TERRE HAUTE — When Paul Azinger called Steve Stricker to tell him that he had been selected as one of his captain picks for the Ryder Cup, Steve had to ask right away whether he was receiving a good call or a bad call. He had been on the other end of those calls too many times, so he needed to know. He was obviously very excited when Captain Azinger revealed that it was a good call. Stricker, at age 41, is the oldest of the captain’s selections, and it is his first time to make a Ryder Cup team.
The other captain’s picks are Chad Campbell, 34, and Hunter Mahan and J.B. Holmes who are both 26 years old. Prior to November 2006, when the PGA of America granted a request by Azinger to allow him four picks, the captain of the American team had only gotten two captain’s picks. Besides allowing the captain four picks, PGA of America has adjusted the way Ryder Cup points are earned.
In prior years Ryder Cup points were accumulated equally in the two years between Ryder Cups, which could allow for a player to make the team if they had a stellar first year, and fell off the map in the second. The new method skews more points toward the second year. In 2007, points were only earned in major championships, with one point given for every $1,000 earned.
In 2008, points were given for money earned in official events through Aug. 11 with one point for each $1,000 won. Also in 2008, two points were given for every $1,000 earned in the four major championships. Hopefully these changes, along with having four captain’s picks, will allow Azinger to field a team that is going to be able to contend with the European side, because his team will be made up of men who are playing well in the current year.
The players who made the team by virtue of Ryder Cup points — excluding Tiger Woods who leads in points with 11,365.627, but can’t play due to knee surgery — are Phil Mickleson (who placed second with 5,342.00 points), Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis and Boo Weekley.
One of the notables missing from the team is Woody Austin, the player who was the pride and joy and entertainment of the U.S. team in the President’s Cup last year, finishing 11th in the points standings. Another player who was overlooked as a captain’s pick was Rocco Mediate, who proved he was pretty tough in what essentially was a match play event in the playoff for the U.S. Open.
Only six of the Americans have any Ryder Cup experience, but perhaps youthful exuberance is a better ingredient for match play. Captain Azinger put it well when he said, “… experience is important but it is also overrated. I mean, experience now, anyone who has played Ryder Cup in the last six Ryder Cups has experience getting their [butt] beat. So, I mean, I’m not looking for experience.”
The method the Europeans had of choosing their team seems to be working well. They are sticking with the same system that was used to pick the 2004 and 2006 teams. Both of those teams won The Cup by a score of 18-9.
In this system, five players qualify through The Ryder Cup World Points list, based on World Ranking points accumulated from all world ranked tournaments over a 12-month period and five more players qualify through The Ryder Cup European Points list, based on money won on the European Tour Order of Merit tournaments. Two more are chosen via captain’s picks.
Some of the European team members were in the top ten on both lists. Padraig Harrington leads both points lists. Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson all appeared in the top ten on both lists. Sergio Garcia was at No. 2 on the Ryder Cup World Points list, while Soren Hansen and Oliver Wilson made it in via their eighth and ninth place standings, respectively, on the European Ryder Cup points list. Nick Faldo, captain of the European team, also had two captain’s picks, which he used to pick fellow Brits Ian Poulter and Paul Casey.
On paper, the European team looks stronger than the American team, and it could very well turn out that they prove it is so. However, I like the grit and determination of Azinger leading this U.S. team. I like that he is going to take the team to the Muhammad Ali museum in Louisville, and then meet him in person. He understands that his role is to inspire his team, and place them with partners that they can play well with.
There have been some bone-headed moves made by captains in the past, but I don’t expect Azinger to make any of those. He’ll actually ask them whom they’re comfortable playing with. I’m looking forward to watching the Ryder Cup in the coming week, so I hope that this time it is at least close enough to make it interesting. Otherwise, well, there’s always football!
• Quote of the Day — “We lost the best player in the game, Tiger Woods, and we are all going to have to step up. We are going to take on an underdog role in this Ryder Cup for the first time in a long time, even on paper, when you look at the strength of the European squad.” – U.S. Ryder Cup Team Captain Paul Azinger.
• Upcoming event — The Terre Haute Women’s Golf Association will have a four-person scramble on Sept. 27 at Hulman Links. For more information inquire at Hulman Links or contact Candy McCord at (812) 230-1090.
On & Off the Course
ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Ryder Cup selection process changed
- On & Off the Course
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Death Notice: Feb. 7, 2013
• Gary R. Wright
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Donna Lynn Strahla Bown
Donna Lynn Strahla Bown passed away early Friday morning, Jan. 25, 2013, with her children by her side.
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‘The Match’ pitting amateurs vs. pros recalled 62 years later
Quote of the Day: “I play golf with friends sometimes, but there are never friendly games.” — Ben Hogan.
Bubba Watson has had a busy fall. Not only did he play all the way to the final round of the FedEx Championships, and in the Ryder Cup, he also played in an event commemorating a very famous match played at Cypress Point in 1956, pitting two of the greatest golf pros at the time against two of the best amateurs.
Come to think of it, all four were some of the best golfers of all time. This year’s event was celebrating The First Tee’s exceeding $100 million in pledges to reach 10 million new young people. It wasn’t televised and kept very quiet; only 225 people were in the gallery.
One of the people in the gallery was Mark Frost, the author of a book titled “The Match,” which is about that match played 62 years ago that was re-enacted in modern terms last week. The pros in 1956 were Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson and the amateurs were Ken Venturi and Harvie Ward. It was supposed to have been a private affair, built around a wager by two millionaires, George Coleman and Eddie Lowery. -
ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf from the wrong side of the brain
Imagine this scenario: a woman, small in stature (possibly freckled), walks into a hospital emergency room and says, “I have an emergency, I need a doctor quickly!” The admitting nurse, ever trying to be helpful, asks what the emergency is.
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Farmers looking at widely varying yields
Combines will roll through fields this weekend, bringing in the harvest from a summer with nearly no rain.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf debut in London would have been nice
As the Olympics get underway in London this weekend, I was thinking it’s too bad that the Olympic committee decided too late to add golf as one of the sports for this event; instead it will be added to the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Getting to Hoosier country’s best golfing venue part of the fun
If you are looking for Indiana’s premier golfing destination, then you should look no further than French Lick.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Indiana's Pete Dye courses worth the drive
You’ve probably heard of the Robert Trent Jones Golf trail throughout Alabama, but you might not be aware that Indiana has its own “Pete Dye Golf Trail” comprised of seven courses.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fathers typically a big influence on golfing sons
Some events fall naturally into place around holidays. The Fourth of July always falls somewhere during Wimbledon, giving all of the Yanks in attendance something to be boisterous about, to the chagrin of their hosts; The Masters often, but not always, ends on Easter Sunday, which is fitting since golfers find it such a reverent occasion.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Memorial just one of many visions of Jack Nicklaus
When Jack Nicklaus was a young man, the golfer he most admired was Bob Jones.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: With some tricky rules, golf is not a walk in the park
Golf is not a casual sport, even though it has a term called “casual water.”
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On and off the course: Sycamores seeded sixth heading into MVC golf tourney
It wasn’t too long ago that Indiana State University didn’t even have a women’s golf team.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: A hard ticket to come by
This is the weekend of the Masters Tournament, the first of the four major tournaments.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Some things on golf course are worse than steep putts
It’s not often that anything gets more scary on a golf course than a steep downhill putt, but on some courses around the world, things a little more on the supernatural side might give you a bigger fright!
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The shot heard round the world
I don’t know if the Golf Channel will show a “Best Shots of 2011” highlight reel, much like ESPN does for baseball or football.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Red, White and Blue visits the Isle of Green
In 2006, the Ryder Cup was held in Ireland at The K Club in County Kildare.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Fall may be coming but golf season is far from over
Once the major tournaments are over with, what’s there to look forward to in the world of golf?
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Golf… simplified!
Golf is not a simple game. A golf course is made up of 18 holes, all different. There are par-3s, par-4s and par-5s; they all vary in length and elevation, and each has its own challenges. There can be water hazards, trees, sand bunkers, tall grass, hills, valleys — and then, if that’s not enough, there’s probably wind too.
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On and Off the Course: Northern Ireland builds on golf history
Northern Ireland is only about 5,452 square miles in area and has a population about the same as West Virginia, which is about 1,880,344.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Women’s Open at the Broadmoor
This is the weekend of the U.S. Women’s Open, and this year it’s being played at The Broadmoor, East Course, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: The Fort Golf Course: A Walk in the Park…
Indiana has some pretty spectacular state parks, but one of them gives you the ability to “spoil a good walk” by chasing a little white ball.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Father’s Day is a good day for golfers
Most people consider the time around Christmas to be the gift-buying season.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Playing with lead a difficult task
As exciting as last week’s Masters was, with six players being tied for the lead at one point on Sunday, it was very difficult watching Rory McIlroy fall apart to shoot an 80.
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ON AND OFF THE COURSE: Masters a rite of spring
This is Masters weekend, the grand kickoff to the golf season for a lot of golfers. Sure, there have been tournaments on TV, because the professionals have been playing in Hawaii, California, Texas, Dubai, and other areas not so affected by winter as we are here in the Midwest, but to me, watching The Masters is a rite of spring.
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ON THE OFF THE COURSE: Some history on the Ryder Cup
I fell asleep in way too many history classes to ever qualify as a history buff. However, since I have grown up a bit (not much), I enjoy learning about all kinds of history. I often have questions about how something began, or how something came to be.
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On and Off the Course: Purdue's Kampen Course a gem in Indiana's rough
About a month ago, Indiana was still heavily mired in heat and humidity, making outdoor activities such as golf less appealing than usual. At that time it felt like the repressive heat would never go away, it would never rain again, and all of the grass was just going to continue to wither and die. And the month prior to that we kept getting rained out of golf events!
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On and Off the Course: Successful golfers know ... focus is the key
I have a good friend who coached his daughter’s basketball team for a number of years, and told me that his theme with the girls was always “focus”, until it was ingrained in their brains. Now when they play high school ball, if they hear “focus” yelled from the stands, they know the source.
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On and Off the Course: Technology adds even more fun to the course
You’ve hit a drive into some brush in an area marked as a hazard, but you can’t find the ball to prove it is there. And no one actually witnessed it go in the hazard. You just think that’s where it probably is. What is the rule for this situation?
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On and Off the Course: Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic a worthwhile charity event
On Monday, I worked as a volunteer for the Anthony Gonzalez First Tee Classic, Golf Tournament and Auction at Eagle Creek Golf Course in Indianapolis. It was an absolutely beautiful day, with clear blue skies, just a few wispy clouds here and there and a high temperature of about 76 degrees.
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On and Off the Course: Trends show golf in decline
You don’t have to watch the news or read the paper to understand that America is struggling on the economic front. The evidence can be witnessed at the local golf course.
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