The Ryder Cup Secret...

[ur1down]

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.

 

 

Then how do you explain the decisive advantage that the US has in overall Ryder Cup record?

 

Also, if your above statement were true, how do you explain the Americans record at the British open?

 

Both of these points defeat your statement which brings me back to my original point. The Euros are drawing from a larger talent pool and the depth of their team is the difference right now. Their recent winning has nothing to do with the courses, the hugs or the fist pumps, it is all about talent.

 

The US dominated for decades because their talent was deeper and now the Euros have that advantage.

[MrParr1Noid]

Its a real pity of the RC is a minority interest in the US - maybe that explains in part why the US is getting whipped at it.

 

 

Why is that......It seems to me that there are many more important things in life than argueing over the Ryder Cup and who is the best golfer in the world. Why is it that some people are "ASSUMING" that we are to raise the Ryder Cup to the statis of WW III.

 

Some of you guys had better get you heads out of you rectums, quit trying to make the "GAME" of golf something it isn't. The last I knew, the game golf isn't supposed to be of a political nature........Let's KEEP THE GAME OF GOLF THAT WAY!!

[Gxgolfer]

Like, the NBA, NFL, MBL, NHL, PGA etc. The US has the best professional leagues for those sports. The best athletes come to the States to play those sports and to prove they can compete with the best.

 

To represent one's Country should be a supreme honor and that responsibility is huge. In fact, if you look at Sports where the US has traditionally dominated, the argument could be stated that other Countries athletes have been inspired to compete and raise their game.

 

The US had the best tennis players for many years but, couldn't get alot of them to play in the Davis. I still don't understand that one and I probably never will. Basketball and Baseball have been controversial because of potential injuries and huge contracts.

 

Golf has always been different but the core honor remains for both sides. Seems like people just like to stir the pot because all I saw out there was class from both sides. Step back and enjoy it for what it was and what its meant to be.

[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.

 

When Paul Casey made his now infamous comment, people over here understood what he meant - he meant what football (soccer) fans mean when they say they are going to kill the other side - it was a hyped up way of getting up for it. Casey doesn't hate the US - he was in college in the US, lives there now and has a US girlfriend - he is more American that most of the non-US people on this forum.

 

 

How do you know what he meant to say? He said what he said and it is hard to derive anything else from his comments, especially since he never backed off them. I don't care who he dates.

 

From what I've been told, Casey showed up in the US with a chip on his shoulder and left with a chip on his shoulder. It's not up to everyone else to read things into his comments. They are what they are and I think they are an accurate reflection of the feelings of some of the Euro players. It's not difficult to pick those players out either.

[Gxgolfer]

The Paul Casey argument is getting so tired. You think Monty and Darren Clarke have a go at each other or the two of them against Sergio??? He made a frank comment and obviously it will be held against him for quite sometime.

[MrParr1Noid]

I don't think Casey is the one with a chip on his shoulder.

 

 

Well I see we are finally getting down to individual name calling now. :D

[dlygrisse]

The main format of the Ryder cup was changed, it only used to include GB&I, not the entire European continent. I beleive the whole idea was invented by Jack Nicklaus because he felt the Ryder Cup in it's current format during the 1960"s was too boring because the U.S. kicked thier butts every year. (sound familiar?) I think we should allow the U.S. team include any player from the Western Hemisphere. Not that it would contribute that much more talent, but I bet people like Mike Weir would get fired up and add some emotion to the event. Can you imagine, the crowd chanting Western Hemisphere!.....Western Hemisphere!.....Western Hemisphere!.....Western Hemisphere!.....What kind of flags would they paint on their face?

[dlygrisse]

I have it figured out, the reason we lost is becasue even the Americans are tired of seeing Tiger win everything!!!!!

[Emm]

ur1down

 

Quote: The Euros were wearing PINK suits after the matches.

 

 

 

 

 

I think you will find that the Euro team were wearing pink suits, as pink is the colour for the Breast Cancer charity. In memory of Darren Clarkes wife..

[Xt1ncT]

 

 

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.

Yes the US won most of the RC when it was agains GB & Ireland, but then the US had 200 odd million against 60 million to choose from.

 

And what makes you think that golf in the UK and the rest of Europe is the sport everyone plays? Golf would come a long way behind most sports in the UK simply because it is still seen as elitist and costs quite a bit to play as a member of a club. Football - or soccer as the US seems to want to call it - is far ahead of golf, as is fishing, rugby, athletics and a few other sports. Which only goes to lower the UK's golfing pool. As I said before, the actual figures of golfers in the respective countries would be very similar.

 

As for TV coverage, again yes it would have been shown, but things like football would take precedence.

 

Anyway, enough trying to convince the one person who sees it your way. I enjoyed the golf, everyone played the game the way it should be played, there was class on both sides and fantastic golf played. And the best TEAM won.

[dent0528]

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.

 

 

Seems to me the Americans handle themselves just fine in all different conditions. Take as a prime example, this years British Open-----looks to me like the Americans handled that situation just fine and for that matter so did other international players----more so than the European players.

 

And for that matter, study stats from the major championships over the past 2, 5, 10 years or however far you need to go back and I think you'll see the Americans repeatedly prove they can handle ALL playing conditions.

Sure you can say the PGA tour is set up similar every week, which, by the way, is only indicative of the weather, but you can not say they all majors are played under the same conditions.

[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.

 

When Paul Casey made his now infamous comment, people over here understood what he meant - he meant what football (soccer) fans mean when they say they are going to kill the other side - it was a hyped up way of getting up for it. Casey doesn't hate the US - he was in college in the US, lives there now and has a US girlfriend - he is more American that most of the non-US people on this forum.

 

 

How do you know what he meant to say? He said what he said and it is hard to derive anything else from his comments, especially since he never backed off them. I don't care who he dates.

 

From what I've been told, Casey showed up in the US with a chip on his shoulder and left with a chip on his shoulder. It's not up to everyone else to read things into his comments. They are what they are and I think they are an accurate reflection of the feelings of some of the Euro players. It's not difficult to pick those players out either.

 

Actually he did back off them, but you probably didn't want to hear those.

 

I don't think Casey is the one with a chip on his shoulder.

 

 

I don't think so. He danced around with a pseudo apology but never took back the statement. It did not go over well with the American Tour players and he was shunned in the locker room for a while and is still not popular with many. Most American players took the high road but, of course, that goes unnoticed by most.

[ur1down]

ur1down

 

Quote: The Euros were wearing PINK suits after the matches.

 

 

 

 

 

I think you will find that the Euro team were wearing pink suits, as pink is the colour for the Breast Cancer charity. In memory of Darren Clarkes wife..

 

And? Whats your point? Are you attempting to make paint me as being insensitive? It was only mentioned a hundred times so it was difficult to not put together.

 

My point was that somone made fun of the American wardrobe and I pointed out that the Euros wore pink suits. Despite the reason, they are still ugly.

[nlacross]

I have a great idea if only we didn't base our team on points. Pick 12 rookies to play on the team and it would be a guaranteed win. Tiger doesn't do it and Phil never has. Furyk in my mind is the only true experienced Ryder Cupper that is worth anything. When is the last Ryder Cup that you can remember where a rookie wasn't the break out player??? Rookies is the key to wins. They are full of emotion and just excited to be out playing in a good team event and that always leads to points. J.J. Henry was by far the player of the week for the U.S.

[TML]

We need more younger players. We also needed Daly on the team as a captains pick.

 

While Lehman can't be faulted for the loss, we would've been better off with anyone else as captain. The way he treated Verplank was absolutely moronic. Not to mention sitting JJ Henry. Lehman was like a deer caught in the headlights.

[Emm]

ur1down

 

Quote: The Euros were wearing PINK suits after the matches.

 

 

 

 

 

I think you will find that the Euro team were wearing pink suits, as pink is the colour for the Breast Cancer charity. In memory of Darren Clarkes wife..

 

And? Whats your point? Are you attempting to make paint me as being insensitive? It was only mentioned a hundred times so it was difficult to not put together.

 

My point was that somone made fun of the American wardrobe and I pointed out that the Euros wore pink suits. Despite the reason, they are still ugly.

 

Im not saying you were insensitive, just that they probably wore the suits for a different reason, not just because they thought they look good.

 

Anyway how did we get from the Euro team beating America to dress codes and what Paul Casey said years ago?

 

:beach:

[peteman29]

ur1down: I don't know you and have never met you but I can say with certainty that you're an idiot.

 

Comments like "Mr. Casey needs to remember that he would be speaking German if not for the American soldiers that died for his freedom" are completely irrelevant to this discussion and completely untrue. All you're trying to do is provoke people into nasty arguments.

 

I'm not going to get into a War debate or a debate about the current state of world politics but maybe if you had an ounce of intelligence and read up on your history you'd see how utterly stupid you're comments are.

 

Any moderators on this site going to ban this idiot or what? Last time I checked making such comments were not accepted

[ur1down]

ur1down: I don't know you and have never met you but I can say with certainty that you're an idiot.

 

Comments like "Mr. Casey needs to remember that he would be speaking German if not for the American soldiers that died for his freedom" are completely irrelevant to this discussion and completely untrue. All you're trying to do is provoke people into nasty arguments.

 

I'm not going to get into a War debate or a debate about the current state of world politics but maybe if you had an ounce of intelligence and read up on your history you'd see how utterly stupid you're comments are.

 

Any moderators on this site going to ban this idiot or what? Last time I checked making such comments were not accepted

 

I just stated facts and general opinions. You are the one who took it to a personal level by calling me an "idiot" twice in one post. Are your comments to be accepted?

 

Maybe you should look up the meaning of the word "hypocrite" before responding to any more posts.

 

Also, you can spare me the history lesson as I am well educated on the subject.

[ur1down]

ur1down

 

Quote: The Euros were wearing PINK suits after the matches.

 

 

 

 

 

I think you will find that the Euro team were wearing pink suits, as pink is the colour for the Breast Cancer charity. In memory of Darren Clarkes wife..

 

And? Whats your point? Are you attempting to make paint me as being insensitive? It was only mentioned a hundred times so it was difficult to not put together.

 

My point was that somone made fun of the American wardrobe and I pointed out that the Euros wore pink suits. Despite the reason, they are still ugly.

 

Anyway how did we get from the Euro team beating America to dress codes and what Paul Casey said years ago?

 

:beach:

 

The wardrobe issue was instigated by a Euro fan in this thread.

 

The Paul Casey comments were brought up because it was my opinion that this so callled "passion" that the Euro's play with is more so a hatred of the US. Not so much a dislike for the American players but a hatred for the US in general and, more specifically, our foreign policy. I went on to comment that this opinion was shared by a few friends of mine who are transplanted Brits living in the US.

 

I was not trying to start an international inccident as some have suggested but just giving an opinion that is shared by some Americans and, obviously, some Europeans.

 

It seems to have struck a nerve with some that suggests it is closer to the truth than some would like to believe, however it was not the intent of the post.