Ryder Cup set: big mismatch?
Ian Woosnam picked Ryder Cup veterans Darren Clarke (who recently lost his wife to breast cancer) and Lee Westwood as his captain's picks. The Euros have:
Colin Montgomerie
David Howell
Sergio Garcia
Robert Karlsson
Henrik Stenson
Paul Casey
Padraig Harrington
Luke Donald
Paul McGinley
Jose Maria Olazabal
Darren Clarke
Lee Westwood.
The U.S. team consists of the following:
Tiger Woods
Phil Mickelson
Jim Furyk
Chad Campbell
David Toms
Chris DiMarco
Vaughn Taylor
J.J. Henry
Zach Johnson
Brett Wetterich
Stewart Cink
Scott Verplank
Four of the twelve U.S. guys I could not pick out of a line-up.
7 Comments:
I see the US Team being underdogs going into this years ryder cup. Adding up the individual records of all the US player they have a losing record as a team. Picking Stewart Cink for Ryder Cup experience??? see this post Ryder Cup 2006: USA Captains Picks as it show all the US Teams individual records.
I think the U.S. team has a solid shot at winning this year. I like the new players, and I like the things they are doing to try to get the team to gel. Tiger's now a senior guy, and is taking the leadership role. Winning the President's Cup will add confidence as well. Should be fun!
I agree. Question marks must hang over some members of the European team...McGinley has had a very poor season (and only qualified by virtue of his RU performance in the HSBC World Matchplay, and his victory in the Volvo Masters). Westwood has had an indifferent season. Olazabal's good form from the start of the season has largely petered out. Montgomerie's been a bit hit and miss. David Howell has been labouring with a sore back throughout the summer.
Robert Karlsson is largely untested.
With all this in mind, I prefer the US team.
With the U.S.A winning the presidents cup, this will give them the confidence to try and win it and proves to themselves that they can win as a team, but i still think us europeans will win being in ireland/europe having our fans here pushing the europeans along to win it. It will be a close finish.
There's some discord in the Euro camp: not only as Monty been critical of Olazabal's decision to skip the final qualifying tournament even though he was at risk of falling outside automatic qualification, others are being to question Woosie's leadership, not least Thomas Bjorn:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/5311632.stm
The European team has a strong look to it from 1 to 12. Every player except Lee Westwood has won a tournament since the last Ryder Cup, and most players have a winning record in the competition.
Westwood is the ideal Wild Card pick, having previously won two competitions at the K Club.
The American team is definitely the underdog, with four rookies. I would not want Brett Wetterich in my team after seeing him fluffing a chip, and then swinging wildly in anger and wasting two more strokes.
The european side is looking strong and i feel that all the wild card choices were correct (westward and clarke) but thomas bjorn didnt agree, he felt that he was a better player and should of been chosen, but when looking at wild card choices you have to look at players who perform better in a team then in singles.
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