The Ryder Cup: 10 Keys to an American Victory
The American Ryder Cup team landed in Wales on Monday morning and will spend the rest of the week preparing for the matches which begin at 7:45 a.m. local time on Friday.
For the first time since 2002, the Americans will be attempting to retain the cup.
Here are 10 keys that could lead to a second straight victory for the American Ryder Cup team.
Get Off to a Fast Start
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Getting off to a fast start in any team event is important, and the Ryder Cup is no different.
If the American team falls behind early in Wales, they are going to have a very difficult time retaining the cup.
The European crowd will only get louder and more energetic with each additional point the European team wins and the players will feed off of that energy.
There will be no miracle comeback for the American team at Celtic Manor like there was in 1999 at Brookline.
If the American team is behind by a large margin heading into Sunday’s singles matches, they might as well just hand the cup over to the Europeans and catch and earlier flight home.
Intimidate with Distance
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In Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton, the American squad has three of the longest hitters in the world.
Both the European players and their hometown crowd will be extremely fired up right from the get-go on Friday morning as they begin their quest to regain the Ryder Cup.
There’s no better way to quiet a hostile crowd than for a guy like Bubba Watson to step up to the first tee and fly his ball 50 yards past his European opponent.
Guys like Johnson, Watson and Overton are nearly sideshow attractions when standing on the tee box; they hit the ball that long.
And the last thing a European player wants is for his hometown crowd to be in awe of the skills his opponents possess.
Total Commitment from Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson
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Tiger and Phil may not be the hottest American players heading into the 2010 Ryder Cup Matches.
However, they are still the two most accomplished golfers taking part in the matches this week at Celtic Manor.
Mickelson has always bought into the Ryder Cup, so there’s really no concern as it pertains to his commitment to the event.
Woods, on the other hand…well, let’s just say that it doesn’t take a master’s degree in psychologyto pick up on the fact that Woods has not been overly fond of the Ryder Cup matches throughout the years.
This year is different though.
Woods’ reputation is damaged and he has been humbled both on and off the golf course.
Whether he is playing well or not, Woods needs to visibly demonstrate his full support and commitment to the American side.
Every single member of the American team wants to feel accepted and supported by Tiger Woods, even if they’d take a case of the yips before ever publically admitting that.
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Find the Fairway
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It’s no secret that America’s biggest guns have a difficult time finding the fairway.
Believe it or not, out of Woods, Johnson, Watson, Overton and Mickelson, Woods is the most accurate of the bunch off the tee…and he’s still ranked 157th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy.
The home team’s captain has control over the way in which the host golf course is setup for the Ryder Cup matches.
Colin Montgomerie would need to have his head examined if the American team isn’t forced to face the tightest fairways and thickest rough they’ve ever seen in their lives this week at Celtic Manor.
If America’s big guns are spraying the ball everywhere, it’s going to be extremely difficult for them to retain the cup.
Ignore Everything Other Than Golf
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There’s going to be heckling.
The European crowd will cheer the American’s bad shots, and it’s almost a certainty that Tiger Woods will get verbally abused to no end this week in Wales.
So how does the American side combat this?
In short—they don’t. They just deal with it.
We all know it’s going to happen. And although it may be difficult at times, every single member of the American squad will need to ignore everything said and done outside of the ropes at Celtic Manor.
Rookies Need to Create a Spark
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One of the main reasons why the American team won the Ryder Cup back in 2008 at Valhalla was because of the youthful energy created by Ryder Cup rookie Anthony Kim.
Kim’s energy became infections and spread like wild fire throughout the entire American team, particularly on Sunday after Kim trounced Sergio Garcia in the first singles match of the day.
More than half of the American squad will be making their Ryder Cup debut this week in Wales.
Aside from Jim Furyk, the elder statesmen on the team have not been playing great golf as of late.
If this year has taught us anything it’s that we’re in the midst of a changing of the guard in professional golf.
The young guns are beginning to step up, and if the Americans want to retain the cup in Wales, the Ryder Cup rookies will need to take control of the matches.
No Weak Links
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More than a few Ryder Cup matches have come down to a single point.
Although the American team is looking a lot stronger than they were a few months ago, there are still several Americans entering the 2010 matches with golf games that are questionable at best.
It can often take a couple of matches to identify a weak link and by that time the weak link could have already cost the American side two crucial points.
Everyone on the American team will have to play solid golf in Wales.
Entering the matches as the underdog in a hostile environment, there is no room for a weak link.
There’s a good chance that these matches will be decided by just a point or two, and a single weak link can be the difference between the American team taking the cup back to the states on Sunday evening or having to leave the cup in Wales.
The Weather Is Going to Awful, Deal with It
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The forecast in Wales is calling for rain just about every single day this week with highs in the upper 50s and lows dipping down into the upper 40s.
It’s Wales in October, what do you expect?
No one has ever taken a trip to the United Kingdom in search of great weather.
Members of the American team, most of who live in places such as Florida, Arizona and Southern California, are simply going to have to deal with a week of cold, damp and altogether miserable weather in Wales.
There’s nothing that can be done about the weather.
Just deal with it.
Personalities Mesh Better Than Golf Games
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The best thing that Paul Azinger did at Valhalla in 2008 was to mesh personalities more than golf games.
If Azinger were to simply have simply looked at physical skills when deciding on his pairings, there’s not a chance that the highly successful pairing of Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson would have ever come about.
Both Kim and Mickelson play a bold, high-risk style of golf, and each have a tendency to spray the ball all over the course.
Not the best pairing on paper, but add in their compatible personalities and Azinger had his strongest pairing of the week at Valhalla.
Pairings such as Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson or Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, might look risky on paper.
However, add in their personalities and pre-existing relationships and these two pairing could be very tough to beat at Celtic Manor.
Moral of the story—personalities should be as, if not more important than physical skills when making pairing decisions.
Corey Pavin Has to Lose the Sweater Wrapped over His Shoulder (Humor)
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Come on Corey, are you captaining the Ryder Cup team or taking part in a Polo match?
Are you still that gritty competitor that would chew off your right arm for a U.S. Open title or do you spend your days sipping organic ice tea in the Hamptons?
Are you a UCLA graduate or a Harvard professor?
I know you’re attempting to make some changes to the American team’s style, but Corey, my man, lose the sweater wrapped over your shoulders...it’s embarrassing as a fellow American.
The Europeans might actually think that’s how we dress on this side of the pond.
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