next few weeks as Captains Monty and Pavin have some tough decisions ahead. Firstly, how can Pavin seriously consider picking Tiger - he's playing the worst golf of his career, he doesn't want to be in Wales and the UK tax authorities are threatening all athletes "earning" money in the UK with a 50% tax hit on endorsement contracts. It could possibly cost him $900,000 on his Nike contract, unless there is some swift negotiation with the Inland Revenue. It makes the Av Gas bill look small!

Regarding Langer, the question is not does he pick him?, but how does he not pick him? Langer has been a stalwart of the team 10 times and as the winner of the last 2 senior majors he is the man on form. Those other guys looking for a Monty wildcard handout should wait a couple more years - their time will come.