Name your Euro WC choices

First topic message reminder :

Ok, Now that the Top 9 in in For Europe, name your choices for Wild Cards:

I'd go Poulter, Gallacher & Casey

Stenson has complained of feeling "run down". Fortunately, nothing for Poulter & Westwood to be jaded about, they should be well rested and fit as fiddles.


Not sure what your question is Davie,
But Messrs Donald, McDowell (quite understand they both had family responsibilities), Poulter and Westwood all seemed to adopt a schedule which said, "Maybe it'll be good enough, maybe not and I'll need a 'pick'".
If all are as good as they crack themselves up to be, and as keen on Ryder Cup participation, I'm sure they could have shown some hunger by actually playing more often. There were always going to be tears.

I took your comment to be about players feeling jaded about the RC - not jaded in general. I can't think of anyone who would feel ambivalent about the RC (except perhaps Coco and Tiger?)

I haven't heard any direct quotes from Luke but I'm sure he's rather p*ssed at missing out

Id imagine Luke is fairly p*ssed about his golf full stop right now.

Yup Davie, I'm a great fan of Luke and feel he should have been a chosen one. He's right to be p1ssed off.
But he had control of his own destiny - don't doubt that the premature arrival of his child when he was playing at Wentworth might have caused him to adjust his playing schedule, but if he cared that much he could have added a tournament or two.

It's happened before with the English guys (Casey, Poulter, Rose) and will doubtless happen again if they're more interested in their Maseratis than representing Europe.

I think the picks were spot on. Westwood is coming out of a slump. Poulter … well he is just Poulter nuff said. Luke is going through some swing changes and they are not quite there yet. And Gallagher is playing well (narrowly missed out on an automatic spot plays the course very well and well he is Scottish which will add some decibels to the crowd!

Jaded is the right word about the European team - I fear. I also have my concern about Coco and the implications his possible/potential indifference may cause on his teammates. Comparable to the Tiger situation one could fear.

Also, there are far too many VC's. And having former captains as VC's is a no-no imo. Combined with an already very experienced European team I fear it'll all end up in chaos.

It seems McGinley has been sandbagging big time, both in terms of wild cards and VC's. Why not Monty and Langer as well? And what about Lyle and Bernard Gallacher once you're at it?

The Americans have nothing to lose and could very well pull this off.

All a bit cliquey and comfy in the inner circle methinks.

Europe have to wake up.
They've been lucky the last two RC's. More Irish and Spanish on the sidelines than in the Team - Swedes being ignored again.
I'd've like to have seen Levet and Karlsson instead of the 3 new VC's. Has all the hallmarks of a Torrance Captaincy.

Agree. Ollie and especially Paddy have no place as on this team. Sure, never got the Des Smyth and Torrance thing but leave it with those + MAJ.

McGinley reasoning for picking Harrington:
"Padraig is my oldest friend on Tour and is a guy I have known most of my life. We went to school together.... "

Well good on you Paul that you trust him. But he's not the right guy for the job.

I was a bit surprised with the Pick of Ollie, maybe wants to invoke the spirit of Seve.

Harrington was always going to be a VC, and i hate to break it to you Pedro be he will be the ryder cup captain in on of the next 3 outings. And yes before you say anything more 3 majors says he does deserve it!

I can't think of a better reason for picking your VC than him being your best mate. It's not like his golf credentials aren't pretty good as well.

Hogie, 3 majors doesn't mean you deserve it, but that you'll probably get it.... I still can't see what he brings to the table though.

Digs, Tiger wouldn't select Notah Begay would he? Being friends is not really a valid reason. Knowing the Ryder Cup and the players is. And I agree that Harrington has acheived a lot, but can't see why we need him. He seems detached from the real world and comes across as too much of a weird character. Plus his RC record is not that great.

Plenty of VC's, ex-VC's, ex-Captains and experienced players already. I'm also sure Bjorn and Westwood have their opinions as well. This Ryder Cup team may end up being over-managed to death before it even comes alive - so you might as well have the government run it. Hope they remember rain gear though...

Not sure that there should be a correlation between multiple Majors and RC Captaincy. Certainly didn't work for Lyle, and probably rightly so.

(Didn't seem to work for Faldo either - if a player is isolated from the Tour, I think he should be disqualified from Captaincy. Hopefully St.Padraig can return to the ET to be better qualified for the job.)

What do you reckon going forward?
Clarke
Bjorn
Harrington
Westwood . . .
. . . . is my guess.

Saying a player deserves to be Captain on the basis of having 3 majors is a bit like saying that someone will be a good Ryder Cup player by having more majors. It doesn't really matter. Europe has had plenty of non major holding Ryder Cup captains.

Will Harrington get it? I'm not so sure. At the time he's "due" there will be a rash of players also looking for it who actually have better Ryder Cup standings. Clarke, Jiminez, Westwood, Bjorn, Garcia etc.

Will John Daly be given the American Ryder Cup captaincy due to his majors? No, course he won't.

In relation to Paddy being a VC, surely all that us required is you do what you are told, give honest feedback and opinion and know your stuff.
Paddy will do all of that, he has plenty of RC experience even if it wasn't his best format as a player. Plus he's still on the the main tour (though clearly past it) so he will know most of the protagonists games.

VC is a pretty over-played job. You simply follow one of the matches and relate the state of play.
I can't imagine Harrington being particularly inspirational.

"eeee, ye just have to focus on yer eeee focus"

I can't imagine Harro being much good in a team environment either. McGinley must have brought him along for luck.

Forgot Paul Lawrie as a potential future captain too.
Harrington will be up against some stiff opposition.

forgot about lawrie as a VC. seems like a no brainer decision, especially as hes a stingy celt (ie scottish)

Poulter's lucky run in the Ryder cup will come to an end this year, bet he gets his ass handed to him in all matches.

I wouldn't be surprised INco, but I wouldn't be surprised if he won them all either.

I've a suspicion Dubuisson is going to be the main man.

hogie wrote: ... And Gallagher is playing well (narrowly missed out on an automatic spot plays the course very well and well he is Scottish which will add some decibels to the crowd!

Indeed hogie.  I think some folk on here forget too that Gallacher knows the course inside out with 7/10 top ten finishes in the Scottish PGA event.

Confirmation that Westwood is playing at Celtic Manor . . . . . .

kwinigolfer wrote:I've never heard a golfer who's played RC diss it - closest was probably back when O'Meara acted as Woods's surrogate to demand pay for play.

I like that kwini.

super_realist wrote:I wouldn't be surprised INco, but I wouldn't be surprised if he won them all either.

I've a suspicion Dubuisson is going to be the main man.

I agree super though many see him as a bit of a weak link being quiet and a bit of a loner

I worry about Dubuisson. Seems a long time ago he was in the form that got him in the team.

Bjorn, Gallagher, Donaldson also worry me and i doubt would give any of the Americans sleepless nights.
MacDowell isn't playing very well, Kaymer very hit and miss, Westwood and Poulter obviously both needed picks they've been so average this year.

I think Europe are in for a struggle.

Mpb,
Dubuisson top 10 in the last two majors. Not too bad?
Donaldson winning two weeks ago and top of the leaderboard this week.
Bjorn top10 in his last tourney and top of leaderboard again this week.
Gallacher fresh off two top 10s.

All fair points Pedro, can't argue with any of that
To be honest, i hadn't realise Dubuisson had had such good finishes in the last two majors. Seems so long ago i heard his name mentioned.

I guess i'm thinking in terms of who you might and might not want to play and i can't see any of the Americans worrying about any of those guys too much.

It's being made out that Europe has the stronger team by miles but if my maths is right the average world ranking on the Euro team is 19 compared to 16 for the US.

Which is true but Euro team have 4 out of the top 5 and the other one is Aussie.

I think Europe are rightly favourites but think its going to be quite close again.

True but Europe also have 6 outside the top 20 compared to their 3.
If you accept the world rankings to be a fair assessment of a player's quality and the US's average ranking is higher than Europe's I genuinely don't see how Europe can be favourites. But they are

Then so is Tiger going into every major....

For sure there are a few no-names on the European team, so I get your point mpb. But Walker and Reed don't seem intimidating names either.

Also think it will be close but unsung golfers, Europeans anyway, have contributed mightily to European success in the past.

Don't suppose anyone was scared of Clark, Gilford, James or Walton in 1995 but their singles contribution was crucial to Europe's win. And doubt that Mickelson was anything other than confident in the Belfry battle of the Phils with Pontypridd's Price. Paul Lawrie's singles record is played 2, won 2.
Similarly Levet and an unheralded Poulter did more than their fair share in 2004.


If our great players play great and our good players play well (good for American linguists), we'll be OK.
But at Valhalla our great players, Garcia, Harrington, Westwood among them, were very poor and apparently disengaged. That's like a cancer that would be terminal.

All very good points Kwini. 2008 was great, but at the same time you also have to remember who our captain was....

The Yanks are almost always considered favourites (although not this time) because people take into account things like ranking, majors, hype, name etc.

However, they've won 2 Ryder Cups in the last 9. So it means bugger all.

Walker so so, but I wouldn't want to play Reed. Aggressive and full of belief. He might be a numpty but I have a feeling he'll do well for them.

It's true that lesser known player have contributed in the past, of course. But that doesn't make it any more likely Europe's lesser knowns will contribute more than the US's this time.

Based on the rankings, you'd have to say if everyone played to their ability Europe would lose.

I hope that's not how it goes but I am amazed that the US are being given little chance by many

Home course advantage should play in as well. Sure a few yanks will be intimidated by the hostile (sorry, partisan) crowds.

Could work the other way Pedro, a fervent crowd told to expect a home win at a canter ends up putting pressure on Europe.

MustPuttBetter wrote:Walker so so, but I wouldn't want to play Reed. Aggressive and full of belief. He might be a numpty but I have a feeling he'll do well for them.

It's true that lesser known player have contributed in the past, of course. But that doesn't make it any more likely Europe's lesser knowns will contribute more than the US's this time.

Based on the rankings, you'd have to say if everyone played to their ability Europe would lose.

I hope that's not how it goes but I am amazed that the US are being given little chance by many

I wouldn't put too much stall on rankings. Look at 9c. Ranked 12 but no where near a top 100 player on actual merit this year.
Mickelson too is another who's had a poor year compared to his 2013.
Many players on both sides are where they are in the rankings due to some rather ancient form.

Looking at each teams rankings based only on 2014 would be interesting. I would think McIlroy would hold his place, but how many others?

From a Euro point of view I'd be worried about Reed, Fowler, Walker and Bradley - whether you like them or not I think they will be tough competitors. If I was on the Euro team I'd have no fear of some of the bigger names (Watson, Mahan, Simpson and maybe even FIGJAM)

Also from a Euro point of view I'm concerned about Gallagher and Donaldson - I see them as our weak links. VickyD will do well as will the other two wild cards. Not convinced about Bjorn either - hopefully Gallager Donaldson and Bjorn will get drawn against the likes of Hunner and Simpson