Captain Paul Azinger's Ryder Cup leadership has been successful. The U.S. Team won Samuel Ryder's Cup by a final margin of five points.
Although many of the matches were far closer than this result may imply, there was little doubt on Sunday as to what the outcome would be.
The day began with the formerly feared Sergio Garcia teeing off for the Europeans against the Americans' brash rookie Anthony Kim.
Kim shut him out with four holes to play, a shocking margin for this level of competition. Sergio may never recover from this monumental humiliation.
Throughout the match, Kim ignored potential gimmes for Sergio Garcia after the latter strategically feigned goodwill on the first hole by conceding a birdie putt. Kim didn't fall for it and ended-up tripping up Garcia late in the round when Sergio missed a very short putt to halve a hole.
Kim also vocally questioned a potential relief ruling for Garcia, which ultimately became an unplayable lie penalty drop and victorious hole for Kim. Sergio was also out-driven all day by Kim. If all these things didn't get under the skin of Sergio they certainly did draw the television commentators' attention.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Kim's aggressive play and crowd encouragement became a beacon to focus his teammates' efforts. The eventual victory by Kim portended the unstoppable momentum generated by the U.S. players.
Nearly all losses on the day, from both sides, were suffered by Ryder Cup veterans. Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink and Steve Stricker all lost their matches for the U.S. Team.
Of those, only the 41 year-old, 18-season tour veteran Steve Stricker was making his Ryder Cup debut. From the European side, Oliver Wilson, Graham McDowell, and Justin Rose, all Ryder Cup rookies, won their singles matches.
A very similar story, only the inverse, could have been written about the 2002 European Team's victory at the Belfry.
It seems from recent history that having experience in the Ryder cup can be a detriment to success, rather than an advantage.
Given this assumption, one could conclude that the winning formula for this type of competition is weighted with emotion and excitement, as opposed to the experience and levelheadedness required in the standard stroke play competition spread over four rounds.
Paul Azinger recognized this anomaly of professional golf and chose his picks accordingly. He should be commended for his foresight and leadership. In fact, the entire Ryder Cup points system might be changed in order to favor recent performance and youth.
As for the Kentucky golf fans, please attend more golf events nationwide and help the sport overcome its uppity, quiet and reserved image. Phoenix has some of these great crowds also.
Professional athletes of any sport should be able to play through cheering crowds and not throw hissy-fits about camera clicks in their backswing. Who's camera clicks anymore? Don't even professional photographers use digital cameras?
Anthony Kim has, in one season, become golf's new hope to challenge Tiger Woods. Look at the photo above, it's a right jab counter-punch designed specifically to pre-empt Tiger's inside uppercut. I can't wait to see these two head-to-head on Sunday afternoon for the next 10 years.
I also can't wait for Kenny Perry, Stewart Cink, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk to retire to the anonymity of the Senior PGA Tour. Even Phil Mickelson looked past his prime and certainly in no shape for a title fight.
Photo courtesy of canoe.ca
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2 months ago
Nice article J. Michael.
Even if the US Team somehow managed to blow their lead and lose the cup on Sunday, seeing Kim thoroughly embarass Sergia would have been enough.
Kim flat out dominated Garcia and also got into his head which just put the icing on the cake in their match.
Unlike most young players Kim actually seems to enjoy the pressure and thrives under it.
Being paired with Tiger Woods in the final round of a major would in no way rattle Kim, he would actually enjoy it - watch out Tiger Woods, you may actually have a real legitimate competitior over the second half of your career.
from 2 months ago
Thanks Martin,
Kim is great, I can't even envision Tiger himself player such hardball in this format against Sergio.
2 months ago
How about Garcia's 3 foot gimme miss, that was great. I may be mistaken but I thought that Sergio made Kim putt a 2 1/2 footer on hole 1. J.M. don't put my boy Furk in with the oldies. He gives me hope that a terrible swing can score well, and how about Boo, man he had a wad of chew in those (Billy Bob teeth) you got to love that.
from 2 months ago
Riden' the bull Boo? Come'on.
about 1 month ago
Garcia conceded Kim's short put on #1. At the green, Garcia asked "Good -Good?" but Kim, who really might be too young to have enough bad memories of short misses, said, "nah, let's putt 'em." After Garcia made his, Garcia picked up Kim's ball marker. I thought Kim should've at least took a practice putt, but he was just too anxious to get to the next hole and get it on. That kid does have confidence.
Kim not conceding putts did get under Garcia's skin. Even more 'cause they were 2-1/2-3-1/2 footers, long enough that you could miss 'em if you weren't careful, especially if you were a little miffed that it wasn't conceded. And it worked...Garcia did miss...
Garcia was extremely gracious in defeat, though. Very mature. And I wanted Garcia to get stomped this Ryder Cup, but actually felt a little sorry for him when Kim was dusting him.
On an unrelated note, professional photogs do used digital cameras, but the lens is still a good ol' fashioned SLR (Single Lens Reflex). Dig cams still can't process fast enough to compete with SLRs. So there is still the lens click. But yea, I think golfers should be able to handle that. Tiger can handle a bag dropped in his downswing, but can't handle a cam click?
Hacker
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the camera clarification. Maybe if they want a pre-impact photo they could use a silent digital and switch over for the other shots. If there was a constant roar of the crowd like at nearly every other sporting event, individual camera clicks wouldn't even be noticable.
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