2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine

[seanmor]

Darren Clarke has named Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Thomas Pieters as his three wildcard picks for the upcoming Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.

Read more: http://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/ryder-cup-clarke-reveals-wildcard-picks#ixzz4IocF3Kso

 

[DCB]

Was curious as to the third pick until I saw this

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/37222764

Hmmm .... really ...  what an attitude, no wonder he was overlooked.

If he was so set on a Team berth, why did he not join the European Tour until after he started playing well, rather than the start of the qualifying period.

He needs to learn how to play well with others

 

[PaulBoy]

I watched Pieters in the Olympics (where he finished 4th) the Czech Open (where he was robbed of a play-off when the winner rolled a monster putt on last green) and again when he won this weekend in Denmark (finishing birdie birdie birdie)
He looks the real deal to me, huge off the tee / great round the greens / great putter / very cool under pressure & a birdie machine - Everything you need to do well in the Ryder Cup imho
Good call Darren on all three of your picks
Paul

 

[MvW]

Hard to disagree with any of the 3 picks.

With 5 rookies qualifying automatically 2 of the picks pretty much had be experienced. Whilst playing yesterday we were talking about who would be chosen & we all called Kaymer & Westwood immediately. Tough on Russell Knox but hard to argue with Pieters' form, if he can maintain it he could be a serious problem for the American side.

Knox's comments in that article do not sound great, I can understand him wanting to state his case but perhaps not the best way to express himself.

Should be another fascinating Ryder Cup especially with the US side more desperate to win than ever after 3 straight defeats.

 

[hursty]

I think this Ryder Cup is going to be the closest one to call of recent times.

As much as it pains me to say it, I think the US Team has got the slightest of advantage on paper (before picks) that coupled with home advantage means to me that the Europeans are going to have to earn the win.

Plus side is that it should make for awesome viewing.

 

[superhoop]

I reckon Clarke has made the correct picks for the wildcards & we're going in with our strongest team.
If he had 12 wildcards, the side would probably look pretty similar as none of the automatic qualifiers are playing badly - perhaps Knox for C-Bello, but could argue that one either way.

 

[DCB]

What I'm finding hard to understand, is why did Knox  not take out ET membership if he was so set on a RC berth. All the players know the qualifying criteria and qualifying period. All it would take is a consistent season on the PGA Tour to lift you into contention on the World Points List. Leaving it until after a win isn't the way to do it. 

Still choices are made, so, it's going to be a cracker when it happens. Think it will go to USA as I can't  see Davis Love even thinking about a loss this time around. USA are certainly stronger on paper and have home advantage, so, it'll be fireworks time again

 

[Audioclyde]

As an avid Ryder Cup fan here in the USA, I have to say that I'm never confident in the US side anymore.  To me it just seems that the Euro side 'gets it', it means a lot more to them, or maybe they just handle the pressure much better than the US players......

Hoping its a great entertaining match with sportsmanship at the forefront!

Randy

 

[hursty]

As an avid Ryder Cup fan here in the USA, I have to say that I'm never confident in the US side anymore.  To me it just seems that the Euro side 'gets it', it means a lot more to them, or maybe they just handle the pressure much better than the US players......

Hoping its a great entertaining match with sportsmanship at the forefront!

Randy

My personal view is that the Europeans are a closer team overall in general so appear to "get it" more than the US team.

Any team that has big characters that are also near the top of the rankings (Woods/Mickleson eg) will only cause disruption in the locker room.

Which may be our saving grace as PatRICK Reed is pretty much disliked by everyone.

The Europeans haven't really had any big clash of characters except for the last time we lost in the US when Captain Nick Faildo clashed with everyone apart from his own ego!

 

[RobCH]

My own theory is that the Europeans play for the team rather than Europe, the Americans are encouraged to play for their country rather than the team, and the former works better every time. The US team's 2016 outfits (some even with a splash of military-camo) seem set on continuing the uber-patriotic approach. 

Incidentally, good to see McIlroy getting back some of his old form at the Deutsche Bank just in time for the Ryder Cup...

 

[OhBoy!]

I'm taking bets on how many "hostesses" Woods turns up with.

 

[TheJoshuaTree]

This has to be one of the weakest looking european sides for a long time, i've not looked at the odds but it wouldn't surprise me if the USA are odds on to win. Danny Willett hasn't done a thing since a fortunate Masters win with a lot of missed cuts along the way, as much as you want Chris Wood to do well he would probably admit himself that he's not been in the greatest form for a while, Rafa Cabrera Bello is no more than steady and isn't a prolific winner, Andy Sullivan is a likeable person and a decent european level golfer but Ryder Cup quality, really ? I like Lee Westwood as a person and a golfer but his best days are behind him, i'd love to be proven wrong Lee  ... Martin Kaymer hasn't won since 2014 and again he's another that's struggling for form, i get the Thomas Pieters pick as he's a long hitter, the course will probably be setup to suit the longer hitters and you need a couple of potentially quality rookies in your side.


Out of our bigger names Rory has struggled for most of the season and has been way off his game apart from a recent win that came out of the blue but in his next event he struggled again and was way off the pace, the same with Sergio Garcia who has also struggled and isn't a prolific winner these days. Just Rose hasn't had his strongest season and has had recent injuries, Henrik Stenson is the only one the USA team would probably fear has he's had a great season and has been consistently solid and has played some great golf.

 

[RobB2]

I think you are being very unfair to a lot of players who have played very well over the qualifying period ,to get into the Ryder Cup squad.The criteria states that if you come in the top whatever of the Ryder Cup points list or the top whatever of the world list then you are automatically in.You cannot do that by playing bad golf.That's a fact.Accepted ,that if Willet hadn't have won the Masters ,he wouldn't have been a shoe in but still think he would have obtained enough points to make the team.As for your suggestion that Pieters got in because he hits t miles is absurd.If  you watch any of the European tour ,you would see what a fine player he is.Not to mention the fact that he placed 4th in the Olympics,2nd and 1st in his last 3 starts.Birdies on the last 3 holes to win the latter too.we may have 6 rookies but they are all very good players.Yes the USA will be favourites on home soil but they would have been anyway.Don't underestimate our team.it will be very tight i believe but they  won't let anyone down.None of our team have won on a regular basis  but apart from Dustin Johnson,neither have the Americans ,they have as many out of form players as us if you want to put it like that.

 

[TheJoshuaTree]

The problem with the Ryder Cup format selection is it's flawed in my opinion, a player can win a big tournament very early on in the season, totally out of the blue like Chris Wood did by winning the BMW which virtually gets you into the Ryder Cup team for that one achievement alone, then for the rest of the season you do very little and show virtually no form whatsoever yet you have still made the Ryder Cup team. It's the same case with Danny Willett who has done nothing whatsoever since the Masters other than miss a lot of cuts.

How many of the European team are in form at the minute ? The majority of them havn't shown any worthwhile form for a fair while.

The points system should only be a guide in my opinion, the final picks should be down to the captain. If both captains are picking in form players you'll get an even better spectacle than having 4 or 5 players that are woefully out of form from either side.

Also i didn't say that Pieters was soley in the side because of his long driving ability, i went on to say after that he's a quality rookie and you need a couple of those in your side.

The americans are competing on a far tougher tour than a lot of our players have been competing on so winning on a regular basis is a lot harder for them, almost half of this current european team have mainly competed on the european tour for most of their careers so far which is a far weaker tour.

 

[OhBoy!]

For me, I'm afraid the Ryder Cup is now sooooo over-hyped that I find it impossible to watch all but the last day. A shame, for it should be better than that.

But the marketing men have had their frenzy and ruined it. See also Olympics, Football / Rugby / Cricket World Cups, It's a Knockout / Jeux sans Frontieres etc. 

 

[OhBoy!]

..... and if I ever hear that in a previous Ryder Cup, one golfer once didn't make another golfer putt his very short putt, which thus epitomises the "sport" that is golf, I'll go out and buy a cat. Just for the pleasure of kicking it afterwards. *

* it's not been a good day so far. 

 

[mezoo]

I'm not a great fan of team competitions for individual sports but the Ryder Cup is always very watchable despite all the clichéd garbage from pundits, commentators and players.

As a Brit who, despite being of true northern European heritage, feels no particular affinity to Europe (thanks to the EU) and who doesn't particularly care for the current crop of British players, I'm not fussed who wins and am just hoping for great golf and high drama.

Latest betting here (USA hot favs atm)... https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/#/golf/market/1.115708609

 

[hursty]

So then, 2 days to kick off and my household have already been told not to talk to me until Monday morning (unless its "would you like another beer?")

What are everyones score predictions?

I'll start it off, I've had a slight change of thoughts after the past couple of weeks, Rory winning, Willett having a good 2nd place finish, Wood also played a lot better, that coupled with a few of the US team not making the Tour Championship, Johnson throwing away yet another lead (plus for US is Moore getting a pick, think he could be a difficult opponent with his style of play) has now made me feel more optimistic about our chances. I know that the US have home advantage but I'm now going for a tight 14-14 score and the Europeans retaining the cup.

Bring it on....................

 

[PaulBoy]

Much as I want Europe to win I think the USA driven on by the Arnold Palmer Factor will just edge it, so I will go for 15-13 to the USA - Likewise I think Moore is a good pick - I was hoping Bubba got the nod as I don't rate him as a player or a good team member
Paul

 

[Stewart 57]

The problem with the Ryder Cup format selection is it's flawed in my opinion, a player can win a big tournament very early on in the season, totally out of the blue like Chris Wood did by winning the BMW which virtually gets you into the Ryder Cup team for that one achievement alone, then for the rest of the season you do very little and show virtually no form whatsoever yet you have still made the Ryder Cup team. It's the same case with Danny Willett who has done nothing whatsoever since the Masters other than miss a lot of cuts.

How many of the European team are in form at the minute ? The majority of them havn't shown any worthwhile form for a fair while.

The points system should only be a guide in my opinion, the final picks should be down to the captain. If both captains are picking in form players you'll get an even better spectacle than having 4 or 5 players that are woefully out of form from either side.

Also i didn't say that Pieters was soley in the side because of his long driving ability, i went on to say after that he's a quality rookie and you need a couple of those in your side.

The americans are competing on a far tougher tour than a lot of our players have been competing on so winning on a regular basis is a lot harder for them, almost half of this current european team have mainly competed on the european tour for most of their careers so far which is a far weaker tour.

A lot of good points from both  you and Rob2.  But since this event is a matchplay format current form goes out the window,  its ike anything else its how you perform on the day, in matchplay.