Ryder Cup Returns to U.S. After 9 Year Hiatus.

The Americans brought home the Ryder Cup after 9 years of frustration. Anthony Kim set the pace for today's determining singles matches with a 5 and 4 drubbing of Euro standout Sergio Garcia. Jim Furyk ended it on the 17th hole closing out Miguel Angel Jiminez 2 and 1 for the Cup clinching points. Just about an hour or so before Furyk's win the winner was still very much in doubt. Despite the Americans starting the day with a two point advantage, enough matches were close enough to leave the winner very much in doubt. Consecutive victories by Kenny Perry, J.B. Holmes, and Boo Weekley pretty much sealed the competition though, paving the way for Furyk's clincher. Expect native Kentuckians Perry and Holmes to be crowing the loudest in tonight's celebrations. 16 1/2 - 11 1/2 was the final tally. The lone bright star for the Euros was Ian Poulter who continued his stellar Cup play by beating Steve Stricker 3 and 2. Overlooked until today, Ben Curtis defeated Lee Westwood 2 and1 and Chad Campbell took down Padraig Harrington by the same score in frosting on the cake wins.

Kim set the tone however, perhaps with this exchange, reaching the first green in his match with Garcia, Kim saw both of their approach shots lying perhaps two feet from the cup. Garcia asked, "Good, good?" Kim retorted, "Let's putt them." A small, but important indication that anything won out here today was going to be earned. In fact the rookies on both teams carried more than their fair share of the weight. Westwood, Harrington, and Garcia didn't win a match for the Euros. Mickelson was dead weight for the US, Tiger was watching on TV. Poulter, Kim, Weekley, McDowell, Mahan, and Holmes were the standouts.

Captain Faldo may have some splainin' to do. 5 points qualifies as a beat down in the Ryder Cup. Poulter worked out for him, but his lack of coverage of ongoing matches due to having only one co-captain and his questionable player placements probably means this is his last captain's attempt. On the U.S. side however, expect a significant lobby to bring Azinger back as captain in 2010. Any odds on Clarke and Monty playing in 2010?

All in all it was an exciting three days. Sportsmanship was held in high regard, at least as far as Average Golfer could tell. What happens in Louisville stays in Louisville. As it should be.

Final Singles Results

Kim 5 and 4 Garcia
Mahan halved Casey
Karlsson 5 and 3 Leonard
Rose 3 and 2 Mickelson
Perry 3 and 2 Stenson
Weekley 4 and 2 Wilson
Holmes 2 and 1 Hansen
Furyk 2 and 1 Jimenez
McDowell 2 and 1 Cink
Poulter 3 and 2 Stricker
Curtis 2 and 1 Westwood
Campbell 2 and 1 Harrington


Next up, the anti-climactic TOUR Championship. The final event of the FedExCup. Ahem, it's already been won by Vijay Singh, so try not to fall off the edge of your seat.


Til' next,

Faldo's Gone Daft - Garcia, Westwood Sit in Day #2 Ryder Cup Foursomes.

Imagine sitting Kobe Bryant down in game #2 of the NBA finals when your team's down 1-0. If I were the coach I wouldn't wait to be fired, I'd just gather my gear and sidle out the back door. Well, that's equal to the goofiest move I've ever heard of in Ryder Cup annals. Perhaps captain Nick is just setting up his huge ego to be able to say, "I came back from being down on day #1, I sat my two best Cuppers in the day #2 foursomes, and still won the friggin' Cup!

Now this is a completely different team from the one that's been routinely collecting cups. No Monty, no Clarke, no Olazabal, and now no Garcia or Westwood for half of day #2. Goodbye Sergio, hello Owen Wilson. Mr. Wilson, in addition to being a fine golfer, is the unknown Beach Boy.

Perhaps Westwood's still feeling the effects of extreme tonsillitis, but benching Sergio? Sheer lunacy, prosecutable in my mind, and good for us.

Til' next,

The 37th Ryder Cup - Just Play Already !

Just another sign that it's the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine. Ryder Cup media coverage is reaching fever pitch. I hardly can tell if I'm reading a golf website or People Magazine. Faldo snubs Clarke, Azinger picks guys outside the top 50. Woods may or may not visit Valhalla to rally the troops. Faldo rips Azinger's assistant captain selections. And the list goes on and on....

Perhaps it's all fallout from a lackluster late summer golf season. TV ratings are plunging and the casual golf/Tiger Woods fan couldn't really care any less. Even $10,000,000.00 can't get their remotes to hit on a tournament or get Vijay to offer up a sentence or two. I always wondered if guys like Vijay and Ernie Els watch the Ryder Cup. Which leads to a stroke of average golfer brilliance. Why not form a third Ryder Cup team from the nations that can't play in the current format? Australia, Fiji, Asia, and South Africa could field a representative squad. Every two years the previous winner gets a bye. The other two play to see who challenges the defending champs. Theoretically you could play in every Ryder Cup, or none. More world class players get to be seen and winning actually means something. Won't happen, makes too much sense.

Ryder Cup buzz can be interesting. Much more discussion and time is involved in the run-up than the event. It's half the fun. Still, the speculation is meaningless once the first ball is in the air. Players have good days and bad. A lot of the deciding in a three day event depends on who's hot during that tiny stretch. Stats are useless. World ranking is yesterday's news. What you're doing for me today rules. Let's hope for a competitive match that renders the final day's singles matches as important. I have a feeling we'll get one. These guys are all great golfers. It's just a question of how many are how great for three days and on which team. Enough with the jaw flapping already. Let's see some golf.

Til' next,

Azinger Draws Straws, Makes Ryder Cup Picks.

Choosing from a sea of mediocrity, American captain Paul Azinger made public his 2008 Ryder Cup captain's picks today. Cleverly changing the selection format from two to four captain's picks, Azinger had hoped to be able to ride the coattails of four recently hot golfers. He had to settle for tepid.

Steve Stricker, J.B. Holmes, Hunter Mahan, and Chad Campbell received the fortunate phone calls for their clothes sizes. Let's speculate a tad on each.......

• Steve Stricker.....Most solid of the bunch. Ranked #8 in the world. Ranking achieved mostly from last year's success. Still, shouldn't hurt us.

• J.B. Holmes..... Ranked #55. Kentucky native. Has played Valhalla a million times. Big bomber, birdie maker. At least that's the plan. Expect very little rough to be in the way of his cannon.
  

• Hunter Mahan..... Ranked #37. Repentant Ryder Cup disser. Sincere though. Playing well, but not consistently well. Opened the Barclays with a 61, finished T31.

• Chad Campbell..... Ranked #53. Always referred to as "great ball striker". Would prefer " low scorer". Can't really tell if Chad gets rattled. He appears the same all the time.
  

The top of the list of guys that weren't picked that could possibly be deemed surprises would be Scott Verplank. He owns a 4-1 Ryder Cup record, is a magnificent putter and ranked #45. Great putters are at a premium in match play and none of Zinger's picks would be confused with Ben Crenshaw. Still, expect Azinger to set the course up fast with little discernible rough to favor our advantage with bombers, Mickelson, Kim, Perry and the aforementioned Mr. Holmes. Horses for courses.

Average golfer will take a little time to digest the squad and comment liberally in the coming days. Maybe after getting scorched repeatedly with an "A" squad, coming in under the radar with a "B" squad may not be all that bad. Sneak attack anyone?

Til' next,

Weir Regains Deutsche Bank Lead - Faldo Taps Poulter, Casey.

Too bad Mike Weir didn't lead the Deutsche Bank Championship after yesterday. That way a victory tomorrow would have given him a "Weir to Weir" win. Weir's 67 gave him a one stroke lead over hard charging Camilo Villegas. Villegas' masterful 63 brought him to this juncture on a day, unlike the first two, where going low finally had to be earned. Swirling winds and a drier layout fattened scores throughout the field. Weir's opening day 62 had been matched by Tim Clark yesterday. Clark added 11 strokes to his score today to balloon to a 73 and a fall to T8. The current "in group" of Vijay and Sergio are joined at the hip at -14. It seems these guys are always on the same screen lately. Sharing a room? Four off the lead is the triumverate of Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, and Ben Crane, who turned in a stellar 63 today, especially considering the tougher conditions.

Due to the PGA Tour's new, almost indecipherable cut rules, 14 players played the 3rd round, but won't be here tomorrow due to the "2nd, or day 3 cut", the pupose of which is to limit the day 4 field to 70 or fewer players. Notableds included Kenny Perry, Aaron Baddeley, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson, and the weirdest of all Eric Axley. Axley threatened the lead for two days opening with 65, 69. Today's 80 however left him high and dry.

Expect a close finish tomorrow with plenty of big names to pique your interest.

Faldo Selects Poulter and Casey.

Captain Nick Faldo picked Ian Poulter and Paul Casey to fill out his Ryder Cup roster. The picks came with plenty of controversy, especially with the passing over of Darren Clarke. Clarke won in Holland last week for his 2nd victory of the year, compared to no wins for Casey/Poulter combined. Clarke was the emotional leader as well for the Euros in 2004, playing after the recent death of his wife and winning all three of his matches. Colin Montgomerie had hoped to have been chosen on the strength of his impressive Ryder Cup record alone, since his play of recent hasn't distinguished him in any way whatsoever. Still, it will be strange to see a Euro team without Monty, a fixture since 1988. This will mark the 1st time since 1937 that no Scotsman has been on the European squad. As an American I'm glad Clarke was dissed. It makes our chances better. As a golf fan I wanted to see him. Poulter should be able to turn his whining tears of recent into tears of joy, or at least fake it.

Til' next,

*Average Golfer added feature...Check out the British Press' slant on Captain Faldo's picks.