2008 Ryder Cup

[Highlifeman21]

Team Europe
Captain - Nick Faldo
Asst. Capt. - Jose Maria Olazabal

Sergio Garcia
Soren Hansen
Padraig Harrington
Miguel Angel Jimenez
Robert Karlsson
Graeme McDowell
Justin Rose
Henrik Stenson
Lee Westwood
Oliver Wilson
Paul Casey*
Ian Poulter*

* = Captain's Pick


Team USA
Captain - Paul Azinger
Asst. Capt. - Olin Browne
Asst. Capt. - Ray Floyd
Asst. Capt. - Dave Stockton

Phil Mickelson
Stewart Cink
Kenny Perry
Jim Furyk
Anthony Kim
Justin Leonard
Ben Curtis
Boo Weekley
Chad Campbell*
JB Holmes*
Hunter Mahan*
Steve Stricker*

* = Captain's Pick

[Highlifeman21]

My crystal ball only shows 2 realistic outcomes:

1. Team USA gets pounded on their home turf (we're talking doubled up, like the Euros have done to us the last 2 Ryder Cups)
2. Team USA somehow eeks out a 14.5 - 13.5 W. (15 points is out of the question, if Team USA wins, it'll be by the smallest margin, aka 14.5 - 13.5)



The sad part is, even if El Tigre were on this team, they'd still be hard pressed to score 15 points. This is, IMO, one of the worst team's we've had in recent years. Thankfully, if you're rootin' for the Yanks, the Euros are trotting out some of their more virtually unknown names in recent memory. Hansen and Wilson are definitely not household names over here, and Karlsson and McDowell are only one step closer to actually being known.

With the USA sending out guys like Kim, Leonard (would be a great pick if this was 1999 or older), Curtis, Weekley, Holmes and Mahan, you can only like the Euros.



My prediction: Euros 20 - USA 8.

What say you?

[Redhook]

The US is an overwhelming underdog and shouldn't come close to winning. But somehow they will.

[MWM]

I have the same feeling about this Ryder Cup as I had about the Buckeyes going into the game against USC. And my feeling turned out to be true. Hard to believe it's this much of a mismatch on paper.

[bucksfan2]

What happened to Luke Donald????

The euros grow up playing a ton more match play than the US. The ironic thing with Tiger is you would expect him to dominate match play but he has been pretty lackluster for his career. I don't think the loss of Tiger is that great.

It seems as if the rolls have reversed for this Ryder Cup. The Euros are much stronger than the USA but are playing on USA's home turf. I hope it is an interesting Cup, similar to that of 99.

[Highlifeman21]

What happened to Luke Donald????

The euros grow up playing a ton more match play than the US. The ironic thing with Tiger is you would expect him to dominate match play but he has been pretty lackluster for his career. I don't think the loss of Tiger is that great.

It seems as if the rolls have reversed for this Ryder Cup. The Euros are much stronger than the USA but are playing on USA's home turf. I hope it is an interesting Cup, similar to that of 99.

FWIW, Tiger's 3-1-1 in singles, so he's shown that he can hold his own vs another player.

However, Tiger is horrible in 4some and 4ball. 3-6-1 and 4-6 respectively. The amusing part about his record with a teammate is that the majority of the time HE'S picked his partner (aside from the Hal Sutton "let's pair Tiger with Phil!" debacle). So, either Tiger overestimates his own game with the partner of his choosing, or he's chosen bad partners. Regardless, he should stick to singles.



As for Luke Donald, he was 50th in the European Ryder Cup points list. IIRC, he's dealing with an injury, and thus wasn't one of Faldo's picks.

[paintmered]

I'm not sure what will happen but I know that I'll be there on Saturday!

[Chip R]

I kinda of wish it was in Europe this year since I'll be busy pretty much all weekend. If it was across the pond, most of it would be in the mornings.

[RawOwl UK]

EUROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE !!!!!!!!!!

Really think its going to be 4 in a row.

Should be thrilling once again. One of the best weekends in sport.

[Hoosier Red]

I'm admittedly a complete homer on the pick, but I really think guys like Curtis and Leonard can really help in team play.
They're cool customers, they keep the ball on the fairway and they've been making putts recently. I'd put Justin with Phil, and Curtis with Boo in 4 ball.

as for the World Golf Rankings, the US has #2, #8,#9,#10,#11. Europe has #4,#5, #7, #12, and #13. So maybe I'm blind, but I just don't see the huge mismatch.

[Highlifeman21]

I'm admittedly a complete homer on the pick, but I really think guys like Curtis and Leonard can really help in team play.
They're cool customers, they keep the ball on the fairway and they've been making putts recently. I'd put Justin with Phil, and Curtis with Boo in 4 ball.

as for the World Golf Rankings, the US has #2, #8,#9,#10,#11. Europe has #4,#5, #7, #12, and #13. So maybe I'm blind, but I just don't see the huge mismatch.

So the World Golf Rankings have you, hook, line and sinker....

Steve Stricker (captain's pick) is the 8th best player in the world? Wasn't he 4th or 5th last year? aka, decline

Jim Furyk is the 9th best player in the world? Wasn't he also ranked higher last year? again, decline

Anthony Kim. Could you pick him out of a police lineup? He's one of the only rising stars on the US Team, but he's a rook, and Euros trounce US rooks.

Cink, IMO, should be ranked higher. I think he's arguably the best player on the US team. I think he'll gain the US the most points this weekend.

Sure, Phil wins money, but he's not the 2nd best player in the World. Not even close. Give me Henrik Stenson over Philly Mick any day of the week. I hope they play each other in singles, b/c we'll see Stenson win 6&5.


Basically it comes down to a US team with players in decline vs a Euro team with players on the rise. IMO, it's definitely a huge mismatch.

Azinger should have put Daly on the team, just so we'd have something to talk about this weekend besides the obvious butt-whipping we'll see the Euros give the Yanks.

[Hoosier Red]

So give me the Highlifeman golf rankings.

Just curious what's the top 20?
And it doesn't really matter whether guys are in decline or on the rise. It matters where they are.

If Ohio State is in decline, do you pick Indiana to beat them because Indiana is on the rise?

[bucksfan2]

So give me the Highlifeman golf rankings.

Just curious what's the top 20?
And it doesn't really matter whether guys are in decline or on the rise. It matters where they are.

If Ohio State is in decline, do you pick Indiana to beat them because Indiana is on the rise?

Not necessarily. The Ryder Cup is a 2 year selection process. I think it has changed, but not so much. A few years Mark O'Meara won two majors and then was awful the next year. He made the Ryder Cup team based upon the year before.

One other possible problem is the lack of tournaments that the big guns play in. This allows the second tier of players to play more and gain Ryder Cup points without playing against the top competition.

[Highlifeman21]

So give me the Highlifeman golf rankings.

Just curious what's the top 20?
And it doesn't really matter whether guys are in decline or on the rise. It matters where they are.

If Ohio State is in decline, do you pick Indiana to beat them because Indiana is on the rise?

IIRC, they reconfigured the Ryder Cup points system to be weighted more heavily for the year of the Cup, and also gave more points to how people finished in the Majors.

My Top 20:

Woods
Vijay
Sergio
Paddy Harrington
Els
Stenson
Westwood
Rose
Scott
Mickelson
Cink
Kim
Stricker
Furyk
Geoff Ogilvy
Choi
Karlsson
M.A. Jimenez
Villegas
Luke Donald

My question is "Why doesn't it matter whether they are on the rise or the decline?"

While Justin Leonard is attempting to reinvent himself in hopes to prolong his career pre-Champions Tour, I definitely think he was a much better golfer when he won his Open rather than the golfer he is today. According to the World Golf Rankings, he should be the 7th best player on the team, and was 6th in Ryder Cup points, so while I don't want to discount the WGR, I also don't comfortably trust it as a metric to judge golfers accurately.

Like I said, Team USA, aside from having 1/2 its roster with rookies, has too many golfers on the decline. Many of the guys were better last time Team USA got thumped by the Euros than this time around. Cink, Perry and Kim are the only 3 that are playing much better in 2008 than they did in 2006, so I do put a lot of weight in that.

Conversely, many of the members of Team Europe are playing some of their best golf of their careers right now, and certainly much better than they hit it in 2006.

I understand your tOSU vs IU metaphor, but it doesn't apply to golf. tOSU is a machine, and every now and then you'll see an upstart knock them off, but it doesn't happen the majority of the time. In golf, you see the better players and the hotter players prevail the majority of the time. Sure, there are exceptions, but you're not going to see a Hunter Mahan or a JB Holmes or a Boo Weekley or a Ben Curtis take down a Paddy Harrington or a Henrik Stenson or a Justin Rose.

Bottomline, Team Euro just has better players.


What's your Top 20? Who ya got?

[Highlifeman21]

Friday 4somes, who ya got?

Harrington & Karlsson vs Mickelson & Kim

Stenson & Casey vs Leonard & Mahan

Rose & Poulter vs Cink & Campbell

Westwood & Garcia vs Perry & Furyk



-----------------------------------------

Rose & Poulter is a pairing we'll probably see very often. That being said, I love Cink & Campbell together vs those two. I think this is the only Friday pairing where the Americans can feasibly win a full point. IMO, Perry & Furyk could surprise with a win, but I only see them halving at best.

My aggressive prediction is Euros 3 - Americans 1 after Friday. My conservative prediction is Euros 2.5 - Americans 1.5.

I don't think Mickelson & Kim are a good team at all, and I think we'll see them honestly lose at least 4&3.

Mahan & Leonard is an interesting team, due to their vastly contrasting styles of play. Maybe Azinger knows something the rest of the world does not? Unfortunately, Stenson could beat both of them singlehandedly. The fact that he has an excellent support player in Casey is just an added bonus. We'll probably see a 3&1 or 3&2 victory by the Euros in this match.

Rose & Poulter is see losing or halving with Cink & Campbell. I love Cink's game, and I think Campbell's ready to re-emerge this week. If Rose & Poulter were playing anyone else, I'd say they'd win easily, but I think that highly of Cink. This will be a great match, IMO.

Like I said, I don't see Furyk & Perry winning this match outright, but halving this match could be seen as a moral victory. Kentucky's own Perry is out to showcase his homegrown talent, so I think he'll play some of the best golf of his life this week. This match will be determined by the ultra-streaky putting of Sergio Garcia. If Sergio's putter is hot, then the Americans will lose this match. If Sergio has a cold putter, then you'll most likely see a halve. I just don't honestly see Westwood being that insignificant in the match to let the Americans win a full point, regardless of Sergio's putter.


But seriously Azinger, Mickelson & Kim? Is that rookie hazing by making Kim play with Philly Mick? The amusing part is that Kim's been playing better golf this year than Mickelson, so it will come as no surprise if it's Phil that costs the Americans to lose this match. And lose badly.