Americans are underdogs in Ryder Cup
By Barry Poe, Journal sports writer | Posted: Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The eyes of the golfing world will be on the birthplace of Muhammad Ali this weekend when the Ryder Cup matches unfold at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky.
In case you haven't been keeping track, the Europeans have made this biennial event their personal playground of late, winning five of the last six meetings. The lone exception was in 1999, when the Americans made a miracle comeback on Sunday at Brookline in Boston, capped by Justin Leonard's 45-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to clinch the victory.
You may recall team captain Ben Crenshaw, despite his team facing nearly insurmountable odds, wagging his finger in a Saturday night press conference while declaring that he sensed something good was going to happen on Sunday. Guess he was right.
Since then, however, we've become accustomed to the Europeans dusting off our guys and celebrating wildly by spraying champaign, singing and dancing.
Leonard, who will forever be remembered in Ryder Cup lore for making that putt, is on the team for the first time since 1999. That may be good karma for the United States and, more than likely, our team will need all of the help it can get.
Of the 12 players on captain Paul Azinger's squad, six are making their Ryder Cup debuts. The good news is, one of those rookies -- J.B. Holmes -- is a Kentucky native so he'll have the crowd on his side and knows Valhalla better than any of the other players, with the exception of, perhaps, Kenny Perry, another native Kentuckyan. Perry, of course, played only one round in the four majors this year, making the Ryder Cup his top priority.
Perry, though, has lost his only two previous Ryder Cup matches.
And, the records of the rest of the American players hardly make the Europeans quake in their golf shoes.
Phil Mickelson (9-8-3), is the only American with a winning record. Of those who have competed in previous Ryder Cups, Stewart Cink is 3-5-2, Jim Furyk 4-9-2, Leonard 0-3-5 and Chad Campbell 1-3-2.
Holmes, Anthony Kim, Ben Curtis, Boo Weekley, Hunter Mahan and Steve Stricker are all making their debuts in this pressure-cooker.
On the flip side, Sergio Garcia boasts a 14-4-2 mark, Lee Westwood is 14-8-3, Paul Casey 3-1-2, Padraig Harrington 7-8-2, Miguel Angel Jimenez 2-5-2, Henrik Stenson 1-1-1, Ian Poulter 1-1-0 and Robert Karlsson 0-1-2.
The European rookies are Soren Hansen, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Oliver Wilson.
Garcia is usually good for getting under the Americans' skin by excessively celebrating his victories. And there have been plenty since he's 8-0 in foursomes and has a 75 percent rate of earning points, the highest of any European.
Westwood has been successfully paired with Garcia in some past matches and is tied with Sergio as highest points-earner on the team. Harrington, of course, won both the British Open and PGA, so he has to be considered the hottest player entering the competition.
I wonder how many times this weekend we will hear about Tiger Woods' absence?
Truth be known, for all of his talent, Tiger hasn't exactly lit it up in the Ryder Cup. He doesn't seem to be as focused as the Europeans, who put all of their heart and soul into winning this competition.
Oddsmakers have made the Euros an 8-11 favorite and Azinger has already declared his team the decided underdog. That may be just the fuel the Americans need to regain the cup for the first time in nine years.
Can Holmes' long-ball bashing, Weekley's "good old boy" persona and Kim's immense talent be enough to carry our boys to victory?
It all starts on Friday and the dust will clear on Sunday. In between, there will be plenty of shotmaking going on in the bluegrass state.
Personally, I think it will be lot closer than people expect. I'm saying the Europeans will win, but it's going to come down to one of the final matches on the final day. No nine-point routs this time around.
Journal sports writer Barry Poe can be reached at (712) 293-4205, or e-mail barrypoe@siouxcityjournal.com
In case you haven't been keeping track, the Europeans have made this biennial event their personal playground of late, winning five of the last six meetings. The lone exception was in 1999, when the Americans made a miracle comeback on Sunday at Brookline in Boston, capped by Justin Leonard's 45-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to clinch the victory.
You may recall team captain Ben Crenshaw, despite his team facing nearly insurmountable odds, wagging his finger in a Saturday night press conference while declaring that he sensed something good was going to happen on Sunday. Guess he was right.
Since then, however, we've become accustomed to the Europeans dusting off our guys and celebrating wildly by spraying champaign, singing and dancing.
Leonard, who will forever be remembered in Ryder Cup lore for making that putt, is on the team for the first time since 1999. That may be good karma for the United States and, more than likely, our team will need all of the help it can get.
Of the 12 players on captain Paul Azinger's squad, six are making their Ryder Cup debuts. The good news is, one of those rookies -- J.B. Holmes -- is a Kentucky native so he'll have the crowd on his side and knows Valhalla better than any of the other players, with the exception of, perhaps, Kenny Perry, another native Kentuckyan. Perry, of course, played only one round in the four majors this year, making the Ryder Cup his top priority.
Perry, though, has lost his only two previous Ryder Cup matches.
And, the records of the rest of the American players hardly make the Europeans quake in their golf shoes.
Phil Mickelson (9-8-3), is the only American with a winning record. Of those who have competed in previous Ryder Cups, Stewart Cink is 3-5-2, Jim Furyk 4-9-2, Leonard 0-3-5 and Chad Campbell 1-3-2.
Holmes, Anthony Kim, Ben Curtis, Boo Weekley, Hunter Mahan and Steve Stricker are all making their debuts in this pressure-cooker.
On the flip side, Sergio Garcia boasts a 14-4-2 mark, Lee Westwood is 14-8-3, Paul Casey 3-1-2, Padraig Harrington 7-8-2, Miguel Angel Jimenez 2-5-2, Henrik Stenson 1-1-1, Ian Poulter 1-1-0 and Robert Karlsson 0-1-2.
The European rookies are Soren Hansen, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Oliver Wilson.
Garcia is usually good for getting under the Americans' skin by excessively celebrating his victories. And there have been plenty since he's 8-0 in foursomes and has a 75 percent rate of earning points, the highest of any European.
Westwood has been successfully paired with Garcia in some past matches and is tied with Sergio as highest points-earner on the team. Harrington, of course, won both the British Open and PGA, so he has to be considered the hottest player entering the competition.
I wonder how many times this weekend we will hear about Tiger Woods' absence?
Truth be known, for all of his talent, Tiger hasn't exactly lit it up in the Ryder Cup. He doesn't seem to be as focused as the Europeans, who put all of their heart and soul into winning this competition.
Oddsmakers have made the Euros an 8-11 favorite and Azinger has already declared his team the decided underdog. That may be just the fuel the Americans need to regain the cup for the first time in nine years.
Can Holmes' long-ball bashing, Weekley's "good old boy" persona and Kim's immense talent be enough to carry our boys to victory?
It all starts on Friday and the dust will clear on Sunday. In between, there will be plenty of shotmaking going on in the bluegrass state.
Personally, I think it will be lot closer than people expect. I'm saying the Europeans will win, but it's going to come down to one of the final matches on the final day. No nine-point routs this time around.
Journal sports writer Barry Poe can be reached at (712) 293-4205, or e-mail barrypoe@siouxcityjournal.com
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
