Garcia and Azinger are Responsible for Europe's Ryder Cup Defeat, Not Faldo

As the dust slowly begins to settle on another great Ryder Cup weekend, the media on the east side of the pond have been falling over themselves in laying the blame for European defeat at Nick Faldo’s door.

His prickly, capricious nature hindered team spirit, they say. He made grave tactical errors that cost points, they cry. He threw away a trophy that was Europe’s for the taking, they opine.

This is simply not fair. More importantly, it just isn’t true.

Faldo had two prime jobs as Europe’s captain—pick the best two wildcards, and then sort out his pairings correctly. Did he really fail on either count?

His picks, despite the heavy criticism they brought, were spot on. Ian Poulter—the golfer who must pundits, including this one, believed should not have been picked ahead of Darren Clarke—ended up as the top points scorer on either team, claiming four points from his five matches.

Even on the losing side, the Englishman was the event's top competitor.

And Paul Casey, his other pick, was hardly a failure. Casey only lost one of his three games, although two halves meant the Englishman's record looks less than stellar. Nevertheless, would Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie—two forty-something players—have done any better around a physically demanding 7 500 yard course?

Extremely doubtful—especially for three days.

Then his second job, sorting out the pairings and playing order. He cannot be criticised for his work on the foursomes and fourballs, as the final 7-9  scoreline (in USA's favour) after these events illustrates how close the matches were, and also demonstrates how well Europe did to recover from a disappointing opening session.

For the singles lineup, however, Faldo has taken a lot of criticism—for supposedly “bottom-loading” Europe’s order, and subsequently rendering the matches of star players like Padraig Harrington, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood as inconsequential.

This is just foolish.

For a start, what makes anyone think putting Harrington or Westwood up the order would have had any positive impact? Harrington and Campbell's match was the highest scoring of the day, so the Irishman would have got trounced if he had come up against Jim Furyk, Kenny Perry, or anyone else in the US's middle order.

Ultimately, Faldo was only one match from having his strategy pay off with interest. If Paul Casey had turned his half against Hunter Mahan into a full point, or Soren Hansen had seen his a/s through 16 match against JB Holmes finish that way after 18, then Azinger’s USA side would have to have relied on an unlikely figure like Ben Curtis or Chad Campbell to pull home that vital last point.

The final 16.5-11.5 scoreline is misleading, a result of dejected European players being forced to finish meaningless games—the reality is that the US barely scraped to the required 14.5 points.

Secondly, any side that opens with Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, and Robert Karlsson can hardly be called “bottom-loaded”. They are three great players, more than a match for anyone else on their team—or the opposition.

Indeed it is Garcia, not Faldo, who should take a lot of criticism for the events of the final day.

Garcia is undoubtedly one of the most talented golfers in the game today, but Sunday proved once and for all that he just does not have the mentality to dominate the upper echelons of professional golf.

For a veteran of five Ryder Cups, he played his singles match against Anthony Kim like a complete rookie.

He simply imploded. Frankly, his early antics were embarrassing.

Yes the American came out of the gates like Usain Bolt, and carried that form throughout the match, but Garcia should have shown he could cope with that. Instead he lost his head completely, attempting to unsettle Kim by slowing down his routine almost to a standstill—a move that seemed to affect the Spaniard himself more than his opponent.

Ultimately, the 5&4 drubbing was kinder than Garcia deserved, as he let down his teammates and the captain that had shown so much faith in him. He set a negative tone for the day that only made the task even harder for the rest of Europe’s valiant warriors.

Credit where credit is due, however, and the American side certainly deserved the victory. Indeed, this is what the European media should be focusing on—how the Ryder Cup was won by America, not how it was supposedly lost by Europe.

Captain Paul Azinger set up the course to perfection, playing into the hands of his powerful (but often wayward) team members.

The performance of JB Holmes was particularly vindicating for his captain, as the native-Kentuckian wildcard pick grabbed 2.5 points from his three matches—demonstrating how perfectly Azinger utilised the powerhouse in the fourballs and singles.

He got big performances from his other three wildcard picks (although perhaps the exception being Steve Stricker), with Hunter Mahan ending up as the side’s leading points scorer—with 3.5 from his four outings.

Azinger, along with his faithful lieutenants Boo Weekley and Kenny Perry, was also responsible for whipping the Valhalla crowd into the pro-American storm that so unsettled the European team. As the much vaunted “13th man” for the American side, the cries of “Boo-S-A” did a great job of inspiring the home side.

Europe can—and will—complain vociferously about the raucous nature of the American crowd, but they cannot use it as an excuse for defeat. It was always going to be the case, and such an excuse is just to hide behind the fact they simply weren’t good enough.

Faldo, on the other hand, is the one forced to take the brunt of the blame.

As losing captain this is to be expected, but hopefully the Ryder Cup Committee will see past all the sensationalism of the last few days, and—if he so wishes—let the Englishman retain the captaincy for Celtic Manor in 2010.

As a six-time major winner, he deserves the chance to right the wrongs of the past week. So crucial to previous European victories as a player (it must be remembered he is the competition’s all-time leading points scorer, with 25), he also deserves the chance to taste success as a captain—especially as he has just had to witness arch-rival Azinger take all the glory.

In 1983, Tony Jacklin lost his first Cup as Europe’s captain—and then went to oversee European success in the next three events. Like Jacklin, Faldo should at least have the opportunity to make up for his initial disappointment.

Two weeks ago, in the Ryder Cup Roundtable, I suggested that if Europe lost at Valhalla, it would be down to no one else but Nick Faldo. I don’t mind admitting I was wrong.

Nick Faldo, on the other hand, has always had a problem with admitting when he was in the wrong. This time however, perhaps he has little to hold his hands up for.

The team must pick themselves up, dust themselves down, and work hard towards 2010. With an older and wiser Faldo leading them, and a hunger to avenge this year’s defeat, Celtic Manor could finally be the fitting end that Faldo’s Ryder Cup service deserves.

All Faldo needs is the chance—we owe him that much.