On Tuesday, September 2, the European and United States Ryder Cup teams were finalized. The European captain, Paul McGinley, and American captain, Tom Watson, had three picks each. McGinley chose Stephen Gallacher, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood. Watson chose Keegan Bradley, Hunter Mahan, and Webb Simpson. In addition, McGinley today announced that Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Jose Maria Olazabal would be vice-captains, joining Des Smyth and Sam Torrance in assisting the Irishman. So far, Watson's assistant captains are Raymond Floyd, Andy North, and Steve Stricker.
I was certain that Gallacher and Poulter would be chosen, but the third pick could have gone to three players in my opinion: Westwood, Luke Donald, or Francesco Molinari. In the end, the captain chose the eight-time Ryder Cup player because he will provide a veteran presence and has the ability to partner different players due to the fact that he's played with nine different partners in the Ryder Cups dating back to 1997. Donald had a strong April and May, but has not had his usual consistent season. Molinari has had a great season so far, with a ton of world ranking points earned, but no wins which probably cost him a pick; the Italian has only won three times on the European Tour and that's clearly an underachievement.
On the U.S. side, I was confident that Watson was going to select Bradley and Mahan, but the third pick was up in the air. Bill Haas, Chris Kirk, Simpson, and Brandt Snedeker were all in consideration. In the end, Simpson's record in the 2012 edition proved to be too hard to overlook, plus his potential partnership with Bubba Watson gave him an advantage over the other candidates.
With only 23 days until the first ball is struck at the PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland, the excitement level is already pretty high among players and fans. I, for one, cannot wait because the Ryder Cup is, without a doubt, the greatest sporting event in the world.
Showing posts with label Francesco Molinari. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Francesco Molinari. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Why this year's European Ryder Cup team will look drastically different than 2012
The race to qualify for captain Paul McGinley's team is nearing its final stages, with only five events left in which to earn points (WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, US PGA Championship, Made in Denmark, D+D REAL Czech Masters, Italian Open). The next two events offer enormous amounts of points and represent the make or break for those on the outside looking in.
As the European team takes shape, it's amazing to see how different this year's team looks versus the 2012 version. Here was the 2012 team:
Rory McIlroy
Justin Rose
Paul Lawrie
Graeme McDowell
Francesco Molinari
Luke Donald
Lee Westwood
Sergio Garcia
Peter Hanson
Martin Kaymer
Ian Poulter (captain's pick)
Nicolas Colsaerts (captain's pick)
As it stands now, the 2014 squad would look like this:
Rory McIlroy
Victor Dubuisson
Jamie Donaldson
Henrik Stenson
Sergio Garcia
Justin Rose
Martin Kaymer
Thomas Bjorn
Luke Donald
(captain's pick)
(captain's pick)
(captain's pick)
Out of the nine players currently in the top-9, four were not on the last Ryder Cup team (two rookies). Luke Donald is trending downward with Graeme McDowell coming fast and furious. Where is Ian Poulter? "Poults" is currently 7th on the European Points List (top-4 qualify) and 12th on the World Points List (top-5 not already qualified). Unfortunately, he's had a poor season and has missed his last two cuts. He recently was stung by a horsefly in England and had to go to the hospital, and it's unsure if he'll play in the WGC this week. But we all know what kind of record the Englishman has in this competition so it's very hard to think he'll miss out on a captain's pick if he doesn't qualify automatically.
Another Ryder Cup stalwart not having a good season is Lee Westwood. The eight-time Ryder Cup team member won the Maybank Malaysian Open in April but is still 20th and 16th on the points lists. Assistant captain and 2002 Ryder Cup-winning captain Sam Torrance said a few weeks ago that Westwood should be a lock. If "Westy" doesn't perform well in the next month or so, he could be missing out on his first Ryder Cup.
Where are Lawrie, Molinari, Hanson, and Colsaerts? Only Molinari is within shouting distance of automatically qualifying for the team. The Italian sits 14th on both lists and I expect him to do everything in his power to qualify for the team (i.e. playing all five events to gather more points). Wouldn't it be awesome if he won his national open and, by doing so, qualified for the team?
Lawrie (75th and 91st) would be a really compelling pick if he wins an event or finishes well in one or two. Being a Scot and McGinley stating that he'd love Scottish representation in the team like the Irish team had in 2006, it's not completely over for "Chippy." The 45-year-old has had an atrocious year with the putter and has seen his world ranking fall to 215th. He is scheduled to play in the Made in Denmark event so if he performs well, McGinley could give him a thought.
Colsaerts (69th and 73rd) and Hanson (51st and 50th) have both had a rough time since the Ryder Cup and they need to set their sights on the 2016 edition. We'll see lots more of them in Europe due to Colsaerts announcing that he's finished playing the PGA Tour after he couldn't get adjusted to life in America and Hanson's poor play has seen him probably, barring a miraculous turnaround, lose his PGA Tour card.
Stephen Gallacher is currently 12th and 11th on the lists, but only around eight points (world ranking points) behind Donald for the 9th spot. He's having the best season of his career and certainly looks like someone who's going to qualify automatically. Being Scottish doesn't hurt his case either. There's no way a Ryder Cup in the Home of Golf cannot have a Scotsman in the team.
Two other dark horses are Joost Luiten (10th and 15th) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (11th and 13th). Luiten's play has tailed off recently but he has the game to perform well in the next two weeks to give himself a better chance. The "most interesting man in golf" has won twice this season on the European Tour and once on the Champions Tour in the United States. Like Luiten, the Spaniard has not performed to his usual standard in previous weeks, but it's remarkable to think that a 50-year-old is in contention for a Ryder Cup spot. Don't rule out the "Mechanic!"
The next two weeks should see the team look about 75% set. After that, it's up to players outside the top-9 to impress the captain with their play in the next three events, whether they be on the European or PGA Tours. It obviously makes for compelling viewing!
The 40th Ryder Cup will take place at the PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland from September 26-28.
As the European team takes shape, it's amazing to see how different this year's team looks versus the 2012 version. Here was the 2012 team:
Rory McIlroy
Justin Rose
Paul Lawrie
Graeme McDowell
Francesco Molinari
Luke Donald
Lee Westwood
Sergio Garcia
Peter Hanson
Martin Kaymer
Ian Poulter (captain's pick)
Nicolas Colsaerts (captain's pick)
As it stands now, the 2014 squad would look like this:
Rory McIlroy
Victor Dubuisson
Jamie Donaldson
Henrik Stenson
Sergio Garcia
Justin Rose
Martin Kaymer
Thomas Bjorn
Luke Donald
(captain's pick)
(captain's pick)
(captain's pick)
Out of the nine players currently in the top-9, four were not on the last Ryder Cup team (two rookies). Luke Donald is trending downward with Graeme McDowell coming fast and furious. Where is Ian Poulter? "Poults" is currently 7th on the European Points List (top-4 qualify) and 12th on the World Points List (top-5 not already qualified). Unfortunately, he's had a poor season and has missed his last two cuts. He recently was stung by a horsefly in England and had to go to the hospital, and it's unsure if he'll play in the WGC this week. But we all know what kind of record the Englishman has in this competition so it's very hard to think he'll miss out on a captain's pick if he doesn't qualify automatically.
Another Ryder Cup stalwart not having a good season is Lee Westwood. The eight-time Ryder Cup team member won the Maybank Malaysian Open in April but is still 20th and 16th on the points lists. Assistant captain and 2002 Ryder Cup-winning captain Sam Torrance said a few weeks ago that Westwood should be a lock. If "Westy" doesn't perform well in the next month or so, he could be missing out on his first Ryder Cup.
Where are Lawrie, Molinari, Hanson, and Colsaerts? Only Molinari is within shouting distance of automatically qualifying for the team. The Italian sits 14th on both lists and I expect him to do everything in his power to qualify for the team (i.e. playing all five events to gather more points). Wouldn't it be awesome if he won his national open and, by doing so, qualified for the team?
Lawrie (75th and 91st) would be a really compelling pick if he wins an event or finishes well in one or two. Being a Scot and McGinley stating that he'd love Scottish representation in the team like the Irish team had in 2006, it's not completely over for "Chippy." The 45-year-old has had an atrocious year with the putter and has seen his world ranking fall to 215th. He is scheduled to play in the Made in Denmark event so if he performs well, McGinley could give him a thought.
Colsaerts (69th and 73rd) and Hanson (51st and 50th) have both had a rough time since the Ryder Cup and they need to set their sights on the 2016 edition. We'll see lots more of them in Europe due to Colsaerts announcing that he's finished playing the PGA Tour after he couldn't get adjusted to life in America and Hanson's poor play has seen him probably, barring a miraculous turnaround, lose his PGA Tour card.
Stephen Gallacher is currently 12th and 11th on the lists, but only around eight points (world ranking points) behind Donald for the 9th spot. He's having the best season of his career and certainly looks like someone who's going to qualify automatically. Being Scottish doesn't hurt his case either. There's no way a Ryder Cup in the Home of Golf cannot have a Scotsman in the team.
Two other dark horses are Joost Luiten (10th and 15th) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (11th and 13th). Luiten's play has tailed off recently but he has the game to perform well in the next two weeks to give himself a better chance. The "most interesting man in golf" has won twice this season on the European Tour and once on the Champions Tour in the United States. Like Luiten, the Spaniard has not performed to his usual standard in previous weeks, but it's remarkable to think that a 50-year-old is in contention for a Ryder Cup spot. Don't rule out the "Mechanic!"
The next two weeks should see the team look about 75% set. After that, it's up to players outside the top-9 to impress the captain with their play in the next three events, whether they be on the European or PGA Tours. It obviously makes for compelling viewing!
The 40th Ryder Cup will take place at the PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland from September 26-28.
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