The Two Events I'm Watching This Week

Well, I guess everybody will be watching them, but they're the events that have storylines I'm interested in this week.



The LPGA will be at the Indy Women in Tech Championship, which is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (aka "the Brickyard," where the Indy 500 is held every year). Tony Jesselli has a preview of the event here, but there are two things that particularly interest me this week.

• Lexi Thompson is defending her title, and it's her first event back after her self-imposed exile for personal reasons a few weeks back. I'll be interested to see how she plays.
• I'm equally interested to see how Emily Tubert plays this week. For those of you who missed it, Emily caught the bug for long drives after attending an event a couple of weeks back. This week she decided to try Monday qualifying for the Tennessee Big Shots tournament... and she not only got in, she won the thing! Then she drove to Indianapolis for the LPGA event, which she was already in. I'm curious to see how she does after her unexpected victory.

On the other hand, the PGA Tour will be in my backyard this week, teeing it up at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro NC. As I'm sure most of you know, this is the last regular season event before the FedExCup Playoffs start, so a number of players are under pressure to secure their Tour cards. But there's more on the line than that.

Henrik Stenson is the defending champ, so his card is secure... but his spot on the European Ryder Cup team isn't. A number of players are in the same boat, jockeying for a spot via the World Rankings point list before the Euro automatic qualifiers are determined. Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Matthew Fitzpatrick are all in the field trying to make it in... or at least begin the "impress the Captain" process.

Ironically, none of the most likely American choices will be at the Wyndham. They have apparently decided to take their chances with the FedExCup events. (I should note that Webb Simpson, who snagged the last qualifying spot, WILL be playing this week. This is a home game for him.) But it's worth noting that some players who are more than a dozen spots down the US list ARE playing this week. These are players who usually play here -- guys like Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore -- and some good play at a place where they're comfortable could give them a jump on the other guys if that play continues during the Playoffs.

I have my own thoughts on who might be the US picks but I'll wait a bit closer to the Ryder Cup to post them. And I need to see who the Euro qualifiers are before I even try to guess theirs!

Bear in mind that both events begin on Thursday this year. The LPGA event was only 54 holes last year, but it's a full 72 this time around. The LPGA event begins at noon ET while the PGA Tour event follows it at 3pm ET, both on GC.

The European Ryder Cup Finalizes Its Rules

The ET finally announced the changes to its team selection process for the next Ryder Cup.

To be honest, there weren't any surprises. And I didn't expect any.



Most of the changes simply brought their process into line with the current US selection process, which is pretty much standard. It happens frequently -- either the US changes to match Europe, or vice versa -- sometimes because the other side wins, but often because a new problem in the process is exposed. Nothing stays the same forever, after all.

At the last Cup, Europe ended up with a large number of rookies, who didn't perform as well as I expected. The recent explosion of young players caused this unexpected turn of events, so the increase in Captain's picks from three to four (matching the current US process) just makes good sense. We needed to give the Captain a bit more flexibility in configuring the team, and now Thomas will have the same.

Just as a side note, this number has gone up and down repeatedly for both sides over the years. As I said earlier, little adjustments have been common as the teams have searched for the best compromise -- in this case, to balance "earned" spots with "felt need" spots.

Last time, the big change for the US team came with the establishment of the Ryder Cup Committee, to increase the players' voice in the choice of Captains and such. This "leveled the field" somewhat, as the Europeans had handled things that way for years. The big change for the Euro team this time is the change in requirements for European Tour membership, which have been lessened by one tournament and should help the Euros better match the US selection process.

While the reasons are probably clear to my Euro readers, they may be lost on my US readers. Simply put, the US team has full access to all our potential players because we don't have the Tour membership restriction. For example, if Jim Furyk decides he wants Peter Uihlein on our team next time, even though he's a European Tour member, he just makes him a Captain's pick.

Personally, I'd like to see the Euro team given the same freedom but I understand why they don't. They're concerned with keeping players on the Euro Tour -- there are good financial reasons for that -- but it does limit them. Because of that restriction, players such as Paul Casey and Carl Petterson aren't currently eligible for the Cup because they play the PGA Tour. Reducing the number of ET events they would have to play in order to be eligible makes dual membership less burdensome for those willing to try. (Remember, it's not just the number of events; it's the increased air travel for US-based ET players.)

You can read the full text of the changes at this link to rydercup.com and in this summary of the changes at cbssports.com.

John Feinstein's Ryder Cup Summary

In case you missed the news, Hurricane Matthew not only killed the final Web.com Playoff event but also this week's Symetra Tour event. Since you're two tournaments short of a full schedule this week, you've got more time to read, right?

But I've already written several long posts this week so I'll give you a day's reprieve and simply link you to a new John Feinstein article about Phil's part in the Ryder Cup victory. While I rarely agree with John about everything he says, I do think this article does a good job of summing up what the Ryder Cup Task Force Turned Committee did right.



I should note that a small piece of John's article apparently got left off. The sentence with the apparently missing bit starts this way: "Mickelson never did explain why he and Woods also lost that week or..." Based on comments John made during Ryder Cup Week on GC, I think that line was meant to say, "Mickelson never did explain why he and Woods also lost in fourballs that week or..."

It's a good article that tells several aspects of what happened last week that you may not have heard. And there's a link to other Ryder Cup videos, articles and photos you might want to take a look at.

Well, maybe not if you were rooting for the Euro team... but that's another story.

Ryder Cup Thoughts on the US Team

Yesterday I shared my thoughts about the Euro Ryder Cup team. Today I'll do the same for the US team.


First of all, I think we have to consider the effect of Arnold Palmer's passing on the US team's play. Just as Seve's death served as inspiration for the 2012 Euro Ryder Cup team's play, I think Arnie's death did the same for the US team this year. Arnie's 1975 Ryder Cup team bag stood on the first tee all week as a reminder to all the players on both teams, but I think it had to affect the US team the most.

That's especially true after the US team swept the first session. Although they didn't know it at the time, Arnie's 1975 team was the last team to have done so. It didn't take long for that news -- and news of the other records from 1975 that were being matched -- to reach the US team room, and the mere coincidence of it all had to make them realize that the week could be something special. Arnie was as much a part of the 2016 US win as Seve had been at the 2012 Euro win.

But it wasn't just a matter of inspiration. While I've had a laugh about the "Task Force" along with everyone else -- and the folks involved now prefer just to call it The Committee -- the fact remains that there were some problems that needed to be addressed. The Ryder Cup has become such a huge undertaking now that there needs to be some sort of consistent organization at the top of the command chain, just to avoid the chaos involved in getting all the players to the functions on time.

It also helps maintain some calm among the players by having a consistent captaining style from one Cup to the next. Pro golfers are creatures of habit, but leadership styles varied wildly from Cup to Cup before The Committee was created. Now, if a player made the 2016 Cup but misses the 2018 Cup, if that player makes the 2020 Cup, he can expect roughly the same sort of leadership style as the player who made the 2018 Cup. That consistency is something the Euros already have, and I think that change -- along with more player involvement in choosing the Captain -- are the main accomplishments of the Ryder Cup Committee.

Oh, and one other thing happened that I think may have been overlooked. While the US team has always "bonded" with one another, they've never been able to relax during Ryder Cup week the way they do during the Presidents Cup, where they normally play quite well. This time, relaxed was a word we heard often from the players. I think that created an atmosphere where they made better strategic decisions on the course, which is something I think has been missing. Perhaps they were just trying too hard but for whatever reason, they seem to have regained their ability to plan better shots. (Having Tiger available for help with strategic planning may have played a big part as well. I had mentioned that as a possible advantage early on, and we know for a fact that Patrick Reed made use of it because he said so.)

So I do think the US team may have turned a corner in terms of their ability to play a Ryder Cup the way they are capable of doing. There are still some tests ahead -- we'll have to see how well they can carry this attitude into an overseas Cup when they reach Paris in 2018, for example -- but clearly something important has changed since 2014.

And it may be that Arnie gave them the final shove they needed to make that leap from tight to relaxed. Given how many lives Arnie touched and the variety of ways he did it, that wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Ryder Cup Thoughts on the Euro Team

I figured I should write two posts instead of one, since I don't want to get too confused. (Hey, I called Todd Lewis 'Tom' last week. I can take nothing for granted!) So tonight I'm going to start with the Euros.



Just for the record, nothing I say in this post should be taken as a criticism of Darren Clarke. These are just some observations I made about what happened, and I think Darren's decisions -- no doubt made with the advice of his vice captains -- made perfectly good sense, given the team's past performance.

Of course, in hindsight, I think that was part of the problem. To the best of my knowledge, no captain on either side has dealt with a team that had six rookies. It just goes to prove that, no matter how good your team is and how sound your team's "system" is, we are still humans dealing with an imperfect world. There is no guarantee that we will make the best adjustments the first time we face a situation.

There will be those who say that the Euros lost because they had six rookies. I completely disagree with that. I believe the problem was twofold, and the first was how the rookies were used. The Ryder Cup has become such a huge affair that playing a rookie only once before the singles probably isn't enough to prepare them for the challenge. With all the pressure that players now feel inside the ropes, we have to assume any rookie will lose his first match. (He may not, but we should assume he will. He'll still feel internal pressure to perform, but the captain will be able to relieve some of the external pressure.)

I also believe that today's rookies are better prepared than they were in the past and, with proper coaching beforehand, there's no reason that a pair of rookies shouldn't be sent out together. There are enough vice captains now to accompany each pairing, and that allows for "on-the-job training," which is probably the most effective way for them to learn.

I understand what Darren was trying to do. He wanted to hide some perceived weakness in the team while still giving the rookies some experience. But that brings us to the second problem -- not all of the veterans "showed up." Darren's two Captain's Picks, Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood, played a total of seven matches but could only generate one point between them... and that one point came in singles. You simply can't use traditional veteran/rookie pairings with any success in a situation like that.

It's worth noting that, had the Euros generated only one more point during the team matches -- just a single point, mind you -- Sunday singles would have begun with an 8.5-7.5 score rather than the 9.5-6.5 score the Euros actually faced. This wasn't the weak Euro team that some might wish to believe, and I think it could have won many of the recent Cups.

It just couldn't do the job this time. The level of play in this Cup was just too good to allow anybody to have an off week.

On the positive side, I believe the Euro team has discovered three rookies who are ready-to-go. Yes, I said THREE rookies. Many of you will remember that I said Thomas Pieters should NOT be considered a rookie. Thomas also said as much after the singles, and he proved it by setting a Ryder Cup record for points by a rookie. And Rafa Cabrera Bello has been playing regularly over here in the US, both on the PGA and Web.com Tours. And they'll be teaming successfully with Rory and Sergio for many Cups to come.

But many people are underestimating Chris Wood's performance. Wood played only two matches -- the Saturday foursome with Justin Rose, which they won, and his Sunday single. In that he was unfortunate enough to draw Dustin Johnson... and all he did was take DJ all the way to 18, coming back from 2down with 3 to play, and losing by only 1down. All under the pressure of knowing his team NEEDED his point.

Oh yeah, Chris Wood is Ryder Cup-tested. He'll be fine going forward.

As for the other three rookies, I don't think they really had a chance to prove themselves. Matt Fitzpatrick and Andy Sullivan only had one match -- both in foursomes, which I think may have been a mistake for their first taste of the Cup -- and then had the pressure of needing to win on Sunday. (Matt faced Zach Johnson and Andy faced Brandt Snedeker, two of the best putters on the team.)

And poor Danny Willett! First there was the fuss over his brother's post, then although he got to play two fourball matches -- which was a good choice -- one was with Martin Kaymer, the other with Lee Westwood. And then he drew Brooks Koepka in singles. It was stacked against Danny from the start, which is why I didn't hold his performance against him in my RGWR in the sidebar.

These three rookies were unintentionally set up to fail. Had Martin and Lee shown up as expected, things might have been different, but as the old saying goes, "hindsight is 20/20." At least they got a taste of the Cup, albeit a slightly bitter one, so they won't be rookies next time.

All-in-all, I didn't think the Euros had such a bad Ryder Cup. They're still 8&3 in the last 11 Cups, after all.

Besides, although it's always disappointing to lose, it's not like they'll need a Task Force or anything.

What Else Is There to Say?

Patrick Reed tees off against Rory McIlroy for the first match, and Jordan Spieth takes on Henrik Stenson for the second match. And that's just the first two!



Final day Ryder Cup coverage starts at noon ET on NBC. What else is there to say? WATCH IT! I can write about it next week.

Arnie's Rainbow

Just admit it. You want to watch the Ryder Cup, not read my comments about it; and I want to watch the Ryder Cup, not write about it until it's over.

So let's just take a moment to remember Arnie. Here's the photo of "Arnie's Rainbow" from Latrobe that took Twitter by storm on Thursday.



Now get back to watching the Ryder Cup!

Several Cool Things from Ryder Cup Thursday (Videos and More)

Let's face it, there's really nothing happening at the Ryder Cup that isn't being broadcast almost the second it happens. So I just want to point out a few things that I found very interesting.

First, you no doubt heard that Phil and Hal Sutton cleared the air about the 2004 Ryder Cup "incident." And if you saw the opening ceremony, you also know that Danny Willett was received very well by the crowd. (Of course, when he tees off Friday afternoon -- Darren Clarke did confirm that he will play the second session -- there's no guarantee how the more partisan attendees will react. But I'm sure he expects that.) The good news here is that we shouldn't have to listen to any more about those things.

Then there was the putt-off between fan Dave Johnson and Euro members Stenson, Rose, McIlroy and Sullivan. You may have seen it but this is the original tape from earlier in the day. I'm including it because I love Stenson's reaction after Johnson sinks the putt.


This second video is one that Todd Lewis did, showing what the walk to the first tee is like. I think it's pretty cool because I had no idea the walk was so long or so convoluted.


But my final cool thing is something most of you probably DIDN'T see. It's a fairly in-depth blog post by Rex Hoggard detailing what Tiger has been doing in his role as Vice Captain. It also has some comments from the team members comparing what he's doing this week with what they usually see from him. Some of you might be surprised at what Hoggard says.



Maybe you can fit some of this stuff in during commercial breaks in the coverage today. But at some point you might want to read the Tiger article, just to see what the other players are saying.

Just make sure you don't miss any of the coverage while you do. This is already shaping up to be a battle royale!

The Most Eye-Opening Ryder Cup Fact I've Heard This Week

You can always count on the Ryder Cup to give you plenty of controversy. By Wednesday night we had plenty. But sometimes you learn something you didn't know that actually teaches you something.



There was the embarrassment of Danny Willett's brother posting some very uncomplimentary comments about American crowds. Danny personally went to Davis Love to apologize, even though he was as surprised as anybody else when the comments showed up. Still no idea how this might affect Danny's play this week, although there was some debate on GC as to whether the Euros might delay how soon he actually hits the course for the first time.

And then there were the Phil Mickelson comments about when Hal Sutton tried to pair him and Tiger back in 2004. Although I'm not sure Phil meant them as harshly as they came out, you could easily understand them as blaming Sutton for his and Tiger's poor play. And as you might expect, the media went straight to Sutton, who made his own opinions about that quite clear. If you somehow missed the whole episode, you can find the basics in these two articles from The Guardian and Golf Digest. I'm not going to dwell on that whole kettle of worms.

The key here is that many of Phil's comments centered around only having a day or so to prepare with Tiger's ball back in 2004. And the fact I heard that was so interesting, I heard as a result of those Mickelson comments

Basically, both Ken Schofield and Paul McGinley said that Sergio got some of his future partner's balls a full six months before the last Ryder Cup so he had plenty of time to get used to them. SIX MONTHS, folks! I'm unclear whether that was Sergio's doing or whether the team arranged it, but I'm under the impression that Sergio took the initiative.

I also heard that one of the other Euro players -- I don't remember which one -- had balls from his potential partner several weeks before the event.

Now, I don't know whether the US team knew this fact coming in and made similar arrangements for this Ryder Cup or not. If they did, it might explain why Phil suddenly had some comments concerning that very thing! But if they didn't know before Wednesday, they know now, and I'd be surprised if this didn't affect the way they prepare for the next Ryder Cup.

This is truly the most eye-opening Ryder Cup fact I've heard this week, because it sheds some light on why the Euro team always seemed to be better prepared the the Americans.

It's because, without question, THEY WERE.

Should Tiger Be Love's Last Pick?

Since last week when Matt Kuchar suggested that Tiger "was rumored" to be a possible last pick for the US Ryder Cup team -- I believe the exact quote was "That would be legend. Dary. Legendary." -- the idea has been a subject of debate in the media. Was Kuchar joking or could this be a real consideration for Davis Love?

I've been thinking about it... and I'm not so sure it's not being considered.

Before you laugh me off, hear me out.



You've probably heard the arguments that Tiger would draw eyes to the Ryder Cup -- especially the eyes of those sports fans who rarely or never watch golf, and potentially even the curious viewers who rarely if ever watch any sport. And Tiger is supposedly aiming to return at the Safeway Open, which is only two weeks after the Ryder Cup, so some have suggested that two weeks earlier is no big deal.

Charlie Rymer pointed out that Tiger need only play one match at the Ryder Cup, that being the singles. He also suggested that Tiger could be paired with Dustin Johnson, who probably doesn't need a partner to beat most two-man teams that the Euros could field. This would give Tiger a chance to "hide" somewhat if his game wasn't as good as he hoped.

I think some of these arguments have some value. Let me explain.

Charlie's point that Tiger only needs to play one match -- and that a good partner could cover some less-than-stellar play -- does point out something important here. If Tiger comes back as planned at the Safeway Open, he'll be hoping to play four straight 18-hole rounds. But the Ryder Cup would allow for some flexibility, and Davis Love might well like these options.

Nothing says Tiger has to play five matches. He could play just the singles match, or he could add one or two other matches, one per day. Bear in mind that most matches don't go a full 18 holes. Plus four-balls would be the least demanding on his game and, with a good partner, he could hide a bit if necessary. So Tiger could play the first day, decide whether to play the second day or not based on how his back felt, then play the final round singles.

That's a maximum of three rounds, probably less than 54 holes total. It would give him a chance to ease his back into the daily grind of competitive golf, and also give him a chance to ease his mind back into the mental grind. If Tiger feels he'll be ready to play in two weeks, it would be a great way for him to come back and a real treat for the fans. And it would probably be a major emotional lift for the team, all of whom want to see Tiger back in action.

Please understand: I'm NOT saying that Tiger SHOULD be the final US pick. All I'm saying is that the idea is not as silly as it initially sounds, and that it actually offers some attractive benefits to both the US team and to the Ryder Cup as a whole.

Do I think it will happen? In a word, no. Davis Love has too many good options to choose from and, no matter who he chooses, he'll still have Tiger right there in the team room. If Tiger's focused on being a vice captain and not on playing, EVERYONE can benefit from his strategic and analytical abilities. To my mind, the team benefits more this time from his availability as a mentor than as a player.

But stranger things have happened, folks. A Tiger pick could really change the whole dynamic of the Ryder Cup for everybody, especially since it's being held here in America.

I won't be surprised at anything that happens this time around.

About the Three US Ryder Cup Captain's Picks

You no doubt noticed that I made no attempt to guess who Davis Love would announce as his Captain's Picks for the US Ryder Cup team, despite having done so for Darren Clarke's picks.

The reason why was simple. The "Billy-Ho Pick" made it almost impossible.



Just as most of those "in the know" expected Darren to pick Kaymer, Westwood and Pieters, those same folks expected Davis to pick Fowler, Kuchar and Holmes. And they were right.

But now the debate begins. Were those the right choices?

I don't know. I'm aware -- if for no other reason than Davis saying so -- that both he and Darren are buried under stats which they're using to help them choose. Davis also noted that Tiger and Jim Furyk have spent a lot of time crunching those numbers for him. And Phil's comments suggest that these picks were highly likely, even a few weeks ago.

All of that could lead us to believe that the twelfth man will be either Bubba Watson, who was #9 on the Ryder Cup points list when the first eight were announced, or Jim "Mr. 58" Furyk.

PGATOUR.com did an article about these choices, and it gives us some interesting info:

• The only Americans not on the team who are in the Top30 in the OWGR are Bubba and Furyk.
• Among those who would be rookies, "Ryan Moore has three top-10s in his last five starts, including a win at the John Deere Classic. Daniel Berger has two top-10s in his last four starts, including a T-10 on Sunday at the BMW Championship. Justin Thomas enters the TOUR Championship ranked 12th in FedExCup points."
• And if you believe that the "Billy-Ho Pick" will automatically go to the winner of the Tour Championship if he happens to be an American, you have 12 possibilities: Bubba Watson, Justin Thomas, Ryan Moore, Daniel Berger, Kevin Chappell, Kevin Kisner, Gary Woodland, Kevin Na, William McGirt, Sean O'Hair, Roberto Castro and Jason Dufner.

If it had been me, I think I would have taken more rookies. To be blunt, I thought on Monday Davis should have taken Holmes (he's playing too good not to take him), Daniel Berger and Ryan Moore. And I think Kuchar and Thomas should have fought it out at the Tour Championship.

I understand that Ryder Cup picks aren't just about who's hot at any given moment. You have to consider team chemistry and potential pairings as well. And Davis said that Tiger had been reminding them that it's not just about how far a player hits the ball or how well they putt.

But I can't help thinking that despite all the talk about "planning for the future," it has been forgotten that, at some point, whether you like it or not, you're going to have younger players take over simply because the older players are too old. It's easier to break in young players if they have veterans around... but that doesn't mean you need an 11-to-1 ratio. Hell, if Darren had taken my advice he'd have SEVEN rookies instead of six!

Granted, the Euro rookies have played better than the US rookies. But having half your team be rookies isn't a bad thing. It's a quick way to build a larger pool of players to choose from, and it's just about the only way to learn who's good at match play. For example, I've heard that Ryan Moore may not get picked because he doesn't have the "chemistry" that some of the others have. But they feared Patrick Reed didn't have it going into the last Ryder Cup. Do you think Reed won't be a Captain's Pick going forward if necessary?

Forgive the rant, folks. The main thing the Task Force needed to do was establish some consistency in the process of Captain selection and running the team, and they've done that. And I'm sure that Davis and his vice captains know what they're doing when it comes to picking their team. They have access to all the necessary info they need to make the correct choices.

But mark my words: The US isn't losing because they have too many vets or too many rookies. They're losing matches because they lose too many holes to par, and that's just a matter of poor course management.

Unless they fix THAT problem, it won't matter WHO they put on the team.

Guessing Darren Clarke's Picks

By the time most of you read this, Darren Clarke will have made his three Captain's Picks for the Euro Ryder Cup team. But I'm writing this several hours before the picks, so let's see how close I can get to reading his mind.



As I see it, Darren has roughly SEVEN potential picks to choose from. His automatics gave him four returning players and five rookies. I know the talk that Darren has too many rookies, but I disagree and here's why:

• You can only play four pairings at one time, and Darren has four solid veterans. That means he can do veteran/rookie pairings for every doubles match if he needs to. If Darren takes only one more veteran in his picks, he gives himself the ability to rest one veteran each round. Since these guys are used to going five matches, that's plenty.
• The four veterans he already has are proven partnerships in and of themselves. Rory and Sergio have played well in the past, as have Stenson and Rose. Picking just one more veteran allows Darren to play his two proven teams, one veteran/rookie pair and then two rookies together. He can mix those up with the four veteran/rookie pairings I mentioned earlier to give the US new looks each round.
• And you also have to remember that the Ryder Cup is no longer the only team competition in town. With events like the Seve Cup and the EurAsia Cup, most of the Euro players have some team experience. That takes some pressure off Darren's potential pairings.

When you take those things into account, you realize that Darren doesn't have to take three veterans as his picks. Likewise, he has enough rookies that taking three rookies probably isn't desirable either. That means he'll likely take either:

• two rookies and one veteran, or
• two veterans and one rookie.

Which brings me back to my seven likely choices -- two rookies and five veterans. Here are the rookies:

• Russell Knox has two wins on the PGA Tour this season, one of them just a couple weeks back at the Travelers. The other is the WGC-China early in the season. But he's also got a couple of runner-ups and four more Top25s. Overall, I think he's been the most consistent of Darren's possible rookie picks.
• Thomas Pieters doesn't look all that impressive until the last month. His performance at the Olympics (T4) was nothing short of amazing for a player unused to the limelight, and he's capitalized with a runner-up and a win since. He's clearly the hottest of Darren's possible picks.

And here are the five veterans:

• Lee Westwood is Darren's close friend and most think he'll get a pick because of that. To be honest, I don't think Lee has played that well this season. However -- and this is important -- stroke play success (or the lack thereof) doesn't always mean a lot in match play. Lee is probably the best teammate in Euro Ryder Cup history, he has shown that he can play with anybody and, like Mickelson, has proven that he can (usually) show up when the team needs him, regardless of his form going in. He has an 18-13-6 record.
• Martin Kaymer is clearly the most consistent among the veterans Darren should consider. Over the last four months or so, Kaymer has six Top7s worldwide plus he played in the Olympics. With his Ryder Cup record is 3-2-1; one loss came in singles, one in fourballs.
• Francesco Molinari is someone Tim Rosaforte has been saying for weeks is on Darren's radar. Francesco has four Top10s worldwide this season, including a runner-up at the Open de France, which had a strong field. His Ryder Cup record is only 0-2-1, although that half was against Tiger in singles.
• Luke Donald is another player who's had an off season but you can't overlook his record. He's 8-2-1, with a weakness in fourballs. He's a perfect 6-0-0 in foursomes!
• Graeme McDowell has one win early in this season and a T5 late, but he's been erratic the rest of the time. His Ryder Cup record is 5-5-2..

Darren has an abundance of riches from which to choose. So who would I pick if I were him?

I think the common logic is that Darren will take Westwood, Kaymer and Pieters. The logic is that, with five rookies, Darren needs Westwood and Kaymer to give the team more experience. Pieters is picked over Knox simply because he's the hot player right now. That gives the Euros six veterans and six rookies, which provides Darren with the ability to rest veterans if the rookies play well but put out several veteran teams if the rookies don't.

But if I were Darren, I'd take Knox, Pieters and Kaymer. Here's my reasoning:

• Knox has not only been playing consistent golf, but unlike Pieters he plays regularly in the US. I would make the same argument for Kaymer. While Westwood has usually played well in the Ryder Cup, he hasn't played well in the US for quite a while. Remember, he tried moving to the US to see if that would help his game and it didn't work. He's back in Europe now.
• I felt that Pieters pretty much locked up a Ryder Cup berth with his play at the Olympics. When you take someone as unused to the spotlight as Pieters and throw him into it, you learn a lot. I saw him play himself into contention, struggle in the third round then rally the final day and just barely miss out on the bronze. After playing under that kind of pressure, I think you have to see Pieters as a veteran, since almost everyone agreed that Olympic pressure was at least as harsh as the Ryder Cup.
• These three players are well-known and liked among the Euros, but they are also playing very well. That combination of liked and playing well should give Darren more flexibility in his pairings.
• Westwood is well-liked but not playing that well. If I were Darren, I'd figure out some way to get him into the team room; given his play as of late, that's where I think he would help the team most.

So that's my take. Today we'll see if Darren feels the same.

Rickie and Patrick Want Ryder Cup Spots!

If you learn anything from watching The Barclays this week, you should learn that hitting fairways is often more important than hitting it long. Among the Top10 on the leaderboard -- which actually numbers 17 players after Round 1 -- only four are considered long hitters, at least according to Tour driving stats.

Those four (with their ranks in parentheses) are Jhonattan Vegas (T11), JB Holmes (2), Jason Day (16) and Rickie Fowler (26).



Sitting alone at the top is Patrick Reed. He's long enough (at just under 297 yards he's 45th in the stats) but certainly not among the longest.

For comparison, Ryan Moore's in solo 4th right now. He ranks T164 off the tee, just under 282 yards. And Emiliano Grillo, sharing 2nd with Fowler, is T69 at just under 294. And although Rickie is long, he has hit 9 of 14 fairways each round, and has only one bogey for the week so far.

Clearly the Black has no respect for length if you're not in the short grass. I'll say it again: You should remember how important it is to hit the short grass, especially if you have problems with rough at your course.

Having said that, it's not hard to see why Rickie and Patrick could lock up Ryder Cup spots this week. If Rickie finishes as he is now, GC estimates that he'll finish in the 7th spot, which is obviously inside the Automatic 8. And Patrick already sits in the 8th spot; a win would move him up the list as well.

I don't think Ryan Moore can make the Automatic 8, even with a win. But two wins in three weeks -- you'll remember that he won the John Deere a couple weeks back -- and Captain Love may have to consider him for a pick. I say 'may' because, even though he's scoring well on this long tough course, Ryan isn't putting so well. (He's only T66 in the field this week. YIKES!) But managing his way around like this -- as Patrick did on Friday -- may be enough for Davis. We'll see.

In the meantime, I'm watching Rickie and Patrick very closely. If they keep playing this way, the Ryder Cup dreams of Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson could be in serious trouble. (I think Brooks Koepka is safe in the 5 spot... but it could be close if he doesn't pick it up. He barely made the cut on the number.)

The Automatic Euros Are Named to the Ryder Cup Team

The Ryder Cup teams are finally beginning to take shape. The automatic qualifiers for the Euro Team were released on Monday.



Four players made the team via the Ryder Cup European Points List while five more qualified through the Ryder Cup World Points List. Here they are, in alphabetical order.

1. Rafa Cabrera Bello
2. Matthew Fitzpatrick
3. Sergio Garcia
4. Rory McIlroy
5. Justin Rose
6. Henrik Stenson
7. Andy Sullivan
8. Danny Willett
9. Chris Wood

Euro Captain Darren Clarke still gets to name three Captain's Picks next Tuesday (that's August 30). Some question whether he'll pick some more young rookies like Russell Knox, who has two wins this season, or go for more veterans like Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, who have been playing well lately.

You can make a good argument for either approach, although I don't think he needs to worry about having too many rookies. Most of his "rookies" are multiple winners, and Willett's the reigning Masters champ. Add THE OPEN champ (Stenson) and the Olympic gold medalist (Rose), and remember that Garcia and McIlroy have both won this season. What's there to worry about?

As for the US Team:

• They'll finalize their Automatic 8 on Sunday, August 28. At present, only Brooks Koepka would be a rookie.
• They add three picks on Sunday, September 11, after the BMW Championship. I think US Captain Davis Love really needs to pick some rookies, just to give more players some experience. You don't want your experienced players to drop off all at once in a few years and leave only noobs on the team.
• And the final pick (aka the Billy-Ho pick) is named on Sunday, September 25, after the Tour Championship.

So Sunday is the next date for team news. But at least we're finally in the home stretch for Ryder Cup action!

The Euros Begin Their Ryder Cup Race

At the time I'm writing this, the final round of the M2M Russian Open hasn't begun -- Lee Slattery has a two-stroke lead, in case you're interested -- but it will likely be underway by the time you read this post



However, the M2M Russian Open isn't a huge event. It doesn't have an all-star field. It doesn't have a huge purse.

What it DOES have are the first Ryder Cup points to be awarded to European Tour players.

Now, here in America that may sound a bit strange. For example, Jordan Spieth already has 5,306.789 points (he's our leading points getter so far) after 8 events. Dustin Johnson is in second place with 2,396.366 points. I don't claim to understand why we have points calculated to three decimal points, but there it is. My point is that we've already been awarding Ryder Cup points for quite some time now.

Yet the European team -- which most Americans believe eat, drink and sleep Ryder Cup -- is only beginning to award points this week. And when you realize that several of the events coming up are Race to Dubai playoffs -- which means only certain European players will compete -- it becomes clear that the Europeans approach Ryder Cup qualifying much differently than we do in America.

Is there any evidence that one approach yields a better team than the other? Not necessarily. Although the Euro team has played better over the last few Ryder Cups, I think that's just a matter of the US team wanting it too much. But it does raise an interesting question: Do you get a better team by accruing points over a longer period or a shorter period?

And here's something else to consider.

• The Ryder Cup European Points List only provides four of the participants. Another five come from the Ryder Cup World Points List, which is based on OWGR points gained globally, and the other three are Captain Darren Clarke's wild card picks.
• The US Ryder Cup Points List is based totally on the PGA Tour Official Money List (one point for each $1000) with an early focus on the majors. Nine players come from that, and the other three from Captain Davis Love's picks.

Perhaps the US team might want to put more value on having team members who play around the world rather than just on the PGA Tour. Perhaps playing on a variety of course conditions in many countries might be better preparation for an international competition where half of the events are played in other countries on a variety of course conditions.

Especially since this plan of attack hasn't helped the US team very much, even when playing on our own turf.

And perhaps that's why the Euro team takes five of its members from the OWGR, which includes events played in other parts of the world where their own tour doesn't go, and only four members from events played on its own tour -- which is also why they can afford to accrue points over a shorter time and begin at a smaller venue like the M2M Russian Open.

I'm just saying...

Some Thoughts on the NEW Ryder Cup Debate

Yes, it's still 18 months away and we're still talking about it..

You probably heard the latest controversy concerning the Ryder Cup -- that is, the fact that the 2015 Fall Series events don't count against the points totals on the Ryder Cup Qualifying List. Since I don't really have a dog in this fight, I thought I'd look at some of the things that haven't been mentioned...

Or at least I haven't heard them.



Tim Finchem is now on record, saying that he "whiffed" by not insisting on the Fall Series contributing points. Phil Mickelson is likewise on record for saying that this was about getting the best team, not stroking the sponsors' egos. (I'm ignoring all the other stuff Phil said, as it was irrelevant to the Ryder Cup issue.)

So who's right?

Ironically, I find myself agreeing with John Feinstein, who told GC that he thought points were a useless complication anyway. Here's my take on the system:

First, I don't think Finchem "whiffed," he's just working on a different timeline than the Task Force did. The system is (for now) set up so that points are awarded by year, not season. In 2015 the points are only awarded at the big events like majors and WGCs, while every event in 2016 gets points. This gives points primarily during an 8-month period, meaning the hottest players will get points.

If you want to get the hottest players, 8 months may still be too long; 6 months would be better, 3 months even more so. However, you'd need a better system than points to separate the best players over such a short span. Feinstein suggested 12 captain's picks, and that would probably be the simplest way to get it done... but nobody's going to go for that. There would be too many accusations of favoritism.

Bear in mind that only 8 players will automatically qualify. Essentially the 8 players who top out on the points list will likely be the players who would have made the team anyway, whether by points or by captain's choice. The remaining 4 choices will literally be the hottest players, who probably wouldn't have enough points even over a 2-year period. That's a full third of the team. I suspect the Captain will look at play during 2015, particularly the Fall Series, to help him determine which of the hot players might be more likely to stay hot because of more consistent play over time. It's just that such early play won't skew the points away from the hottest players at Ryder Cup time.

Of course, the PGA has said that this is just the system that will be used for the 2016 Ryder Cup, and that it will be analyzed after the event to see how effective it was. Then the system will be tweaked if necessary, which sounds like a levelheaded approach to developing a system from scratch.

In other words, this is a non-issue. All it's going to do is provide ammunition for those who say the Task Force was an emotional response to yet another US loss. This could get old real quick...

But don't worry. We'll have a new issue to debate next week. After all, there's still 18 months to fill before there's any real data to analyze... and even if nobody else has anything to say, I'm certain that Phil will give us something new very soon. ;-)

By 4:30pm ET Today...

...everybody expects Davis Love III to be named as the next US Ryder Cup Captain. In all likelihood, he will be; I have trouble believing we've gotten so much info about the choice over the last week and it would turn out to be wrong.

In case you didn't see Golf Central last night, here's Tim Rosaforte's report about what to expect. (In case the video didn't embed properly, here's the link to it at golfchannel.com.) And don't be freaked out by that 45 minute time showing on the video player; Rosaforte's report is only a bit more than 3 minutes long. You don't have to watch the rest of Golf Central if you don't want to!



A few high points here:

• Davis was unanimously voted Captain when the task force first met in December, then reaffirmed as such in the next meeting.
• Davis will also be announced as a vice captain for the 2018 Ryder Cup -- part of the continuity the task force wants.
• Although Paul Azinger had withdrawn his name from consideration, he has been very involved as a consultant and some version of his pod system may be the basis of the new setup.
• Fred Couples is probably going to be a vice captain this time around.
• Several other changes will be announced as well, including more scheduled practice time for the team.
• And apparently the players will now be calling the shots about how the team is run, with the PGA having a voice but only a voice.

GC will be carrying the official announcement at 4:30pm ET today if you want to catch it live. I'll be interested to hear the details, if only to see how the task force intends to deal with the interruptions caused by the 2016 Olympics.

And the 2016 Ryder Cup Captains Are...

...apparently already chosen, although we won't officially know the Euro captain until tomorrow and the USA captain next Tuesday. The names have already made it out of the rumor mill -- even though the PGA says it's "too early" to discuss Ryder Cup captains. (Question: Do they really think that will suddenly make their choice become a surprise next Tuesday? I guess I'll never understand corporate minds.)



On the Euro side, the word is that Darren Clarke -- who was the favorite of the media to be chosen anyway -- really will get the nod. Politics are involved, as they always are in the Euro camp, but supposedly Paul McGinley has the deciding vote and he has decided to back Clarke after all. (Again, the word is that there was some bad blood between them stemming from the process that made McGinley captain at the last Ryder Cup.)

Personally, I expect the Mechanic to make the team so I doubt that he'll be too disappointed by this turn of events.

On the American side, word came out late Monday that Davis Love III would be the next captain -- shocking most observers, who believed that Fred Couples would get the nod. Based on the talk during Golf Central, it seems that Love was chosen as part of a 10-year plan to get a "captain grooming school" started, similar to the one used by the Euros.

The talk at GC was that Love would be the captain, with Tom Lehman, Steve Stricker, and probably Fred Couples as his assistants. Lehman and Stricker are from that part of the country (Wisconsin and surrounding area), and Lehman's previous experience as captain will allow him to help with the training process. Stricker already has one Ryder Cup assistant captaincy under his belt as does Couples, who also has Presidents Cup experience.

There was also some question about why Paul Azinger isn't more involved. Tim Rosaforte (who broke the story) said he expected Love to tap him for pod system advice, but I think the real reason Zinger wasn't mentioned as part of the formal process is simple. While Zinger is a good captain he can be, shall we say, a bit "abrasive." Look at the players expected to head this 10-year project; do any of them have a personality anywhere near as confrontational as Zinger's?

I don't mean that Zinger is hard to get along with, only that he's a bit more "publicly vocal" than the other players named to the 2016 captaincy. It seems pretty clear that the task force chose low-key personalities to front the new look of America's future Ryder Cup teams.

Assuming that the "advance announcements" we've heard are accurate, it looks like the 2016 Captains will be fun to watch as they go about the business of photo ops and media events leading up to the Cup itself. Clarke and Love have been friends for years so it should be a relatively casual process for both.

But more importantly, I hope the US players will come ready to win some points for their new Captain. While I agree that having a more consistent style of leadership is a good thing, I don't think that takes the place of good course management during the matches. They lose too many holes to par and, in my opinion, that's still the biggest issue for the US team. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

The photos came from the player's profiles at PGATOUR.com.

Freddie Talks Ryder Cup

One of the more entertaining aspects of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship has been Fred Couples answering all kinds of questions about the Ryder Cup. As you no doubt know, many people believe Freddie should be the next Ryder Cup captain, given his 3-0 record as a Presidents Cup captain.

Freddie's comments made waves all over the media and so, in case you somehow missed them, I've pulled a few thoughts from these articles at ESPN, USAToday, and PGATOUR.com. (The photo came from the latter.) I think Freddie's thoughts will likely anger a lot of people because... well...

To be blunt, Freddie apparently doesn't see what all the fuss is about. Here are a few choice "Freddie-isms." I've added some personal comments in italics.



On the difficulties of the Captain's job: "I've captained three Presidents Cups teams, which is much easier to do than a Ryder Cup, but it's still 12 players in a room, and I think they all are different in certain ways. No matter who the next captain is or the next one or the next one, you can’t run the ship with a big stern. It's impossible. You've got to let the players get involved.

"I think anyone would love to be the Ryder Cup captain. I particularly don't think it's really that hard to do, I really don't. I keep hearing it's a two-year process. Well, what would I do right now? I don't even know who's going to be on the Presidents Cup team, let alone the Ryder Cup team. So I could go have dinner with Rickie Fowler for two straight years and tell him everything, and then he might not make it. So I think it's all -- it's just a little bit much. We need a little more fun and that comes with winning." [Sounds like Freddie thinks the PGA is over-emphasizing the Ryder Cup a bit!]

On creating a task force: "I don't think anyone should panic. I don't think we need a 'task force,'" Couples said, employing air quotes. "I don't think we need the PGA of America straining about this. What I really think they need is to get players that have been on a lot of these teams to get a feel for what kind of captain they need."

On Phil's comments after the matches: Tom Watson captained the last U.S. Ryder Cup team, and was put under a harsh spotlight after the loss when team member Phil Mickelson said that none of the team's 12 players was consulted on any decisions made during the competition.

Couples is hesitant to throw Watson under the bus, but he also said he had no problem with how Mickelson got his point across. Couples said he thought Watson didn't "cradle his boys enough, and that's what they need." [Is it just me or doesn't this sound as if Freddie is saying you have to treat the team members like children?]

On the one mistake he thinks Tom Watson made: Couples questioned 2014 U.S. captain Tom Watson's decision to sit five-time major winner and Ryder Cup stalwart Phil Mickelson for both Saturday sessions.

"I know one thing, I will play Phil Mickelson on Saturday of the next Ryder Cup if he's on the team. That was the only thing I could see that maybe you could say that Tom, something happened there.

"Because we lost three and a half to a half [in the foursomes session], and I guarantee you it was because Phil wasn't out there playing. I guarantee it."

In another of the articles, he added that Phil was "the best guy on every team I've ever been on."

On the European "template": "I think the easiest part is just really not panicking. You've got to have your teams ready and just get points, and it's not easy to do. They make it look easy because they're winning and their formula, whatever it might be, is not because they're closer and they're friendlier to each other. That's the biggest crazy thing ever.

"Every team I've been on has been phenomenal, and I'm sure every team Europe's ever had has been phenomenal. They just win, so it looks easier."

On what the team members have told him: Couples has had contact with most of the players on this year’s Ryder Cup team. “There are several of them that I text and talk to all the time and I did during that week, too. I mean, some of the texts were disheartening, some were exciting. Some when they got home they said, ‘You need to do this.’”

* * * * *
There's a lot more in the articles (they're well worth the read) but there are a couple of observations in the PGATOUR.com article that I think are important because they give you an idea of what Freddie has been doing with the Presidents Cup teams.

First, there's this little tidbit concerning Freddie's first Presidents Cup:

While Couples frowns on calling it a task force - he prefers “committee” as a euphemism - he likes the idea of selecting Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods to serve on the panel.

In his first term as Presidents Cup captain at TPC Harding Park, Couples said every top level meeting he had included his three-time assistant captain Jay Haas, Woods, Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk, the team’s veteran campaigners, and Michael Jordan. It was Couples’ way of empowering team leaders as he applied an age-old sports adage that your best players have to be your best players in order to be successful.

“I think that worked out great,” Couples said. “Phil Mickelson has been on 10 of them, Woods, I don’t know, eight or 10. So those guys should really have a say.”

And finally, there's this observation from vice captain Jay Haas:

Haas, who will captain the 2015 U.S. Presidents Cup team, knows exactly what Couples brings in the role.

“I can only speak to how the players responded to him in the Presidents Cup,” Haas said. “I don’t know what it is. It’s hard to put your finger on it. He just has a knack at relaxing the guys.

“Somebody asked what were some of Freddie’s speeches like. They were zero. In fact, one time somebody said, ‘Fred, give us something.’ He kind of hemmed and hawed and he goes, ‘Jaybird, what do you have to say?’”

But Haas said Couples is “way more into it than he lets on and that we see.

“He knows the details. He’s already figured the scenario out. I think he would be a great choice.”

Once you add in Freddie's reminder that captains don't hit any shots, you realize that perhaps Freddie's biggest key to success as a Presidents Cup captain is that he never forgets that this is just a game. Perhaps that's what makes him so different from most Ryder Cup captains.

And why so many players want him to be one.

Ted Bishop's Side of the Story

Ted Bishop is scheduled to be on Morning Drive today but, in case you miss it or would rather read Bishop's side of the story for yourself, here's the link to Jaime Diaz's article at golfdigest.com.



According to Bishop, he was set up to take a fall... and if Bishop is telling Diaz the truth about the chain of events that followed that infamous tweet, it's a reasonable accusation that the PGA will be forced to respond to.

Based on what Diaz has written in this column, I have a feeling that this story isn't going to go away very soon. It's worth taking time to read it, just to be aware of the issues that are going to shape this dispute.