The Road to the Ryder Cup 2014

mike12

Can't see him going any where bar Donald, Westwood and Poulter for the 3 picks. If Donald gets in he will bring Gallagher.
Not as many obvious pairings but my guess if it is 4ball to start.
Rory & Serigo.
Gmac & Victor.
Poulter & Rose( if he can get the putter going)
Stenson & Bjorn

PARlance

abff wrote: »

I'm surprised to see that Donaldson is not playing in Denmark this week. He's just over €28k behind Garcia in the European Points list and I presume Garcia won't be playing again in Europe this month. Donaldson's position on the World Points list is quite precarious and there's a good chance he will be passed by both McDowell and Donald.

I think Bjorn probably has enough of a margin in the World Points list to be safe at this stage, although a good performance in Denmark this week would probably eliminate any remaining doubt. It could also make it more difficult for Donaldson to qualify via the European points list, which brings me back to my original point.

I can't see Donaldson getting a pick ahead of Lee Westwood if he falls out of the automatic qualification places.

It'd be very unlikely that Donaldson would take that risk if McGinley hasn't assured him of his place?
I think he has been told he's on the team.

abff

PARlance wrote: »

It'd be very unlikely that Donaldson would take that risk if McGinley hasn't assured him of his place?
I think he has been told he's on the team.

I can't see McGinley making any promises to anyone at this stage. If Donaldson misses out on automatic qualification, it will probably mean that both McDowell and Donald will have made the team (unless either Poulter or Gallacher does something exceptional over the next couple of weeks).

If that is the case, I think the 3 wild cards will come from the following four players - Donaldson, Gallacher, Poulter and Westwood. In that situation, I think both Poulter and Westwood would be picked and the third wild card may depend on which of the other two is in better form over the next couple of weeks.

If Gallacher makes the top 9, then I would expect McGinley to pick either McDowell or Donald ahead of Donaldson.

Dolph Starbeam

Watson still considering Tiger, even in his current state it is hard to ignore him.

Does anyone know who is the lowest placed player to get a wild card pick?

abff

YayaBanana wrote: »

Watson still considering Tiger, even in his current state it is hard to ignore him.

Does anyone know who is the lowest placed player to get a wild card pick?

If I had to guess, I'd say Montgomerie, but I'm sure someone will Google it and prove me wrong.

Rikand

Here's half the work for someone ::

All the picks made by ryder cup captains since picking began

http://golf.about.com/od/rydercup/a/ryder-cup-captains-picks.htm

Rikand

Some good stats on that page and more importantly why Poulter HAS to be picked.....

http://golf.about.com/od/rydercup/a/ryder-cup-captains-picks_2.htm

Win-Loss Records of All Golfers Who've Been Multiple Captain's Picks

Players are listed in order from best winning percentage (in parentheses) to worst.

Ian Poulter, 8-1-0 (.889)
Scott Verplank, 4-1-0 (.800)
Luke Donald, 5-2-1 (.688)
Raymond Floyd, 5-3-0 (.625)
Jose Maria Olazabal, 8-6-1 (.567)
Fred Couples, 4-3-1 (.563)
Lanny Wadkins, 4-3-1 (.563)
Jesper Parnevik, 4-3-4 (.545)
Stewart Cink, 3-3-7 (.500)
Mark James, 4-6-0 (.400)
Nick Faldo, 5-10-0 (.333)
Peter Oosterhuis, 2-5-0 (.285)
Ken Brown, 1-4-0 (.200)
Steve Stricker, 0-6-1 (.071)

Most Matches Won By a Captain's Pick, Overall

8 - Jose Maria Olazabal (1987, 1991, 1993)
8 - Ian Poulter (2008, 2012)

Most Matches Won By a Captain's Pick In a Single Ryder Cup

4 - Ian Poulter (4-1-0), 2008
4 - Ian Poulter (4-0-0), 2012

Rikand

Records of All Players With Minimum 15 Matches Played

Just highlighted some people who are tight for qualification and possible to be picked on either side AND have played more than 15 matches....

Westwood shouldnt really be getting a sniff with poulter and donald ahead of him. poulter+donald+a rookie. There's enough experience in the team as it is. get gallagher in there

Donald + Gallagher + Poulter = Boom!


Tiger shouldn't be getting a sniff either!

Ian Poulter, Europe, 12-3-0, .800
Arnold Palmer, USA, 22-8-2, .719
Luke Donald, Europe, 10-4-1, .700
Hale Irwin, USA, 13-5-2, .700
Tom Watson, USA, 10-4-1, .700
Julius Boros, USA, 9-3-4, .688
Lee Trevino, USA, 17-7-6, .667
Gene Littler, USA, 14-5-8, .667
Jack Nicklaus, USA, 17-8-3, .661
Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, 18-8-5, .661
Colin Montgomerie, Europe, 20-9-7, .653
Sergio Garcia, Europe, 16-8-4 .643
Billy Casper, USA, 20-10-7, .635
Lanny Wadkins, USA, 20-11-3, .632
Seve Ballesteros, Europe, 20-12-5, .608
Tom Kite, USA, 15-9-4, .607
Darren Clarke, Europe, 10-7-3, .575
Bernhard Langer, Europe 21-15-6, .571
Lee Westwood, Europe, 18-13-6, .567
Hal Sutton, USA, 7-5-4, .563
Peter Oosterhuis, Europe, 14-11-3, .554
Nick Faldo, Europe, 23-19-4, .543
Ian Woosnam, Europe, 14-12-5, .532
Howard Clark, Europe, 7-7-1, .500
Bernard Gallacher, Europe, 13-13-5, .500
Tony Jacklin, Europe, 13-14-8, .485
Payne Stewart, USA, 8-9-2, .474
Brian Huggett, Europe, 8-10-6, .458
Fred Couples, USA, 7-9-4, .450
Phil Mickelson, USA, 14-18-6, .447
Sandy Lyle, Europe, 7-9-2, .444
Davis Love III, USA, 9-12-5, .442
Maurice Bembridge, Europe, 6-8-3, .441
Dai Rees, Europe, 7-9-1, .441
Tiger Woods, USA, 13-17-3, .439
Raymond Floyd, USA, 12-16-3, .435
Paul Azinger, USA, 5-7-3, .433
Brian Barnes, Europe, 10-14-1, .420
Padraig Harrington, Europe, 9-13-3, .420
Peter Alliss, Europe, 10-15-5, .417
Stewart Cink, USA, 4-8-7, .395
Neil Coles, Europe, 12-21-7, .388
Jim Furyk, USA, 9-17-4, .367
Miguel Angel Jimenez, Europe, 4-8-3, .367
Christy O'Connor Sr., Europe, 11-21-4, .361
Sam Torrance, Europe, 7-15-6, .357
Mark James, Europe, 8-15-1, .354
Curtis Strange, USA, 6-12-2, .350
Bernard Hunt, Europe, 6-16-6, .321
Dave Thomas, Europe, 3-10-5, .306
Harry Weetman, Europe, 2-11-2, .200
George Will, Europe, 2-11-2, .200

Rikand

Tiger Woods withdraws his name from being a Captains Pick

Tiger Woods has informed the PGA of America and United States Captain Tom Watson that due to his current health situation, he has taken himself out of consideration to serve as a Captain’s Pick for the 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup Team.

“While I greatly appreciate Tom thinking about me for a possible Captain’s Pick, I must take myself out of consideration,” Woods said. “I’ve been told by my doctors and trainer that my back muscles need to be rehabilitated and healed. They’ve advised me not to play or practice now. I’m extremely disappointed that I won’t be ready for the competition. The U.S. Team and the Ryder Cup mean too much to me not to be able to give it my best. I’ll be cheering for the U.S. Team. I think we have an outstanding squad going into the matches.”

http://www.rydercup.com/usa/news/tiger-woods-withdraws-consideration-2014-us-ryder-cup-team

abff

abff wrote: »

If I had to guess, I'd say Montgomerie, but I'm sure someone will Google it and prove me wrong.

I don't have the energy to check all the rankings for previous Ryder Cups, but I think I might be right in guessing Montgomerie. He was 19th in the World Points list and 16th in the European Points list when he was given a wild card in 2004. I think he went on to sink the winning putt that year.

LuckyGent88

Tiger woods has pulled out of the match anyway.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2014/08/13/tiger-woods-ryder-cup-injury/14030273/

Takes a tough decision away from Watson at least anyway.
While he does have a disappointing record in the Ryder cup, it's always great to have him involved.

Hope he sticks to his plan now and not came back till December. He needs all the time to rehabilitate and strengthen his back muscles once again. Come back healthy and fresh in 2015.

abff

Donaldson is now 9 under par after playing 12 holes today and leading by one. If he keeps this up, he should clinch his Ryder Cup place. Gallacher is also playing well (5 under and tied for 5th). If he can finish in the top two and both McDowell and Donald finish down the field in the Barclays, it will leave McDowell, Donald, Poulter and Westwood all needing wild cards.

RikkFlair

abff wrote: »

McDowell, Donald, Poulter and Westwood all needing wild cards.

Big headache for McGinley that would be

Speak Now

Great stuff from Donaldson today with the pressure of trying to secure his place.

Russman

RikkFlair wrote: »

Big headache for McGinley that would be

Not really, although it'll be odd having a Ryder Cup without Westwood.....:D:D

Ahh no, you're right, someone's nose will be out of joint no matter what.

Dolph Starbeam

Russman wrote: »

Not really, although it'll be odd having a Ryder Cup without Westwood.....:D:D

Ahh no, you're right, someone's nose will be out of joint no matter what.

They will be, but they will only have themselves to blame, I have no sympathy for anyone relying on a captains pick who isn't picked.

abff

Donaldson missed a great opportunity to build a significant lead. He finished with two bogeys and a par 5. Still one ahead at present.

FixdePitchmark

RikkFlair wrote: »

Big headache for McGinley that would be

Id go for Poulter and McDowell

Tiger Mcilroy

Paul casey has to considered aswell as he looks to be over his injury and playing reasonably well again.

Going in the right direction in the rankings.

Also look at a guy like stephen gallagher that is up to 34 in the world..could see mcginley throw a surprise name out there when the time comes.

RikkFlair

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Id go for Poulter and McDowell

You have one more pick. Westwood or Donald? Neither have had a great year tbh.

FixdePitchmark

RikkFlair wrote: »

You have one more pick. Westwood or Donald? Neither have had a great year tbh.

Hard call.

I'd nearly go for neither and pick a wild - wild card,

Like Jimenez - Langer.


They would be just such a distraction and great for team. Wouldn't happen. I know.

Speak Now

RikkFlair wrote: »

You have one more pick. Westwood or Donald? Neither have had a great year tbh.

Donald all day for me.

Dolph Starbeam

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Donald all day for me.

I wouldn't have him near the team, horribly out of form for a long time. Westwood isn't much better. Poulter is in horrible form also but he is pretty much unbeatable in the RC.

ScummyMan

Any chance of Shane Lowry sneaking a pick?

TrapperChamonix

abff wrote: »

Donaldson is now 9 under par after playing 12 holes today and leading by one. If he keeps this up, he should clinch his Ryder Cup place. Gallacher is also playing well (5 under and tied for 5th). If he can finish in the top two and both McDowell and Donald finish down the field in the Barclays, it will leave McDowell, Donald, Poulter and Westwood all needing wild cards.

I'd be delighted to see Gallacher force his way into the team. Do wonders for the home town fans.
If it played out as you outline above, the smart pick is Donald, Poulter and Westwood. If it were to all go T*@# Up, then at least the English press couldn't beat you with a Donald or Westwood stick.

Speak Now

YayaBanana wrote: »

I wouldn't have him near the team, horribly out of form for a long time. Westwood isn't much better. Poulter is in horrible form also but he is pretty much unbeatable in the RC.

I'm only picking him over Westwood, I wouldn't have any of them near the team tbh!

McGinley will make the safe choices if McDowell stays in the last spot, he's a right P.R man and id be amazed if he did anything controversial. He certainly never says anything controversial when on sky, always safe middle of the road stuff. The only hard call will be if Gallacher nicked the last spot. Then it's 4 of the regular guys for 3 spots.

Speak Now

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

Any chance of Shane Lowry sneaking a pick?

No chance at all.

TrapperChamonix

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

Any chance of Shane Lowry sneaking a pick?

Can't see the justification to be honest.


More sensible outside pick might be Marc Warren. 3rd in Scottish Open, 43rd in the British, 15th in the USPGA and 1st in Denmark

SnowDrifts

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

No chance at all.

Yeah Shane more or less confirmed this in his most recent article for The Irish Times.

Hopefully he will be in the mix come 2016.

Rikand

Come on gallagher and donaldson!

Speak Now

Poulter will be needing his wildcard again, another missed cut.

Last 5 tournaments Cut - T58 - T52 - Cut - Cut

abff

TrapperChamonix wrote: »

I'd be delighted to see Gallacher force his way into the team. Do wonders for the home town fans.
If it played out as you outline above, the smart pick is Donald, Poulter and Westwood. If it were to all go T*@# Up, then at least the English press couldn't beat you with a Donald or Westwood stick.

Are you seriously suggesting that he should pick all three of the above ahead of McDowell?

abff

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Poulter will be needing his wildcard again, another missed cut.

Last 5 tournaments Cut - T58 - T52 - Cut - Cut

There's an outside possibility he might sneak in on the cut mark, depending on what the scoring is like this afternoon. But he would need an exceptional weekend to pick up enough points to make the top 9.

I think he's fairly safe in terms of getting a pick anyway. His Ryder Cup performances have been exceptional and it would be very hard to justify leaving him out of the team.

abff

abff wrote: »

There's an outside possibility he might sneak in on the cut mark, depending on what the scoring is like this afternoon. But he would need an exceptional weekend to pick up enough points to make the top 9.

I think he's fairly safe in terms of getting a pick anyway. His Ryder Cup performances have been exceptional and it would be very hard to justify leaving him out of the team.

Actually, looking at the current scoreboard, I think that if the cut marks moves at all from the current 1 over, it's more likely to go to level par than to plus 2.

abff

If the cut goes to level par, Westwood will be out of the playoffs. I wonder if he'll play in Italy next week if that happens? I guess it would be a statement of intent regarding the Ryder Cup if he plays.

durkadurka

Is this week the last qualifying event in the US for the European team?

Eg after this week in the Italian open the last chance for everyone?

abff

durkadurka wrote: »

Is this week the last qualifying event in the US for the European team?

Eg after this week in the Italian open the last chance for everyone?

That's correct. After this weekend, the only tournament that counts towards Ryder Cup qualifying is the Italian Open.

Rikand

well westwood made the cut, but he's already completed his round and shot a level par 71 to still be +1. If it was me, I wouldnt have him anywhere near the team, no matter who's qualified in front of him.

abff

Rikand wrote: »

well westwood made the cut, but he's already completed his round and shot a level par 71 to still be +1. If it was me, I wouldnt have him anywhere near the team, no matter who's qualified in front of him.

He's definitely not playing well, but he has a huge Ryder Cup pedigree. He's unlikely to qualify for the next stage of the play-offs unless he has a very low round tomorrow and he may not even get a chance to play tomorrow as he's currently in a tie for 70th with the third round cut to come.

If, as seems likely, he's out of the play-offs, he needs to come over to Italy and play well in order to be considered for a wild card. And even then, I can't see him being picked ahead of any of McDowell, Poulter and Donald.

At this stage, Donaldson looks like clinching his place in the automatic qualifiers this weekend and Gallacher could also make it if he has a really good round tomorrow or a very good tournament next week. Gallacher's chance of making the team automatically also depends on how well McDowell does this weekend.

abff

Well fair play to Donaldson. He won today to clinch his Ryder Cup place. Based on his former over previous weeks, I thought he might fall out of the top 9, but he rose to the occasion when he needed to and it's great to have players on the team who are playing well in the run up to the competition.

Gallacher will need to win next week to force his way into the automatic qualifying spots and even that may not be enough depending on how McDowell plays today.

durkadurka

My read of this is that the only issue now is if Gallacher can finish in the top three ish to overtake Gmac next week.
No other big names in the field for Italy by the look of it.
Otherwise everything done and dusted.

I'm sure there's some stattos here who can confirm?

Mushy

USA's first 9 confirmed anyway:

http://www.rydercup.com/usa/2014/team/usa-ryder-cup-points-list?atrack=hp_carrousel-t1_2

Good mix of experience and rookies in there.

I'm fierce excited for all of this to start off.

abff

durkadurka wrote: »

My read of this is that the only issue now is if Gallacher can finish in the top three ish to overtake Gmac next week.
No other big names in the field for Italy by the look of it.
Otherwise everything done and dusted.

I'm sure there's some stattos here who can confirm?

I think Gallacher will pick up 4.08 world ranking points this week and GMac will pick up 2.077 points after his disappointing back 9 today. This will leave Gallacher around 10.8 points behind GMac in the world ranking points table.

Assuming the field next week in Italy is not particularly strong, it will be worth 24 points to the winner and this would leave Gallacher needing to finish no worse than a two way tie for 2nd in order to move ahead of GMac.

Rikand

Hunter mahan fairly staking his claim for one of tom watsons captains picks after that win last night

Dealerz

Rikand wrote: »

Hunter mahan fairly staking his claim for one of tom watsons captains picks after that win last night

Mcginley couldn't be happier!!!

abff

abff wrote: »

I think Gallacher will pick up 4.08 world ranking points this week and GMac will pick up 2.077 points after his disappointing back 9 today. This will leave Gallacher around 10.8 points behind GMac in the world ranking points table.

Assuming the field next week in Italy is not particularly strong, it will be worth 24 points to the winner and this would leave Gallacher needing to finish no worse than a two way tie for 2nd in order to move ahead of GMac.

Actually, GMac picked up 2.48 points in the Barclays. For some reason, I thought the winner would pick up 62 points, whereas it was worth 74 points to Mahan. That makes the gap 11.2 points, but the position remains the same assuming the Italian Open is worth 24 points to the winner - Gallacher will need to finish no worse than a two way tie for second.

AGC

Yeah confirmed that Gallagher needs at worst tie 2nd

Speak Now

I only noticed that Gallacher is ahead of Westwood in the OWGR! If he just came short next week id give him the 3rd wildcard ahead of Westwood. I'd doubt McGinley would though. He's gone ahead of Poulter as well but he's a cert to be picked despite his lack of form. Of course Miguel is still ahead of them all but hasn't shown at all since winning his home open.

First Up

Isn't Luke Donald a bigger threat to GMac for an automatic spot?

blackwhite

First Up wrote: »

Isn't Luke Donald a bigger threat to GMac for an automatic spot?

Luke hasn't entered the Italian Open, so can't gain any more points in the race.