chrisd
Major Champion
I can't argue with this ^^^^^^
Was Clarke a good captain?
- Thread starter LanDog
- Start date
I can't argue with this ^^^^^^
What went wrong? 4-0 on day one left a mountain to climb. Pretty much the best Europe could put out played in that morning foursomes, or arguably didn't turn up. That morning foursomes pretty much picked itself from the rankings and experience.
The following sessions were about catch up and trying to blood the rookies. Credit to the team for getting it close by Saturday lunchtime but the afternoon didn't go too well. Momentum and a very strong USA team were never going to give the Sunday away easily.
I thought the batting order for Sunday was as good as it could be, and the scores posted by many of the team was excellent but I think Sergio's score summed up how good the Americans were. He had to match Mickleson's 10 birdie round for a half.
Were the wild card picks right? Why wasn't Knox picked? He was playing well on a tough tour and is well used to US courses.
My only changes would have been Knox for Westwood. And a different batting order on the Saturday afternoon.
Was DC a good captain? You're measured on results.
The following sessions were about catch up and trying to blood the rookies. Credit to the team for getting it close by Saturday lunchtime but the afternoon didn't go too well. Momentum and a very strong USA team were never going to give the Sunday away easily.
I thought the batting order for Sunday was as good as it could be, and the scores posted by many of the team was excellent but I think Sergio's score summed up how good the Americans were. He had to match Mickleson's 10 birdie round for a half.
Were the wild card picks right? Why wasn't Knox picked? He was playing well on a tough tour and is well used to US courses.
My only changes would have been Knox for Westwood. And a different batting order on the Saturday afternoon.
Was DC a good captain? You're measured on results.
seochris
Challenge Tour Pro
+1
I could not believe what i saw on the Saturday fourballs when Westwood and Willet both bogeyed the par 3 17th...a 180 yard par 3....WTF!
Beezerk
Money List Winner
With one of their opponents in the water as well.
seochris
Challenge Tour Pro
Yes exactly.......And we wonder why we lost!!! The Americans played great to be fair and we missed a bucket full of putts...
jamielaing
Q-School Graduate
I agree that there is a degree of hindsight regarding the picks but why would you keep playing them when it's obvious they weren't playing to any degree of the required standard. Personally I could see it was the wrong decision to pick them at the time although would taking someone else have made a difference we will never know.
Putting them out in every session was madness though.
Again I think we would still have lost, just made it inevitable.
I think the USA simply has better golfers right now and a win with any team would never have happened.
Saw a picture with the U.S TEAM being brought sandwiches by Tiger and Bubba
Europes team has 1 Masters title between them, the guys that bring our teams sandwiches have 6
Saw a picture with the U.S TEAM being brought sandwiches by Tiger and Bubba
Europes team has 1 Masters title between them, the guys that bring our teams sandwiches have 6
351 - Have you seen the Ryder Cup records of your sandwich carriers? No wonder they were carrying butties and not eating them :rofl:
(incidentally, I don't think Clarke did a good job, already elaborated on that, but I agree with you that the US would have won whatever. They had better players this time around. Clarke may have got the scores closer with better picks and pairings but I still think the US would have won)
(incidentally, I don't think Clarke did a good job, already elaborated on that, but I agree with you that the US would have won whatever. They had better players this time around. Clarke may have got the scores closer with better picks and pairings but I still think the US would have won)
SonicBoom
Club Champion
It concerns me that DC has said in the press that even looking back he wouldn't have done anything differently. Er, we lost - and you wouldn't want to change anything??
That said I'm not even sure what a captain does. Seems a cushy number to travel the world for two years watching golf, then have lots of meetings pretending that what tog the players duvets are is going to make a difference.
It also seems to be a role where they spend lots of time deciding on fancy quotes for the team room, or booking Ferguson and Dynamo and getting a ping pong table. Its money for old rope. Most of us could pick a good European team then send out foursomes and fourballs. We certainly couldn't do it much worse than DC with all his "knowledge".
Im not saying Captaincy has no value but the importance of it is massively over blown.
That said I'm not even sure what a captain does. Seems a cushy number to travel the world for two years watching golf, then have lots of meetings pretending that what tog the players duvets are is going to make a difference.
It also seems to be a role where they spend lots of time deciding on fancy quotes for the team room, or booking Ferguson and Dynamo and getting a ping pong table. Its money for old rope. Most of us could pick a good European team then send out foursomes and fourballs. We certainly couldn't do it much worse than DC with all his "knowledge".
Im not saying Captaincy has no value but the importance of it is massively over blown.
Hickory_Hacker
Q-School Graduate
That job will come with a good salary.
I'm not sure about some folk mentioning 'in hindsight' ... I along with a few other golfing buddies gave us no hope and to be honest they got 2 points more than my prediction. Shameful really but its a well paid gig if you can get it!
U
User62651
Guest
Pretty good summation there :smirk: - The duvet tog thing made me chuckle!
Feel free to read up about Dave Brailsford and his thoughts on marginal gains.
Have a look on Youtube for Rhod Gilbert and his tog routine. Very, very funny.
Have a look on Youtube for Rhod Gilbert and his tog routine. Very, very funny.
Some would say he was exceptional..... Davis Love for instance:rofl:
Only the Brits like Duvets the the rest of the Europeans like blankets, a good captain would know that
Rhod Gilbert is very good on the subject of Duvets and Togs
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
I think the point about the morning foursomes is very interesting. A lot of people on here and in the media were happy with the picks and then the players ultimately let Clarke down by not performing. A captain and his vice captains can only do so much and make so many plans but they are still reliant on the players getting the ball in the hole.
I do think he made mistakes with some of the pairings. However I think most captains would say in hindsight that perhaps player A shouldn't have played with player B but sometimes it works and comes off and other times it doesn't. In the singles Clarke had to go top heavy and even if McIlroy had won, I don't believe it will have made a difference to what was happening on the course and we'd still have lost.
I do think he made mistakes with some of the pairings. However I think most captains would say in hindsight that perhaps player A shouldn't have played with player B but sometimes it works and comes off and other times it doesn't. In the singles Clarke had to go top heavy and even if McIlroy had won, I don't believe it will have made a difference to what was happening on the course and we'd still have lost.
Beezerk
Money List Winner
Brailsford is "da man" a true pioneer in sport...I think😁
