Ryder Cup Capatin Picks

Brandt, DJ, Strick, and... Jim???

Okay, here's the rant.  It's not that I'm not a fan of Jim Furyk, it's not that I don't believe he is good enough to play for our country, and it's not as though I forgot how well is played in OZ last year.  

Davis Love III spoke about playing well in the clutch, ie Mickelson and Bradley's putts at Riviera earlier in the year, putts that meant something.  But forgive me for bringing up the 2012 US Open, but didn't Jim duck hook a drive coming down the stretch.  And didn't Hunter Mahan WIN the match play championship against the number 1 player in the world earlier this year?  I understand two years ago Hunter may have pissed the bed on ONE shot but how is that not motivation for him to beat the European team this year.  There's no way Hunter would lose this year.  There's no way he wouldn't want to go back up against Graham.  And there is no way Hunter would do anything but help the team.  

I get that Jim has a lot of experience in the Ryder Cup.  I feel like Hunter would have been the better pick after two years ago and the motivation he would have going into the year.  I also feel like the greater experience Hunter would have in one more Ryder Cup would only help the team in the future years as well, giving younger guys more experience is always better.  

I can't argue about Brandt and DJ, in fact those two have played great since coming back from their respective injuries.  They are a huge asset to the team.  I understand what DL3 was doing with Stricker as he and Tiger are near unbeatable with good weather.  Which is about the same plan he has for Jim and Phil.  Only thing is... Jim isn't a great singles player.  And at that matter neither is Strick, and he can only play 4 out of the 5 matches since his body likely cannot handle playing all 5 matches.  

My pairings predictions for Team USA:

Tiger Woods will play with Steve Stricker and Brandt Snedeker.  Steve doesn't have the young body and can't play every match the first two days.  I'm calling it now, and Tiger and Brandt get along great and compliment each other well.

Phil Mickelson will play with Jim Furyk and possibly Keegan Bradley.  After Phil giving some old Master's yardage books I think their friendship will help them team up quite nicely. 

In the best ball match I can foresee Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson the way that the course is setup. From all I've read it is setup for the long bomber and for a best ball match I can see these two forces going against Alviro Quiros and Rory McIlroy for sure.  That would be a great matchup.  

I believe the matchups for Jason Duffner, Zach Johnson, Webb Simpson and Matt Kuchar are all interchangable players.  They are all consistent and playing well all year long.  All have won events this year, and all are fairly similar players.  

Those are my thoughts, those are my picks.  DL3... If you follow through on these and win I would like a little bit of credit big guy.  At least an invite to the McGladery.  

Thanks for reading.  Talk to you all soon.

Deutsche Bank 2012

I'm so in between on this whole coverage of the Playoffs.  I understand the media/NBC/PGA TOUR wants the fans to really be into the "who's going to move on?  who's barely missing?  where's my favorite player?" at all times, but watching the low-lights of Charlie Hoffman collapse are not why I watch golf on tv.

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I'd like to watch the people that are either making good swings, good shots, good luck, all of the above, or have a chance to win the event.  I'd like to see the guys that are on the first page of the leader board, everyone top 10 is who I want to see.

This week is slightly different being the last week to impress the Ryder Cup Captain, Davis Love III, with their play, which actually means I'd even be okay with watching Rickie Fowler suck it up on a course he isn't comfortable with ONLY because it has so much to do with the decision of Cpt. Love and that is more interesting that Hoffman, his swing changes and flairing one out right so bad it hits cart path and takes 11 more minutes to hit his next shot.  I would have loved to see the 8 Americans that are playing at Medinah for sure, plus the 7 others that are looking to take up the 4 captain pics as well as the leaders for this week.

This week I feel was a great event regardless how it was presented via television.  An American won the first playoff event.  A European won the second playoff event.  Two events left in the season, with the Ryder Cup less than a month away.  It's good television.  It might be better only because the Ryder Cup, not so much because the playoffs.  But seeing some of the top players in the game play good golf makes it impossible to say it isn't a good event.

One can only hope that Crooked Stick, and then East Lake will be as exciting as Bill Haas' chip from the lake.  Only time will tell.

Barclay's 2012

Firstly, congratulations to Nick Watney on a stellar performance of golf.

This week started out as a pretty fun week for myself.  In my goal to play the top 100 courses in America Bethpage Black is on my list of places to play.  It's always a treat to be able to see these courses on TV and watch the big boys play.

To see these guys play a regular scheduled tournament (not a major) on a major venue course is also a treat.  Unfortunately Saturday's course setup was the highlight of most of the week as it looked as though it was having a US Open that day.

Seeing two of my favorite, two of the nicest guys on tour near the top as well was a ton of fun.  When I was watching it started to sound more like March Madness than a golf event.

Is it just me or are the pre-tournament and post round interviews just as entertaining as days 1 and 2?  I enjoy hearing these guys talk about how they think their way around a golf course, manage their play and prepare for events myself.  As a PGA Apprentice I think it's pretty cool to hear since I play in events every now and then, and navigation is such a huge part of each tournament.

I feel like the FedEx Cup Playoffs are definitely getting better in interest, popularity and overall betterness of the game too.  The first year compared to this year... Granted the best player did still win (Tiger Woods) that year, but I don't know that the point system is still quite the best.  In the elimination tournaments (Barclays, Deutsche Bank & BMW) I do feel it's right that essentially the top 100, 70 and 30 in the field that given week move on.  I don't really know if by winning you should go from 50 to number 1, and I truly don't know if guy that is 30th for the season should be able to beat the guy having what COULD be the most consistent of the year until one event and not win $10M.  Granted, I don't know if the guy in first at the beginning of the event needs to place dead last and last needs to place first.

The FedEx Cup does feel an awful lot like life...
Work Hard...
Right Place...
Right Time...
Ask Bill Haas.