The Ryder Cup Secret...

[divot46]

I heard the announcers on Sunday commenting on this subject of why the Europeans are so dominate in RC and what they said made sense to me. The Europeans all stay in the same hotels when they play on their tour. They eat , drink , and hang out together, unlike the Americans who play their round and disappear until the next day. It builds a team-like atmosphere day in and day out. Kinda made sense to me.

[peteman29]

there will no doubt be a million different opinions, each one as valid as the next, as to why the Yanks underperformed so badly but here's how I see it (as a proud european and irishman).

 

The Europeans had team spirit, enthusiasm and confidence, They played their golf with emotion, self belief and determination. They wanted to win for the team for Woosie and for themselves.

 

The Yanks were cocky, ill prepared and not able to deal with the conditions. They looked miserable from the start, didn't seem to care about their team and had played with no emotion. They can't all play like robots like Tiger can.

 

I don't know what Lehman was saying to them behind closed doors but he didn't appear to be one of the most inspirational and motivational characters I've ever seen. In my view he was a bad captain purely because he didn't seem to be emotionally connected with his players.

 

I am a big fan of U.S. golf but think that they were taught a difficult lesson in Kildare which is pretty clear to me.

Golf is a game, you must enjoy it and play as much with your heart as with your head, if you focus on such irrelevances as "momentum" you'll end up looking back and wondering why the hell didn't you just go out there and play the damn game.

[d__d]

lousy captains picks... lucas glover should have been there

 

The captains picks did pretty good compared to the rest of the team, Cink (1-1-3) and Verplank (2-0-0). Thats 4.5 points combined for the two picks out of the 9.5 that the US got.

[manuellores]

You got the point. IN THE EUROPEAN TEAM, 12 = 1. THAT IS THE ONLY SECRET

[HipCheck]

lousy captains picks... lucas glover should have been there

 

The captains picks did pretty good compared to the rest of the team, Cink (1-1-3) and Verplank (2-0-0). Thats 4.5 points combined for the two picks out of the 9.5 that the US got.

 

Verplank was:

 

1) Carried by Johnson in 4-ball

2) The winner of an absolute meaningless match on Sunday

 

If he was strong, he was going to be out there all days. I would have rather seen Glover too.

[Xt1ncT]

I think that the US qualification format makes it hard - certainly this time. They only get points for top10 finishes, which is ok unless you consider how many non-US players finish in the top 10 on the PGA Tour these days. Which means that one-off winners like Wetterich/Johnson etc make the team, whereas someone with consistant top 20 finishes may miss out.

 

How about they make it that US players get points for finishing in the top 10 of the Americans playing.

[ur1down]

As a Euro, I think the secret is to get these guys to play for each other, not for the US Flag, the Alamo, democracy in Iraq, the President, Nike etc etc etc.

 

Stop waving flags, playing anthems and painting US flags on the fans faces.

 

That is what the Euros do.

 

I saw plenty of flag waving from the Euro fans as well.

 

Here is what a lot of Americans realize but none really want to say...

 

when you hear analysts say that the Euros "play with more passion" what it really means that they play with a real hatred of America. Not so much towards the American Ryder Cup players but the US in general and, more specifically, foreign policy.

 

Paul Casey said it himself when he claimed "we hate the Americans" a few years back. He went on to talk about how it motivates the Euro players. He never backed off the statement, he just apologized for saying it to a reporter. Why else do you think Sergio takes this so seriously and makes himself look like such a jerk at every Ryder Cup? Right up to and through the final press conference you could hear the venom in every one of his statements. The only thing good that came out of this weekend was Cink punking him in singles to take his ego down a few notches.

 

They use hatred of our country as a motivator while most of the Americans probably couldn't tell you what country Henrick Stenson is even from. I'm not 100% certain. It's hard to hate that.

[ur1down]

 

 

PS CAN SOMEBODY HAVE A WORD WITH CHRIS DIMARCO.....

 

Can that same person talk to Sergio Garcia?

[ur1down]

This will all be forgotten in a week........

 

Was the comeback @ Brookline forgotten in a week?

 

Exactly, If it's done by them its glorious. If the Europeans do it hen its allegedally forgotten by the end of the week. :D

 

Who is still clammering about the President's Cup (which the US won)? My point is that you won't hear much about it until the next time.

 

preparation is wrong AND CLOTHES DESIGNER IS WRONG!!

 

 

The Euros were wearing PINK suits after the matches.

[KingOAces]

DL III and Couples. Two proven losers.

 

 

Ouch! A little harsh don't you think?

 

KinG

[rama5]

I'll second the nomination for Lee Trevino captain! His leadership, style and Merry Mex rep will lighten the mood and increase the wins, would love to see his captian picks.

[mcbush25]

Good thread.

 

I actually can not see that Tom Lehman made that many mistakes, except for perhaps playing Tiger too much, who in return was down right lousy in foursomes and fourballs (sorry). I will also extend my credit to TL for the very good sportsmanship which he has always shown regardless of the venue or the occasion.

 

 

What??? If he played anyone too many times it was Phil. At least Tiger won more than a half a point! Granted Tiger didn't win every foursome and fourball he played in, but he did better than Phil. So if anyone should have been benched it should have been Phil.

[mcbush25]

lousy captains picks... lucas glover should have been there

 

The captains picks did pretty good compared to the rest of the team, Cink (1-1-3) and Verplank (2-0-0). Thats 4.5 points combined for the two picks out of the 9.5 that the US got.

 

Agreed! If it wasn't for the captains picks our point total would have been worse because none of the qualifiers played worth a darn. Phil got a whopping half point and Dimarco played terribly. I think the choice of Cink and Verplank were fine. They sure weren't the reason the US lost the Ryder Cup and neither was the rookies at fault completely.

[Xt1ncT]

lousy captains picks... lucas glover should have been there

 

The captains picks did pretty good compared to the rest of the team, Cink (1-1-3) and Verplank (2-0-0). Thats 4.5 points combined for the two picks out of the 9.5 that the US got.

 

Agreed! If it wasn't for the captains picks our point total would have been worse because none of the qualifiers played worth a darn. Phil got a whopping half point and Dimarco played terribly. I think the choice of Cink and Verplank were fine. They sure weren't the reason the US lost the Ryder Cup and neither was the rookies at fault completely.

But doesn't 2+1+1/2 = 3 1/2? Even so, 3 1/2 out of 9 1/2 from 2 of the rookies.

[HipCheck]

Here's an excerpt from a Yahoo article today. Tiger was interviewed via phone:

 

"We hit about the same, but they holed so many more putts," Woods said. "Time and again we were in position to make momentum-building putts and we didn't. If you can't change momentum, it fuels the other side.

 

"Those greens weren't really that hard to learn. They actually were very simple. They just outputted us. I had numerous opportunities to make putts and I didn't. Unfortunately, the rest of the team didn't as well."

 

What does this tell you? You can't putt when you're tight. The US needs someone to loosen them up. No cowboy hats, no college fight songs, no speeches from wives.

 

This should be fun. NO ONE is enjoying themselves out there. It's like they're afraid of offending the European crowd. When his partner in alternate shot missed a putt, this weekend, did Sergio get upset? No he laughs, and puts his arm around him. When he makes a putt, he's demonstrative. High fives, smiling, laughing... What did Sergio do two years ago on US soil -- the same thing! :crazy:

 

C'mon US. Have fun. Get a chip on your shoulder. You are the United States of America. The best country on the face of the Earth. Show it! Play like it! Embrace the feeling of the Ryder Cup. Don't fight it. You're playing like a bunch of Retief Goosen's from the last round of the '05 Open out there. :D

 

Get the sticks out from where the sun don't shine, have a beer with each other, and go out there an have a damn good time! :cheesy:

[ur1down]

You got the point. IN THE EUROPEAN TEAM, 12 = 1. THAT IS THE ONLY SECRET

 

The only real secret is that the Euros had better players that made more putts.

 

All this other garbage about team unity and bonding is just hot air that makes the Euros feel better about themselves. The bottom line is that golf is global now and they are drawing from an entire continent. Our country can no longer produce enough great players to beat that many countries together.

 

There was no talk about team unity and bonding when the US was drilling the GB&I and Euro teams up until just recently. If I remember correctly up until the mid 90's the US showed up in 12 different private jets, slapped those teams around then went 12 separate ways not to meet again until 2 years later. No 'feel good' team stories were necessary then.

 

The difference then was talent level and depth and that is exactly the case recently.

 

All this "12=1" and "we play for each other" talk is just pretentious BS.

[Xt1ncT]

You got the point. IN THE EUROPEAN TEAM, 12 = 1. THAT IS THE ONLY SECRET

 

The only real secret is that the Euros had better players that made more putts.

 

All this other garbage about team unity and bonding is just hot air that makes the Euros feel better about themselves. The bottom line is that golf is global now and they are drawing from an entire continent. Our country can no longer produce enough great players to beat that many countries together.

 

There was no talk about team unity and bonding when the US was drilling the GB&I and Euro teams up until just recently. If I remember correctly up until the mid 90's the US showed up in 12 different private jets, slapped those teams around then went 12 separate ways not to meet again until 2 years later. No 'feel good' team stories were necessary then.

 

The difference then was talent level and depth and that is exactly the case recently.

 

All this "12=1" and "we play for each other" talk is just pretentious BS.

Really?

 

Why didn't they hole putts then? Pressure? Too tight?

 

Maybe if they had as much fun as the European Team were they may have been more relaxed.

 

The relaxed nature of the Euro's stems from being part of the team, which only helped them and didn't hinder them.

 

Maybe all of those who think that feeling part of a team helped are wrong, but personally I don't think so.

[ur1down]

You got the point. IN THE EUROPEAN TEAM, 12 = 1. THAT IS THE ONLY SECRET

 

The only real secret is that the Euros had better players that made more putts.

 

All this other garbage about team unity and bonding is just hot air that makes the Euros feel better about themselves. The bottom line is that golf is global now and they are drawing from an entire continent. Our country can no longer produce enough great players to beat that many countries together.

 

There was no talk about team unity and bonding when the US was drilling the GB&I and Euro teams up until just recently. If I remember correctly up until the mid 90's the US showed up in 12 different private jets, slapped those teams around then went 12 separate ways not to meet again until 2 years later. No 'feel good' team stories were necessary then.

 

The difference then was talent level and depth and that is exactly the case recently.

 

All this "12=1" and "we play for each other" talk is just pretentious BS.

Really?

 

Why didn't they hole putts then? Pressure? Too tight?

 

Maybe if they had as much fun as the European Team were they may have been more relaxed.

 

 

I think you are missing my point.

 

They did hole the putts and dominate the Euro teams back then. Are you familiar with the overall Ryder Cup record? The US has owned the competition throughout history and those US teams were anything but the "family" that the Euros like to brag about.

 

My point is this...the Euros may actually be a tight group but that is not what is winning these matches for them in recent years. They are winning now because they have much better players top to bottom, much like the US did during their decades of dominance.

 

With the global explosion of golf it has become too difficult for the US to field teams that can beat European teams that draw from so many countries.

[dent0528]

The fact of the matter is that the US is losing because the point system is not done correctly. I mean seriously, we have guys qualifying because they accumulated most of there points a with late season victory or a few top 10's coming down the stretch. Not to mention the fact that there were more unearned points than actual points earned because only top 10's get you those points. On top of that, during of weeks while WGC events and Majors are being played, the PGA still sees fit to give out the same number of points to players who are only playing the regular tour stop because they are not otherwise exempt for the bigger tournament.

 

I understand that the system is trying to get guys that are playing the best at the time, but that should not be done at the expense of how players have proven themselves over the two qualifying years.

 

I'm not saying that had the point system been different then a much better team could have been put together this year....maybe there is just not as much talent right now. But, whether or not I agree with Lehman's captain's picks or not....I don't think they are the reason we lost

[Xt1ncT]

I think you are missing my point.

 

They did hole the putts and dominate the Euro teams back then. Are you familiar with the overall Ryder Cup record? The US has owned the competition throughout history and those US teams were anything but the "family" that the Euros like to brag about.

 

My point is this...the Euros may actually be a tight group but that is not what is winning these matches for them in recent years. They are winning now because they have much better players top to bottom, much like the US did during their decades of dominance.

 

With the global explosion of golf it has become too difficult for the US to field teams that can beat European teams that draw from so many countries.

I didn't miss your point at all.

 

In fact I think you missed mine - IF the US were more of a team they may relax a bit more on the greens and so hole more putts. Feeling that you are playing for your mates can only help right?

 

And the different countries thing doesn't really hold water - the player pools would be about the same I should think. The UK has 60 million people, Germany a bit more than that, but most of the other Euro countries are a lot smaller.

 

In fact if you take the major players from the Euro tour their countries have a combined population of 314,942,012

 

And the US is at 297,923,345, so a difference of 17 million, which in population terms is pretty small.

[ur1down]

I think you are missing my point.

 

They did hole the putts and dominate the Euro teams back then. Are you familiar with the overall Ryder Cup record? The US has owned the competition throughout history and those US teams were anything but the "family" that the Euros like to brag about.

 

My point is this...the Euros may actually be a tight group but that is not what is winning these matches for them in recent years. They are winning now because they have much better players top to bottom, much like the US did during their decades of dominance.

 

With the global explosion of golf it has become too difficult for the US to field teams that can beat European teams that draw from so many countries.

I didn't miss your point at all.

 

In fact I think you missed mine - IF the US were more of a team they may relax a bit more on the greens and so hole more putts. Feeling that you are playing for your mates can only help right?

 

And the different countries thing doesn't really hold water - the player pools would be about the same I should think. The UK has 60 million people, Germany a bit more than that, but most of the other Euro countries are a lot smaller.

 

In fact if you take the major players from the Euro tour their countries have a combined population of 314,942,012

 

And the US is at 297,923,345, so a difference of 17 million, which in population terms is pretty small.

 

And you are still not understanding that the US won something like 24 out of 30 Ryder Cups when most of the players didn't really like each other. It is better talent that wins, period. All this talk about "mates" is vastly overrated.

 

As far as the population numbers you threw out, well you just don't undestand Ameican golf all that well. We are not drawing from anywhere near the same number as the European countries because competetive golf just isn't as popular here. Like soccer here, there are too many other sports eating up the best athletes. While there is a solid core of serious golf fans in this country, like the guys on this board, it is certainly a minority sport. Did you know that at many US colleges the womens college coaches go dorm to dorm asking women to come play on the golf team because they can't find enough girls to field teams?

 

The most telling statistic to back up my argument is the growing number of American college golf scholarships going to foreigners. It is so common now that most college teams are half foreigners. Golfweek just dedicated half an issue to the trend. US coaches are going outside the US to get a growing number of their players and it isn't because they can't play.

 

Here is all you need to know about Ryder Cup interest in the US. On Saturday and Sunday I stopped into 2 different popular sports bars. Both were full of patrons and of the 20 televions in the bar on saturday, none had the Ryder Cup on as they were all on college football. On Sunday the bar was also full and of the 15 televions 1 had the Ryder cup on in the corner,on the smallest tv with nobody watching. The rest of the tv's were on NFL football.

 

I enjoy watching golf but I am certainly in the minority. What was on in the pubs on the other side of the ocean? I would guess all eyes were on golf.

[nunee]

And by the way, I forgot....

 

Am I the only guy who believes that the US Open choke of Mickelson has turned him into the Ian Baker-Finch of the new millenium?

 

Nope, I totally agree. Phil is a choker.....always has been. He was able to think past it for his Major wins, but the Winged Foot debacle just reinforces my belief. While I enjoy his wins, I laugh at his losses. He is a choker, it's in his blood. That last hole has been analyzed to death, but there was NO need for a driver there, none. Why he chose to hit it..... :D

 

Phil should have been sat, a LOT! He went 0'fer for tht tourney. Verplank should have been in his spot in a second. You can't make a captains pick and sit him...if you do, maybe he should not have been picked?

[leeux]

Guys you take these thing way too serious.

 

Sure the Euros get motivated playing the BIG Americans. It has been like this in every sport, whenever you have a juggernaut like the US basketball team (used to be) or the former Soviet teams in ice hockey or the Brazilians in soccer, the other team always gets super motivated to beat them.

 

I think the Euros always feel like they are the underdogs because the superstars on the US team (Tiger, Phil etc) get so much more exposure and coverage than everybody else. The Ryder Cup just serves as a reminder that the others can also play.

 

There must be a secret however to the stellar short game and putting the Euros have been showing since I started watching the Ryder Cup in 1985. I mean they just seem to chip in and make huge putts so much more often than the Americans. Probably they have a little secret there, a little shot of whiskey or so in their water bottles.

:D

[MrParr1Noid]

Guys you take these thing way too serious.

 

Sure the Euros get motivated playing the BIG Americans. It has been like this in every sport, whenever you have a juggernaut like the US basketball team (used to be) or the former Soviet teams in ice hockey or the Brazilians in soccer, the other team always gets super motivated to beat them.

 

I think the Euros always feel like they are the underdogs because the superstars on the US team (Tiger, Phil etc) get so much more exposure and coverage than everybody else. The Ryder Cup just serves as a reminder that the others can also play.

 

There must be a secret however to the stellar short game and putting the Euros have been showing since I started the Ryder Cup in 1985. I mean they just seem to chip in and make huge putts so much more often than the Americans. Probably they have a little secret there, a little shot of whiskey or so in their water bottles.

:cheesy:

 

At last, someone armed with the balance of "common sense". :D

[sergizmo]

You got the point. IN THE EUROPEAN TEAM, 12 = 1. THAT IS THE ONLY SECRET

 

The only real secret is that the Euros had better players that made more putts.

 

All this other garbage about team unity and bonding is just hot air that makes the Euros feel better about themselves. The bottom line is that golf is global now and they are drawing from an entire continent. Our country can no longer produce enough great players to beat that many countries together.

 

There was no talk about team unity and bonding when the US was drilling the GB&I and Euro teams up until just recently. If I remember correctly up until the mid 90's the US showed up in 12 different private jets, slapped those teams around then went 12 separate ways not to meet again until 2 years later. No 'feel good' team stories were necessary then.

 

The difference then was talent level and depth and that is exactly the case recently.

 

All this "12=1" and "we play for each other" talk is just pretentious BS.

 

 

The Europeans have better players? Tiger, Mickelson, and Furyk are ranked 1,2,3 in the world.

 

World Rankings USA

Tiger: 1

Mickelson: 2

Furyk: 3

Toms: 12

DiMarco: 13

Campbell: 21

Verplank :34

Johnson: 36

Cink: 39

Taylor: 55

Wetterich: 57

Henry: 72

 

World Rankings Europe

Garcia: 8

Donald: 10

Howell: 12

Monty: 15

Olazabal: 16

Stenson: 17

Harrington: 18

Clarke: 22

Casey: 28

Karlsson: 42

McGinley: 44

Westwood: 47

 

I don't see a big advantage for Europe here.

 

The Europeans were able to elevate their games to far above what they normally are. Have you seen so many long putts holed, chip ins, stuffed irons, etc... like you had by the Europeans on Sunday? Do these players play anywhere near this level normally? No. They are comfortable as a team, and I truly believe they wanted to win for Darren and his late wife.

 

Some of the Americans, on the other hand, just did not want to be there. Tiger looked uncomfortable from the start, as did Mickelson. Furyk wasn't his usual self with the putter, and put some balls in the water. This is very unlike Jim. As a whole, the Americans played to a level below to what they usually play on tour. No one stepped up and delivered. Any enthusiasm was contrived (yes, even DiMarco).

 

I believe the Euros beat the US winning streak in '85, with Sam Torrance holing the winning putt, not in the mid 90's.

[peteman29]

FAO: ur1down

 

just want to set a few things straight here, you're getting a bit out of order.

 

1st off to say the Euro's hate the Americans based on something Paul Casey was supposed to have said is ridiculous. It seems like the Americans wanted to be hated, they wanted to be feared, they wanted to intimidate. The Euro's just plain wanted to beat you.

 

Secondly, to say Sergio was taking it too seriously and acting like a jerk is ridiculous. Why do the Yanks have such a problem with people enjoying themselves and having a good time, was it because they were having their asses handed to them that made Sergio's enthusiasm so hard to bear?

 

Lastly to say that the Euros didn't have a team spirit is.... yep RIDICULOUS! They played for eachother as much as themselves without worrying about how they were being perceived, they just got the job done and inspired millions of people at the same time.

The Yanks don't understand the meaning of inspiration. They were like Robots and Lehman was Optimus Prime.

[HipCheck]

Secondly, to say Sergio was taking it too seriously and acting like a jerk is ridiculous. Why do the Yanks have such a problem with people enjoying themselves and having a good time, was it because they were having their asses handed to them that made Sergio's enthusiasm so hard to bear?

 

They were like Robots and Lehman was Optimus Prime.

 

You're spot on with this point. The Americans play and act as to not to offend. Is it a carryover from the Leonard putt? Maybe a little, but basically, they don't want to be hated. The Euros don't play act like that, expecially Sergio.

 

Consequently, I hate Sergio at the Ryder Cup. He's extremely annoying. His iron shots in team play were like daggers to me. I can't stand him and was extremely happy to see him get spanked by Cink on Sunday. In majors I don't mind him, because so far, when Sergio just has Sergio to rely on, he's usually a non-factor, and putts like Johnny Miller does today.

 

Oh, and nice Transformers reference :D

[marcus2905]

Despite the various comments concerning why the USA team struggles in the Ryder Cup, I think a couple of other points are worth considering.

 

Firstly, in the states you supposedly have the strongest tour in the world, with any player capable of winning on any given day, however (and please bear in mind I can only go on the evidence that I see on satelite TV coverage) all of your tournaments could be interchangeable. Your events are all played on similar if not identical courses, which are all ultimately set up the same way and condition your players to play one style of golf. It would also seem that the idea of playing golf in wind or rain is alien to most US golfers.

The european tour equips its players to adapt to different courses/conditions and I think this should be considered as a massive advantage.

You have at your disposal some fantastic golfers but lets not get too carried away with the workd rankings, given that ranking points are geared towards the quality of field (supposedly) you will always have a greater proportion of high ranked players, what you need to look at is getting a team who have experience of playing around the world and in all conditions, lets face it if the Open wasn't a major I doubt many, if any of the americans would bother to play in it.

Finally, you need to try and find some people for whom the Ryder Cup is important - your best players this time around were Henry, Johnson, and Cink (who for some reason seems to have upset a lot of posters), these guys played like it mattered - Find a way of getting John Daly on to your team and see what a difference that makes.

Tiger and Phil can win all the majors they like - but as has been said they do this for themselves not the american golfing public, get players that may see a ryder cup as the pinacle of their career not a detraction or a warm up for the next WGC event and I am sure that you will have a better chance.

[mcbush25]

You got the point. IN THE EUROPEAN TEAM, 12 = 1. THAT IS THE ONLY SECRET

 

The only real secret is that the Euros had better players that made more putts.

 

All this other garbage about team unity and bonding is just hot air that makes the Euros feel better about themselves. The bottom line is that golf is global now and they are drawing from an entire continent. Our country can no longer produce enough great players to beat that many countries together.

 

There was no talk about team unity and bonding when the US was drilling the GB&I and Euro teams up until just recently. If I remember correctly up until the mid 90's the US showed up in 12 different private jets, slapped those teams around then went 12 separate ways not to meet again until 2 years later. No 'feel good' team stories were necessary then.

 

The difference then was talent level and depth and that is exactly the case recently.

 

All this "12=1" and "we play for each other" talk is just pretentious BS.

 

 

The Europeans have better players? Tiger, Mickelson, and Furyk are ranked 1,2,3 in the world.

 

World Rankings USA

Tiger: 1

Mickelson: 2

Furyk: 3

Toms: 12

DiMarco: 13

Campbell: 21

Verplank :34

Johnson: 36

Cink: 39

Taylor: 55

Wetterich: 57

Henry: 72

 

World Rankings Europe

Garcia: 8

Donald: 10

Howell: 12

Monty: 15

Olazabal: 16

Stenson: 17

Harrington: 18

Clarke: 22

Casey: 28

Karlsson: 42

McGinley: 44

Westwood: 47

 

I don't see a big advantage for Europe here.

 

The Europeans were able to elevate their games to far above what they normally are. Have you seen so many long putts holed, chip ins, stuffed irons, etc... like you had by the Europeans on Sunday? Do these players play anywhere near this level normally? No. They are comfortable as a team, and I truly believe they wanted to win for Darren and his late wife.

 

Some of the Americans, on the other hand, just did not want to be there. Tiger looked uncomfortable from the start, as did Mickelson. Furyk wasn't his usual self with the putter, and put some balls in the water. This is very unlike Jim. As a whole, the Americans played to a level below to what they usually play on tour. No one stepped up and delivered. Any enthusiasm was contrived (yes, even DiMarco).

 

I believe the Euros beat the US winning streak in '85, with Sam Torrance holing the winning putt, not in the mid 90's.

 

Well, it is pretty close overall. If you take each teams ranking and added them up and divided by twelve then the US has an average ranking of 28.75 while the European team has an average ranking of 23.25. So in retrospect it is fairly close, but the main thing is the European players want to win it mroe than the US and they play better.

[ur1down]

FAO: ur1down

 

 

1st off to say the Euro's hate the Americans based on something Paul Casey was supposed to have said is ridiculous. It seems like the Americans wanted to be hated, they wanted to be feared, they wanted to intimidate. The Euro's just plain wanted to beat you.

 

 

There is no "supposed" about what he said and he never came out and denied saying those things, he just apologized for making his feelings public.

 

Mr. Casey needs to remember that he would be speaking German if not for the American soldiers that died for his freedom.

 

I don't think any American players want to be "feared", "hated" or "intimidate" anyone. These comments of yours simply reinforce what many Americans feel is the attitude of the Euro players and fans.

 

Secondly, to say Sergio was taking it too seriously and acting like a jerk is ridiculous. Why do the Yanks have such a problem with people enjoying themselves and having a good time, was it because they were having their asses handed to them that made Sergio's enthusiasm so hard to bear?

 

No, it has nothing to do with the outcome of the matches. Sergio is simply a jerk and has made an a** of himself in every Cup he has participated in. He started before the matches by calling out Tiger on his Cup record. Even when getting whipped by Cink he was glaring at Stuart for making putts and acting as if he was supposed to be handed the match. Not to mention his behavior in the post Cup press conference where he wanted to make every comment personal. He is classless.

 

Hey Sergio, win a major if you want to impress me. He can't make a 5 footer to save his life in a major yet he acts as if he is the number one player in the world when he makes a putt with a partner to back him up.

 

The Yanks don't understand the meaning of inspiration.

 

 

This is a ridiculous statement that isn't worthy of a retort.

 

I have three British friends in the States that all came here to play college golf and have never left. My statements are based on conversation with them. They all agree that there is a bit of hostility towards the US among most Euro Ryder Cup fans and they openly admit that they used to share those feeling until moving to this country.

 

Also, try to understand that although these matches draw interest from a small group of US golf fans, to most it is meaningless and draws little attention nationwide where, conversely, this was the biggest sporting event in the history of Ireland. It should be expected that the Euros are more inspired for these matches.

 

Just don't tell me "yanks" don't understand the meaning of inspiration...we define inspiration as a Country.