PGA Tour: Justin Time for some Leadership: Notes from the Ballwasher

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Not much to talk about this week apart from the bleedin' obvious so let's keep it short:

1).I reckon this Ryder Cup will be won or lost by the very best of the European Team, and that means some new leadership on the course is necessary. And I'd say Justin Rose needs to be the man to step it up a notch.
There'll be loads of focus on Rory, Sergio, Poults, but Rose goes under the radar much of the time and it's time for him to take an excellent RC record and make it even better.
Or, another way of putting it, we can't have no-shows by our best:
~a la Faldo & Woosnam in 1991, or:
~Garcia, Harrington and Westwood in 2008.

2).If Europe's best don't excel, I expect it to be the Steady Eddies of the US Team to take advantage, Kuchar, Zach Johnson and Jimmy Walker especially. On the other side of their coin, Watson seems to rely over much on past partnerships of Simpson & Watson (plus their "scriptures") and Bradley and Mickelson. Don't see it happening and it looks like they'll be further weakened by Furyk having to baby-sit Patrick Reed after, anecdotedly, most of the US Team expressed a wish not to play with Top Five.

3).Europe will miss the leadership of Luke Donald, no doubt about that. Lots made of Poulter's Saturday evening brilliance in the Medinah gloaming, but US were up 10-4 before Luke and Sergio knocked off Woods & Stricker; Luke played, for me, the shot of the year (physically - a 6-iron inches from the cup after Woods had put his tee-shot within a couple of feet - and psychologically) on the 17th that day, then went out first and dusted Bubba on the Sunday, leading the charge to victory.

4).Would think that the US will rue the absence of Dufner and Dustin, and hopefully they'll be the greater loss.

5).Meanwhile, I'll echo Geoff Ogilvy's words on the Ryder Cup quoted last week by Doug Ferguson:
"As a TV spectacle, it's far better than the Super Bowl. Only one comes close - the 100 metres in the Olympics. Maybe. And it only lasts 10 seconds. Golf generally is not overly suspenseful on TV, but that is off the charts."

Certainly my favourite sports event, and I can't wait!

EUROPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like Spieth - but would love to see top 5 handed his ass on a plate.

Sadly I fear for Gallagher in the tumult of a RC first session, and only thing Poults comes good when the pressure is on and Europe are struggling. Can see that one going to the "good cop/bad cop" combo

I hope Watson puts Ray Floyd out to stay with the Mickelson/Bradley McIlroy/Garcia match.

And right before they tee off I hope Raymond leans into Phil and reminds him... "As a vice-captain I'm not allowed to talk to you during the matches... but the first time you give one of those guys a goofy encouraging thumbs up when they make a birdie... there's nothing in the rules that says I can't kick one of my size 11's right up you butt "

Davie wrote:I like Spieth - but would love to see top 5 handed his ass on a plate.

Sadly I fear for Gallagher in the tumult of a RC first session, and only thing Poults comes good when the pressure is on and Europe are struggling. Can see that one going to the "good cop/bad cop" combo

If you fear for Gallacher as a rookie in the first session, well he's playing against two rookies.

Observations from the opening ceremony:
-Significantly more blondes among the WAGs than among the general population
-As expected Salmond couldn't stay away
-Both Reed and Spieth looked very nervous during the presentations

Webb had a stinker. Gavin Hastings hit further yesterday. I like Bubb a getting to crowd going as he hits.

Bubba is a moron. 3 putts and blames his caddy. R.sole.

Sky coverage very poor. Just three matches on the course and we aren't even seeing half the shots.

Stop talking and show the golf.

Bjorn and Kaymer (the pairing Europeans would have been most worried about surely?) absolutely on fire at the moment, 3 up through 4.

Reed the only American really making a putt out there, and his birdie puts the Americans 2UP against Poulter and Gallacher. Gallacher really struggling out there, and not much better for Poults...

the bunkers are outrageously bad

Terrible debut from Gallacher.

I like Paul Mcginley, I just do not see the Poulter / Gallacher partnership. Poulter is in no form, and Gallacher is a rookie which will be nervous. Guess the hope was Gallacher would be steady, in the hope that Poulter becomes mr ryder cup again.

Gallacher and Westwood might have been better.

That was exactly my point in the other thread. Pairing Poults with a rookie is a mistake.

Stenson finally makes a putt after him and Rose have let a few chances go over the last holes. 3UP at the turn.

i am thinking 2half - 1half after all four finished. Gallacher is going to get the blame, while he doesnt seem to be covering himself in glory, it is a bad pairing. Gallacher and westwood does seem a better option. But i bet Mcginley felt he could not leave out poulter.

I read somewhere that virtually all of Poulters RC losses have been in opening fourballs?

that's a beauty from Rose at the 10th though. Watson and Simpson not up to much, but Rose and Stenson have been a very solid pairing so far (the odd missed putt aside).

Walker nails a bunker shot to eagle the 9th, USA back to 1DN in that one!

Oh Gallacher! Could really really have done with sinking that one, that's going to hurt him...

The only thing Gallacher will be "up" in, is his handicap after this round....

Watson and Simpson need to exchange some scriptures real soon...

nothing going Gallacher's way as his approach clangs the flagstick and ricochets about 12 feet away from the hole. Reed sticks his to a few feet, could soon be 4UP in that one the US.

not watching this but who is playing worse........Poulter or Gallacher??

Mad for Chelsea wrote:nothing going Gallacher's way as his approach clangs the flagstick and ricochets about 12 feet away from the hole. Reed sticks his to a few feet, could soon be 4UP in that one the US.

We don't need a running commentary MFC, if we're on this, then we've got access to actual commentary or are probably at home watching it.

I thought there would be more "running commentary" to be honest. I'm watching, but not everyone will be

Davie wrote:I thought there would be more "running commentary" to be honest. I'm watching, but not everyone will be

True, point being that if we have access to this website, then we've got access to radio commentary and live text commentary on websites.

Great stuff from Mickelson & Bradley. That result sets up this RC beautifully..............

I see Faldo is the latest person to have a go at riling the europeans. He described sergio as "useless" when discussing his perfonce at the 2008 Ryder cup, while commentating for an American broadcaster.

g-mac responded with

"You've got one of the best Ryder Cup pairings of all time. Being sat down on a Saturday afternoon of a Ryder Cup that we go on to lose, I'd say Sergio was fairly usless that afternoon because he wasn't able to play,"

Valhalla is a wound for Faldo that will never heal.

18 more holes of leadership from Justin Rose and we should wrap this up.
Capt Watson floundering; can't understand his singles line-up, and am looking forward to hearing what the US media has to say if his boys take one helluva beating. Arnold Palmer for Capt at Hazeltine?

Kwini

Does Watson's singles line up really matter considering they need 8.5 points, basically whatever the order they all need to win. He could have assumed Mcginely would go strong early in the order and matched that with his stronger players, but are there really any players on the US team who are obviously better than any of there team?

Probably not, but I would have thought Bradley, Walker and Johnson are three of the stronger Americans and their matches could easily be irrelevant.
Still lots of work for Europe to do, but don't feel as if Uncle Tom has his finger on his team's pulse.

Shame it wasn't a bit closer, still going to be exciting though. America traditionally excel at the Singles, but think Poulter will hole the winning putt.

Luggy Gallagher will get hammered I think.

Unless I've missed something, only Furyk (4), Mickelson (4)and Zach (2) have won singles matches among the Americans.
All of the Europeans have Singles wins except the three first-timers.

Great call Kwini, unbeaten in 5 games from Justin and some awesome golf, runs of birdies both yesterday morning and today.

We really are quite good at this matchplay stuff on this side of the pond, aren't we? Great win again.

I still don't think the Americans get it.

Still feel that RC Captaincy is important.
You can always say a good Captain can't make good players play great.
But a poor Captain (Nicklaus in 1987, Sutton, Faldo and now Watson) can certainly put his players in a situation where they are likely to struggle. And I'd say that's what Watson did this week.

Europeans seemed very comfortable with McGinley's decisions and pretty low-key style - Watson and his VC's seemed out touch. I'm sure Ray Floyd was there, but I don't remember seeing him at all.

A couple of interesting comments during interviews:

Jimmy Walker said this Ryder Cup experience "made me never want to miss one". Great attitude after your team's been duffed up. Ink him in for Hazeltine straight away. Very impressive week for him.

And Phil was asked about Captaincy styles and said words to the effect of:
"Azinger had a great plan in 2008, we all bought in to it and it worked. I don't see why we can't go back to that idea."
Clearly not happy with Watson, but I've never seen an adequate explanation for why Azinger wouldn't get a second crack at it.

Watson can stop colouring his hair and stop wearing a ridiculous shirt and tie on the course. Just for starters.

Zinger the obvious choice for Hazeltine Kwini? If not then who? Couples? Stricker? Phil himself?

Great call on Justin kwini. Europes best.

Watson should have put Bradley and Walker up earlier. Bradley didn't have a great cup, but has the mentality, and Walker is in form.

Mahan is a reknown choker so surprised he was third. Or maybe just because of that.

Impressed by the comebacks of Gmac and Rose, and Rorys first 6 holes were out of ths world.

Watson may be 65 but seems 85. After the match he looked like he didn't even know whether they'd won or lost. His VC's the same. And Stricker was already gone fishing after day 1.

Cheers SJ, pedro,
Can't imagine why Watson felt the need to disaffect Bradley and Phil - they won their fourball for goodness sake; and yes, I would have cuddled up to Bradley especially and said, "Sorry, I made a mistake sitting you and Phil, I need you to step up and show us some leadership. I'm putting you out early and really need your point."
As it was, he kinda sleepwalked his way to defeat vs Jamie D and the rest is history.
Agree about Walker too, but not Watson's fault that Kuchar and Zach only scored 1 1/2 pts between them. Much more was needed.

JAS,
If they don't go with Azinger, I'd choose David Toms - always a good team player, Azinger called him the most aggressive golfer he's played with in terms of firing straight at the pin, all the qualities you need as a captain. Otherwise, pick Phil and he'll engage Zinger as VC!

If it's Couples, they'll lose again, no problem; Darren Clarke and his team will run rings round Fred.

The more America lose, the less candidates they have that can be considered Captain material. Almost no current Americans have experience of winning this competition.
Mickelson and Furyk could well have played their last, 9C isn't interested and in any event is rubbish in RC. So the next RC could see a gaggle of Americans who don't know what it is like, or what it takes to win a Ryder Cup.

Toms may be a good choice. Not a typical leader in the American militaristic sense and doesn't seem to have a big ego. Probably what the Americans need. Then Phil or Strick for 2018.

Most of the recent European captains have been pretty modest guys and that has worked.

Azinger won't happen. Too desperate a choice. Just like Watson was. Maybe as VC though.

Why wasn't DC a VC for Europe?

DC a VC?

Didn't understand the 5-Man VC Platoon.
It looked as if he wanted Des Smyth and Torrance to help him with all the planning, but was surprised he didn't appoint a VC for the future, perhaps Levet or Karlsson. 'Course, he did add Harrington and maybe that was to get his mate firmly in the frame for Paris.
DC was doing TV work and maybe decided to feather his financial nest, especially given he must be a stone-cold cert for Hazeltine.

Even after this Match, still only six members of the US Team have ever won a singles match, and Rickie Fowler has still to win a single match. A bit like his PGA Tour career.

Some extract from the Mickelson mutiny;

http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2014/09/ryder-cup-tom-watson-phil-mickelson-paul-azinger.html

Some nice diplomacy from furyk.

Chamblee spot on or spouting rubbish?

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/brandel-chamblee-reacts-phil-mickelson/

Half and half I reckon.
Not sure that Phil wasn't expressing some deep-seated angst among many of the team - most of the punditry published post-pasting agree that Watson was hopelessly out of touch as a Captain. Big contrast to some of the cool things we're learning that McGinley did.
No apparent reason why Bradley and Mickelson were benched Saturday, and when these guys take a chunk out of their lives to commit to a Ryder Cup, and you've played on 10 teams, a breakdown in communication is unforgivable.
Watson was out of his depth in my opinion.
Should Phil have said what he said when he said it? Probably not, but it was going to come out sooner or later. Much the same way as Faldo is now throwing Garcia to the wolves for his effort at Valhalla.

PS, What the hell is a pod?

Azinger based his system on the Navy Seals. Small teams, called pods, working together.

They seem to have an unhealthy obsession with the forces.

MustPuttBetter wrote:Chamblee spot on or spouting rubbish?

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/brandel-chamblee-reacts-phil-mickelson/

Bingo. I'm not a huge fan of Chamblee but he is A1 on target with that. People keep shafting Watson? Get a grip. What do we make of the invite he put out to his lot to go play Gleneagles pre-RC? How many turned up?

kwinigolfer wrote:Half and half I reckon.
Not sure that Phil wasn't expressing some deep-seated angst among many of the team - most of the punditry published post-pasting agree that Watson was hopelessly out of touch as a Captain. Big contrast to some of the cool things we're learning that McGinley did.
No apparent reason why Bradley and Mickelson were benched Saturday, and when these guys take a chunk out of their lives to commit to a Ryder Cup, and you've played on 10 teams, a breakdown in communication is unforgivable.
Watson was out of his depth in my opinion.
Should Phil have said what he said when he said it? Probably not, but it was going to come out sooner or later. Much the same way as Faldo is now throwing Garcia to the wolves for his effort at Valhalla.

I beg your pardon Kwini? They commit a chunk of their pampered lives to play RC? The poor souls. Mickleson is getting on, has arthritis and didn't have a lot of form coming in, Bradley was rubbish before this RC and showed he was rubbish during it. Even I would have benched him. The fact that both of them are whining is, frankly, pathetic. Let's for a minute suppose Watson played them Saturday and they went up against Rose and Stenson. They'd have likely been crushed and that would have been Watson's fault as well. Mickleson played better than I expected in the actual event but Bradley is way out of form. Even though Mickleson is one of the elder statesmen of the team and actually played reasonably, what he did was pathetic. I hope he gets to be RC captain in the future and shows himself to be the complete f-up he obviously is. Idiot.
The one thing Watson did that I don't really get is the Spieth/Reed thing on Friday p.m. They obviously had something that most of the rest of the U.S. didn't but easy to miss that after one match and they both could have imploded after that. In hindsight, I think that was a mistake but the pounding Watson is getting, from many who should know better? Pretty poor IMO. Why don't they take aim at the real targets - the players. Not that that would be fair either but at least they were the ones hitting the balls.

And another thing re. Mickleson's crap. If he was so p!ssed off and Watson et al were so poor, why didn't he act more like the leader he claims to be and deal with it? The players could have closed ranks and drawn strength quite easily, Mickleson to the fore. Oh no though, he has to whine and moan and blame Watson in public before the champagne bubbles have burst. Even Faldo's shambolic effort didn't draw that response. Classy Phil, real classy.
Chamblee is right on the mark.

"In related news, don't expect Phil and Tom to sit next to each other on the flight home."

Ehhh, Phil flew in his own private jet didn't he?

nbs,
Happy to agree to differ with you!
The US PGA went backwards in appointing Watson; he was out of touch thru'out the process and frustration of the players showed.
Perhaps not the time or the place, but it's about time the PGA was made accountable for their blunders.
Phil out of form? Perhaps, but good enough to runner-up to Rory in the PGA. Plus he earned 2 points.
And Bradley was "picked" precisely because they were a proven partnership.

Nice comment by Jason Sobel:
"Phil and Watson agree on one thing: It was Tiger's fault."!