USA Melts Down at Medinah

Rory McIlroy’s police escort from his hotel to Medinah, just in time for his 11:30am (Central) tee time should have sounded the alarm for team USA. Europe’s number three player on Sunday avoided a major league blunder, stepped right onto the course without any warm-up and played his way to a 2 and 1 victory over Keegan Bradley for a European 3-0 start on the Ryder Cup’s final day of play. This in itself should have been a sign for the Americans; it was not going to be the dominant finish they had hoped for and a collapse wasn’t far away. What took place from that point on however is well, just a travesty? The United States, which opened the final day of play with a commanding 10-6 lead, had still only given up its margin for error with plenty of golf remaining. But the momentum had swung and the United States squad then found itself under pressure. But not just normal golf pressure, Ryder Cup pressure. The weight of holding up both team and country, not just oneself and it proved to be too much for several U.S. players to handle. The first to gag, or be outplayed, however you personally would like to put it was Phil Mickelson. Lefty, led Justin Rose by a shot heading onto 16. Rose however picked his game up to another level. He drilled a 12-foot par to halve the hole. He then knocked down a 35-footer from the back of the green to win the 17th outright, tying the match. On 18, he then drained another 12 foot birdie putt to capture the match, tying the overall competition. Rose simply took his play into another gear that Mickelson could not match and from this point on, it all seemed to fall apart for the squad captained by Davis Love III. Six of the 12 matches on Sunday, weren’t determined until the 18th hole and the United States only won just one. Maybe the most painful and telling of the growing pressure the U.S. team felt was blown lead by Jim Furyk, one of Love’s Captain’s choices for the team. He outplayed Sergio Garcia for 16 holes only to go belly-up with bogeys on both 17 and 18 losing his match to the Spaniard 1-up, as the Americans lead was completely gone with just four matches remaining. The next big choke job came from another of Love’s Captain Choices in Steve Stricker. He was all-square with Martin Kaymer heading to 17. Simply put, the German birdied and pared while the American finished par, par and that was it. With the win, Europe pulled a full point in front with just one match remaining, Tiger Woods versus Francisco Molinari. Since the defending champion retains the cup in the matter of a tie, Woods finish was left meaningless even with his halve, all part of a 14 ½ to 13 ½ European victory. So who deserves the heat in this debacle that adds to the European total of nine Ryder Cup victories to just four for the United States since 1985? Well the guy who didn’t even compete takes the most. Davis Love III had four captain’s picks on the team. The only one who played well was Dustin Johnson, as he went undefeated at 3-0-0. The other three, Brandt Snedeker, Furyk and Stricker finished a combined 2-8-1. With a record like that, his judgment has to be questioned. You can add Tiger Woods to the list as well. Even though his final match on Sunday was basically meaningless at the finish, Tiger’s halve point was his only positive contribution to the competition as he failed to generate a single full point for team USA. The bottom line however is the Ryder Cup is always won and lost on Sunday with the singles matches. The two American’s that fell apart in crunch-time were Furyk and Stricker. Both just happened to be playing down the stretch when the United States needed a win and neither made it happen. When you play in the spotlight, either the glory or blame comes your way. Unfortunately for both of these guys, they failed at the wrong time. But the greatest collapse in Cup history took a total team effort along with some luck from the other side. When McIlroy managed to avoid the biggest blunder in Cup play and turn it into mojo for a European rally, it wasn’t too hard to see what has about to take place.

Is the table set for Tiger to make a Major comeback?

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We saw the patented Tiger uppercut and fist pump for the first time since he wore his driver on his head a few years ago and now pundits wonder if the striped one is back. Captain Jack said it was the best shot he’s ever seen on his course because of the consequences that would have accompanied failure and that may the shot that marks his return. It will certainly be a historic focal point if that proves to be the case but the real test will be if Tiger can take another step to catch up to Jack on the only stage that matters, the Major stage, and this weekend may be one of the better opportunities to do it IF he brings his ‘A’ game, and his driver. Olympic sets up to be one of the longest courses in PGA history which should suit Tiger’s game just fine. The first six holes go 520, 428, 247 (par 3), 438, 498, and 489 respectively and they are all Par 4s except for one. Add the Boardwalk and Parkplace, back-to-back par-5s at 16 (670 yards the longest in PGA history) and 17, and you’ve got a course that should be Taylor Made (no pun intended) for Tiger seriously start seeing red, numbers that is. Conversely if the Tiger of the past two years shows up and starts hookin’ and a shankin’ then it could be a very long weekend and sadly speak he may even be home in time to catch the end of the Group stage of the World Cup as he won’t make the cut. However I would think that playing so close to his old stomping grounds at Stanford, in good No Cal weather, and a very long course we may see make his first Major move in years and Jack may turn out to be a prophet.

Rory’s dominance starts the Tiger talk

Two months at Augusta Rory McIlroy was the talk of the tournament, not because of how impressive he was in victory but how monumental was his collapse, would he ever be able to recover from the triple-bogey that gave up all of his lead, and would he ever be the same. Two months later McIlroy is the talk of the tournament again but this time because of his wire-to-wire dominating win at Congressional, and yes I think it would be safe to say he did recover but I would not say he will ever be the same. Now he’s the youngest since Tiger to win the Open, set a course record in the process, and at 22 is being compared to the greatest to ever play the game. After 1.5 great performances over the last two majors is this too much ‘street cred’ for the youngster? There is great potential there there’s no doubt about that but the comparisons to the heir apparent might be a little unjustified. Like Woods, McIlroy was a child golf prodigy and like Woods, he's off to an early majors start, but that’s where they should end until Rory can prove he’s not just a one-hit wonder or one year wonder. I saw this with Jim Courier in tennis, even in golf when Sergio Garcia took Tiger out at Little Big Horn in the showdown, people were talking about turning the reigns over and Sergio has yet to win a major. So before we send the crown across the pond let’s see how things play out a bit. However it does set up a great showdown / rivalry when the cat (Tiger) comes home. If we can’t get Mayweather vs. Pacquiao this will have to do.

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Rory laps the field and leaves everyone else playing for 2nd

No Tiger? No Problem. Who said the PGA doesn’t have any other appealing players if TW can’t reduce the noise between his ears. Rory McIlroy is providing his own “Tigeresque” type of performance in the second round of the 2011 US Open. Even with a double-bogey 6 on No. 18 Friday, Rory McIlroy managed to shoot a 5-under 66 and set a new 36-hole U.S. Open record at 11-under 132 and has a huge lead at Congressional. Unfortunately, although we may recognize his brilliance and enjoy his play the ratings don’t show the nation has yet. Not only is Tiger sill hibernating but we can’t get a US player to step up and challenge the Irishman as the closest competitors are Robert Garrigus, Zach Johnson, and Brandt Snedeker all at -2 a full nine strokes behind the leader. I think the absence of Tiger reminds us how spoiled we were to always have that polarizing figure at the top of the leaderboard at every tournament. Weather you liked him and wanted to see him win, or hated him and wanted to see the challenger take him down it made for must see TV and suddenly golf was hip again. A Father’s Day without tiger, Lefty, or DL3 at the top will not bode well for NBC on Sunday, who didn’t do well with the NHL either, because although there isn’t much on, it will be hard take away from family day to watch when the only storyline will be if the kid finds a way to commit the worst collapse in the history of golf to come from ahead to lose. Well, maybe he will take two steps back and Yang two forward and then at least we’ve got something to go with the hot dogs. Is the US Open of any interest without the big names at the top or at least a competitive match? Let us know here and in any of the quick links.

Once again, no moral victories

Ok, it wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be as we knew our big guns weren’t at the top of their game, and as bad as it looked at the end of the second day of match play, on paper it may have come down to one or two puts that could have swayed a match that was halved which would have turned a 1 point loss into a 1 point win, but at the end of the day no one remembers who comes in second, even when there are only two sides competing. There were some positives as Tiger not only showed up but would have been in the running for MVP (2-1 in teams and 1-0 in singles) so one can’t fault Pavin for his captian’s choice. However there were some disappointments as the Phil Mickelson/Dustin Johnson duo lost both the Session One Four-ball and Session 2 Foursomes matches where when putting together the starting lineup on the flight over Pavin had to pencil halving the combination of those two matches rather than losing 2 full points. For all of the talk about how the top-five ranked players would do somewhere lost in the rhetoric was the concept that this is a team competition and if you have a weak link it will surely be exposed and that couldn’t have been more the case as Stweart Cink and Matt Kuchar failed to tally a point in either team or individual play which was the difference in the end. So much like the Men’s Basketball program perhaps it’s time to assess some ownership, and although they’re not getting paid directly for their time, re-create the importance of what it means to represent the US, and bring back a little Payne Stewart enthusiasm. Let’s tear down the engine and build it up again from scratch so we can get the program back to some consistency, because it still means more to them than it does to us, and close should not be good enough. Let us know your thoughts on the overall performance of the US Ryder Cup team here and in any of the quick links.

Is this US Ryder Cup Team sailing into disaster?

This is the longest hitting team that the US has ever sent to the Ryder Cup which may be exactly what the Europeans were hoping for because if there was one course in Europe that is not forgiving to those who frequent the shank or hook, it’s Celtic Manor. So will the American team be able to keep it on the fairway and should they sacrifice some distance to do so? If the practice round was any indication it appears they will. Dustin Johnson, as long as anyone at the Ryder Cup, only hit driver off the tee on the par 5s during his practice round Tuesday. As for the rough, he described it as so deep that anything more than a 6-iron away, he would not be able to get it on the green. Although the US are the defending champs they are slight underdogs in the fourball and the overall tournament as well, so it’s not just Tiger who has something to prove to the fans across the pond. Keep in mind how much international tournaments help US fans forget one’s shortcomings (ask Kobe Bryant) whose stock took a meteoric rise after the US “Redeem Team” took the Gold Medal in Shang Hi with Kobe as the team’s MVP, he came home to a much different reception and all of the sudden the endorsements came back. This could be TW’s time to start working his way back up that hill, conversely, a bad showing will only further his plummeting stock. The team has already had its share of disfunctionality with the caddie fiasco when 3 caddies were asked to take a separate flight due to an overcrowded private plane, and the caddies of the captain’s picks were asked to volunteer. Rest assured Cory Paven will earn his paycheck if the US can hold the cup because the pairings will make all the difference and it will be no easy challenge to put together a winning combination. Obviously the talent is there but the challenges of getting the team to play together when needed and getting the ‘go to guys’ take care of their business in match play will make the difference. The rain has rolled in and made the rough and hazards and absolute nightmare, so it will come down to the basics of hitting it far and straight. The odds makers don’t think this is right team to carry the flag but they just might surprise you. How do you think Tiger will play and will the US carry the Cup? Who will be the MVP of this year’s team? Let us know here and in any of the quick links. Also chat live with fans on both sides of the pond in the Ryder Cup Chat room.
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Is this US Ryder Cup Team sailing into disaster?

This is the longest hitting team that the US has ever sent to the Ryder Cup which may be exactly what the Europeans were hoping for because if there was one course in Europe that is not forgiving to those who frequent the shank or hook, it’s Celtic Manor. So will the American team be able to keep it on the fairway and should they sacrifice some distance to do so? If the practice round was any indication it appears they will. Dustin Johnson, as long as anyone at the Ryder Cup, only hit driver off the tee on the par 5s during his practice round Tuesday. As for the rough, he described it as so deep that anything more than a 6-iron away, he would not be able to get it on the green. Although the US are the defending champs they are slight underdogs in the fourball and the overall tournament as well, so it’s not just Tiger who has something to prove to the fans across the pond. Keep in mind how much international tournaments help US fans forget one’s shortcomings (ask Kobe Bryant) whose stock took a meteoric rise after the US “Redeem Team” took the Gold Medal in Shang Hi with Kobe as the team’s MVP, he came home to a much different reception and all of the sudden the endorsements came back. This could be TW’s time to start working his way back up that hill, conversely, a bad showing will only further his plummeting stock. The team has already had its share of disfunctionality with the caddie fiasco when 3 caddies were asked to take a separate flight due to an overcrowded private plane, and the caddies of the captain’s picks were asked to volunteer. Rest assured Cory Paven will earn his paycheck if the US can hold the cup because the pairings will make all the difference and it will be no easy challenge to put together a winning combination. Obviously the talent is there but the challenges of getting the team to play together when needed and getting the ‘go to guys’ take care of their business in match play will make the difference. The rain has rolled in and made the rough and hazards and absolute nightmare, so it will come down to the basics of hitting it far and straight. The odds makers don’t think this is right team to carry the flag but they just might surprise you. How do you think Tiger will play and will the US carry the Cup? Who will be the MVP of this year’s team? Let us know here and in any of the quick links. Also chat live with fans on both sides of the pond in the Ryder Cup Chat room.
Check the current leader board here.
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