Comeback for Corey Pavin
Although he won the U.S. Bank Championship wire-to-wire, Corey Pavin finally made a "comeback" on the PGA tour. The guy who won 1 major (the U.S. Open at Shinnecock) has all but disappeared for the past 10 years (not winning any tournament). Nice to see Corey back in the win column. It's been too long.
Pavin was one of my favorite players, particularly because he was a bulldog and clutch putter in Ryder Cup play. He kind of reminded me of how Chris DiMarco plays in team competition. Tom Lehman has picked Pavin as an assistant for the Ryder Cup team, along with Loren Roberts, who won yesterday the Senior British Open. Maybe this is a good omen for the U.S. team.
11 Comments:
I think Pavin would be an excellent captain's pick for the Ryder Cup. He might be a terrific assistant captain, but the guy was always clutch on the game's most pressure-packed stage. If his game is in shape by the end of the PGA, I think Tom Lehman should give serious consideration to making Pavin one of his picks for the team...as a player. Like Chris DiMarco, Pavin would provide some much needed heart to a US team that, in my opinion, regardless of the caliber of its players, will be an underdog at The K Club in September.
I was thinking something similar this morning. If Pavin was, say, to secure a couple of top-15 performances in the next 3 tournaments, then Pavin would be a really tempting pick. After all, matchplay's a bit more forgiving, than strokeplay. And might also mitigate Pavin's (relative) absence of length off the tee.
Another thing in Pavin's favour: he travels well. He's won in Germany, the UK, South Africa and Korea. He's played well in the British Open before - notably '93 at Royal St George's.
Things that would stop this scenario unfolding: if Love III or Couples were to have a couple of impressive performances, then I guess they'd provide the experience Lehman's looking for.
C'mon guys...Pavin's win was entertaining and a bit heartwarming to be sure, but talking about the Ryder Cup is simply delusional. Last on TOUR in driving distance, 149th in putting, 172nd in birdie average, has missed 8 out of 17 cuts for the year.
Whatever you're smokin, send me some.
Pavin is already on the Ryder Cup team... as an assistant captain. And that's as close to the action as he belongs.
Yes he's last in driving distance but so what? When was the last time John Daly made the Ryder Cup team? Didn't think so. My point is that the current US Ryder Cup team is going to get drilled at The K Club in September. If the US is going to have any chance, its players are going to have to show some heart...the kind of heart that guys like Pavin and DiMarco show. Name any other player with a better Ryder Cup record than Pavin. He probably won't make the team, but I also won't be surprised in the least when the US team gets handed its lunch this fall.
Hmmm...you're reaching badly.
1) The K Club is 7300 yards long and lush. If you hit it out there 260 as Pavin does, you're screwed on a course of this length.
2) What does John Daly have to do with this? Invalid point.
3) Given his stats for putting and birdie average (149th and 172nd respectively) it would seem that his performance last weekend was an aberration, with all due respect. Grinding out pars might work in a US Open style war of attrition but in match play against the best players in the world, it ain't going to cut it.
4) I can name quite a few with a better record. Pavin isn't in the top 10 in points won nor the top 5 in percentage won. Using your rationale, Lehman should pick Lanny Wadkins who has a much better record than Pavin in the Ryder Cup.
5) Wow, are you a sour guy on the US chances or what? I know it's fashionable to rip on the US team and say that the Euros want it more, play better as a team, blah, blah, blah... Nice to see you've hitched your cart to that bandwagon. Very original. Mark this down: the US squad will rip the no name Euros in September. It will be fun to watch.
If Pavin is going to be in contention for a wild card, he's going to have to play well in the next 3 tournaments. Although he has a good enough record at Medinah, his record at the International is poor.
If this was the case, I don't see why Pavin's wild card position isn't that different from Floyd in '91 or Strange in '95. The difference is that Pavin has a better Ryder Cup record than these two guys.
On length & the K Club, Pavin's length wouldn't be such an issue in fourballs.
Pavin is a nice sentimental pick, but the last time we had one of those was Curtis Strange. We all remember how that turned out.
But Strange's ryder cup record is much poorer than Pavin's.
I'd see Pavin more like Wadkins in '93 or Floyd in '91.
But anyway, unless Pavin shoots the lights out the next three tournaments, it ain't gonna happen.
Who's to say that it won't happen? The picks are entirely Tom Lehman's and he just might decide to take a chance on a guy like Pavin. There's no one to tell him who he has to select for the team.
But he'd get a lot of heat for picking a mate, much like Wadkins in '95 when he picked strange.
How about Sluman to rack up enough points over the next couple of weeks to steal a spot?
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