Well this weeks PGA Championship is the last week for the US golfers to make points towards the Ryder Cup team. The top 8 point winners are in and then Caption Paul Azinger gets to pick 4 - doesn’t matter where they are on the points standings. Does the USA team stand a chance this year???..
Here are the top players (with Tiger out everyone moved up…) So according to Ryder Cup points Stewart Cink is the best golfer out there - yikes. Who will Zinger pick?
1 Stewart CINK 4952.665
2 Phil MICKELSON 4880.000
3 Kenny PERRY 4480.700
4 Jim FURYK 4328.792
5 Anthony KIM 4003.796
6 Justin LEONARD 3348.524
7 Boo WEEKLEY 2627.295
8 Steve STRICKER 2603.168
9 Woody AUSTIN 2422.983
10 Hunter MAHAN 2304.517
11 D.J. TRAHAN 2294.916
12 Rocco MEDIATE 2246.060
13 Sean O’HAIR 2205.172
14 Zach JOHNSON 2184.508
15 Brandt SNEDEKER 2134.887
16 J.B. HOLMES 2030.947
17 Jeff QUINNEY 2024.187
18 Bart BRYANT 1900.257
19 Chad CAMPBELL 1827.429
20 Ben CURTIS 1800.061
21 Jerry KELLY 1774.993
22 Heath SLOCUM 1665.654
23 Briny BAIRD 1537.664
24 Paul GOYDOS 1536.817
25 Bubba WATSON 1519.341
26 Steve LOWERY 1517.991
27 Patrick PEREZ 1426.166
28 Kevin SUTHERLAND 1383.536
29 Billy MAYFAIR 1380.713
30 Scott VERPLANK 1369.377
Those long ball hitters are something and if they can keep the ball in the short grass they’ll be hard to beat. Interesting to see a short ball hitter matched up with them…
I don’t know enough about the Valhalla course in Kentucky to know if it favors the long ball.
I think they do stand a chance this year. Anthony Kim will be a fun X-factor, and something tells me that the rest of the top 10 will perform with more “nothing to lose” confidence without Tiger around. They may even be motivated to win without him to send a message – to him as much as anyone else – that they don’t need him to succeed. I suspect Mickelson may still lay an egg, though. I can’t figure that guy out…he seemed much more confident and passionate before he surrounded himself with a phalanx of coaches and strategists.
The standings in the OP make the US look shallow, talentwise. Outside the top 10 or so, there aren’t many established names on that list. I follow the game closely and I"ve never even heard of #28, Kevin Sutherland!
I think you really have to be looking through the red, white and blue glasses to think the US has a good shot at this. On paper, the European squad crushes the US in terms of experience, prior record at the RC, and recent performance.
The top eight for the US is fairly solid (but without much prior sucess in the RC), but beyond that the pickings are slim. Europe can pick as wildcards such players as Sergio Garcia (World Rank - 6), Justin Rose (WR - 16), Ian Poulter (23), Colin Montgomery (don’t laugh, he’s a RC monster), Darren Clarke, etc.
Kim, Austin, Weekley, Stricker and MAhan have never been in a Ryder Cup before, and there is no greater pressure cooker than this. The US veterans, with the exception of Furyk, offer little in the way of leadership - Cink is one of the most disliked players on tour, along with Mickleson, while Perry and Leonard are a combined 0-5-5 in prior matches (yes, I was surprised to see that from Leonard, too).
I wouldn’t want to be Azinger. Do you take someone like Scott Verplank (4-1 lifetime) who is 90th on the money list this season or Boo Weekley, who’s record in big tournaments is mediocre at best? I predict he takes both of them and hopes for the best.
No nationalistic specs on these eyes. I agree that Europe is likely to win convincingly, but I’m giving the U.S. squad a 2 in 5 chance of pulling out a victory or at least a close one. Call it a hunch. Europe has more depth of talent these days, IMO, but I think that without Tiger around the American squad may play with the kind of spunk that Europe is usually known for and surprise a lot of people. Phil Mickelson would have to stop acting like a corporate bobblehead and join the team, though, and that’s unlikely to happen.
The whole event is mildly hilarious to me…the “worst country club nightmare” uniforms…the “come on, it’s not the friggin’ Olympics” pomp and circumstance of the opening ceremonies…the way they trot out the players’ wives like it’s a re-run of the Mrs. Europe/USA contest…but it’s all much easier to take if the players are scrapping to win and not playing up a false sense of solemnity. Tiger always feigns interest in the event, and that attitude is contagious. I really do think his absence will help.
Plus Paul Azinger lived for the Ryder Cup during his career. He may actually scare a few guys into winning points for fear of disappointing him.
A lot of good points in both messages. There is the opportunity for US players to rise up and claim some level of (extra) fame by playing beyond themselves. Woody Austin in the President’s Cup last year, Chris Dimarco two years before that. If those type of player can rise to the occasion they could be marked as the US’ version of Monty. Tiger can only be responsible for 5 points (?) and he has never won all his points. So the team can only rest on the argument that Tigers absence is detrimental for a few points. If its a blow the rest of the squad will have to own the loss.
Looks like several of the contenders for a Ryder Cup slot are not going to make the cut at the PGA Champ…
Currently -
Cink is at the cut number
Mediate, B. Watson, Z. Johnson are a stroke below the cut
Verplank, Austin, Mahan are way down and it would take a miracle round
Sean OHair is currently Tied for 4th in the tourney and in 13th place in RC points. A great finish for him could get him on the team. Each is 600 points out of 8th place and one gets 2 points for every $1,000 earned so a $300,000 or better take home might get Sean a spot on the team. Can’t find the purse for the PGA CHampionship but I bet a top 5 finish pushes him into the spot light.
Pretty much the nightmare scenario for Azinger. Almost all the guys he was looking at to step up are gagging. The guys who are hanging in there are more Ryder Cup rookies, while Euro wildcard possibilities like Sergio, Justin Rose, and Paul Casey are at the top of the leaderboard.
Then there is Kenny “I Bagged The Open to Play A Gimme in America and Didn’t Win It and Now I’ve Got A Scratched Cornea and Dropped Out of the PGA After Shooting a 79” Perry. Clearly someone who knows how to knuckle down when the going is tough.
