Monday, September 29, 2014

Europe Retains Again, And The Blame Game Begins

- Team Europe once again retained the Ryder Cup, which is become a biannual tradition. Going into the event, many American fans thought that, perhaps, this could finally be the year the streak is broken, but in fact Team Europe assembled a much stronger team at home. They didn't even need the heroics of their top players. Rory McIlroy didn't play particularly well, Sergio Garcia struggled, and Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter was left without a victory for the first time in his career. Team Europe was just way too stacked and had too many players that were able to contribute, which meant Team USA never really had a chance.

- Immediately following the event, the blame game began, as Phil Mickelson claimed that Captain Tom Watson strayed from a winning formula and never allowed any input from his players, which helped contribute to the loss. Mickelson was benched for the duration of Saturday's play after running out of gas in the Friday foursomes, much to the displeasure of Mickelson. Was Tom Watson a great Ryder Cup coach? No, he made a couple of mistakes. Was that the reason Team USA lost? No. The reason Team USA lost (and continues to lose) is their inability to play foursome matches and close out valuable singles matches. The blame for this loss does not lie on the shoulders of Tom Watson, but rather on the shoulders of Mickelson, who was completely gassed Friday afternoon, and on Hunter Mahan, who let an incredibly valuable singles match get away from him after being 4 UP at the turn and 1 UP on the 18th, and on Bubba Watson, who went winless and played as poorly as you can in a Ryder Cup setting, and on Jim Furyk who once again leaves a Ryder Cup without a losing record and without a victory in singles. The US now has a culture of losing the Ryder Cup, and if you want it to change, you have to change the personal involved. The reason Patrick Reed did so well and was so pumped up is because he doesn't have the memory of losing constantly in his mind. These other guys do, and instead of asking how they could have better contributed, we have to ask if Tom Watson is to blame for the US loss. Give me a break.

- Victor Dubuisson is the next great European superstar. He has the personality to handle any pressure situation and the game to win multiple tournaments. Look for him to have an even better year next season than he had this year. This may have been his first Ryder Cup, but it certainly will not be his last.

- Good for Jamie Donaldson to get the final point of the Ryder Cup. Donaldson barely made his way on to the team, and many (including myself) thought he would be the weak link for the Euros. In fact, Donaldson, who was a Ryder Cup rookie at the ripe age of 38, played incredibly well all weekend, going 3-1. I don't know if Donaldson will ever play on another Ryder Cup team, but if he doesn't, he'll always have this glory to look back on and celebrate.

-  Who was the MVP for Team Europe? Most people are going to say Justin Rose, who was unbeatable, but I think I would cast my vote for Graeme McDowell, who avenged his poor showing in 2012 by not only going undefeated, but being a mentor for Ryder Cup rookie Victor Dubuisson. McDowell struggled in 2014, and could have easily been forgotten about in this event, but he put on the cap of a mentor and wore it incredibly well. He's going to make a great captain some day.

- Some more medals were awarded in Olympic competition in golf, as the Asian Games, currently being contested in Icheon, South Korea, held their golf competition over the weekend. For the men, it was Pan Cheng-tsung of Taiwan that took the gold, followed by Kim Nam Hun of Korea and Yu Chan-ah of Taiwan. Pan is a golfer at the University of Washington and qualified for the Open Championship earlier this year. In the team event, Taiwan walked away with the golf, with Korea winning the silver and Thailand winning the bronze. Of note, Tianlang Guan of China, who made the cut at the Masters last year, was in contention after the first round of the tournament, but slipped after that and was never able to make up any ground. His China team finished fourth. On the women's side, Park Gyeol of Korea walked away with the gold, followed by Budsabakorn Sukapan and Supamas Sangchan, both of Thailand, winning the silver and bronze. In the team event, Thailand won the gold, followed by Korea and China. Soyoung Lee of Korea, who won the gold at the Youth Olympic Games, turned pro after helping her Korean team win silver. Sangchan, who won bronze, also won the bronze at the Youth Olympic Games.

- A big tournament that involved players from both the Japan Tour and Asian Tour took place this weekend, and it was 45 year old Hiroyuki Fujita who came out on top of the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup. Fujita beat a field that included Kirdech Aphibarnrat, who finished in second, Ryo Ishikawa, who never got anything going and finished 36th, Shingo Katayama, who has struggled lately but had a good tournament, finishing tied for ninth, and major winner YE Yang, who missed the cut. This was Fujita's third win on the season, and puts him in the drivers seat for his second Money List title.

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