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BetterwithoutWoods

Listed below are comments made by BetterwithoutWoods between Tuesday, 26th August 2008 and Monday, 22nd September 2008.

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Azinger fashions US in Europe's image 10:27pm on 22 Sep 2008 Another irrelevant article from Carter.

"Garcia should have played in the Saturday foursomes because he would only have to hit half the shots"!! An incredible bit of reasoning from the BBC golf correspondent!

Carter should look closely at his own performance.
No shame to European defeat 10:08pm on 22 Sep 2008 Rob's blog is spot on and about the most level headed and sensible summary of the event that I have read so far.
Far better than the efforts of Iain Carter who consistently follows the media crowd and appears unable to think for himself.

The media had the knives out for Faldo from the day he was appointed captain. They have never liked Faldo and he has never been bothered with them. The most annoying thing for all the hacks is that Faldo will not care in the slightest what they write and he will believe absolutely that what he did was right. That si why he won six majors and is the greatest golfer produced by these shores.

The Ryder cup is a fantastic event characterised by intense pressure on every shot - not just the usual back 9 pressure on a Sunday. But it is effectively a putting competition and on this occasion the Americans holed more putts.

I critiscised Faldo for his picks but I thought he should have gone for Clarke and Casey. With the benefit of hindsight, it should have been Poulter and Clarke. I am sure that Faldo would never have believed that Garcia, Westwood and Harrington would return with such a miserable points tally. Never mind - it all sets up beautifully for 2010.

Just one final point - all those bloggers that suggested the US don't care about the Ryder Cup!!??!! Perhaps you should all concentrate on football.
Team spirit key to Cup 1:03pm on 14 Sep 2008 Whilst I would agree that team spirit is important in these events, I think it may have been slightly overplayed in recent times. My view would be that the arrogance of the US Tour has been the biggest driving force to inspire the European players over the last 20 years.
By the time Jacklin took on the captaincy of what had become a European team, the US had got used to the fact that they just needed to turn up to win the Ryder Cup. Many US commentators would point to the team sheets and say there could only be one winner. When Europe did start winning the US maintained a line of it being a fluke and the normal order would soon be restored. European players were driven by taking on the so-called big boys from the states and beating them. How could any European pairing not want to beat a combination as irritating as Azinger and Pavin for example?

Now the Ryder Cup has moved full circle and the USA are genuine underdogs. The question is - will they be inspired enough to want to beat Harrington and Garcia? Will they want to take the cocky Poulter and Casey down a peg or two? Will Faldo prove to be a more galvanising force to the US team than to his own?

It is going to be a tight and exciting Ryder Cup with the US to edge it on Sunday.
Poulter's chance to reward captain's faith 9:32pm on 02 Sep 2008 Faldo's decision to omit Clarke is an appalling one by any standards. Clarke's contribution to "Team Europe" has been immense in recent RC's and his partnership with Westwood was almost guaranteed to bring two points in the fourballs format. There is no doubt that key members of the team will feel "flat" without Clarke's big presence.
As for Casey and Poulter - both have big reputations for achieving very little. How many times have we seen both players well placed in big tournaments after round 2/3 only to see them fall predictably away into the pack.
A number of contributors have pointed to Casey/Poulter playing a lot in the US and therefore being good choices for Valhalla. One even mentioned Casey's 8th place at the Bridgestone WGC. Clarke has been short of opportunities to play in the US for obvious reasons in 2008 but he managed 5th at the Bridgestone in one of the best fields assembled this year outside the Majors.
If Europe win then I suspect it will have little to do with Faldo's guidance and more to do with inspired performances from Garcia, Westwood et al.
The one consolation for Faldo is that he is unlikley to be as poor a captain as his "pal" Mark James, who made Rookie Andrew Coltart one of his picks and didn't play him until the singles while Bernhard Langer watched from afar!
Who should get a Ryder Cup wildcard? 9:59pm on 26 Aug 2008 I have to disagree with Wightd91 and, for once, agree with Iain Carter.
Clarke should be nailed on for a pick now after his win in Holland. Wightd91 obviously missed Clarke's win earlier in the season in Hong Kong.
Clarke has the perfect game for matchplay with the potential for lots of birdies mixed in with a few howlers. He has experience, which Faldo's team is short of, and he forms a formidable partnership with Westwood.
Poulter talks a great game but has again won nothing this season and lacks the consistency to go with his high self-image. His decision to miss Gleneagles is disappointing and shows a lack of commitment to the Ryder Cup cause.
Casey is playing himself nicely into form and has shown that he can perform on the big stage.
So, perhaps the biggest suprise is Iain Carter writing a sensible article on golf. The terrible and embarrasing article was the twaddle he wrote last week about golf and the Olympics!

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