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2008 Ryder Cup Preview

Image courtesy of www.rydercup.com

The 2008 Ryder Cup is upon us. The competition will begin on September 19 and will end three days later. Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky will host the tournament this year. The selection of Valhalla was due, in no small part, to a Jack Nicklaus makeover performed recently.

Europe has dominated the competition recently, winning seven of the past eleven tournaments outright and halving the other with the USA. The US teams have been criticized for a lack of intensity and have even seemed to display complete apathy at times. The last time any serious emotion was shown by a Yank was in 1999 when Justin Leonard holed a 45-foot birdie putt on the 17^th hole in his match with Jose-Maria Olazabal. That, by the way, was the only time in the last five Ryder Cups that the USA has won.

The 2008 USA team is led by Captain Paul Azinger and is composed of the following players (with their world ranking in parentheses): Phil Mickelson (2), Steve Stricker (8), Stewart Cink (9), Jim Furyk (13), Anthony Kim (15), Kenny Perry (17), Justin Leonard (23), Ben Curtis (33), Boo Weekley (35), Hunter Mahan (37), Chad Campbell (53) and J.B. Holmes (55). Holmes grew up very near Valhalla and has played the course countless times. Kim is a young player who has done extremely well this year on the tour. Mahan made the infamous “slave” comment that made his selection somewhat of a surprise. The team is an interesting mixture of experience and youth. The obvious missing person is Tiger Woods, who is still recovering from a knee injury. It is hoped that his absence might in some way result in the US players taking on more of an underdog mentality, which could lead to that missing intensity referenced above.

The captain of the European team is Nick Faldo and it is composed of the following golfers: Padraig Harrington (4), Sergio Garcia (5), Henrik Stenson (6), Lee Westwood (12), Justin Rose (14), Miguel Angel Jimenez (18), Robert Karlsson (21), Ian Poulter (25), Graeme McDowell (31), Paul Casey (36), Soren Hansen (44) and Oliver Wilson (48). Harrington is playing the best golf in the world right now, having won both the British Open and the PGA Championship and finishing 5^th in The Masters. Garcia, who can never win the really big one on the PGA Tour, is a constant thorn in the side of the US team when the Ryder Cup rolls around. Rose is a young player who has really worked on his game in the last five years to become one of the best around. Poulter is probably better known for his outfits but is a solid golfer nonetheless.

It will be interesting to see how the matchups play out. All rounds are played in the Match Play format, with three different types of competition. The Foursomes style is an interesting one with two-man teams playing alternate shot.  The Fourball is simply two-man teams, with each player playing his own ball. The low score on the hole wins. The final style is the Singles format, which is mano a mano. One golfer playing the other. Low score on the hole wins.

The captains decide the two-man teams for each side and also determine the order in which the singles go out. There is a ton of gamesmanship involved in this competition. The captains have to decide whether they want to save players for the singles competition or have them play the entire weekend. Also, they have to decide who goes out first in the singles matches. It is complicated and bad captain decisions have often lost the Cup. In 1999, European Captain Mark James decided to hold back three players for the singles matches. That move backfired and led to the US victory.

It should be interesting and there is something about an us versus them competition that always gets me fired up. NBC and the USA Network will have full coverage of the event.

Additional Resources: For more info about the Ryder cup, visit here.