posted Sep 23, 2008

To say that the Americans wanted it more is absurd. Why can't the British press (and some of the public) see that Europe didn't lose the Ryder Cup, the Americans Won it. At the end of the day they played awsome golf and as well as the Europeans played we just couldn't match them. I hope Captain Faldo returns in two years time to prove everyone who is slating him and his decisions wrong.

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posted Sep 23, 2008

if Paddy was tired after winning 2 tourneys a season, and we excuse him, then I guess Tiger with 14 majors, averaging 7/8 wins a season, Should also be excused for having a relatively average record also. No more bashing pls

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posted Sep 23, 2008

Look lads, just let it go. Harrington did not perform like the others to his potential, it happens!! We are talking about golf here, anybody who plays the game knows that your game can come and go very quickly and there is often little you can do about it. Harrington in particular has had a really long year with tournaments, winning two majors, God knows how many press conferences and what not. He tried his best but his game was just off. He has had an incredible year and has won 3 majors in just over a year.

Give the guy some credit, he is quite clearly shattered from all the travelling and golf over the past year. There were other players just as bad as him, garcia was worse, westwood was no better and jimenez and stenson were hardly anything to write home about. Harrington was very unlucky not to win both matches on Thursday, both went down 18th!!

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posted Sep 23, 2008

Spot on slashermcguirk

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posted Sep 23, 2008

A) The big three didn't perform
B) The american rookies completely out performed the european ones.

I don't buy fatigue as an excuse. It's the Ryder cup- you've known about it for 2 years, plan accordingly.
Harrington choose to play in the Fed Ex championships when maybe a rest would have been better.
Harrington's record in the Ryder cup does not reflect that of a 3 time major winner anyway.
Garcia- I don't think he can be a leader yet, he get's too excited and worked up. He's not a calming influence.
Westwood seemed strangely out of sorts. I think there was an issue because he is the one that has also been complaining most about the Americans.
I think these guys have some way to go before they can fill the void of a Ballestaros, Monty or Clarke.
As for Wilson, Hansen and jimenez they were completely outplayed by likes of Kim, Weekly, Holmes.
On the positives all of them will have gained vital experience that will make them stronger in the next ryder cup.

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posted Sep 23, 2008

Spot on maj1cman.

In fact none of the "big stars" on either team really performed, Mickelson was nothing special nor was Furyk.

Faldo looked like a Captain who did not know what to do at times. He didn't appear to be able to inspire many of the team (like Woosnam did), nor did he meticously plan (like Langer did)

Harrington, Westwood, Garcia, Jiminez all looked uninspired from Day 1, and they just appeared to get more frustated with missed putts as the event went on.

The course was a typical "bash and chip" US course, so I'm astounded to read that Faldo is now saying that their practice of playing 18 holes twice, would have been better spent practicing chipping and putting. Hasn't he seen that Woods and Mickelson hardly ever hit fairways but win by the quality of their chipping and putting on courses such as this???

What I say is thank goodness for the journeyman pro (Poulter) and Rookies (Rose and McDowell), as otherwise we would have been thrashed, they carried the other 9 players, and they looked to be the only ones who were realy up for the game.

Hats off to the US though, as despite meticulous work by Azinger, a larger number of his team played out of their skins, and seemed totally unhibited in their shots. Perhaps you can only do this if you are underdogs???

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posted Sep 23, 2008

I don't buy fatigue as an excuse. It's the Ryder cup- you've known about it for 2 years, plan accordingly.
Harrington choose to play in the Fed Ex championships when maybe a rest would have been better.
Harrington's record in the Ryder cup does not reflect that of a 3 time major winner anyway.
Garcia- I don't think he can be a leader yet, he get's too excited and worked up. He's not a calming influence.
Westwood seemed strangely out of sorts. I think there was an issue because he is the one that has also been complaining most about the Americans.
I think these guys have some way to go before they can fill the void of a Ballestaros, Monty or Clarke.
As for Wilson, Hansen and jimenez they were completely outplayed by likes of Kim, Weekly, Holmes.
On the positives all of them will have gained vital experience that will make them stronger in the next ryder cup.

i agree while he cites fatigue there are players who have travelled all over the world trying to make points and playing all tournaments Rose,Wilson and McDowell have all probably played more times than harrington this year

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posted Sep 23, 2008

Tired and fatigued wat a load of rubbish the usual excuse for Harrington when he plays crap,
any one who wins two majors in a year should not feel tired he should be relaxed and confident get your money back from Bob Rotella,he is messing wth your head Harrington, look at Justin Rose and others who had to work so hard to get on the team they did not look tired,

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posted Sep 23, 2008

redbilly_boy

At least his excuses are directed at himself and not at the course/greens etc like a lot of other players after tournaments

When "Justin Rose and others who had to work so hard to get on the team" win back to back majors shortly before a Ryder Cup we'll see how fresh they'll turn up. Until then we don't know as it's mental fatigue Harrington is referring to, not physical.

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posted Sep 23, 2008

redbilly_boy

What are you talking about? Could you not see the guy last week, he looked absolutely shattered. You try and win back to back majors and play tour events week in week out. Harrington has nothing to prove, he is an honest guy who has admitted there was nothing wrong with course, crowd etc. but admitted fatigue. Its only natural if you look at his playing schedule over the past number of months. He has won two majors, top 5 in Masters, been top 5 in other events and more recently has just struggled due to playing too much. the guy deserves a well earned rest and has silenced his critics once again this year.

3 majors in the bag, I would be fairly happy with that as would anybody else in that ryder cup team of ours. come to think of it, did any of the guys on our team even have one????

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