Nick Faldo has announced his wild card picks to complete his team for next months Ryder Cup Matches at Valhalla. Ian Poulter and Paul Casey complete the European Lineup.
Archive for the ‘Ryder Cup News’ Category
Faldo Picks Ian Poulter and Paul Casey
Sunday, August 31st, 2008It should be Casey & Clarke, but…
Sunday, August 31st, 2008By the end of today, the speculation surrounding Nick Faldo’s wild card picks will be over. But I fear that the debate will rage all the way up to the matches in Kentucky.
Why?
Because Nick Faldo likes to see the world differently to everyone else.
There appears to be a consensus amongst golfing people in Europe that Paul Casey and Darren Clarke would be the most sensible selections for the 11th and 12th places on the team. Both have experience of Ryder Cup success, both have proven themselves in hostile competitive environments and most encouragingly, both appear to be playing well in recent weeks.
However, I don’t think Nick Faldo will lose a moment’s sleep worrying about the thoughts of ‘golfing people’ back home as he plots his own path to Ryder Cup glory. (more…)
Ryder Cup Parking
Friday, August 29th, 2008
Parking is always a hot topic around Ryder Cup time – Free Parking is available for all Ticket holders at the Kentucky Exposition Center (KEC) with a complimentary shuttle service running from the KEC and downtown Louisville to Valhalla Golf Club.
The shuttle service starts at 6.45 am and runs through to 7.30pm Tues 16th to Thurs 18th and 8.00pm Friday 19th to Sunday 21st.
The shuttle takes approximately 30 mins each way.
Strict parking restrictions are in place and there is no public parking near Valhalla Golf Club.
Darren Clarke Wins Dutch Open
Sunday, August 24th, 2008Darren clinched the Dutch Open with another impressive round of 66 today, bringing him in 4 strokes ahead of Paul McGinley. The question on everyones mind is – has he done enough to secure a wildcard place on the Ryder Cup team?
Nick Faldo will announce his two wild card picks after the European team’s ten automatic qualifiers have been decided next week at the Johnnie Walker Championship in Gleneagles.
Clarke had a great outing last Ryder Cup, with 3 wins out of 3 – but we all know that Faldo is looking for current form not nostalgia and will no doubt keep his powder dry until he’s seen what Clarke brings to Gleneagles…
Is Tiger's absence balanced by Luke's?
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
As feared, Luke Donald won’t be participating in this year’s Ryder Cup having undergone surgery on his left wrist. This is a significant, if fully expected, blow to the chances of the European team. Donald’s Ryder Cup record is excellent, having been a key contributor to the last two victories.
A comparison of Luke’s record with Tiger’s is interesting: Luke has won 5.5 points from a possible 7; Tiger has won 11 points from a possible 25. Tiger’s poor record in fourballs/foursomes is well documented. Luke is unbeaten in pairs.
For all of Tiger’s greatness (and yes, he is the greatest player to ever play the game), maybe his absence has been balanced by that of Luke Donald?
News Roundup
Monday, August 11th, 2008
Europe Ryder Cup Team News
Congratulation to Padraig Harrington who is on fire, with a win at the PGA Championship. By adding the Wanamaker trophy to the Claret Jug he has sealed his place in history with back to back Majors victories and also further increases his position at the top of the automatic qualifiers for Team Europe.
Sergio Garcia, who started the PGA outside the top ten has jumped to third in the European standings with second place at Oakland Hills (which may be a small consolation for running up to Harrington again).
US Ryder Cup Team News
The PGA championship at Oakland Hills was the last chance saloon for players wanting to qualify for the US Ryder Cup Team and the automatic qualifiers are as follows:
* Phil Mickelson
* Stewart Cink
* Kenny Perry
* Jim Furyk
* Anthony Kim
* Justin Leonard
* Ben Curtis
* Boo Weekley
Ben Curtis zoomed up 13 places in the rankings after his tie for second place in the Championship which means that Steve Stricker, who went into the Championship in eighth place was bumped.
This leaves captain Paul Azinger with 4 captains picks to make up the US team, he has until Sept 2nd to announce his picks.
After the Open – random thoughts
Monday, July 28th, 2008With the 2008 Open Championship now part of golf history, here are some random thoughts on where we stand for the 2008 Ryder Cup:
- It’s not the same without Tiger. It’s difficult to know if Tiger would have been competing for the lead in windy Royal Birkdale but what is certain is that the tournament wasn’t quite as exciting as it might have been with Tiger in the field. Greg Norman’s surprise performance injected some real drama into the weekend but the reality is that TV viewing numbers, especially in the US, were down on last year. (more…)
US Ryder Cup Points 2008
Thursday, July 24th, 2008UPDATED (24 July 2008): The latest standings for the US Ryder Cup team are shown below. This is following the latest qualifying events and also takes into account the news that Tiger Woods will be missing from the Ryder Cup this year.
Don’t forget that the new US Ryder Cup qualification system is in place so there are only 8 rather than 10 automatic qualification spots this year.
|
2008 US Ryder Cup Points – (24 July 2008) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Points | |||
| 1 | Stewart Cink | 4906 | |||
| 2 | Phil Mickelson | 4570 | |||
| 3 | Kenny Perry | 4445 | |||
| 4 | Jim Furyk | 4186 | |||
| 5 | Anthony Kim | 3807 | |||
| 6 | Justin Leonard | 3278 | |||
| 7 | Boo Weekley | 2592 | |||
| 8 | Steve Stricker | 2557 | |||
With time running out the really interesting part is looking at who is hovering just outside the top eight with time running out and opportunities to earn those valuable points running out. Listed below are those who are just outside the automatic qualification spots.
| 9 | Woody Austin | 2381 |
| 10 | Rocco Mediate | 2204 |
| 11 | Hunter Mahan | 2172 |
| 12 | D.J. Trahan | 2132 |
| 13 | Zach Johnson | 2102 |
| 14 | Brandt Snedeker | 2088 |
| 15 | Jeff Quinney | 2014 |
| 16 | J.B. Holmes | 1979 |
| 17 | Bart Bryant | 1900 |
| 18 | Sean O’hair | 1804 |
| 19 | Ben Curtis | 1787 |
| 20 | Jerry Kelly | 1753 |
There is a lot of players bunched up just below this and if you want to see all 204 players who currently have some US Ryder Cup points see here.
Padraig Harrington Open Victory
Monday, July 21st, 2008
Congratulations to Padraig Harrington who successfully defended his Open Title over the weekend at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport. Padraig is the first European in over a century to win the Open back to back and shares the feat with Tiger Woods who won it in 2005 and 2006.
In a confident display Harrington saw off Greg Norman, who emerged as a surprise contender and led going into the final round. Harrington finished with 4 shots in hand at 18th. The weather was foul over the weekend with high winds and rain, which meant the scores were quite high – Harrington ending up 3 over for the tournament.
This win will see Padraig safely on the European Ryder Cup team, and by the looks of this tournament he will be a major force on the team.
Tiger Woods turns down Ryder Cup Vice Captaincy
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
Tiger Woods has stirred up all the usual Tiger/Ryder controversies with his refusal to accept the Vice Captaincy offered by Paul Azinger. On Tiger’s official website he says:
“I’m not on the team,” and “The event should be about the competitors and the competition. The guys will have plenty on their minds and I wish them the best. I’ll be cheering loudly.â€
Azinger obviously felt that the event and the US team would benefit by the presence of the world’s No 1 ranked player, however Tiger is not going to play ball. Is this simply a manifestation of Tiger’s single-minded determination and focus (this time on healing his knee) or is it, as many are claiming, evidence that Tiger just doesn’t care about the Ryder Cup, the Team or representing the US? I guess it we’ll never really know but it certainly adds to the media entertainment factor as pro-Tiger and anti-Tiger journalists slug it out!
