No shame to European defeat
It was fun while it lasted. But Europe's attempt to win a fourth straight Ryder Cup came up short because they faced a US team playing with the freedom that so often goes with underdog status.
And because astute US captain Paul Azinger inspired a new crop of young American stars to energise both the crowd and their more illustrious team-mates.
Players like Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan, Boo Weekley and JB Holmes embraced the stage and took with them the older guard of Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry, Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk.
"The young guys infused amazing energy into the crowd and also into the team,and won probably the majority of the points on this team," said Furyk.
Europe came second because on a dramatic final day, the breaks went the other way.
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Captain Nick Faldo's side were always on the back foot after going three points behind on "USA" Friday. And despite shaving a point off the deficit on Saturday to go into the singles 9-7 down, it proved to be too big an ask against such spirited opposition to win the seven points needed to retain the cup.
If the knives come out for Faldo, those brandishing them are failing to see the big picture.
"Let me just say, we hold the golf clubs and we play the shots," said Westwood, jumping to the defence of his captain during some tough questioning in the team news conference.
He will get a hard time for the order in which he sent out his players in the singles. But he shouldn't.
Just because the match was lost before star men Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington in the last four groups could have a say, doesn't mean Faldo made a mistake by not "top-loading".
There were no weak links in this side. And Europe won two-and-a-half points from the first four matches. How could anyone know the normally dazzling Sergio Garcia would fold so limply against Kim? The Spaniard may have had a poor week but you couldn't predict with any certainty he would lose on the 14th.
Where the match was lost was in the middle of the singles order with Perry, Weekley and Holmes setting up Furyk to win the Cup in game eight.
But any of those matches could have gone either way, and it is by fine margins that these things are decided.
If Hansen, all square after 15, could have survived to take Holmes down the last and scrape a half point, it would have brought the final matches into play.
And that may have vindicated Faldo.
As it turned out, it wouldn't have been enough anyway, because even if Hansen had halved to make it 14-10 to the USA, Europe would have needed to win all four remaining matches to retain the Cup.
And though McDowell and Poulter won, Westwood and Harrington lost, though we'll never know if those results would have been different if the match was still alive.
In the final analysis, the popular notion that Faldo would be unable to shake off his once single-minded focus and unite a team proved groundless. And his major decisions were pretty much proved right.
Controversial wildcard Poulter became Europe's talisman, winning four points from five matches.
And his dropping of Westwood and Garcia from Saturday morning's foursomes - sparking controversy at the time - also worked out for the good.
"The session we were rested from, we won, so Nick wasn't wrong," added Westwood.
Faldo's manner angered certain sections of the media this week, with his tendency for flippant remarks or habit of making jokes at the wrong time. But that's Nick Faldo. All of us have our quirks.
His opening ceremony speech also drew ire, not least in this blog, for getting players' names and nationalities wrong. For that there was no excuse. But Europe didn't lose the Ryder Cup because of a speech.
Faldo was also repeatedly asked whether having just once vice-captain was right. But he was happy that between himself, vice-captain Jose Maria Olazabal and the older members of his team there was enough experience kicking about.
Azinger had three assistants and split his team into smaller units of four players with a captain for each. He also admitted the revamp of the selection system, including having four captains picks, was crucial.
Overall, the event was magnificent - hard-fought, tense and fiercely competitive, but conducted in superb spirit.
The much-publicised rivalry between Faldo and Azinger never blew into anything and the tournament was the better for it.
The home crowds were boisterous and partisan and played the part of "the 13th man", as urged by Azinger in the build-up, perfectly. And though we thought it was close to boiling over at times it never did, save for a small minority who decided abusing Westwood was a smart thing to do.
The visiting fans, though vastly outnumbered, were tireless in the support of their team and the song-singing, flag waving and fancy-dress costumes set a new benchmark for Ryder Cup spectators.
Europe may have lost for the first time since 1999 but the 37th Ryder Cup at Valhalla was a triumph for an event which some people feared would lose its allure if the US kept losing.
As a European it's hard to take defeat, but Valhalla confirmed the Ryder Cup as one of the world's great sporting events, and the next installment at Celtic Manor can't come some soon enough.
I'm Rob Hodgetts and I cover a host of sports for the 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~41~RS~)
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Excellent analysis - shame the majority of the media disagree.
It could be argued that Faldo hid Westwood and Harrington at the back end because they were his worst players, alongside Garcia.
In the end, USA won because they played better golf on a smash and target golf course that suited them better in front of an obnoxious crowd. Clever captaincy by Azinger for picking long hitters then designing the course for them.
Check the scoring stats though and you will see some great golf. With Poulter the best player on either side: which is why the Faldo critics are running everywhere to pick on something else.
The British media coverage of this event has been transparent and at times disgusting.
We won't see hicks riding around on their golf clubs at Celtic Manor, that's for sure.
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As the outset I, probably like alot of people, was not happy that Faldo was captain. However even when Europe were down on Friday I started to change my mind. Faldo took the difficult decisions in leaving Monty at home and that had to happen at some stage. It was not his fault that the big guns did not perform on the final day. By taking the decisions he did he started the process of replacing the old with the new and that is never easy.
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I came away from this Ryder cup was won and lost on the course insomuch that the captains on both teams performed, and it was then down to the players. it's never nice to lose, and though some will still seek parties to blame, the general quality of golf on both teams would suggest that this was a finely balanced contest and a credit to the sport. i'm sure i'm like many other golf fans when all i am thinking of now is that i'm already relishing what may happen in Wales, and will certainly try to go to view the contest there - something that i could not have said 4 days ago....
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I came away from this Ryder cup with the belief that it was won and lost on the course insomuch that the captains on both teams performed, and it was ultimately down to the players. it's never nice to lose, and though some will still seek parties to blame, the general quality of golf on both teams would suggest that this was a finely balanced contest and as such was a credit to the sport. i'm sure i'm like many other golf fans when all i am thinking of now is that i'm relishing what will happen in Wales in 2010, and will certainly try to go to view the contest there - something that i could not have said 4 days ago....
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I agree with the analysis. The US won because overall their team played slightly better in a generally high standard. Faldo cannot be blamed for the unpredictably relatively poor performances of Garcia and Harrington, Europe's worst, closely followed by Jimenez and Westwood. He must have expected better from those four. On the other hand, he probably hoped for but didn't dare expect the extremely good performances from Poulter, Rose and McDowell, with the Scandinavians and the others putting in very acceptable efforts too. As for crowd behaviour, they're there to encourage their team and apart from a few idiots the level of behaviour seems to have been good. The opposition's chants can always be annoying for the other side, as it is to me, but that's part of the game. US crowds are never very generous towards the opposition anyway. The only thing I objected to was Weekley's antics whilst the hole was still in play.
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Robin, your future in journalism is limited. Far too sensible, too much truth, and you limited yourself to the bare facts. You should be ashamed of yourself bringing disgrace on such a noble profession. :-)
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Sometimes, you just have to put your hands up and say we were beaten by the better side. The USA were simply better than Europe over the 3 days.
Faldo gave it his best shot and I think he did a great job. Consulting his players, giving them a rest when needed. People will jump on his singles line up but I would have backed Garcia and Jimenez to win their matches. They didn't and that is not Faldo's fault.
I hope the press and everyone look at the facts before lynching Faldo but its far easier to critisice.
Congratulations to the USA for the win but well done Europe and well done Faldo, you gave it everything you had. You can and should be proud of your efforts
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Faldo did his best - if two or three more players had gelled (Harrington and Garcia and Casey spring to mind) we'd have won. If they groundhogged the match until the end of the year, we'd win more than we lose because there was no way the yanks would be sinking all those putts.
That said, good to see Rob in objective mode with his assessment of Faldo's captainancy. Yes, Nick was quirky but he was never less than human - and in an age where blandness rules the waves (just listen to Beckham and weep) that's very welcome.
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I have thoroughly enjoyed this weekend; exciting golf, close matches and performances by players which were way above and beyond anything expected of them.
Harrington and Westwood did not throw it away, anymore than Woods and Mickelson threw away the last two Ryder Cups. The opposition just played better.
Weekley and Holmes did not disgrace themselves with their celebrations anymore than Clarke, Westwood and Garcia have in previous years.
The whole Faldo scenario was, unfortunately, set in stone the minute he was appointed as captain.
Too much of the media decided "we don't like Nick, he doesn't care much for us so he's the scapegoat if we need one."
That attitude prevailed throughout the qualification process, with predictions of him being the weak link in any team, and was cranked up even more in the last month.
I think it is fair to say that the short-sellng 'spivs' in the City could learn some real dirty tricks from the Fleet Street back-stabbers!
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Excellent comments by Rob and Lawdmuck, I was expecting to come in and defend Faldo but was surprised to see such a balanced blog - perhaps you should talk to your colleague Mr Carter who has been having a go at Faldo on the radio. Facts of the matter are that the US team played better on a bombers course and holed more putts and Garcia, Westwood and Harrington (again!) did not win any full points.
In respect of certain issues which will be debated:
1. Garcia was rested in the Sat foresomes as he was tired and asked to be rested - as he was going to play with Westie it made sense to play another pair who had practiced together, ie Stenson and Wilson.
2. Poulter's pick - 4 pts, enough said.
3. The singles order, apparently it was back end loaded - are these the same pundits who said Europe had no weak links. To go through the top five: Garcia WR5, Casey WR 38 and former HSBC matchplay champion, Karlsson WR 17 - won tournament previous week, Rose WR 13 and European #1, Stenson WR 7 and former WGC matchplay champ. The top order was therefore strong and if Miguel or Soren had got something the bottom 4 games would have come into play and Westie and Harrington would surely have turned around their games.
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I don't blame Faldo. Under the circumstances he did wonderfully well with some amusing quips and entertaining press conferences. I even remember seeing him giving instructions to one of the players (Stenson?) as to how to drop the ball. He did everything he could to help. But what more could he do, other than play the shots himself?
The European team were beaten by a superb American side whose sporting behaviour (as well as that of the good-natured American spectators) was a joy to behold. No, we were simply beaten fair and square, albeit whilst playing below the usual standard in some cases.
Well done America! What fun it was to see such great golf.
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Again nice to see a balanced article. Faldo has his flaws (don't we all) but for the media to continue to ride him so hard smacks of something else. Is it that he did not give interviews when they (the media) wanted them in a previous era? Who knows, what is true is that we came out of the team game only 2 down, probably the area where a captain has most influence through pairings.
A lot is made of that 6 footer that Faldo made Azinger take and it was meaningless. Well I'm sorry it is the media that make them meaningful, what did Gary Linaker ask Westwood about first when he lost, that's right, how it felt about his personal record.
Faldo is one of the few Englishmen in golf that get it, golf is about being a gentleman and not about being generous.
I have to say that in general the US crowd were pretty well behaved from what coverage I saw. In general a course to hit it long and sink the putt, smash and target summed up the US "smash and grab" which was their triumph this time, congrats to you but this is not the Americas Cup don't get used to having it, Celtic Manor here we come :)
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It may well be that the majority of the media 'journos' have their knives out, but as the majority of them are drunken hacks who like nothing better than to have a pop and write in a style that suggests they could do better at anything and everything they write about, their opinions count for nothing.
Faldo tried his best but as Westwood says, the players are the ones swinging the clubs. Europe have done marvellously well to win most of the Ryders since 1985, both home and away. Losing 16.5-11.5 on their patch is no disgrace.
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As I predicted the US won but margin bigger than expected. Faldo was a good player but never a good RC captain. Poor tactics. He also has personality issues.
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Remarkable - all good comments. The USA seemed to play the better golf. I say seemed as I had to rely on the radio commentary - great job but it does not beat pictures - and the highlights, again very well done but no fun if you know the score. Please fight for it to be live on terrestial TV next time.
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"US captain Paul Azinger inspired a new crop of young American stars"
You just contradicted your entire "Captain is not to blame" argument
It is not possible for Azinger to be able to make a difference and Faldo not to be able to make a difference.
The fact is that Faldo threw it away with his poor selections, most of all putting the big guns at the end of the singles order when it was obvious to all that there was a substantial chance that the Cup would be lost before then (as proved to be the case)
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Two decisive factors in that (excellent!) Ryder Cup.
1. Big positive factor for the US
... was the absence of the great man. Tiger has a suffocating effect on other American players and, free of that, the team were able to relax into the team format and play their best golf.
2. Big negative factor for Europe
... was the all too obvious ill feeling between Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia. This affected them both badly and they didn't win a single match between them. Played 8, lost 5, halved 3. No way could Europe win the cup with that paltry contribution from their top 2 players. Course, Harrington is not a good RC player in any case (has now scored a miserable half a point in each of the last 2) but Garcia is usually an inspiration and his poor performance this time was key to Europe's failure to defend. Also worth nothing that the other member of our Big 3, Lee Westwood, seemed to be infected by the "Padraig v Sergio" malaise. Played 4, lost 2, halved 2 was Lee's contribution. Compounded things by complaining about the crowd and coming over as a bit of a moaning ninny. So, our Big 3 each played 4 out of 5 times and didn't win a single match between them. There's your answer, right there.
As regards the captains ...
Azinger was spot on in every way. I give him 10/10.
Nick Faldo was pretty good but I think he can be blamed a little bit for the Sergio, Padraig problem. It was an important part of his job as captain to sort those 2 out and he clearly didn't do that. I give him 6/10.
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I'm stunned! A fair, balanced report on a major sporting event??
Fantastic reading
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Firstly great article and very good analysis of the weekend's play.
In a previous blog I said I thought Faldo was wrong to leave Clarke out of it but his picks played very well, particularly Poulter who was certainly the best of the Europeans so I'm happy to admit I was wrong there. Personally I'm still not a fan of Faldo's captaincy style during this tournament. He never appeared to know what was going on or be in control but then maybe it was all different within the team.
That wasn't the reason we lost though. The reason was the Americans played some fantastic golf and we couldn't match them. Our bigger players failed to produce what everyone knows they are capable of and so we didn't pick up the points in the first 2 days that really we needed. Boo Weekley was tremendous for them, played excellent stuff and got the crowd going as well. He became a figurehead like Monty has been for us in previous years and didn't let his team down at all. As you say though Rob there were some very close matches out there and in previous years we've managed to sneak out a half point from an almost certain loss and won a point on the last hole of a match. This year it was the USA's turn to do that and they did it very well.
All in all it was a fantastic tournament though, played in a terrific spirit and to a high standard. I'm gutted Europe lost but congratulations to USA they thoroughly deserved it this time round. I hope they realise that trophy's only on loan for a couple of years though!
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A Good report Rob - can't believe I just wrote those words.
I personally don't believe the blame should be at Nick's door. The singles line up look good before the day, and at the end of the day we lost, But we were only half a point from getting into the last four games, which in essence meant half a point from the last two games, then who knows could've been a totally different story. Casey, Garcia, Jimenez and most all Harrington were no where near there top form and we ran them close, if they had performed to 80% of what they can do then it’s a different ball game.
Finds of the week, Poulter obviously vindicates Nick's pick and along with G Mac, Ollie Wilson and Justin Rose.
This was not about the captaincy as we know Nick was going to get vilified from the start. We got beat by a team that holed more key putts at crucial time, and the underperforming four above, that only amassed something like 2 half points between them - woeful.
Lets totally put the cat amongst the pigeons - Nick for 2010…….
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Of course we lost the Ryder Cup because of Faldo's inept performance as captain.
He is self-obsessed and repeatedly during the tournament, when he should have been with his players, encouraging them to perform and pick up their game, he was cavorting with his family or playing up to the galleries.
One wonders what criteria he met when faced with his Ryder Cup interview.
"So Nick, when you were on Tour, how did you build relationships with other players and gain their respect?"
"I didn't."
"And how would you describe your relationship with the media?"
"I hated them."
"If you decide to rest a player, how will you communicate that?"
"I'll make up an excuse."
"What's your goal in Valhalla?"
"Have a nice week with my family."
Lamentable performance from a terrible choice of captain. I'm afraid.
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It was another great Ryder Cup and it could have gone either way on the final day. The 'boisterous' Americans Kim, Weekley and Holmes played some thrilling golf and others, like Mahan and Perry were also excellent. Garcia disappointed in the manner in which he conducted himself against Kim and deserved his thrashing by the youngster, who could be the next star of world golf. I criticised Faldo for his line up for the singles, but in the end the Americans were simply too good. Ian Poulter was excellent and easily justified being picked by Faldo, while another European to catch my eye was Robert Karlsson.
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Europe should have no complaints THis was a revitalised US team playing very good golf and being without Tiger certainly took away the fear factor that he generates even in his own team.
THe non performance of Garcia Harrington and Westwood left the European team with far too much to do against a fired up US team that certainly hit form with regards to putting.Azinger was clever to play up the underdog status which of course was nonsense and perhaps we were witnessing the swing of golfing power back to USA after ten years of European dominance but a fantastic occassion
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Funny thing is, when US were losing three on the spin, all the talk from their camp was that the Ryder Cup 'doesn't matter much', particularly compared to the President's Cup. Looking at their celebrations yesterday, it seems to matter again. Wonder why that might be....
It'll certainly gice some added spice to the next Ryder Cup if nothing else!
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We have become very bad and ungracious losers and a lot of media types have their own rather unattractive and bitter agendas with Faldo. Of course he didn''t lose it, he actually played a very sound hand as captain and was also always excellent value during his many interviews and soundbites. The truth is his very good European side got beaten by an excellent and inspired USA team over three incredible days of golf. If you are looking for scapegoats - and you shouldn't be - look at the realtive "no-shows" of Harrington and Garcia and the less than inspiring form of Westwood. That trio - normally so reliable - should have been at the very heart of Europe's effort and it is amazing that Europe did as well as they did without them firing on all four cylinders. A timely prick in the rather over-inflated European bubble but don't blame Faldo. I don't remember people blaming Mark James for the defeat in 99
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Some great comments here from golf fans. I can't imagine soccer fans being as fair!Yes, the US won because they were the better team. And yes, the hacks will crucify Faldo unjustifiably. But that's why journalists are down there with politicians and estate agents at the bottom of the pile. Why let the facts get in the way of a good story...
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It's a bit like Michael Schumacher - he kept on winning, winning, winning and Formula One became boring.
Maybe the golfing "powers that be" wanted Europe to stop winning in order that interest in the Ryder Cup would be reignited in the USA.
So they appointed Nick Faldo as captain knowing his jaggy relationship with the press and his total lack of personality and man management skills would hand a win to the USA on a plate.
.......and it worked !!
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I am glad to see most people realise that whilst Faldo has his idiosyncracies and may not a perfect captain he did not cause the defeat. Most of his big calls were right, Poulter was our best player and he should kick on from this performance, we won the session he rested Garcia and Westwood and his singles line up very nearly worked.
The top third delivered but the middle players were outplayed and they looked good matchups prior to going out. Faldo could not legislate for the three senior players touted as the new team leaders without Monty all underperforming (Garcia, Harrington and Westwood). The USA team played great golf and won a tight match, we will be slight favourites at home next time and with the course set up the way we want it and home advantage we will hopefully sneak another classic.
Finally, I hope Olazabal is confirmed as the next captain, a class act on and off the course who I am sure will do a great job.
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Harrington obviously now sees himself as some sort of "European Tiger" ... solid in the majors, useless in the Ryder Cup. Unfortunately, this time, Garcia allowed himself to be dragged down the same level.
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Very good blog and the replies are mostly very good too. I wonder if Faldo has the stomach to be captain again in 2 years time? I thought the way he drew the media attention on to himself and away from the players is just what you want in the Ryder cup. One person I spoke to said that he thought Faldo would put on a batman suit and run around the course if it would draw media attention away from the players. I watched more of this Ryder cup than any previously and the standard of golf was incredible. When you have 2 players hitting the ball within 6 foot of the flag for 18 holes the matches split on the tiniest margins and the luck when putts go in. USA had the luck with the putts (apart from Mickleson in the singles) and did also sometimes make better shot choices (watching Sergio hit 2 in a row into the water was a particular low point).
Above someone alluded to the difficult relationship between Harrington and Garcia..what's that all about?
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I think the problem with Nick Faldo was not so much his decisions, which were all explainable. I am not sure, though, that all the team really wanted to play for Faldo in the same way that previous teams wanted to play for Jacklin or Gallagher or Langer or Woosie or Torrance, and the way the Americans wanted to play for Azinger. For the first time that I can think of, the US seemed more of a team compared with the Europeans. The lesser names raised there games. We may never here of Boo Weekley or JB Holmes or Kenny Perry again, but they stamped themselves all over this event. Whatever Anthony Kim achieves in golf, he played as skillfully as he ever will again in playing his part. Phil Mickelsen seemed to revel in a kind of senior pro position, even if some of his results were not fantastic. But in a sense thats the point, it wasn't a Ryder Cup of the Stars, it was a Ryder Cup of the journeymen.
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Faldo and the boys did a great job. Okay, so we didn't win on a course set up for the Americans, by the Americans, which is their right and they did it very well. Despite disappointment, it is great for the Ryder Cup that the "Yanks are Back". It will make Celtic Manor another wonderful competition.
The press will no doubt try and crucify Faldo again, which is totally unfair. I think our most successful golfer ever, did a great job of the captaincy. That he is "socially inept" is well known and makes him an easy target, but unlike money grabbing, silver tongued press reporters, Nick has "Golf" engraved on his heart and knows more about the game than any glib pressroom patsy.
Well done Nick and the boys!
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SIMPLE ANALYSIS
1 The US always win the singles
2 Hence essential for Europe to be ahead after the foursomes,which they were not.
3 This indicates failures of players to work well together in teams
4 This partly arises due to inappropriate pairings.
5.Different players need different forms of motivation to succeed.
.Faldo was weak in factors 4 and 5
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My word! - a balanced piece of journalism here. I haven't seen this for about ten years.
You can't win all the time. If we did it would be boring. The USA team played slightly better golf on a course that suited them. The best team won which is how it should be.
It was still a great spectacle and advert for the game.
I also loved the fact that Poulter outplayed everybody. It must leave all those Faldo detractors a bit short on words.
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The US played better golf. Thats it, no blame on Faldo.
The US resurgence is going to make 2010 far more interesting than it would have been if Europe had won.
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Sorry, I meant to say in my previous comment that unlike other journalists, Robs report is spot on, fair, balanced and extremely well written.
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I believed Europe would win at the start of the cup but unfortunately we came up short - just. The performance of Europes Big 3 being the main cause.
Is not a suprise though losing in America, prior to this we've only won 3 times in 18 attempts.
Shame the big three didn't turn up, it would have made what was a weekend of great golf even more memorable.
Lets just see what the players have to say, and no doubt a book in the near future.
Good to see some support out there for Nick, and not the usual bashing that has been around all weekend, shame the press didn't get behind Nick and the team sooner.
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Some of the golf was simply fantastic - from both sides - with the Americans just playing that bit better...
Harrington, Garcia and Westwood didn't quite pull their weight and that made the difference.
Faldo's comic material needs a lot of work but the captain's role has been blown hugely out of proportion in recent years.
Having said that, I won't complain if Woosnam is asked back to lead the charge at Celtic Manor - which aint much of a course, by the way...
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Why are you wanting to blame someone for this defeat . This Ryder Cup showed everything which is great about golf, and what a supremely difficult game it is , and the margin between success and loosing is so fine. Everyone played hard and showed true sportsmanship which this game evokes, and afterward they shook hands and congratulated or commiserated with each other .
Its sport and there are more important things for people to get wound up about. Enjoy sport for what it is .
Well done to the Europeans who played their hearts out and especially Ian Poulter.Commiserations to Sergio who will win a major Im sure. Dont blame Faldo, congratulate Assinger who Im sure we all have admired since his playing days.
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Not really an analysis of what happened, with an eye to learning, is it, this blog?
Our guys were not as motivated as the US team, the body language was clear. That is an element all too predictable with Faldo as captain. He was a hell of a player, very single minded- nothing wrong with that, but not prone to making friends.
In the end it was this lack of energy and pride, that made the difference. For th most part the Europeans matched the US team from tee to green, but the huge difference in putts made was the clincher. Also the European performance on par 3s, was abysmal. Constantly scrambling for 3's, while the US team rolled in birdie after birdie. By the time the singles games came along, I would have hoped the players might have had enough help to at least choose the right clubs to hit some of those greens. Captain and vice captain should have sorted that out.
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It is not beside the point that the biggest name of all was missing during the Ryder Cup and that his absence seemed to dynamise the American team whereas, in recent editions, it has seemed to inhibit them.
Europe did not lose due to poor selections or to poor captaincy. We lost because:
(a) In tight situations the Americans played better.
and
(b) Our biggest guns just did not fire.
This was an American side that, on paper, looked the weakest for years, but that showed a spirit and a determination that had been exclusive to the Europeans for years. There was no shame in losing to them. Anyone who blames the defeat on Nick Faldo is just missing the point. If you are going to blame someone, blame the players who did not perform and who left the weight of point-scoring to the rookies and the marginal picks on the European side. Saying that we lost because of a lack of experienced players ignores the fact that the experienced players who did play contributed very little. If we had had Darren Clarke or Monty instead of Ian Poulter it could well have been even worse.
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As others have said, Faldo - great player but a predictably poor RC captain. He is and always has been a loner and his lack of team / motivational drive clearly contributed to the loss. As someone above said you can't congratulate Azinger and not put at least some of the blame on Faldo.
For me the RC has been far too much about Faldo and I don't think he has done anything to diminish that - he still wants to be at the centre of stuff and that's no good for a team campaign.
One other thing. Why do I keep reading that Faldo isn't sure whether he wants the captaincy next time around. Surely it's not him who decides. And why after having a whole raft of winning captains over recent years would we want a losing captain at the helm next time?
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When the captains picks were made, i had no problem with poulter being picked it was the way it was done - Casey was the one i always felt shouldn't have been picked and i think he was another weak link, he drives the ball for miles but he can't putt - driving for show, putting for dough.
All in all the better team won, Azinger used the advantage of being home captain to set the course up as he wanted and it paid off - Europe can do that next time in Wales.
Europes biggest problem was Garcia, Westwood, Harrington and Casey the 4 you were expecting to get points and they just didn't perform, perhaps it was the pressure of being the team leaders that got to them.
plus points - Poulter, Rose, McDowell, Wilson, Karlson
negative points - Garcia, westwood, casey, harrington, jiminez, hansen and stenson
I think europe will come back next time but it cant be underestemitated the fact tiger wasnt there, i think that greatly helped USA - Everyone wants to beat him and i think especially in ryder cups people raise their game against him.
The US team will also be under a great deal more pressure next time round, so it will be interesting to see how they do then and also away from their own fans.
I'm also sure that the US team will be greatly changed in 2 years, players come and go alot in the US - Where is JJ Henry??
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I do not understand the comments about Harrington vs Garcia. It simply doesn't matter. Our big players didn't play as well. They played OK, but the USA played better. Crucially the holed the majority of putts from inside 15ft.
One thing that was disappointing was Garcia vs Kim. Garcia tried to dominate Kim mentally, and threw it away. To see how he played when 2 down was pathetic. He embarassed himself and made Kim a hero.
Casey had a few aberrations (particularly the 15th hole when he needed a simple par to win and go 1 up). He grafted to get a half when not playing brilliantly against an inspired Mahan.
Credit should be given to Karlsson, Poulter, McDowell who were all superb.
More credit should be given to Weekley and Mahan. Mahan played great golf and was almost always ahead in his matches. Weekley (no matter what anyone says about his accent, his views, or his on course antics) was fun and played stunning tee to green golf. And Kenny Perry deserves great praise for his singles golf When he's hot, he hits 63s and 64s and he did that yesterday. He kept calm, played with incredible respect and integrity and demolished Stenson. (it should be said Stenson was calm and wonderfully dignified all week).
Anyway, in summary, there's too much analysis. The home team generally always has the better chance. They played great golf, enjoyed it and deserved it. Europe weren't as good, Faldo had to make some bold decisions to catch up after Day 1 and it almost worked. It didn't and that's the rub of the green. Can't wait for Celtic Manor.
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Teams are sometimes greater than the sum of their parts. The US have shown that during this Ryder Cup. Europe just couldn't quite match them in these terms but it was a fantastic effort by them all the same.
Faldo did it his way which is the best thing because 2nd guessing the opposition is one thing, but when you start 2nd guessing yourself then you really are in trouble. I think he did a great job and hope he does captain Europe again.
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As one who was not impressed with Faldo in the build up - McGinley withdrawing, wild card picks, issue with vice captains and his opening speech to name but a few, on the 3 days of golf I belive he made some very good decisions and was undone because Harrington, Garcia, Westwood and Jiminez did not perform. They all looked tired and lacklustre.
I liked the fact he used all the players early on and I also liked his plan for the final day - one more point in the middle order could have made a very interesting finish. His interviews were very honest and fair.
One challenge to Faldo is to why the experienced players did not perform for him but the younger ones did? Is that because the younger players idolise him and want to play for him where the big 4 did not feel the same way. Maybe just as well then that Monty and Clarke were not there. Garcia was a completely different player to the one we normally see at Ryder Cups and quite frankly his attitude on final day was a disgrace. The other 3 just looked spent.
So that's the big question for me - was Faldo the intrinsic reason why the top players did not perform? Or was he just unlucky?
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Credit must go to the Americans. Their iron play and general putting was far superior to the European team and was amazing to watch.
It's amazing how the media have changed their views over Faldo's wildcards. Before the event they were all saying Casey was a good pick but why was Poulter picked. Today they are saying Faldo made a mistake picking Casey but made the correct decision with Poulter!
They shouldn't say now what they weren't saying beforehand.
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I thought Faldo was excellent.
People forget that in sport somebody has to lose. Rather than look for reasons and excuses as to why a team, or individual lost, let us rather consider why the winner won. All this 'if this' and 'if that' and 'if only he had played', is just whistling in the wind.
The USA were superb. They played golf that any team, under any captain, would have found hard to compete with.
Faldo's leadership was brave, and inspired at times. Massive vindication on the Poulter decision. The team lost - because somebody has to lose. Sometimes it is surely better to sit back and accept that one's team cannot always win. That is life.
The nonsense being banded around about Monty and Clark is quite ridiculous. It is entirely plausible that, if picked, they may not have scored a single point. This will never be known.
This tournament was twelve world class players, against their twelve world class opponents. One team had to lose. This time it was Europe. Accept it and look forward to the next tournament. To my mind it was the most exciting Ryder Cup I have watched. I loved it.
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Faldo done good. Very good.
Media done bad. Very bad.
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Not having Tiger Woods in the team was a bonus for the Americans because previously they were always burdened with his presence, as there was so much expectation on him to win every game. I think that anyone playing with him must always have felt that they were disadvantage being with such a great tournement player. It probbaly affected their own game.
The win was predictable as all the British media gave the Americans no chance whatsoever. Weekeley, Parry, Holmes, Curtis etc were written off as no-hopers but they responded magnificently. Maybe Faldo was not a good choice as he was a controversial player.
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The US players each felt they could contribute because they didn't have Tiger to fall back on. They played like a team and it showed.
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Nick Faldo never had a chance with the media. Like some from other sports, e.g. Nigel Mansell, Steve Davies, Geoff Boycott, it is possible to be loved by the fans and disliked by the media.
Generally, those that sip orange juice and go home to their families after the event are pilloried (usually called 'boring')and those sportsman that like a pint and give a good story, e.g. Ian Botham, are adored by the press and given good copy.
This was a great match, some excellent play, one team of players won and the other lost. It happens.
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Faldo's not to blame, some of the European players should examine their performances and ask themselves did I really perform on the day.
Firstly Poulter and Casey should have performed better to gain automatic places in the team. They we in my opinion our best players but having to pick them as wild cards mean't we were a little light in the experience department. We needed a couple of old heads out there, a Clarke or Montgomerie in order to bolster the middle order in the singles.
Secondly Harrington looked injured to me and that probably cost us points in the team section because of it.
Thirdly Garcia's got a putting problem now admittedly against Kim sinking everything not too many Europeans would ahve survived however Sergio to me looks like he's getting the Yips if indeed he hasn't already got them.
Finally the USA out played us they were better on the greens and they applied the pressure at just the right time. Fair play to them I honestly think that there wasn't a lot Nick could do. Can't wait for us to redress the balance at Celtic Manor, I will be there in the crowd adding to the atmosphere
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Whilst I agree with a number of your points, I have to disagree with the below statement;
"There were no weak links in this side. And Europe won two-and-a-half points from the first four matches. How could anyone know the normally dazzling Sergio Garcia would fold so limply against Kim? The Spaniard may have had a poor week but you couldn't predict with any certainty he would lose on the 14th."
Simply put Faldo didn't pick a singles order on form over the weekend but over the year. This was a mistake. Garcia had been poor all weekend and he was likely to lose under pressure form the American crowd. It doesn't matter how many you lose by, anyway. Faldo should have put Poulter out first and let the team feed off his confidence.
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Europe lost because the USA simply played better. I won't hear any criticism of the crowd, or the fact they were "whipped up" by Team USA. They have every right to do so as the home team and I would have expected them to applaud Europe's good shots too. From what I saw, they did just that. The media can have a field day over Faldo, but he was out to win just as much as Azinger. As someone who had hardly heard of half the USA team before this weekend, I congratulate them on a great performance when it was most needed.
I thought Phil Mickelson's overall performance was excellent, he's under-achieved in the past being paired with Tiger Woods but was able to give himself to the team much better without him. Ian Poulter was just superb, he had so much to prove having been picked ahead of Clarke and Monty. I hope he can now play the Majors as a potential winner from the start, rather than simply being reported for what he's wearing.
I'm already looking forward to the next Ryder Cup in 2010. Let's hope all the best Europeans qualify automatically and our crowd gets behind us in the right way. I'd put money on now that we win The Cup back.
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First of all, congratulations on a beautifully written, fair and balanced article – I think you summed everything up perfectly.
In all honesty, I never thought that Faldo was a good choice as a captain – he has never been the greatest of communicators and seems to have a habit of inadvertently saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, especially to the media. As has already been said, his opening speech was cringeworthy.
However, having said that, we didn’t lose because of Faldo. He got most of his decisions correct and the one he seems to be getting the most stick for – the player order for the singles – seems to have been a joint decision made with the full input of the team.
I think that it is telling that all of the players are resisting the easy option of blaming Faldo and standing up to say “No – it was us; we didn’t play well enough” – which is refreshingly honest.
Why did we lose? I think that it is simply a case of the Americans using home advantage to the best of their ability with the choice and set up of the course (and why shouldn’t they? That’s what home advantage is all about!) and most importantly, that their players were consistently brilliant. Hats off to them for that.
My only beef with them is that some of their players – Boo Weekley, JB Holmes and most of all, Anthony Kim – were guilty of stoking up the fans at inappropriate times. This worries me because it might be used by our own gutter press as an excuse to up the ante in 2010.
The Ryder Cup seems to entice in fans who are hell bent on seeing their team win at any cost rather than simply wanting their team to win and witnessing great golf in the process. I wonder what sort of reception the aforementioned US players will get at Celtic Manor – and I wonder whether certain papers will ‘encourage’ that reception?
Golf doesn’t need this sort of thing and if the personal abuse of players of the sort that Lee Westwood suffered this weekend becomes the norm, the Ryder Cup will eventually just cease to be and that would be a terrible shame.
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I think Faldo was a poor captain with no people skills he didn't inspire the team at all, why didn't the senior players perform? Maybe because they knew Faldo better than the newer players. As for Poulter I was one who was very much against the obviously underhand way he had been given the nod. I can't deny he played well but he was allowed to, after bottling it on the first morning he and Rose were incredulously put out in the four balls, where they were basically given a bye against the hapless Stricker an Curtis, Curtis not getting a single birdie. After that he played very well and won 4 points, who's to say Clarke wouldn't have done as well, he has in the past. The playing order for the singles was another grave error by Faldo, if you look at history you put your best players out early and get a good start it inspires the players coming later and puts your opponents under pressure, something the Americans never felt. Garcia has a poor record in the singles so putting him out first was like giving them a one point start.
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Faldo did little wrong, the constant harping on by most of the media and some of the posters here is nonsensical since a sizeable proportion of Faldo's detractors are pressing Montgomerie's claim for the post in the future, which given that Montgomerie is basically Faldo sans success is just bizarre.
The fact is Faldo faced a big ask which was to manage the transition from old stagers like Montgomerie, Olazabal and Clarke and usher in some new blood at an away match. Nobody could predict it would be the big guns that would let him down.
When Mark James lost in 99 in the first match without Langer, Faldo and Woosnam, nobody criticised James, but then James is a media friendly old British journeyman pro rather than a prickly multi major winner. It's always been obvious what the great and the good in the British press gallery prefer.
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Thank God we haven't got to listen to the Yanks shout "get in the hole" everytime somebody swings a putter for a while. Almost made it impossible to watch.
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The European team were basically out putted. The standard of golf from both sides was some of the finest golf that I have witnessed.
Faldo is being lambasted for his role, but the players let him down badly in the middle and end of the draw for the singles.
In the end the USA team were just better on the day.
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Apologies for the question marks which are all over my Post 56 - I wrote my comments in Word before copying and pasting them on here and there seems to have been some problems!
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The Americans putted better than us. That was the difference between the teams.
Garcia fell well short and the tone was set early on.
Faldo was a good captain and had the backing of all his players and staff.
We can be proud in defeat and to make it 5 in a row was against all the odds.
As our American hosts would say boooooooooooooo boooooooooooooooooo boooooooooooooooo booooooooooooooo!
Great imagination!
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No complaints at Faldo,
Quite simply the three big guns didn't perform, Garcia, Westwood and Harrington.
I am not blaming them but they didn't get the points we needed to win. If they cant score then we cant win, regardless of whether we put them out to set the tone of the last day, or try to shelter them at the end to ease some of the nerves and tension.
Thoroughly enjoyable Cup and looking forward to challenging next time.
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I agree with point 21 from Golfhypnotist. Past victories have been inspired by teamwork. These guys tried hard, but they were never inspired by Faldo. He is only concerned about himself and always has been.
I recall taking my young daughter to a practice day before The Open at Lytham a few years back. It happened to be Faldo's birthday and as he walked past us, I encouraged her to wish him a happy birthday. He completely blanked her. The spectators around us were completely aghast. Before you say "he was in the zone", let me tell you that all other pros on the day were courteous and friendly (it was practice day). Faldo missed the cut!
Nobody liked him on tour. This cannot be excused as being totally focused. Woods, Nicklaus, Palmer. They were all successful AND nice guys.
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USA played better and competed harder than they have done for years but Europe lost because their experienced big-name core of Garcia, Westwood and Harrington just did not show up this week.
It's as simple as that.
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The knives aimed at Faldo (though not, refreshingly, in this article - good job!) are pointless.
From the moment Faldo named his wildcard picks, large sections of the media had it in for him. It was clear then that anything other than a crushing victory for Europe would have been met with savage (and unfair) criticism. Yet, had Europe won, it's highly likely that instead of praising Faldo and the players equally, all the praise would have been on the players and the victory would have been "in spite of Faldo, rather than because of him".
The simple fact is....the US were better than us. They won fair and square. It might come as a shock to some, but it does happen in sport that the better team wins.
Bring on Celtic Manor!
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I am refreshed to see that our trusted BBC has actually used some intelligence and avoided jumping on the Faldo bashing bandwagon.
For me Faldo had an IMPOSSIBLE task following several record breaking performances destroying the US last time out. He could have lost 14.5 13.5 and would still have been slated by certain sections of the press.
His captains picks both played exceptionally, Poulter showed everyone his quality as a player and his passion and spirit. Yes the lad is a bit of nutter and has the dress sense of blind a monkey but never the less he has stones and unlike many of the europeans didnt step up.
Many of the big star European players just didnt show and experienced Ryder cup players just didnt do the business and Faldo cannot be blamed for Garcia, Harrington, Karlsson, Westwood and Jiminez all under performing and i think much credit to Westwood et al for standing up and taking some blame on their shoulders.
The Ryder cup is a Team Event. You live as a team and die as a team.
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I cannot believe there are still people out yhere willing to blame one man for the loss of the Ryder Cup. Europe lost because the Americans played better over the three days. Faldo is a non-playing captain, supported by Olazabal din't forget! He, and all the players, have stated that they worked and made decisions as a TEAM so how can you blame him solely? Garcia, Westwood and Harrington shouldn't need to be cajouled into performing they are highly paid and successful professionals. Other players did raise their game, especially some of the rookies.
I think the Americans deserve a lot of credit for finally seeing what has made the European team successful and bringing real competition back to the Ryder Cup.
The competition was great and Iam looking forward to Celtic Manor
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The buck stops with the captain, so he should be held responsible. Otherwise, why is he there?
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Okay, I agree the players did not perform, but let us not forget Faldo made it clear he wanted to do it his way and without help (or very little). He made big mistakes from day 1, his wild cards were only 50% okay. Clarke would have got more than 1 point!
Leadership is about get the maximum out of people and Faldo did nothing to inspire, it is funny that it is the wordt performing players who are supporting him????
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The buck stops with the captain for someone to blame if it goes wrong. This "Faldo only care about himself" is nonsense in terms of this weekend. Its blatantly clear that he sought the advice of the players, discussed tactics, took on board what they were saying. Ultimately he made the calls but he did so after gathering the information which any good captain would do.
I've captained a team (not in golf and not at a high level) where we were 7-0 down and first to 8 wins. We came back and won 8-7. Was it great captaining? Not really cos all I said was "we know the situation, lets just go and play" Pulled it to 7-3. In the last set of 5, I put 2 strongish players on first, weakest in the middle and the other 2 strong players at the end and it worked. Could easily have gone the other way.
Same for Faldo, he picked his singles line up on the basis of getting a good start, pick up points to keep them in it and have the big guns bring it home. It worked for me, just didn't work for him. Nothing Faldo could do. You can be the greatest motivator in the world, but if its just one of those days where nothing goes for you, doesn't make the blindest bit of difference.
All motivation does is make sure you give it your best, doesn't mean you will win. Europe gave it everything, the USA were just better on the day
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I was at Oakhill 95. I wouldn't have had anybody in the world making that 10 footer on the last but Faldo. Unlike Woods, Mickleson and Harrington, Faldo's RC record is up there with the best so to say he is not a "team player" is daft. Nick Faldo is the reason the game had a resurgence in the UK and Europe.
I, for one. hope he IS Captain next time-he deserves it. A 10 point victory for Europe would be really sweet for Nick.
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Yes the captain will take the blame, just like a manager gets the blame a football team, but we all watched it, we know who did and mostly who didn't perform, and for me that’s the reason why we didn't retain to cup. Hopefully Nick will get a chance to re-capture the trophy….oohhhh can you imagine the flak if Nick got installed as captain again.
As for players not playing for Faldo, there all coming to his defence now. Its like they say we don't know what happens in the team room, but whatever happen throughout Faldo included his players where ever he could.
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Of course Faldo must take some blame, but as Westwood said - the players swing the clubs. I am sure the likes of Harrington and Garcia will be feeling a lot worse than Faldo and for good reason. But that's the joy of golf, that's why we love it.
Shame the Beeb doesn't have live pictures though - that's the big scandal.
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I hate hearing golf fans saying "Faldo was always an arrogant loner and therefore a bad choice as captain" etc etc.
How do they know he was an arrogant loner? Have they ever met him personally?
Or are their "opinions" only based on something they read in a paper that was written by a disgruntled hack because Faldo wouldn't play ball with the media?
Sportsmen do whatever they need to do to win. Faldo obviously decided that to win he had to be totally focussed on his game and couldn't do this by being jovial while on tour and out on the course.
It was this focus that won him 6 majors. How may majors have those Europeans such as Mark James who hated Faldo won?
Since Faldo has stopped playing he appears to have relaxed and his commentary and banter with Azinger on CBS is meant to be very very good and he's showing a side to his character not seen while he was playing.
Unless these critics who say he's an arrogant loner used to spend time with Faldo off the course when he was at his peak they have no knowledge of the man personally and base their views on those of bitter hacks.
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I think I have more chance of being RC captain for Celtic Manor... Oops I wish I didn't say that, now they will make Faldo Captain just to spite me, funnily that is how performed as Captain he did things to spite people and prove people wrong or annoy people and the later is the only thing he achieved. I'm a Scotsman wanting the return of a Welshman....C'mon Woosey your Continent needs you!
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Poor team selection in the singles - typical of Faldo - no doubt courting his "quirky" image. No excuses - better golfers won, on a golf course designed to their team's strengths - Kim, Weekly, Mayhan....wouldn't be at the races on a links course...
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I thought this was an excellent and well reasoned article. It was an excellent competition, played in a good spirit, and Europe eventually lost to a marginally better all-round team performance. Generally speaking it was some of the older more experienced European players who under-performed, and they should not need motivating by their captain.
I think that media knives were out for Nick Faldo from the start and that much of the criticism directed at him smacked of sour grapes and payback for the days when as a world-class player he spoke his mind about the press. Some of the media representatives would do well to remember that they depend as much on our sports stars as the players do upon them.
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I tend to agree with most of the views expressed here. The press always likes to look to find scapegoats and create hype and overreaction. They're always looking to find someone to blame because that's what sells paper.
But sometimes there are no scapegoats. Sometimes you’ve got to accept the other side just played better. Sure, you could always say Faldo could’ve done this or that better, but overall Europe didn’t play badly at all. It was just that the US team hit a purple patch at the right time and deservedly won the match.
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Good article. While I'm not a Faldo fan, I think it's absurd to suggest his captaincy is the reason for a European defeat - which it seems the written press are trying their hardest to make people believe.
The reason Europe won was they met an American team with too many form players - while European big names were just off the boil.
They holed putt after putt while Europeans failed to take advantage of USA mistakes.
And the final sentiments are very true also. I remember sitting watching the final acts of the Ryder Cup of 2006 - glad that Europe had won and overcome with emotion for Darren Clarke's achievement, but really felt that if scorelines such as 06 and 04 were to continue the Ryder Cup would quickly lose it's appeal on both sides of the Atlantic.
As it is Europe will be hungry for success in 2010, and no captain can manufacture that hunger.
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As a very keen golf fan I was delighted at this years Ryder Cup, despite Europe losing. I think everyone can criticize all they want but the main reason we lost was simple, USA just played better golf.
I was just amazed at the standard, players hitting long irons to a couple of feet on a continual basis. You just can’t beat someone that is 7 under through 10 holes like Bo Weekly was yesterday. I don’t care who was playing him, they would have come out without a point!
I think sometimes we just need to sit back and say, do you know what, they just played too good for us. Faldo will always be criticized, but there are so many great decisions that he made that were justified, Ian Poulter’s wildcard selection being the primary.
But captains are always going to make a couple of decisions where players don’t play that well, but that’s the nature of golf. Look at Steve Stricker and Ben Curtis on Friday, they got completely outplayed. But then Saturday afternoon the very same pairing played fantastic against Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey. That’s just golf and players sometimes have a bad day and get beaten. If we all could perform to our greatest ability every time we played, golf would become very boring and predictable.
Bring on Wales 2010
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Good Blog, a balanced opinion which makes a change. I loved the way that prior to the Ryder Cup all the anti Faldo journos were saying that he should have picked Casey and Clarke but once Poulter started playing well it changed to should have been Poulter and Clarke.
Faldo did little wrong, however I was surprised that he end loaded his singles. I would have been tempted to put Garcia, Harrington, Jimenez, Poulter and Westwood in the top 5 places, not because of hindsight but because we were 2 points down and hopefully these guys would have given Europe the lead and then some momentum to the other players filling the last 7 places.
I am sure someone will prove me wrong (probable with Monty) but is there a history of the best players on both sides not doing well in RC. I know Woods has struggled for years and Harrington/Mickelson hardly shone this year. Maybe someone could give us some stats on that?
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As usual some of the media and a large percentage of fans will always look for a scapegoat, and they have chosen Faldo because he is the target at the helm. We do not have the right to think we should win everytime, we just did not perform and the USA did, plain and simple. Trouble is, we have been spoiled by the long string of Ryder Cup wins and find it hard to believe that the USA had the nerve to beat us! You could play the same pairings again next weekend and you would get a different result. For once we should congratulate the USA for their terrific performance and also leave the European team alone. They tried but in the end it was just not good enough. After all it's a game, which always has winners and losers. It is sad when people just can't accept that and always look to blame somebody. Bring on Celtic Manor!
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I agree that Faldo isnt completely to blame. However, there was never any sense of urgency for the players, and they did not perform to their best (they need to play above their normal game to win).
The players knew what Valhalla was like, so why werent they better prepared?
Taking your son with you may also not be the best mental preparation. Similarly, the expectation was that the American crowds may be a little boisterous - so why wasnt this managed?
Operating at 95% meant that we lost - we needed to be at 110%! (like 2006)
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Once again the Ryder Cup showed just what sport is all about, at its best it's pure theatre. Thank heavens it's only every two years I couldn't stand this every year. If you wrote the script and said that Europe's three best players (Westwood,Garcia and Harrinton)would play well below their normal form,it would seem impossible in view of their previous records in this event. The put holed against Casey on the 17th and the drive into the water that followed only ever happens in Comic books. The US team won on Merit, and neither Faldo nor any of his team should be victimised.
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very good summary although clear that many journo's from the newspapers will find other ways to faldo-bash as our much fancied team were defeated.
whilst I applaud the article, I find some of the BBC's articles pretty pathetic using words such as 'amphatic' and 'crushing' to describe the victory.
Pretty clear that Pod and Westwood on learning that Europe had lost were struggling to motivate themselves and play for pride and the whole match was very close.
I felt key moments were on 18th green on Saturday night.....two matches came down there all square...Stricker has miraculous up and down from the cabbage to grab a half off casey and garcia....and then next match karlsson misses eagle putt from 8 feet.
no intention of apportioning blame but had those two incidents have been different, we would have gone into singles 8-8 and am sure things could have been different but game of fractions like Mr Faldo says and maybe US team had their name on trophy this year.
A great 3 days of entertainment
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Does anyone know why Americans can see the Ryder Cup on free-to-air tv whilst in Europe we can only see it if we pay a subscription?
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Faldo was a dire captain.
His preparation was poor, he could have ensured Poulter played enough events to qualify and effectively given himself another wildcard.
He thought he could do it all alone and had very limited back up. With an adequate support team he could have given more encouragement. He may even have been able to do something about the 'yardage-chart-gate' accusations. I'm sure a word to the match referees would have avoided last minute changes to tee positions.
He was barely visible in stark contrast to Zinger's energetic leadership.
His startegy was laughable. He accepts that he put what he regarded as his stronger players in the last 4 groups when he was going into the singles two points down.
and as for his motivational skills....ask GMac what he thinks.
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Faldo is all about himself.
Even when involved in a format that is all about the players, Faldo has to maximise his impact so it is all about himself.
By not selecting Westwood I believe he was affected. Similarly with Garcia. Overall his strategy nearly paid off. It's just his strategy reeks of overcomplication - it's as if Faldo has to do it his way, even if it means going the long way round.
That said the better team did win.
Faldo, the man's too much. Great great golfer in his day though but too much of an ego for this role.
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Arrogant, bitter and self obsessed. I am of course referring to the British Media. The grudge that they have held against Faldo for over 20 years requires far more dedication that Faldo ever demonstrated throughout his 6 major wins. The press don’t like Faldo because he is a winner – it’s the same with Andy Murray. They prefer a nice chap, upper class serial loser like Tim Henman any day. The worst thing is that they honestly believe the British public can’t see through their thinly veiled attack on Faldo. It’s nothing to do with the Ryder cup and everything to do with their dislike of his character. Opinion pieces in well respected papers such as the Telegraph and Times can’t even be excused. Disgraceful! Well done Robin Hodgetts for swimming against the tide with this article.
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Don't some of you people understand! It has to be Faldo's fault. Most of the British media and many of the fans cannot forgive him his success. He won SIX majors and always behaved with dignity on the course(unlike the childish Monty). What he has always failed to do was suck up to the media but his support for young golfers and charity puts most of the nice guys to shame. When he beat Greg Norman (who never hid his animosity) in the famous last round at the Masters he showed true style. He had the guts to select on form not sentiment and look what happened with Poulter! He assumed that his top players would perform as any captain has to. On this occasion thay did not. It happens in sport and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it!
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"The press don't like Faldo because he is a winner".
I guess I just imagined that Zinger and his boys humped us then.
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It was great TV, i could not walkaway, i stay up in Tehran until 2 in the morning watching it. Especially enjoyed the Mahan / Casey game it had everything.
Mr Faldo, needs to go to school for team mangement, prior to the start of the contest and during the contest i saw nothing of good team management. His selections seem to disregard current form. His lack of assistants as also showed in-experience in team mangement, no one can be everywhere at everytime, many of the team especially during the singles needed support or advice other than ollie i saw nobody.
The people who selected Faldo must also take some responsiblity, golf is only a team game during limited times in players careers and Faldo, has never really showed team ethics during his overall career.
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Hey everyone get off Faldo's back!
The blame for the ineptitude of the European team's performance is shared amongst many.
It goes right right back to to the day the European PGA Ryder Cup Committee appointed him as captain in the first place.
Poulter did a fantastic job; probably due to being fired up by the level of criticism of his selection. Great motivation technique?????
As for the likes of Sergio, Padraig and Lee showing such poor form, (given succesful seasons by all), could it have been that the expectation that they should 'step up' as leaders, minus the presence of their 2 most recent inspirations, (Clarke and Monty), proved too much?
They certainly didn't show what we've come to expect from them.
As for Faldo, he's now complemented his record of being 3rd in the list of most Ryder Cup matches lost ,as a player, (19), by the worst defeat since Europe's first appearance in 1981.
However, there is one consololation for European golf.......
It's likely that this is the last time Faldo will ever have any envolvement of relevance in European golf.
Good ridance.
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I have to say that the press' handling of Faldo is nothing short of disgraceful.
This country is not the best at producing true world-dominating sportsmen like Tiger Woods, Ian Thorpe, Lance Armstrong and Ali. However when we DO the press just love to knock them off their pedistal; it doesn't make me angry it makes me very sad.
The gutter press (this includes most of the broadsheets) took 100% pleasure in blaming Faldo for everything. Hindsight is great however there is only one thing I think he got wrong and that was taking Casey versus Clarke. Apart from that he has got out of his comfort zone and become a team player. This can't be easy for someone so single-minded enough to be a great champion in his chosen sport.
I hope the powers that be give him the opportunity at home in 2 years to set the course up how he wants and enable him to sample captaining a side at home. Will they? Of course not, because the powers that be believe everything they read.
Well done Europe and well done Faldo. It was a great defence, bring on Celtic Manor!
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Faldo's not the type of person to be a captain,i'am not surprised we were well beaten,if the manager/captain is not to blame then who is,they happily take the plaudits so must take the blame when we lose
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If Faldo is not and never has been a team player then why is he the record Ryder Cup points scorer?
He seemed to be able to do it for the team when he was playing?
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I think sometimes in sport the role of people on the sidelines is overestimated and in defeat people look to criticise these people and find a scape goat. But
However as I see it, the bare facts are that the standard of the golf on show from both sides was truly exceptional and perhaps the best seen at a Ryder Cup. In the end the US as a team played better at the crucial moments - they had the hotter putters this week.
The role of the Ryder Cup captain is in my opinion slightly overplayed, particularly on foreign soil. Azinger was certainly able to have more influence on the evet - he had 4 picks instead of 2, he could dictate the schedule of the fourballs and foursomes, he could get the course prepared in the most advantageous way for his team's strengths and perhaps most importantly of all he could take on the responsibility of re-igniting interest in the competition on the other side of the pond. Clearly he achieved these things well.
I don't think Faldo got anything particularly wrong. I think looking at the singles list he balanced out the stronger players in the singles top and bottom. He probably felt he needed players at the end who could cope with the pressure of playing for the Ryder Cup down the stretch. As Sam Torrance said yesterday it was clear if Europe were to win/retain it would go down to the final few groups. In the end it was just a case of Europe having to say "too good". The performances of the Americans in the singles was exceptional and there was not a lot Faldo or indeed Azinger could do to control/influence the fact that Kim was -8 for 14, Perry -7 for 16, Boo -8 for 16. That's just truly fantastic golf.
Roll on Celtic Manor but lets not get too concerned about who it is captaining the sides.
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Great event - interesting that over here (in New Jersey) even Giants' fans were following the outcome of the Golf!!
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Having been at Valhalla for every practice day and every match day I don't think Faldo did much wrong.
The only decision that I would challenge was not leading out with Poulter on Sunday.
Harrington and Westwood were where they should have been, out of harms way at the back of the order.
The only sour note for the whole week (I thought the US crowds were fantastic) was sounded by some disgraceful commentary on the BBC channel of the on-course radios during Sunday morning when they were unaware the entire course could hear them. You know who you are.
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I believe Faldo did contribute to Europe's defeat. "boisterousbaddog" has mentioned one of the main reasons; the other is "bottom loading" the singles order of play, especially when trailing by 2 points (c/f Curtis Strange RC 2002)
Having said that, full credit must go to Azinger for getting his tactics absolutlely spot on.
The course was prepared to US's strength - putting. The fairways were widened and rough shortned and making it a putting competition. Europe was woefully lacking in this department.
The lesson here for the 2010 captain is to prepare a course to Europe's strength - shot making!
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I feel that Harrington is being unfairly critised for his overall performance. Whilst agreeing that Harrington played badly on Saturday and Sunday, he was superb in both Friday's foursomes and fourballs.
In the foursome, he and Karlsson were 3 up with 6 to play (mainly through bad play from Kim), when Karlsson played like a drain over the final 6 holes. If Karlsson had played any solid golf over these holes, not only would Europe have won the opening foursome but the Mickelson and Kim partnership may have been broken up for the afternoon's fourball. As it happens, Kim regained his confidence with 2 very easy putts to win 2 holds and the rest is history.
In the afternoon's fourballs, Harrington and MacDowell finished with a better ball score of 8 under, Mickelson and Kim were 10 under. That is not bad playing.
Harrington did not deserve to only get 1/2 a point from his two games on Friday, which both went the full 18 holes. He holed virtually every putt from within 15 feet.
As I said at the start of this post Harrington was poor on Saturday and Sunday but not Friday, when, if he had had a solid foursomes partner and came up against, say, Curtis and Stricker in the fourball, then he would have won 2 points instead of a 1/2, but these are the 'breaks' with Ryder Cup.
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gedindahole !!
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EddieGapper
C'mon spill the beans.....
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I so agree with every one of Robin's comments - about the Ryder Cup matches as a whole and Nick Faldo in particular. How nice to get such unbiased and perceptive views - unlike other members of the press and public.
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I won't keep banging on about this but just for one last time ... it was the awkward and warped relationship between Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington that cost Europe the Ryder Cup.
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Mark James may not have won any majors but he beats Faldo anyday as RC Capitain.....same for Torrance and Gallagher (for sheer persistence). Please not Faldo again can't bear his smug charmless personality. So Monty is childish then 91, like to see you saying that to his face.
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What an excellent weekend of golf. I have not seen such a sequence of high quality golf shots for a long, long time.
Off course we can blame the "big guns" for our defeat, but every golfer knows form comes and goes, and for Europe, it was just the wrong time of the year to play the Ryder Cup. I think over the week the Americans just holes putts from inside 20' more consistently than the Europeans. I do not blame Sergio for loosing against Kim, but I did not like his body language while he was loosing, and he of all people should know how important it is to keep a positive body language, both for your own game and that of your opponent, even more important in match play. Kim was maybe unbeatable, but he grew in confidence the further the Spaniard's shoulders slumped.
For as far as Nick goes, good player and an average captian. The 2 areas I thought he could have done better in, was to give the birdie machines, Karlsson and Stensson, a go at the 4 ball on Friday and to have more assistants to relay good news to the European players throughout the day. When you are playing in the US as a European you only hear the bad news, which is when the crowd roars around you, and you need some method of getting good news to these players, as golf is very much a confidence game.
On the week, the Americans played great golf and deserved to win. I was much closer than the scoreline suggest though!
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'Europe's attempt to win came up short' - one of the stated reasons was that 'Paul Azinger inspired a new crop of US stars to energize the crowd and their more illustrious team-mates.'
So why could Nick Faldo not achieve the same with his crop of stars? - who, except for Poulter and McDowell seemed to lack motivation and 'zip' in their play.
Don't get me wrong - they played well, but well just does not get the job done in the Ryder Cup. You HAVE to play with the sort of fire that was burning inside Ian Poulter - did you see his face after holing his putt on 18 on day 2?. He curdled my glass of milk right through the TV screen.
'If the knives come out for Faldo, those brandishing them fail to see the big picture' - you state.
I can see that the picture painted by Captain Faldo MUST have lacked something - there has to be a reason when such good players collectively fail to perform as they could do. I don't want to stick a knife in Faldo - I admire him as a player hugely. I just want to know why Sergio stank, Lee was lacking and Paddy played like me.
Why did Azinger's team 'play with such freedom', yet Europe played with inhibition. Have you ever seen Padraig play that poorly when it really mattered? Have you ever seen Miguel - Angel so serious, so unlike his normal self? Was the Faldo approach responsible for part of it? Will we ever know?
The next one's in Wales you know - no need to be sheepish - who should the next Captain be? Woosie again for me.
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I thought Mark James lost in 1999 so how can he have been a far better captain than Faldo?
His tactics also saw the US stage the greatest Ryder Cup comeback ever - great captaincy indeed.
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I wouldn't lose sleep about it, it's not a proper sport really.
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Great artical, it is my firm belief that the team could hve come out in any order yesterday and we would have been beaten.
It does annoy me that people in this country (not so much journalists) insist on disliking our single-minded and sometimes cocky sportspeople eg Faldo, Murrey, Rocket Ronnie (and to some extent Poulter), WHEN THEY DONT WIN.
We seem to want our sports stars to all be likeable Hatton types or Henman niceguys.
Not all winners are nice guys, but it is that, in many cases, that puts them up there with the best.
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How many times have I heard that flaming story about Faldo blanking some lovely little kid at a practise ground etc.... It must be one of the oldest urban myths ever.
How can anyone say he has no personality? Give me him any day over Mark "Snore" James, Bernard "cliché" Gallagher, Sam "one of the lads" Torrance, Colin "It's not my fault" Montgomerie or indeed nearly any of todays British sports "Stars". They say nothing but just meaningless soundbites. All of them, KP, Becks, Lampard, Henman, Terry, Gerrard, Alec Stewart etc etc
Faldo actually has a personality; it's just that it doesn't suit the British media or his golfing contemporaries or elders. That is simply because they have never come across a true world champion before, not some flash in the pan but a true great of this great sport.
You only have to look at the youngsters this weekend and how they simply adored Faldo.
If he is to inspire this young generation of golfers to true success in golf then that is great. I'd rather have Faldo clones than another generation of perennial underachievers like Monty, Torrance, James, Westwood and co.
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It’s not Faldo’s fault (sic) but those that thought that anyone that has absolutely no concept of ‘team’ or any form of man management other than to grind his opponents into the ground whilst playing them. Would somehow become a great tactician and motivator, and appointed him as Captain.
Leaving out Garcia from Saturday morning's foursomes was a huge mistake; the lack of understanding of Garcia’s temperament and needs was not a surprise. However, indicative of the way the match was thought out (?) and campaigned..
The fact of the matter is that most if not all successful teams in the final analysis, has one overriding feature, that the team as a whole has played better than the sum of its individuals. This in no way happened over the weekend.
It’s not Faldo that should be in the firing line but those that appointed him.
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Garcia asked to be left out on Saturday - FACT.
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"Just because the match was lost before star men Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington in the last four groups could have a say, doesn't mean Faldo made a mistake by not "top-loading"."
Er, anyone who has any experience of top level team match play knows that there are 2 basic rules that captains should follow. 1) Make sure that you partnerships are consistent and established for the 4 ball and foursomes and 2) play strong players at the top of the singles to establish momentum.
Re.1 - Faldo tried 12 combinations (a record in Ryder Cups). Re.2 - He put his 4 strongest players out last where there was a good chance they may not count.
Its hardly rocket science. Faldo was a great player (our best ever) but I think he tried to be too clever here and ended up looking a bit silly.
To argue otherwise is nonsense really, and it seems there are a lot of ill informed on this site.
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Has anyone asked Westwood, Garcia and Harrington why they were so off colour - and hence played so badly?
Westwood cited fan abuse against himself and his family. Was that what so upset him? Certainly no one else reported anything so amiss.
Anyway, as reported above, a US win revives interest in what remains the greatest team competition in sport.
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"111. At 3:43pm on 22 Sep 2008, Shatner's Bassoon wrote:
I wouldn't lose sleep about it, it's not a proper sport really."
_____________________________________
Well thanks for that insight. I know you are only here for the wind-up (believe me that makes you a very sad individual)
Anyone who thinks that something as gripping and pure as last weekend is 'not sport' has clearly no idea what sport actually is.
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Power of the press. I wish people would think for themselves.
Faldo has done more for charities and junior golf than any other player, wonder why thats not common knowledge? Where do people get all this rubbish from? Let me think now who could it be. The point of the RC is not to pick the best captain, but to honour great players in the game as a thankyou.It was Faldo's time but the press have no class and have tried to destroy his moment. The players new the pressure Faldo was under and so were also under more pressure. Poulter should have enjoyed his pick but they ruined it for him as well. Went and watched Faldo play many times (in his heyday) and the crowds were fifty deep. They loved him cos he got the job done, not many watching Mark (bitter) James darling of the press. FALDO IS A GOLFING GREAT
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Those who jump on the 'Faldo-bashing' bandwagon fail to recognise the following:
1. Our so-called best players, Harrington, Garcia and Westwood failed to deliver. Three extra points from their miserable contribution would have given us the cup.
2. Our middle order in the singles played pretty well, Wilson especially, but were beaten by better players on the day. On their form Westwood, Garcia and Harrington would have lost by a greater margin. Indeed had Wilson been playing Chad Campbell, he probably would have won convincingly.
3. Faldo changed the pairings on Saturday probably because our 'dream' pairings were failing.
Overall we should stop going on at the captain. He did his best to win us the cup - USA were the better team and our stars failed to deliver, end of story.
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Absolute rubbish. Absolve Nick Faldo of any blame?? Incredible. Why do you think the majority of Europe's 'star' players played so poorly for him and so well in other Ryder Cups? Coincidence? Europe were on the back foot from Thursday evening - with his amazing abilities to get everyone's back up - including his own team! He certainly didn't help his team's cause. He was a prat as a player and he was a prat as the captain.
It's a shame Europe didn't have as good a captain as the American's did - we could have seen the greatest RC ever! The US played to the best of their abilities and I congratulate them for that. The Europeans - the pre-tournament favourites don't forget - didn't even come close. I'm not saying that Europe would have won if he wasn't there. I just cannot see how he can be congratulated for his performance as he clearly made a mess of it.
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But Faldo picked poor pairings from the start. There were some obvious pairings to go with and he tried to throw a curve ball.
I don't doubt the US deserved to win, but when you have an inept captain it doesn't help the European cause.
Apparently he picked the final day order by asking everyone where they wanted to play. What do you do if 4 blokes want to go out third? You have to let 3 people down - its just shoddy decision making.
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Saturday was a good day for Europe so according everyone who says Faldo is to blame, he is the reason Europe had a chance on Sunday in the first place.
Faldo can look back and be happy with his efforts. He still has things to learn about being a captain and maybe next time (and I hope there is a next time) he'll come out on the winning side.
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When all is said and done, the one thing that remains intact is Faldo's points record.
Mmm?
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From an American perspective and having attended both Saturday and Sundays matches:
1. Everyone in sport plays the blame game after a defeat, but neither Faldo or the European players should be scapegoats in this match. Sure, some of them might not have had the expected results, but Tiger and Phil Mickelson have not always met their expectations, but it does not diminish their effort.
2. The European fans were great in their sportsmanship and unmatched in their singing.
3. The quality of golf was unmatched and this event was a matter of fraction in the result. A couple of putts that went the US way which led to half points, kept the momentum in the US favor. Stricker's putt and Mahan's putt, specifically.
4. Ultimately, the US took a page from the Euro playbook and holed some putts.
5. This is a huge event for Americans and it has never lost luster even though we have been on the losing side for 4 straight. It is finally nice to win one especially against such tough competiton. Responding to an earlier comment, the President's Cup is not as prestigious as the Ryder Cup.
6. I was sorry to read about the poor treatment received by Westwood and I apologize for my countrymen on that score. His comments about the cheering were simply made in the heat of the moment and should not have subjected him to ridicule. All of the players were great in the practice round. The Ryder Cup would not be such a glorious event without the stiff competition and sportsmenship.
7. There was a closed circuit radio broadcast on the course from the BBC which was far superior to the American telecast. Excellent announcers.
8. I was not confident of any victory upon seeing the singles pairings and I was even less confident after both Mickelson and Leonard lost their matches. I am ecstatic over the result, but a win would not have meant as much if the European team was not so formidable.
9. I am hopeful that I will get the opportunity to make the trip to Wales in 2010. Congratulations to the European Team for their inspired play which created a great sporting event.
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Well Hessain, if he didn't consult the team, you'd be having a go at him for that so he really can't win with you.
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No I wouldn't have criticised that.
I thought he would have been a good captain before the event and am actually shocked by how poor he has been.
But if you think he's been a good captain then...
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I wonder whether the course setup should be independently controlled rather than down to the home captain.
Azinger used his control over the setup to great effect. Fair enough, he didn't break any rules by doing that but there were so many birdies on offer, as compared to regular tournaments.
A normal Championship type course would have suited the Europeans much more.
This is not sour grapes. The US played the better golf and deserved their victory.
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This bottom loading lark is rubbish, the top 4 all very well experienced, riding high in the world rankings. We needed 3 points from the first 4 to get down to the last four matches, and the way it was going that meant the final 2 matches as Poulter and G Mac were in control. We were half a point away (Mahan's putt on the 17th comes to mind), so to say it was a mistake and foolish singles line up is rubbish. Although have to admit would've loved to have seen Poulter v Kim.
The score line in the end meant nothing as soon as the cup was won, Harrington and Westwood just wanted of the course. So to say the win was emphatic is also rubbish.
Faldo's to blame for players playing bad, now I've heard it all, I wonder why the players are coming to his defence? hhhmmmmm
RE: The singles line up - The captain spoke with his players and it wasn't a quick chat, as a team they decided that this was the way to go.
Ultimate for a selfish self centred guy, all I heard all week, team meetings, discussed with the team, taking on all information etc..so it wasn't just one guys mission it was a team, that unfortunately this time got beat by the better team that the fair share of footage on the greens and ultimately the drop in form of 3/4 players.
Faldo for 2010
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scrphil - Birdies is what Matchplay is all about, and especially the Ryder Cup. No one wants to see only one ball on the green in regulation whilst others are struggling in rough up to their waists. The course was ideal, you don't want a RC at Carnustie!
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Yes, I do think he's been a good captain. I think he got the majority of his decisions correct and to me, Europe didn't lose because of his decisions they lost because the USA played better golf than we did. I really thought Jimenez would beat Furyk and we would get more halfs and wins in the early exchanges than we did.
We don't know what went on behind the scenes. From what Faldo and the players have been saying, Faldo consulted his players to determine how they felt and get their opinions. Then he can make an informed judgement. That to me is the sign of a good captain.
Can Faldo improve? Of course he can and I hope he gets the chance to do just that.
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Faldo for 2010? Give me strength! Why do you think he causes such debate? Is it because he is a good captain? I don't think so. It's because he's not considered a likeable character by a lot of people - he never was. Why put someone is as captain who players and fans alike do not support en masse? He's had his chance - made a mess of it in my opinion - and hopefully that's the end of it.
Olly for 2010!
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110 - Mark James lost by 1 pt in the USA in 1999 - Faldo had the heaviest loss since 1981 so on any objective analysis James was the better captain.
And all the other RC captains Torrance, Gallagher etc who won are not as good as the hero Faldo. And of course all that work he's done for charity - like the USA Ryder Cup team for example. And yes its just the media that hates him and no one else like the players and the fans. And its not his fault that we lost due to rubbish tactics - its all the players fault and the players that didn't go like Monty. And the fact that the USA team had a better team and a decent capitain (oh no scrub the last bit!)
Yes he was a good player and better than these other guys but he no good as an RC captain and he's not very well liked by some people.
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Average40 wrote - birdies is what matchplay is all about.
>> I don't see why that should be the case. I wasn't advocating Carnoustie 1999, just a more standard course. How many times was the 1st halved in birdies ? Too many.
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Dennyo2
Thanks for those balanced and sensible comments, it was good to see the US team competing so well and made for absolutely nerve jangling watching. They won a great, tight match and the aura of the Ryder Cup is enhanced again. The botom line is it was a fantastic spectacle, sport at the absolute pinnacle of performance, tension and theatre.
We can't wait for 2010 but I couldn't take that kind of stress more than once every two years and I don't think the players could either.
Will Medinah be a good matchplay venue in 2012? I know it's a great US Open course but does it lend itself to the kind of spectacle that the Ryder Cup is. I'm already thinking it would be good top be there in four years time!
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blogbag
Yes Monty is childish and I would quite happily say that to his face. Faldo is a bloke from a humble background who made it on his own. He does not suck up to the media and he keeps to himself but he treats his opponents with respect. Monty is from a priveleged background and expects things to go his way. If you are not aware of his childish tantrams on the golf course you have not been watching much! The players seem to have been quite supportive of Faldo; which is not always the case when they lose. Any analysis of the last loss in the USA would show (anyone who took a balanced view) that then ... unlike now captaincy was an issue. Sadly too many people form their judgements about players on the basis of what the press say. That means that those who get the best press probably keep in with them by spreading gossip and innuendo about more succesful players who just get on with it..
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The whole selection policy of the Ryder Cup needs to be changed. The twelve who played at Valhalla were in no way our best available match play players. A lot of sentimental fuss was made about Darren Clarke not being selected. Well, Poulter, who won the same number of points as Harrington, Westwood, Casey, Jimenez and Garcia combined certainly justified his selection. Why are there so few comments about Harrington's dismal Ryder Cup record, which continued here at Valhalla? He hasn't won a match in eight outings in the last 2 Ryder Cups. He was supposed to be the 'captain' on the course. The real heart of the team was Poulter, backed by Rose. They won the same number of points between them as Casey, Garcia, Hansen, Harrington, Jimenez, Stenson, Westwood and Wilson combined. Interesting that both have been honed by USA experience. I reckon Faldo put Harrington out 12th in the hope it would limit the damage he could do to the team's momentum. If Clarke, Monty and Petersson had been on the side I doubt if we would have lost. Who for? Well, instead of Hanson, Harrington and Jimenez, who managed one and half points between them over the three days. Petersson I am sure would have got more than that on one day. The Ryder Cup points system is a scheme to dissuade the players just outside the top rank from plying their trade in America where the real action is. Montgomery once said that the captain should have 12 wild cards. Monty is quite right. 6 players would pick themselves, and then the chosen captain can balance things out. The real player we missed at Valhalla was Carl Petersson, a multiple winner on the PGA Tour, including the Memorial this year at Muirfield Village, almost a major. Faldo was handed a dud hand by the system.
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scorpiotownie.
Had Faldo been a decent captain he could have persuaded Poulter to amass the points required (or at least to play more qualifying tournaments), then, guess what? He could have had Petersson as a wild card.
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blogbag
Your "objective analysis" suggests the players have nothing to do with it then! The role of the captain is rarely that significant but in a close match such as the Mark James one it was a factor. He kept players out of the action until the singles. Great team building that. I think it is clear from the blogs that a majority of the public do not share your obsessive hatred of Faldo. If you think Monty is more respected by "Jo Public" I believe you are sadly mistaken. Darren Clarke expressed disappointment at not being selected but made a positive response and offered support to those selected (unlike Monty). That is the way grown ups behave
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Faldo can't be blamed for some of his players being off form. On the Tour, as individuals, players stand on the first tee wanting to win, yet often fail to make the cut. It's just one of those things, it was unfortunate that a few all failed this weekend.
Garcia can be brilliant, has been brilliant in previous Ryder Cups, but can also be ordinary. Westwood has performed superbly in Ryder Cup format, but usually in partnership with Darren Clarke. Harrington has one two Majors this year, but was clearly not 100% fit. I felt for Oliver Wilson, being paired with Boo Weekley in the singles, possibly the worst pairing he could have had, but that was just bad luck.
USA simply played better. Azinger was a great captain and he deserved this after his illness. Faldo did as well as he could, but someone has to come second. I don't follow the US tour, and admit I had never heard of Hunter Mahan, but what a performance he put in. We were second best over the three days, it was USA's turn to win, and I'm pleased that most posters here give them that credit. Next time will be different, and I agree with those that say that Woosnam should be captain next time in Wales.
Golf was the winner this weekend, and I loved every moment. Here's to 2010.
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136 - Gosh you are really hard and I admire your courage to stand up to a 20 plus stone ginger, Glaswegian golfer with a really bad temper!
Yes Monty has tantrums like Murray. McEnroe etc........ get over it.
Isn't that inverse snobbery - OK Monty is from a priviledged background and Faldo is not- so what? A hard man with a chip on his shoulder.
And he sucks up to the media and Faldo doesn't -so what? And the media hates Faldo and not Monty - so what?
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Okay, I started this so I will simplify my opinion and those that have echoed my feelings.
THE STORY OF THE 2008 RYDER CUP
1) The media have a Faldo witch-hunt, because he has never played the media game on their terms.
2) They got their bandwagon rolling with anti-Poulter stuff.
3) They undermined, criticised and affected the morale of Faldo and his team at every press conference prior to the event.
4) Azinger set the course up for monster hitters that are good at target golf.
5) Azinger added extra wildcards to pick players suited to that game.
6) Azinger whipped the crowd up into a frenzy, telling them to clap missed European putts.
7) The USA got out of the traps extremely quickly.
8) The media steamed straight at Faldo's throat, despite having not swung a single club himself.
9) Morale shrunk, despite Faldo's efforts to allow the team to take charge (as opposed the printed lies about him), they were clearly affected by the press campaign.
10) A few of the best Europeans played badly, a few of the unknown Americans played well.
11) Europe scored superbly low scores throughout. USA scored superbly low scores throughout. The standard was incredibly high, but the Americans managed to sneak in three or four mammoth putts that scored heavily at the right time.
12) The egomaniac Faldo allowed the team to pick itself for the singles (sic). As opposed to the press campaign, fact and form suggested it was just as top heavy as bottom heavy.
13) Sergio was out-Sergieod in the first game. Casey was desperately unlucky to see a mile long putt deny him a full point.
14) Results were fairly even from there on until the victory was secured for USA and the rest of the Europeans folded.
15) The media won the victory they were after, and in doing so undermined the European team throughout.
One final point - Faldo earned the respect of all the media through his deeds as a sportsman - his personality was only relevant to hs peers and plenty of them have made their opinions known. To which, Faldo has kept a dignified silence.
How many members of the press have earned Faldo's respect through their deeds?
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141 blogbag
Was there a point somewhere there? Perhaps you were going to tell us about all tha majors Montgomery won. I notice you choose to ignore his lack of support for the team --- that is conditional on his presence!
So what!
Well actually lots of people are able to think for themselves and don't need the media to tell us what to think. THAT'S WHAT !!!!!!!!!
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Faldo can't be blamed his picks both performed with real credit, Poulter was fantastic
It's not his fault that the Yanks rookies performed as they did
The Yanks were better over the three days and deserved to win
I for one really enjoyed this RC
Someone has to lose give the Yanks credit and look forward to Wales in two years
I would'nt be upset to see Faldo involved again
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139
I think the capitain's role is significant - and it was a rather big loss when the European team was the favourite. Or do you think the media and the players had a conspiracy against Faldo. If so who was the mastermind?
I'd say at least 25% of the blogs are critical of Faldo so not exactly the only one then. I don't like him very much - I wouldn't say that I hate him obsessively.
Seems you have an obsessive hatred of Monty - cos he's a snob with a temper on him and the media as well.
Anyway I'm off now back to my dads stately home for a state banquet with my mate Monty following my busy day at the newspaper office. By the way do you know where I can get hold of a Nick Faldo voodoo doll - as it helps stop my appalling outbursts of rage.
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As a passionate American golfer, with an English wife, I (we) have more than a passing interest in the RC.
We were riveted to the broadcast for the entire 3 days.
Comments:
1. The American broadcast (NBC) was its usual pathetic self. For some reason, the producer thinks that we need everything pre-digested and explained (insulting). Also, they love to make us think that the talking head "experts" are so smart by showing most shots after the fact and letting them add comments. This removes the excitement and drama. I wish that they would let the event speak for itself (and show ALL the shots, not just the ones by the players they are trying to feature).
I would JUMP at the chance to have to pay extra for the broadcast IF it wasn't turned into pabulum...
2. Faldo, post-playing days, has taken on a new persona here in the States. He sees himself more in the role of a promoter. From this perspective, he did an excellent job (even losing to Paul A in the pre-match poker tournament). However, the Captain MUST have the respect of his team. Zinger certainly earned his.
3. The home team has many advantages, but since there is a puddle-jump rota, this evens out. Many reporters have (accurately) pointed out that Cap't Paul did a fabulous job of matching horses and courses. (I wonder when we will start using GM and cloning to take this approach to the next level!).
However, while the non-rough enabled the American bombers to NOT lose the long holes, please note that we WON the Cup on the Par 3's. Putting still matters and rightfully so- the flat stick still reveals the measure of a man best.
See you at the Twenty-Ten course…
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Firstly congratulations to the american team and the european players all gave 100% and what a nice change to see a sport without drugs and cheating, and an event not controlled by the finacial rewards on offer.
I see many a person comming to the support of Nick Faldo, about his singles selection, but as a player he was fantastic, but as a Ryder Cup Captain he was totally outclassed by Paul Azinger,
Faldo was a great player there is no doubt, but his Ultra Conservative Captaincy like his grinding on the golf course, did not benefit his team. The Ryder Cup is a team game and sometimes Gambles have to be taken. I,m sure if Europe had Gambled on the early matches with our strongest and in form players, Harrington,Poulter,McDowell, Karlson, The pressure would have been greater on the US team, it was the US who had the fear factor in there camp, and Faldo failed to use it.
I truely believe we had a better team and still do. but failed to put any presure on the US team on the final day, and alot of the blame has to be put on Faldo.
I remember reading that Ian Woosnam had 5 vice captains and still never thought that was enough. What was faldo thinking just having one?
As a player his preparation was second to none, sadly his captaincy lacked it.
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Sorry, I just cannot agree with the "Good old Faldo" stuff Yes his pick of Poulter worked, thanks to Ian who deserves a double pat on the back for an outstanding performance in horrendous circumstances. But for the rest - when you see how Azinger motivated his team (as did Langer and Woosie in the immediate years before) and look at the body language of Garcia, Harrington and Westwood (however loyal they are in the aftemath), Faldo was a disaster. Dreadful press conferences, terrible decisions on vice-captains .. I could go on but the result says it all.
Well done Poults and the team. Here's to next time with an effective TEAM captain.
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Reading through some of these comments, the question springs to mind whether some of the people writing have any clue about golf or sport in general. We just witnessed 3 days of absolutely fantastic golf played in the biggest pressure cauldron imaginable with 24 guys giving it their all... and yet people still look for a scapegoat. There had to be a loser and this time it happened to be Europe.
It was a very fine line between losing and winning and for people to now blame Nick Faldo is simply ridiculous and shows their complete lack of knowledge about the sport. These golfers are the best in the world on both sides of the pond.. they know how to play the game and know what to do.. Faldo doesnt advise them on club selection as one person stupidly queried! they simply didnt get the breaks this time round... why dont people applaud what was one of the best displays of sportsmanship, professionalism and fantastic golf they will ever be fortunate to witness instead of looking for a scapegoat...Golf was the winner in the end! Well done to both Europe and USA for giving us the opportunity to witness the Ryder Cup at its absolute best!!
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Tejan Dubai.
Yes it was a great contest, it normally is. Yes there was some fantastic golf.
Yes it is stupid to suggest that Faldo made club selections.
None of that detracts from the fact that the captain has an important role.
With the exception of Poulter the team looked uninspired and lacking motivation relative to their opponents. He failed to counter things like the US moving tee boxes to invalidate the European yardage charts.
In short he had a job to do and failed to do it.
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133.
Mark James may have only lost by a point in 1999 but Europe were 10-6 up going into the singles.
James didn't play 3 of his rookies in any of the foursomes or fourballs and allowed the US to win the first 6 matches and take 8.5 points out of the 12 available in the singles.
Throwing away a 4 point lead going into the singles is hardly the mark of a great RC captain.
I wonder if he bottom loaded the singles?
Whatever he did it failed totally but the British press didn't slate James because he was a media lovey journeyman who won bugger all as a player, just the type of player the British press love.
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I'm an American gal and I thought I'd pop into your news to see how the press and fans were reacting to the result. I'm impressed by how fair minded these posts are--most sports blogs here, in any sport, are terribly one-sided and often vile, vulgar and vindictive.
Rarely have I ever seen a sporting event that had me so on edge. The quality of the golf from both teams was out of this world. Irons within ten feet; putts falling from all over the place. For once the RC pressure seemed to stimulate the golfers to more accuracy rather than grind them down into missed shots and putts. It really could have gone either way right up until the end. Riveting stuff.
I was unthrilled with some of the fan behavior, and apologize on behalf of my countrymen for those that were out of line.
The only criticisms of Faldo's captaincy that I can give any validity based on what I witnessed was the lack of assistants to walk with and bolster struggling players; and, perhaps, that it would have been wiser to put Poulter out first in singles--but if those middle matches had gone just a half or a point difference, having him as one of your closers would have looked brilliant. Tough call. In hindsight a valid criticism, but not a very strong one, I think.
Bottom line again the quality of the golf. I haven't seen so many birdies by everyone in sight (Karlsson was just on fire for awhile there) ever. I'm sorry Garcia was under the weather, Harrington clearly fatigued and Westwood out of sorts, but many of your other players really stepped up and played fabulous golf even if they got edged out. Mickelson was his usual RC disaster zone. Perry played above expectations to counter that. But it was our eager rookies that got it done, with Mahan and Holmes really surprising. Based on recent performance, I expected well of Kim and Weekly (not everyone here is utterly charmed by his bumpkin image, by the way) if they didn't develop nerves, which fortunately they didn't. Final score not remotely indicative of the reality.
Just a great sporting event with mostly fabulous sportsmanship (Casey/Mahan was a joy to watch). I look forward to Wales (but won't mind enjoying the memory of this one for a little while!)
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Sorcerer's Cat.
Congratulations to your team. Deserved winners and, as always, as a sporting event it takes some beating for drama and excitement.
Hopefully Faldo will have been replaced by a less self obsessed captain when we try to retake our trophy in 2 years time.
Keep it clean for us!
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Faldo's picks did well? Poulter played beautiful, passionate stuff. Casey looked out-of-form. He is. He was when Faldo picked him, too.
Darren's form is on the way up and should have been encouraged to come and beat the Yanks. That's what he enjoys.
Faldo enjoys his own company, his own jokes and his own image. Just shows that great performers in an individual sport do not necessarily make great captains.
The USA fully deserved to win, that's how the cookie crumbles. But Azinger made fewer mistakes than Faldo, which must have contributed to the final score, however minimal. They (and he) wanted it more, especially after 3 defeats. The wheel turns.......
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Garcia was 4 or 5 over par, pathetic display from him. He would have been beaten by a 2hdcp golfer playing like that. Casey made a complete mess off the 15th from the middle of the fairway and should have walked off that green one up. Harrington vanished, Westwood dealt well with everything the crowd threw at him and Poults was a revelation. Rose and Karlsson did as expected and won. I think Garcia should be hung out to dry for this, number one sets the tone for a singles match. He gave up, Kim was only 5 under. If Casey had won and Garcia even grabbed a half, the result would have been completely different.
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I think the media's treatment of Nick Faldo has been a disgrace, and in my opinion the journalists and headline writers of the national papers have reached a new low in the way they have gone out of their way to try and create negative headlines ....They are the lowest of the low in my opinion
Luckily golf is a sport that is strong enough and profesional enough to withstand this type of hounding and credit to the players for coming out in support of their Captain and refusing to be tempted to make any comment that could be used against him.
I listened to a News of the World journalist on Sky Sports this morning telling anyone who would listen how it was Faldo and his poor decision making that had been to blame for Europe losing. The bloke is a fool
Your blog is the one objective and well written account of how the golf evolved over the three days. Quite simply the USA played the better golf and holed more putts at critical times. They gained early momentum and never looked back. Well done to them they deserved it....
To put the blame on Faldo is a joke
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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.
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Europe had to lose again sometime and at least doing it this time we had a Captain who can handle the situation.
Faldo is one of the most misunderstood sportsmen this country has turned out. If we had more with the same approachto their sports we could be top of the world.
He's been hammered for years and given bad press yet he's probably the greatest golfer Great Britain has ever produced.
I was fortunate to attend one of his golf clinics at Wentworth in 1991 and the whole day was brilliant. It should be noted that all of the money paid in to this went to charity.
We in this country seem to have an inclination to knock anybody who is doing well in their field, irrespective of what it has cost them to achieve it.
Let's get our act together and start supporting these people.
I think the team did Eurpope proud
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Anyone with an ounce of intelligence and who knows even the slightest thing about golf will know that the Americans just played awesome golf for three days and in the end were just that little bit better than us.
To scapegoat Faldo is a joke. Was it Faldo's fault that Mahan holed a ridicuous 50-footer on 17 that was going off the green? Or that Kenny Perry and Boo Weekley both shot 29 to the turn. Two years ago the Americans were dreadful, as they were in 2004. We didn't even need a captain to beat them then.
It was a tough year to be European captain against a US side so motivated and a tough home crowd. Faldo is not to blame for Garcia and Harringtons miserable contribution. The press went on and on about him picking Poulter, but they were proved wrong there, so now they need something else to have a go at so they attack his singles order.
Notice how the media always question everything he does so that when one of the things he does goes slightly wrong they can pick up on it with an 'I told you so' attitude.
Fair play to big Nick for having the bottle to take on the US in the states when he knew that he'd get a hiding if we lost and absolutely no praise from the media if we won. It was always going to happen.
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I confess I'm kind of surprised that Faldo still draws so much ad hominem vitriol from the British press (although having lived over there for a while and had exposure to your papers, I probably shouldn't be surprised). In the golf community here in the US he's considered very much a reformed personality. Probably because he has so much exposure as a commentator both on network broadcasts and on The Golf Channel--he's really revealed a charming and witty side to himself (and anyone who can banter enough to make Kelly Tilghman entertaining deserves high praise). I don't see the "self-obsessed" or hugely egotistical traits that keep being bandied about. I think it's kind of an outdated profile.
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Lee Westwoods website is now revealing that he was told he was being dropped DURING his Friday foreball when he was 2 up after 9.
Europe went on to half that match. Was Faldo's man-management a factor? Well I do know enough to state that golf is played between the ears as much as anywhere else. The risk of undermining a players confidence DURING a match is just folly of the highest order.
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Yeah maybe that's why we lost then...
'Chubby' Chandler trying to defend his man's poor performance.
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Faldo was fine!!! Your analysis hit the mark.
The performance of the Euro "heavyweights" was just not there. Good show Ian and Robert, you played your hearts out.
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Aleyboy
If what he says is true then it points to quite appaling man management from Faldo and yes that could well have been a major factor in the result.
Who else did he drop for the Saturday? Ever wondered why Garcia seemed to be throwing a tantrum on Sunday?
Faldo is the worst Ryder Cup Captain since Hal Sutton.
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Nah you're wrong. That story has probably been made up or embellished anyway.
Even if it is true it shouldn't have affected Westwood. He is a professional golfer who should be strong enough mentally to concentrate on the job in hand.
Also Garcia throwing a tantrum because he was dropped?!? Get real BouncyBear. He asked to step down on Saturday morning due to fatigue and then was gutted because he was getting outplayed on Sunday.
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Really who cares what our disgraceful media think?
Like the boy who cried wolf, with all the hate and negativity they spread, how is one to know when their comments carry clout?
Faldo's selections for the singles we're a gamble, but ultimately our players did not turn up.
Anyway the real winner this year was a certain 'cocky' young Englishman!!
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No Faldo didn't lose the Ryder Cup but he was chosen to win it and he didn't do the right things to achieve that.
He was a single minded player who never left a stone unturned in preparation.
His reinvention let him down - he seemed scripted in the run up to it and when he was required to act on instinct I believe he was found wanting.
He will always be a great golfer and nobody will be hurting more than him but by his high standards he didn't deliver and due to his relationship with the printed press I think he will suffer over the coming days/weeks - unfortunate but that was a risk from the day he accepted a very public role
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Key players didn't perform when needed.
US were inspired, pushed on by typically raucous US crowd.
Faldo never was a team player and it showed this week.
Why would you put the Open Champion out last?
Why choose a Captain that was hated by the press, when such a big part of the Captaincy is about talking to the Press?
Bring back Woosie for Celtic manor, with Bernhard Langer and Oli as deputies.
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All this about the captain and players is unfounded.
Truth is that the Americans just played out of their skin, on a course that was built to suit them.
Azinger had the course set up to give as many second chances as possible to the big but wayward drivers on his team, of course as home captain that is his right and I hope that Celtic Manor does the same by really setting up a course that punishes any wayward shots.
Faldo's selections were spot on. Surely the idea of putting your strongest players last was to get those last few matches almost in the bag and thus decrease the pressure on the middle order.
Had Poulter, Westwood and Harrington all been 3 up aat the turn that would have been a huge load off the backs of those in matches 5-9 as they approached the end of their rounds. OK it didn't quite work but that was down more to a few fantastic rounds by some of the americans.
Sergio has been rightly called off-form in this event but none could have lived with Anthoney Kim in that first match, Perry weekly and Holmes also played brilliantly.
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Interestingly Tony Jacklin could not fault Faldo's captaincy. Of course his opinion is not worth much since he is not an armchair ghuru/journalist. Winner of US and our Open. Winning Ryder Cup captain. He might know a bit about it all but unlike the press/media he has not got an axe to grind. So many of the underachieving players from the past love to get on the TV and have a go because they cannot forgive any Brit who was truly succesful. Jacklin does not have those chips on his shoulder and can therefore make an impartial judgement. Most of Faldo's critics would have criticised his captaincy whatever. To have Mark James held up as an example of a good captain is laughable. His was one of the few cases were the captain behaved totally irrationally. Leave out 3 players until the singles!!!
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Nick was not to blame! Why does the press in the UK have to keep looking for reasons to blame Nick for everything in golf? He has a sense of humour that they do not understand, because they don't want to. Nick was very nervous at the opening ceremony, it's not his sort of thing, but he tried. He was great in defeat, and very sporting. he did all he could, but can that be said of his team, I think not. Ian 'Mr Pick' Paulter was brilliant, but no one in the press has admitted that Nick got this right, and they were wrong. Leave Nick alone, have a dig at the players who did not play, and maybe admit the American's were actually better, (now that really was hard to write), on this ocassion. Mark Roe really had a go at Nick, what a surprise. Mark has never had a good thing to say about Nick, and it's easy to see why because Nick actually did win a few things.
Sam Torrance thought the singles line up was good, even the line up he would have chosen after the first two days, and he should know, Mark has no idea. Tony made a comment on Sky that worried me, he said the last few Ryder Cups have been close matches, I wonder where he has been for the past 5 years?
Basically Nick is not everyone's cup of tea, but he did win things and has the best Ryder Cup points tally, so he must know something. After three wins on the bounce whoever was captain this time was up against it, pity it was Nick because he was not going to win whatever the result. Even Zinger has come to Nick's defence, and that is unexpected after their rivalry over the years, so why can't our own players and press give Nick some encouragement, I think we all know why, and the colour is green, and it's called envy.
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Monty as captain for 2010 anyone?
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For the sake of argument, let's say that Faldo had taken a completely "hands off" approach, handed out the playing order for all three days on the Thursday and said "Right. You're all big boys now and don't need me to nursemaid you. I'm going fishing and will be back Sunday afternoon. Good luck".
If we'd subsequently won, would Faldo have been criticised?
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I wrote at the beginning of the week Faldo is no captain and he is still never a captain. Faldo brings all the bad press reports to himself, his golf was great just a pity he was never a scratch player in the personality stakes.
You have had your turn Mr faldo now go back to the USA and your commentating job over there.
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So Faldo is a losing captain. Wasn't Nicklaus. Jacklin was the first time. Now Golf has the medias attention it is scrutinised as much as Andy Gray does football. Weren't the fourth estate potrayed as pigs on Spitting Image. Its all meaningless because its happened and well done to the Yanks and Europe, some of the golf played particularly the USA putting was outstanding
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Monty as captain for 2010 anyone?
-------
No.
For one thing he will still want to try and be there as a player. For a second he would i'm sure rather do it in Scotland in 2014.
Sandy Lyle would be my pick.
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On Casey, Faldo said: "I was waiting for the putting to turn around. That has been very important."
Faldo's statement on selecting Casey as one of his captains picks.
His only putt of signifigance was getting the 1/2 point with Sergio.
He did nothing else to justify his selection.
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Just got back from Louisville. I just wanted to comment on the organisation of the event and the friendliness of the locals.
Transporting circa 40,000 people to and from the course was a significant challenge and it was done in a remarkably efficient manner. Congratulations to the organisers for a job really well done.
Much has been said about the behaviour of one or two US players and the US fans on Friday, and may be things were overdone. I was there on Wednesday and Sunday and have to say that there was nothing but good banter between the fans and nothing that I experienced was over the top.
Overall though I was really taken with the friendliness shown by the locals. Almost all that I spoke to said that they hoped that we were being well looked after and were enjoying the trip.
Thank you Louisville. You can be really proud of the show you put on.
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Faldo most certainly was to blame, you silly limey ninnies! He has the happy knack of sucking the morale and enthusiasm out of any team because he's not a team player and never has been. Notice how out of sorts Garcia and Harrington and Westwood were? They don't want to play for Faldo. Nobody does. They can't stand him. Oh I know what they say to the press but actions speak louder than words. Their minds were elsewhere.
And yes, putting his best players on last was a huge mistake. By the time the big guns hit the course, it was already a done deal.
So a "D" for Mr. Faldo and an "F" for all you clueless losers who can't distinguish between Faldo the major winner and Faldo the uninspiring leader.
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Hi all,
Just back from Louisville and trawling through all the comments.
Loads of different opinions kicking around and it certainly goes to show that everyone's different. But where we're all exactly the same is that we all seem to be pretty adamant we're right!
Just to pick up on the theme of Faldo being an uninspiring leader - I just don't buy this myself. It might be one thing in a team sport but when you've got 12 players who for the two interveing years are global stars in their own right, to need one man to "inspire" them seems nonsense.
You can disagree with Faldo's picks, order etc but to think that, say, Sergio Garcia would deliberately go out and flop against a rookie in Anthony Kim, harming his own record and reputation, just because he "won't play for Faldo" just doesn't seem to tally.
Once they stick the peg in the ground, and the fans are cheering their name, they're playing for personal pride, each other and the supporters and the identity of their captain is frankly irrelevent.
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Europes star players simply did not perform to the expected standard and clearly came second in the putting competition. Nick Faldo is the best golfer Europe has ever produced and likely to stay that way. He also has a keen analytical eye for a golf swing (remember his comments re Tiger Woods some years ago. He took abuse for that but Tiger changed his swing) . He would know who was swinging poorly and cetainly the golfers themselves know. Harrington player poorly and got worse and is likely to have been protected by Faldo in claiming he (Harrington )wanted to go out last in the singles. Controversial changes for Saturday foursomes but only session we won! Top order fine but Garcia,s collapse would have been a shock to the entire team. Garcia is no Ballesteros lacking his unshakeable belief and desire to win. Sadly I do not think he will win a Major. Poulter was excellent and I also liked the attitude of McDowell and Wilson. Wilson singles loss was to Weekly on fire. Both should have played higher up the order and that I think was Faldo,s only error but as the results stood we would still have most likely lost since the Americans played and putted better and that is largely the point of the Ryder cup. We were not robbed!
Fantastic TV and the Saturday fourballs the most tense matchplay golf I have ever seen, it could have been 3:1 either way and game over if USA had prevailed. This excellent blog and the spirit (and spite) in which written shows why the Ryder Cup is such a great event. Also history shows it is more difficult to win in the USA than for the USA to win here so Celtic Manor will not be a "given".
But bring on Celtic Manor probably with a Celt in charge? I doubt Faldo will do it again unless asked but they are queueing up! Monty,s comments seem wise after the event and supporting Lyle to give himself a clear run at 2014. Lyle is I am sure a very nice guy but some ruthlessness is required and he may now be too remote from the Tour and the players. Was Woosnam that great as a leader although no doubt created great bonhomie and would be appropriate for Wales,which we should remind the Americans is not in Scotland! The result always applies hindsight bias.
The number of picks probably ought to be the prerogative of the captain but more seems better than less. The USA certainly used there picks to advantge and good putters possibly more important than good players though often you are talking fractions.
Pouter ,Rose ,McDowell and others will train on from this and improve and hopefully the star players will shine a little brighter next time. To win the team has to win points across the sessions and from all quarters of the team not just in the singles. The statistics will show that we did not ,end of story .One sided is boring (fun but boring) but no side in the Ryder Cup can hope to have perpetual hegemony and so it should be.
See you there in 2010 at Celtic Manor.
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Now that the Yanks have won it's time to put this biennial bore to bed. Let's call it a draw and replace it with something meaningful, like a European event on a links course, without Michael Douglas and his Z list celebrity friends.
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I said on here weeks ago that I did not think Nick Faldo had the personality or motivational skills required to gel the European team into winners and I think I have been proved correct.
Now that the U S have won the R C back there seeme to be an endless queue of "experts" lining up to take a pop at Faldo for just about every decision he took over the 3 days. I don`t think the criticism is fair and I`m sure Nick wishes that he could make some of those decisions again in the hope that things may have turned out differently. Hindsight is the most wonderfull thing invented but we can never turn the clock back so must go with our original choices.
Nick was a wonderful golfer but has not made a great captain. He is not the first and certainly won`t be the last in that category but he did the best he could and I`m sure made honest decisions for the benefit of the team in the hope of retaining the R C for Europe.
We can argue all day about the relationship between certain players having an effect on their ability to focus on the event but we have won before with those players in the team.
Europe lost, lets get used to it and stop looking for scapegoats.
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It does make me laugh....
Flado was vilified for picking Poulter in the lead-up, now he's vilified for leaving his "leading man" too late in the order.
Golf journalists make me laugh.
Good blog this. Not sensationalistic like most on here.
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