US or Europe? Which team is going to win?

[frank700]

The teams are not quite filled yet. But although the US are missing one player, we already have a very good picture of the teams.

 

Which team is going to win this year?

 

I am going with the US this time. Team looks very solid.

 

US team:

 

DJ: best player on the planet at the moment

Spieth: Coming back to form

Mickelson: Good season

Reed: Very good form

Jimmy Walker, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar: Very solid to good seasons.

Ricky Fowler: Despite all the talk: Ranked 9 in the world. Was in contention of winning a very big tournament just two weeks ago.

 

Question marks:

Zack Johnson: Not a very good season. But very solid player

Koepka: A little cold the last months

J.B. Holmes: Long, but statistically not that good at important parts of Match-play-golf.

 

All in all a very good and balanced team. Long hitters and solid players. Good putters in there as well.

 

Europe:

Six rookies. That's a lot - especially playing on foreign soil. It will be a very heated atmosphere in Hazeltine - i think the US wants to win that one badly and it will show on the course. Audience will be pumped up.

 

McIlroy: Will the putter work?

Stenson: knee injury. Will he be able to maintain his great summer form?

Rose: Olympic hype over? I hope and think so. Rose was always good in the Ryder-Cup

Garcia: Solid season. Has to find an extra gear in Hazeltine. Was often able to do exactly that in the Ryder-Cup

Willett: Masers-Champ, yes. But hasn't done that much the last months.

Wood: One big win in Europe. After that he was really mediocre

Cabrero-Bello: Very good season, good putter. Not good at scrambling. Pair him with a very good ballstriker and he will be an asset.

Fitzpatrick: Showed pretty good form the last weeks. I don't know, if he is mature enough (golfing wise) to be an asset.

Sullivan: Good solid player. Not on top of his game the last weeks.

Westwood: Pretty good season. Ryder-Cup stalwart. Very good at fourballs and foursome.

Kaymer: Solid season, but winless the last two season. Good ballstriker, veteran, good nerves. Could be a good partner for a rookie

Pieters: Fearless, long, talented in bunches. I think he will come through. I wouldn't be surprised, if he plays 4 matches.

 

Quite a few question marks in the European team. Some guys qualified early but didn't play that well the last months. Some rookies - we don't know how they perform under this kind of pressure.

 

 

This time, i think, the nod goes to the US-team. They are hyper-motivated, they have home-soil advantage and on paper the better team. They have to win it this time, right? When not this time .... i don't know, when the time is, they win it again.

 

15 1/2 to 12 1/2 US ... might be even more clearer.

[bladehunter]

USA of course... why do you ask? Havent you heard about the task force???

[frank700]

USA of course... why do you ask? Havent you heard about the task force???

 

Yeah. Why haven't had we europeans such a great idea? This damn task force is going to kill us!!

[KennyP]

Fair appraisal of the two teams there Frank.

 

Europe are in transition with a number of rookies. The form of at least two of them (Sullivan and Wood) must be a concern to Clarke.

 

And then he has to find a partner for McIlroy. McGinley paired him with Garcia but that didn't really work (50% win ratio for numbers 1 & 3 in the World in a home RC) and they probably need to be split up to balance the team. Is it time that Rory was given the responsibilty of blooding rookies? I'm not so sure as Rory's head does drop easily when things aren't going well.

 

On the other hand the US team is under massive pressure. Davis has to decide whether he wants to reuse some of the pairings that worked previously (Speith & Reed, Walker & Fowler) or does he start a fresh?

 

If the US gets ahead early, like at Medinah, they will go on to win quite comfortably.

[bladehunter]

USA of course... why do you ask? Havent you heard about the task force???

 

Yeah. Why haven't had we europeans such a great idea? This damn task force is going to kill us!!

 

 

the dragnet is out...the bullet is out of the shirt pocket .....and they always get their man!!

[VivaTerlingua]

.

[frank700]

.

 

Is he the last pick? :lol:

[imakaveli]

USA, this time we have no chance, but golf is often surprising!

[iBanesto]

Team USA this time.

 

The team appears to be have the best camaraderie and closeness for the first time in many years.

 

This should work in their favour.

[golfandfishing]

Are we rooting or betting? Betting - EUR. Rooting - 'Merica.

[melo]

For the first time in many years I feel like we have the better "team..." and I don't mean we are more talented player to player, I believe that the guys who made it and were chosen like each other, know each other, and are genuinely excited to be representing their country.

 

In the past we felt very much like hyper talented individuals...and though I think he is talented, I hope they pass on Bubba for the last spot and choose somebody who fits the team dynamic a little better.

[bullie76]

Europe. Task force dissolves.

[frank700]

Fair appraisal of the two teams there Frank.

 

Europe are in transition with a number of rookies. The form of at least two of them (Sullivan and Wood) must be a concern to Clarke.

 

And then he has to find a partner for McIlroy. McGinley paired him with Garcia but that didn't really work (50% win ratio for numbers 1 & 3 in the World in a home RC) and they probably need to be split up to balance the team. Is it time that Rory was given the responsibilty of blooding rookies? I'm not so sure as Rory's head does drop easily when things aren't going well.

 

On the other hand the US team is under massive pressure. Davis has to decide whether he wants to reuse some of the pairings that worked previously (Speith & Reed, Walker & Fowler) or does he start a fresh?

 

If the US gets ahead early, like at Medinah, they will go on to win quite comfortably.

 

Pairings: Maybe they go Rose/Stenson, Garcia/Cabrera-Bello and McIlroy/Kaymer. And Westwood takes on the rookies (Pieters could work good with him).

 

Rose/Stenson: Been there, done that. Why change a dynamic that worked two years ago? Both were in good to great form in the summer.

Garcia/Cabrera/Bello: One of the best ballstrikers in the game with a good putter - both Spaniards. Could be a good pairing.

McIlroy/Kaymer: Both good ballstrikers. Could put a lot of pressure on the opponents finding a lot of greens. Kaymer is mentally steady and wouldn't wilt playing with Rory. Rory could focus on his own game.

Westwood/ Willett/Pieters: Experience with a skilled rookie.

 

Maybe this is the year, where some of the rookies get only one chance to play before the singles. Europe has to play strong on Friday and Saturday to even have a chance.

[texas_tom]

'Merica!

 

stupid question: what does it mean when they post a match as "Wins 5 and 3" or "3 and 2" what does the second number represent?

[deadsolid...shank]

'Merica!

 

stupid question: what does it mean when they post a match as "Wins 5 and 3" or "3 and 2" what does the second number represent?

 

Second number is the number of holes left.

[pmadden86]

Merica going to walk this and make it one of the biggest hammerings ever given in RC history. Excluding Rory, Henrik and Justin Rose, the euro team is seriously weak.

[bladehunter]

'Merica!

 

stupid question: what does it mean when they post a match as "Wins 5 and 3" or "3 and 2" what does the second number represent?

 

No such thing as a stupid question boss if you don't know you don't know!

[frank700]

Merica going to walk this and make it one of the biggest hammerings ever given in RC history. Excluding Rory, Henrik and Justin Rose, the euro team is seriously weak.

 

Yeah, Masters Champion Danny Willett, 2-time Major-Champion and Players Champion Martin Kaymer, No.12 in the world Sergio Garcia and runner-up at the Masters and former NO.1 Lee Westwood and Rafa Cabrera-Bello who made 169 WGR points this year cannot play the game of golf at all.

 

The US are favorites in my book. But the Euros aren't going to hack it around in Hazeltine.

[MattyO1984]

It's hard for me to admit but I'm thinking that this will be an American year.

 

That team is strong and decisively more in form than it's European counterpart.

 

Clearly the game isn't played on paper and the European team seems to find a knack of holing more putts than it misses in the Cup but I just can't see it. Before Gleneagles, the European team was completely buoyed by the fact that McIlory had had such a great 2014. He was the world number 1 by a clear margin and players like Garcia, Stenson and Rose were near to their best. This year, we don't have that. Rory is showing signs but lives and dies with his putting and that seems to be less reliable that a Ryan Lochte witness statement. Garcia is toiling, Stenson is injured and the Olympics aside, Justin Rose hasn't been at his best this year.

 

Contrast that with the US Team. You have DJ who might not be number 1 in the rankings but is definitely the best player in the world this year and surely player of the year. You have Reed coming off a win, Walker playing some decent stuff now that he seems to have gotten his head around the fact that he is a major winner, Mickelson who is certainly playing better than he has done in the last two years and Spieth who although not on his A game is someone who is going to fight and not give away holes.

 

For those reasons, if it is not the US's year this year then y'all just need to pack up this Ryder Cup and concentrate on the Presidents.

[Dave230]

US are much stronger but have been stronger in the past and still lost. Usual factors hindering the US are:

 

- Inferior captaincy

- The weight of expectation

- Mediocre at foursomes/alternate shot

- Poor team ethic

 

If they deal with those things better than they should win. But there's no guarantees, and if it follows the trend of most recent Ryder Cups then it could end up being pretty close.

[imakaveli]

Merica going to walk this and make it one of the biggest hammerings ever given in RC history. Excluding Rory, Henrik and Justin Rose, the euro team is seriously weak.

 

Yeah, Masters Champion Danny Willett, 2-time Major-Champion and Players Champion Martin Kaymer, No.12 in the world Sergio Garcia and runner-up at the Masters and former NO.1 Lee Westwood and Rafa Cabrera-Bello who made 169 WGR points this year cannot play the game of golf at all.

 

The US are favorites in my book. But the Euros aren't going to hack it around in Hazeltine.

 

Also, Rafa who placed 3rd at the WGC Match Play but yeah, I have seen better European Teams

[vjswing]

I find it shocking that Las Vegas oddsmakers have listed the U.S. team as such strong favorites. I realize this is just a reflection of where people are placing their money, but I can't believe so many people are such poor students of history.

[RH82]

Ole ole ole ole...oleeeee oleeeee

[Arpeggi]

Europe will win. Us will be dragged down by fowler

[bscinstnct]

Tigerrrrrrrr! Will be the difference.

 

 

 

http://www.cbssports...-for-ryder-cup/

 

But it was Mickelson, who less than 24 hours earlier had paid nearly the exact same compliment to Love's vice captain Tiger Woods after praising Love for having a "real game plan."

 

"We know who is going to be playing with who, when they're going to be playing, what matches," Mickelson told Golf Channel. "I am so happy to see how well [Tiger] has thought this through. I can't believe our conversations just this week, how detailed he is and the pairings, the possibilities, the players. Not just what matches they're going to play, but where on the list. He has got us really a good, solid game plan that is easy to buy into and get behind. I'm very impressed."

 

Love agreed with Mickelson about Woods' work on Monday.

 

"Tiger looks at things from maybe a little bit higher viewpoint than all of us sometimes," said Love. "His strategy on the golf course ... Everybody just automatically thinks, just look at the scorecard, it's a really long course, we need long hitters. Tiger looks at it a whole lot differently than that. Tiger over the last two or three weeks has made us really think hard about not only pairings but other things that we need to look for in our players.

"He's taken the stats package that we get and breaking it down to what we really need. Tiger has really had us focused on some key things to make these three decisions and how we're going to think about it the next two weeks."

 

"The Tactician" is what Woods has been called. And it sound like he's living up to his nickname so much so that the normally over-prepared Mickelson is impressed. Things are quite hunky-dory in the United States camp right now it seems which is fun if you're a fan of the American team. I'm interested to see if they remain that way if the Europeans lead by, say, four points going into Sunday.

[Golf Monkey]

We've lost interest in the Ryder Cup.

[dciccoritti]

With Phil complaining about Tom and the advent of a "Task Force", a loss by the Americans will be the most embarrassing yet. And Phil will look like a spoiled little brat that whined only because he couldn't get to play.

 

However if America does win, Phil will look like a genius and will be named captain the moment he's willing to take on the role.

 

Will be fun to watch.

 

Hard to predict this one but I say the pressure is on the American team to turn this thing around.

[Pepperturbo]

Honestly, I have no idea. I want USA to stomp Euro, but NOT convinced the youth on our team have the STOMP your opponent genes. I am not just win kinda guy, but one that likes to stomp his opponent into the ground. Seems that gene was lost 3-4 generations back. I will watch, hope and pray they want it badly enough over winning at PP in team quarters.

[RH82]

If the Euros pull this off again I can't wait to see the aftermath and the finger pointing with the US team.

[ashortgame]

I'd like to see the Americans win, but same old players is probably going to give the same old result.

 

The task force seemed like a good idea, but the only thing coming out of the task force so far that I can see is the selection of Rickie Fowler. Smart move. The reason it seems a lot of the Americans cant understand his selection is the reason they've got their butts kicked so often. Most of them don't understand that chemistry and balance has just as much impact in winning teams events as talent. They just can't get their head around that yet its been staring them in the face for how long? So that selection at least was a step in the right direction.

 

If they leave out Bubba and bring in some new blood that will surely help them. Its clear the task force and most of the team don't want him, but you know the Americans, they will probably fall to public pressure again and pick him and that's bound to be their undoing again. I'd like to see them bring in Thomas, but even Kisner or Berger would help.

 

Interesting times again.