“Nick Faldo has tried to redefine himself,” “I’d say he is both who he is and who he was.
“Some people have bought it. Some have not. But if you’re going to be a p***k and everyone hates you, why do you think that just because you’re trying to be cute and funny on air now that the same people are all going to start to like you?”
“The bottom line is that the players from his generation and mine really don’t want to have anything to do with him. He did what he did as a player and there are consequences.”

The Mail on Sunday is not exactly the paper of record and as we all know controversy sells papers however there’s often no smoke without a fire…

Well the worst kept secret in golf was formally confirmed today as the PGA announced that Paul Azinger is to be the US Ryder Cup Captain for 2008 as reported here last week. The more interesting part of the announcement at the Valhalla Golf Club (home to the 2008 Ryder Cup) was the newly unveiled qualifying system for the US Ryder Cup team.

A change was widely anticpated to try and stem the flow of US losses (the US have lost 6 out of the previous 7 Ryder Cup competitions, the last two by record margins). At an overview level the two main changes are:

• Qualifying points become tied to the money list weighted towards the year of the competition rather than the two years preceding it as was the case this time around.
• There will be only 8 automatic qualifying spots (as opposed to 10) and Azinger will get to handpick the remaining 4 places.

Read on if you want the detailed breakdown of how the new US Ryder Cup qualifying system will work. The qualifying points will be awarded as follows:

• For every $1,000 dollars earned in any of the four majors (the Augusta Masters, the US Open, the British Open or the PGA Championships) during 2007 one point will be awarded.
• For every $1,000 dollars earned in any of the four majors (the Augusta Masters, the US Open, the British Open or the PGA Championships) during 2008 two points will be awarded.
• For every $1,000 dollars earned in any of the non-major tournaments during 2008 one point will be awarded.
• For every $1,000 dollars earned in any event which is played opposite one of the of the four majors during 2008 ¹/₂ point will be awarded.
• And finally to tidy up the fact that a couple of 2006 events have already taken place, “Those players in 2006 that have earned points, those that have finished in the top ten, will get one quarter of a point for every thousand dollars they earned.”

This really is quite a shake-up of the qualifying system and as Azinger said himself he’ll end with the players who are “red hot” coming up to the competition. More importantly I think is the fact that he gets an extra two captain’s picks. During the 2006 Ryder Cup the two European Captain’s picks Woosnam and Westwood were at the centre of the push to victory. No doubt Azinger is trying to give himself that leeway for the future also when he faces his fellow ABC commentator Nick Faldo across the greens at Valhalla.

Finally you can read the full official announcement here, although be warned it’s not short!

Nick Faldo has been chosen to captain the European Ryder Cup team for the 37th Ryder Cup matches at Valhalla Golf Club in 2008. If you want to know what exactly the captain does read our article outlining his roles and responsibilites. Nick will be hoping to lead the European team to a record 4th victory in a row.

Biography
Nick Faldo is a British golfer. Born in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire England on 18th July in 1957. Nick has had a colourful personal life (which we’ll leave to the tabloid press). He turned professional in 1976 and is one of Europes most sucessful golfers and has notched up over 42 titles .

Faldo first played on a Ryder Cup Team in 1977 at the age of 21 and then subsequently in 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997. So in terms of Ryder Cup experience – he’s got it!

Ryder Cup 2008
Nick Faldo is the non playing captain for the European Team who will be defending their title in the US in 2008. They will most likely be favorites to retain the title if the results of the 36th Ryder Cup are anything to go by. Despite the US players dominance on the tour they seem unable to shine in the Matchplay format of the Ryder Cup. Nick will be hoping this is someting his US counterpart will fail to crack in the runup to the 2008 event.

Ryder Cup Team Selection
The European Team will be selected on the basis of player performance.

Qualification for one of the 10 automatic places is based on points earned through competition however two events are used for selection: The Ryder Cup World Points List and the European Points List.

The Ryder Cup World Points List is comprised of Official World Golf Ranking points won by a European Tour Member from each tournament in which he participates in the 12 months preceding the competition.
The second league at which points can be earned is The Ryder Cup European Points List. This list is comprised of points (1 point = 1 euro) earned by a European Tour Member from all officially sanctioned events counting towards The European Tour Order of Merit in the same period.
The final team will comprise the leading five players from The Ryder Cup World Points list and the top five players from the Ryder Cup European Points List (not already qualified through the Ryder Cup World Points list).

As the European Team Captain Nick Faldo will pick two players on the basis of who he feels can add to the skills of the team.

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