Biggest Storylines Heading into the Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup festivities officially kick off September 23 at Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland. The drama, however, has already begun.
Fresh in the minds of all involved: the U.S. team's 2012 meltdown at Medinah. Two years ago, the Americans entered the final day of the competition leading 10-6 and needing just 4.5 points to win the cup. Suffice it to say, they did not claim the Ryder Cup after a historic comeback by the European side.
The memory of the events at Medinah have team Europe's confidence at an all-time high and the U.S. thirsting for vengeance.
Since the competition was expanded to include all of continental Europe in 1979, the European squad has won nine competitions, including five of the last six. This, too, is in the forefront of the minds of all the men teeing up in Scotland.
Also, the captains of the warring squads, Tom Watson and Paul McGinley, have each made plenty of headlines—as have many of their respective players.
Click through for the full breakdown of the biggest storylines heading into the Ryder Cup.
European Team Heavily Favored
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There's a reason European captain, Paul McGinley looks positively jovial above: Unfortunately for all those who grew up reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the United States team enters this year's competition as significant underdogs.
A survey of the lines from major sportsbooks indicates that most outlets have Europe and the U.S. as follows (per OddsChecker).
- Europe: 8-13, 4-6
- U.S: 13-8, 9-5
Thus, those whose profession it is to predict such things feel that the Europeans have a 60 to 61 percent chance of retaining the Ryder Cup. They give the U.S. side a 36 to 38 percent chance of avenging the defeat at Medinah.
How does this compare to projections the last time around? Per Bleacher Report's Carlos Torres prior to the 2012 competition, the U.S. was favored at 8-11 odds (59 percent implied probability), while the Europeans were given 3-2 odds (40 percent implied probability).
Captain Watson's Picks
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When the official qualification process for the 2014 US Ryder Cup ended following the PGA Championship, speculation ensued from all corners as to who captain Tom Watson would select for his three captain's picks.
Ultimately, Watson went with Ryder Cup veterans for his three selections, passing on Deutsche Bank Championship winner Chris Kirk who finished 14th in the standings. The 65-year-old captain instead selected Hunter Mahan, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson, who finished 13th, 25th and 15th respectively in the points standings.
Also not getting a nod from captain Watson: Brandt Snedeker, veteran of the 2012 competition at Medinah.
Regarding his selection of Hunter Mahan, Watson said, per Steve DiMeglio of USA Today, "Match play seems to be his forte." And Watson added the following about picking Keegan Bradley: "He can go real low. He certainly teamed up great with Phil Mickelson."
Unfortunately for the U.S. team's skipper, his chosen three haven't been availing themselves on the whole lately as the next slide indicates.
Team USA Captain's Picks' FedEx Cup Performances
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Here's a look at how captain Watson's three picks have performed in the playoffs.
Hunter Mahan: Tour Championship: T23, BMW Championship: T59, Deutsche Bank Championship: 64, The Barclays: 1
Webb Simpson: Tour Championship: T23, BMW Championship: T53, Deutsche Bank Championship: T9, The Barclays: Cut
Keegan Bradley: Tour Championship: N/A, BMW Championship: W/D, Deutsche Bank Championship: T16, The Barclays: T53
An expert analysis of the above: Outside of the Mahan victory, these guys haven't been playing very well.
Keep in mind that the field for the Tour Championship was just 30 players and the BMW's field was only 70 deep. Thus, performances such as Webb Simpson's tie for 23rd at the Tour Championship and Hunter Mahan's tie for 59th at the BMW Championship were even less stellar than they might appear at a glance.
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Captain McGinley's Picks
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European team captain, Paul McGinley's choice of captain's picks hasn't been without intrigue either. Most notably, McGinley opted to leave Ryder Cup stalwart Luke Donald off the squad.
As Kyle Porter of CBS Sports indicated, McGinley said the call to break the news to Donald was a tough one: "Very, very, very difficult call for me to make, but it was one I had to make in the interest of the European team," he said. "His last two words were, 'Go Europe.' I think that says a lot about him."
McGinley elected to go with a pair of Ryder Cup veterans: Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, who are a combined 30-15-6 in the biennial competition.
Instead of Donald, McGinley tapped Stephen Gallacher for his Ryder Cup debut. The Scotsman has one win and eight top-10 finishes on the European Tour this year.
Notable Absences on Team USA
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If you take a look at the U.S. Ryder Cup team, there are a few notable names you won't see. Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods and Jason Dufner are all absent from this year's team for varying reasons.
Johnson, veteran of two Ryder Cups, is taking a leave of absence from professional golf to work through personal issues. The long-hitting South Carolinian has a 3-3-0 career record in the competition.
Tiger Woods, who has taken part in the team competition seven times, continues to recuperate from back surgery. Woods' career numbers at the Ryder Cup: 13-17-3.
Finally, Jason Dufner, who was a part of the 2012 team, was forced to hang up his spikes for the season due to a neck issue. The Duf was 3-1-0 at Medinah.
Combined, the three players' career numbers in the Ryder Cup are 19-21-3. All three players, however, bring an element of chemistry and experience to the team, which doesn't appear on the stat sheet.
The "Phoney War"
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Ewan Murray of The Guardian took exception with the U.S. press' coverage of comments Rory McIlroy made. Murray's insinuation as to the motivation behind the treatment is a rich one, and it merits quoting at length.
"With a fortnight to go until the Ryder Cup, the phoney war appears to be under way. The targeting of Rory McIlroy by the United States merely highlights the Northern Irishman’s status and significance in the European camp.
An innocuous press conference answer by McIlroy on Wednesday, regarding Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson being in the latter stages of their careers and with a recent history of injury, landed the 25-year-old in the middle of a contrived storm. Elements of the American media were hardly innocent, having seized upon McIlroy’s—wholly accurate—sentiment.
By Wednesday night McIlroy had taken to Twitter to assert that he had always been 'complimentary' about the duo in question. Which was another truism. Having signed for an opening round of 69, one under par, at the Tour Championship, McIlroy was quite right to state his case once again.
'I just couldn’t understand the backlash,' he said. 'It wasn’t like I was writing them off at all. I just said Tiger didn’t get the chance to play here because he was injured and that Phil has played great at times. I said that we’ll see them both back at this event plenty of times. But when I saw the reaction I thought: ‘Hang on, have I said something wrong here? I don’t think so.’ I know those guys both really well and I don’t think I said anything out of order. I went on Twitter to try to clarify it. I couldn’t believe the reaction.'
"
Phoney war? Murray rallies the base while suggesting that the stateside scribes were grasping at straws to use as tinder for a roast of the young Ulsterman.
An interesting maneuver, indeed.
First Timers
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Continuing our survey of the competing squads, a number of players are getting their first taste of Ryder Cup competition this year. Only one of the players (Stephen Gallacher) made the squad as a captain's pick, the rest punched their tickets to Scotland with quality play over the past two seasons.
Here are the first timers along with their Official World Golf Rankings.
- Jimmy Walker: 19
- Patrick Reed: 27
- Jordan Spieth: 13
- Jamie Donaldson: 28
- Victor Dubuisson: 23
- Stephen Gallacher: 34
The U.S. team will be hoping for a repeat of the 2008 win at Valhalla in which the Stars and Stripes counted six rookies on Paul Azinger's triumphant squad. Team Europe will be hoping Donaldson, Dubuisson or Gallacher echo the inspired play of Nicolas Colsaerts at Medinah in 2012.
#RedeemTeam
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Following captain Tom Watson's primetime announcement that Messrs Bradley, Simpson and Mahan would be his three captain's picks, Keegan Bradley Instagrammed the selfie you see above.
Bradley's caption for the shot read: "Captains pick selfie #redeemteam."
The Redeem Team, of course, was the moniker bestowed upon the 2008 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team. That squad sought to atone for a disappointing bronze medal-winning performance at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
The LeBron James-led Redeem Team won the gold medal in Beijing in 2008. The U.S. Ryder Cup Redeem Team will be hoping for vindication for the bitter defeat at Medinah in 2012.
Bradley's Instagram marked the original marriage of the 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup team and "redeem team." It's likely not the last time you'll hear Watson's team referred to as such, and the post is a window into the collective psyche of Bradley and company as they prepare to cross the pond.
McGinley's Many Assistants
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Per a Reuters report published in The Guardian, Ian Woosnam, member of eight-straight Ryder Cup teams in the 80s and 90s, had some harsh words for Paul McGinley.
A former assistant captain himself, Woosnam wasn't fond of the Irishman's decision to opt for five assistants: “Is it a sign of weakness having that many? It does seem a lot. Maybe he’s trying to get as much experience as he possibly can...he might as well have 12 vice-captains, one for each player.”
The former world No. 1 has never had any trouble speaking his mind. However, one wonders what good his comments could possibly do for his continent's squad.
McGinley's five men in question: Jose Maria Olazabal, Padraig Harrington and Miguel Angel Jimenez, Sam Torrance, Des Smyth.
26.5 Hours of Coverage
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Ryder Cup die-hards rejoice: This year, for the first time ever, every match of a Ryder Cup contested in Europe will be shown live in the states.
Every match!
Golf Channel will broadcast the Friday matches from 2:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. NBC will televise Saturday's matches from 3 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET and they'll also broadcast the Sunday singles, which will air live from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET.
That's 26.5 hours of live Ryder Cup matches between September 26 and September 28.
What better reason could there be to shun sleep?
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