Ryder cup 2018

[Herman Cain]

Very interesting article. The old joke used to be that the European team arrived together on a jet and the Americans arrived separately on their own jets.

Another interesting article on the same topic from a very good golf writer .
https://nypost.com/2018/10/01/the-real-reason-the-ryder-cup-is-an-american-humiliation/

[MU82]

I don't know about some of this stuff.

"Team play"? "Chips on shoulders"? "Exhibitions"? Really?

Great golfers try to hit great golf shots. The best thrive under pressure. It makes no sense that a guy who is able to do what Koepka did down the stretch of 2 majors would fold at a Ryder Cup. I just don't think they have played well enough, especially in Europe where many of the courses don't fit their grip-it-rip-it game.

I guess I can believe that one or two players might be such a-holes that nobody wants to play with them and they can bring down the group ... but it's still hard to believe that Reed being Tiger's partner prevented Bubba or DeChambeau from playing well.

When the Americans have won Ryder Cups or President's Cups, they sure look like they have cared a hell of a lot. They celebrate and party like they just won the Masters times 10, not some meaningless exhibition.

They all want to be on the Ryder Cup team even though they don't get paid. Is it just an ego thing? They don't really care about it?

I dunno ... I have trouble trying to pretend to get in people's heads most of the time. There are enough cobwebs in my own!

[MU82]

Oh, and BTW ... I can't wait for Tiger vs. Phil on pay-per-view.

Pay-per-view ... that means they're gonna pay us to watch them, right?

Still doesn't sound like a very good deal.

[Golden Avalanche]

Europeans always appear to have a chip on their shoulder that the Americans lack. They are also able to set aside ego. Further, generally, they are more accurate and better ball strikers. This helps significantly with alternate shot. They also (much as the Americans do) set up their home courses to their strengths.

American captains need to play the most consistent/accurate guys in alternate. Play your birdie guys in fourball/singles.

I would also argue that anyone in the running for a Ryder cup position (if able) should play in a tournament at the course in the season before. (Coincedence that Finau played in the French Open there and played well at the Ryder cup?)

Lastly, interesting NYT piece: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/30/sports/golf/ryder-cup-europe-united-states-egos.html

Furyk, and a few players, got the most agitated in the press conference when asked why the majority of the American team avoided the French Open in July.

Whether it's due to arrogance or indifference, the evasive answers given to that question seemed to illuminate the point you made that they missed a large opportunity to spend five to six days at the course hosting the Ryder Cup. They chose not to and got humiliated as a result.

[🏀]

Oh, and BTW ... I can't wait for Tiger vs. Phil on pay-per-view.

Pay-per-view ... that means they're gonna pay us to watch them, right?

Still doesn't sound like a very good deal.

I'm still going to get it. I think it's going to be a great presentation of golf. Everyone mic'd up. Shot Tracer on every shot.

[JWags85]

I don't know about some of this stuff.

"Team play"? "Chips on shoulders"? "Exhibitions"? Really?

Great golfers try to hit great golf shots. The best thrive under pressure. It makes no sense that a guy who is able to do what Koepka did down the stretch of 2 majors would fold at a Ryder Cup. I just don't think they have played well enough, especially in Europe where many of the courses don't fit their grip-it-rip-it game.

I guess I can believe that one or two players might be such a-holes that nobody wants to play with them and they can bring down the group ... but it's still hard to believe that Reed being Tiger's partner prevented Bubba or DeChambeau from playing well.

When the Americans have won Ryder Cups or President's Cups, they sure look like they have cared a hell of a lot. They celebrate and party like they just won the Masters times 10, not some meaningless exhibition.

They all want to be on the Ryder Cup team even though they don't get paid. Is it just an ego thing? They don't really care about it?

I dunno ... I have trouble trying to pretend to get in people's heads most of the time. There are enough cobwebs in my own!

The heavy spin has begun.  Reed didn't do himself any favors (per usual) but now people are starting to pile on.  There was "anonymous" player quotes from the US team blasting Reed as a liar and saying he didn't understand/know how to play team golf in defense of Tiger.  Which would make sense except for Reed's fantastic record in previous Ryder Cups and pair of NCAA team titles in college.  Reed is an ass and not likeable other than his ruthless game, but his record speaks for himself and he's been honest to a fault on tour.

[MU82]

The heavy spin has begun.  Reed didn't do himself any favors (per usual) but now people are starting to pile on.  There was "anonymous" player quotes from the US team blasting Reed as a liar and saying he didn't understand/know how to play team golf in defense of Tiger.  Which would make sense except for Reed's fantastic record in previous Ryder Cups and pair of NCAA team titles in college.  Reed is an ass and not likeable other than his ruthless game, but his record speaks for himself and he's been honest to a fault on tour.

Good take. This is all so silly, like freakin' middle school.

As for those who say U.S. players aren't "psyched" enough ... golf is one of those sports in which getting too psyched is bad. It's not like you want to slam your head into the locker and then come out and kill the QB. You have to be calm in golf. Too much thinking kills you. It's like when I ump youth baseball and one of the coaches screams at a kid, "Bobby, you HAVE to RELAX!" Cracks me up. As I said earlier, Americans seem plenty psyched when they're playing well.

[RJax55]

The heavy spin has begun.  Reed didn't do himself any favors (per usual) but now people are starting to pile on.  There was "anonymous" player quotes from the US team blasting Reed as a liar and saying he didn't understand/know how to play team golf in defense of Tiger.  Which would make sense except for Reed's fantastic record in previous Ryder Cups and pair of NCAA team titles in college.  Reed is an ass and not likeable other than his ruthless game, but his record speaks for himself and he's been honest to a fault on tour.

The stuff with Reed was utterly predictable though. As much as people loved his Captain American shtick, his entire golfing career has been defined by his go-it-alone attitude. Fans needed to realize the minute his performance suffered in the Ryder Cup, he was going to throw people under the bus. Sure enough, he did.

The biggest issue I see for the American team is how fans and media believe that they are vastly more talented than their European counterparts, when it simply isn't true. Going into the Ryder Cup, the average world ranking for the US team was 11. It was 19 for the European team. To me, that's not a significance difference. Yet, the U.S. carries the burden of playing with the expectations of being the favorite, when in fact, its a very even match-up.

[jesmu84]

https://nypost.com/2018/10/01/patrick-reed-is-so-full-of-s-t-us-ryder-cup-fight-explodes/

[jesmu84]

https://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-central-blog/report-dj-koepka-near-fight/

[tower912]

So... Europe played like a team and the US acted like whiny high schoolers.

[Goose]

The European team seems like a helluva a lot more fun to me. I always pull for the Americans, but think I like the Euro team style more. Tommy Fleetwood is rapidly becoming becoming a favorite of mine. I wish the American young guys enjoyed the moment like Tommy does.

[🏀]

The European team seems like a helluva a lot more fun to me. I always pull for the Americans, but think I like the Euro team style more. Tommy Fleetwood is rapidly becoming becoming a favorite of mine. I wish the American young guys enjoyed the moment like Tommy does.

Tommy is very likeable. His caddy being enormous is one of my favorite parts.

[jesmu84]

The European team seems like a helluva a lot more fun to me. I always pull for the Americans, but think I like the Euro team style more. Tommy Fleetwood is rapidly becoming becoming a favorite of mine. I wish the American young guys enjoyed the moment like Tommy does.

Did you miss Jordan Reed at the last Presidents or Ryder cup?

[🏀]

Did you miss Jordan Reed at the last Presidents or Ryder cup?

I don't think Jordan was having fun.

[MU82]

I'm still going to get it. I think it's going to be a great presentation of golf. Everyone mic'd up. Shot Tracer on every shot.

I wouldn't watch it if it were on regular TV.

I'm trrying to figure out how much Tiger and Phil would have to pay me to watch it. Maybe $100 - that would be about $25/hour for my time, and it would buy me and Mrs. 82 a nice dinner.

Seriously, I hope you enjoy it.

[Goose]

jesmu84


Maybe your idea of enjoying the moment is different than mine. Tommy is my kind of cat, Reed is not.

[MUBurrow]

The European team seems like a helluva a lot more fun to me. I always pull for the Americans, but think I like the Euro team style more. Tommy Fleetwood is rapidly becoming becoming a favorite of mine. I wish the American young guys enjoyed the moment like Tommy does.

Agree with this, and I think we're starting to see a little more of this with Spieth, Thomas, Fowler and some of the other guys that are buddies. I was listening to a radio interview Monday morning (can't remember who) and he was saying that when you're at the clubhouse bar on nights after practice rounds, the Americans are having a beer, being friendly, and there's a table of Euros in the corner made up of guys who don't expect to win that week but are blitzed, laughing to beat hell and playing cards all night. I think that bears out more during Ryder Cup week than any other time.  I hope golf media doesn't Tiger-shame the next generation of guys into having to choose between being friends and being taken seriously - you see with the NBA and comparing everyone to Jordan.  Instead, my vote is for more of this:

[jesmu84]

I don't think Jordan was having fun.

Well played

[WarriorDad]

One of the spectators lost her eye by a ball hit from Brooks Koepka.  The eyeball exploded.  Apparently she is considering a lawsuit. Tragic for her, no other way to say it.  Golfers can't control golf balls as well as we think they can. Unless they plan on putting up nets or something, how to protect spectators?  The risk one takes and deeply unfortunate for her.  Solution?

https://www.tmz.com/2018/10/02/ryder-cup-brooks-koepka-eyeball-exploded/

[Babybluejeans]

Oh man, the nets thing again Cheekz? I remember a guy on my hall in McCormick who would sit and perseverate on like three topics (unfortunately, metal music was one of them). And every conversation with him, regardless of how it started, would always funnel into one of those three topics, just so he could just re-state his opinions that we'd all heard a billion times. It won't surprise you to know that he didn't have a lot of visitors.

[WarriorDad]

Oh man, the nets thing again Cheekz? I remember a guy on my hall in McCormick who would sit and perseverate on like three topics (unfortunately, metal music was one of them). And every conversation with him, regardless of how it started, would always funnel into one of those three topics, just so he could just re-state his opinions that we'd all heard a billion times. It won't surprise you to know that he didn't have a lot of visitors.

The nets thing again?

[jesmu84]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/patrick-reed-knew-about-jordan-spieth-split-weeks-in-advance-of-ryder-cup-says-jim-furyk-captain-also-confirms-dustin-johnsonbrooks-koepka-altercation

[jesmu84]

The more that comes out from this I think exposes 2 things:

1. No one on the tour/team likes Patrick Reed
2. Reed's wife is a psycho

[JWags85]

The more that comes out from this I think exposes 2 things:

1. No one on the tour/team likes Patrick Reed
2. Reed's wife is a psycho

Those are both not new facts.  I don't know the affect on his golf game, but his wife has been a pretty wild influence on him overall.  Feels like it took all of the negative personality traits he had in youth golf/college (which could be overcome as many people are idiots when young and grow out of it) and amplified and exacerbated them by isolating him further and making even more of a me vs the world mentality with her in his ear.  Maybe they are perfect for each other.