Stricker Hosed: Totally Lame-an Picks for the Ryder Cup
Not that captain's picks usually make or break a Ryder Cup team, but I think Lehman's wild card choices were a bit too safe. Stewart Cink? Weak.
Cink finished the weekend 12th in the Ryder Cup standings. However, he has a few things going against him, in my book.
1) He doesn't win very often.
2) He has a poor Ryder Cup record.
3) He has no fire and scares no one on the European side.
Cink's record is 2-4-1 in the Ryder Cup. That's not exactly lighting it up. He's won four PGA events, and hasn't won since 2004. He either places high in many events that don't mean much, or he hangs out around the perifery of the leaderboard at big tournaments, but never makes a charge. He's interchangeable with Bob Estes. Thrilling...
Jim Furyk's old nickname was T-4, because he played well but rarely won. Cink should take over the nickname, but it should be T-12 instead. It's not an inspired choice, and it was easy for Tom to do since he and Stewie are such good friends.
Verplank is a better pick for what Lehman was obviously looking for -- a solid veteran. Since Lehman felt compelled to pick a veteran, I would have liked him to choose a young player to complement Verplank. I would have taken Ryan Moore, Lucas Glover, or Arron Oberholser.
Though I can accept Verplank, Lehman missed the boat entirely by not picking Steve Stricker. He's earned his way on the team, and he really WANTS to be there. He can putt like a demon, and he never gives up. Plus, his game is on the upswing this year.
Here are my top 5 best combinations of wild card picks:
1) Stricker and Moore
2) Stricker and Jerry Kelly
3) Stricker and Oberholser
4) Stricker and Glover
5) Stricker and Verplank.
If the U.S. doesn't win this year, there's going to be a lot of second-guessing of Lame-an's safe picks. If they lose, it would be sweet to see Steve Stricker win the Valero Texas Open and begin making his case for 2008.
Cink finished the weekend 12th in the Ryder Cup standings. However, he has a few things going against him, in my book.
1) He doesn't win very often.
2) He has a poor Ryder Cup record.
3) He has no fire and scares no one on the European side.
Cink's record is 2-4-1 in the Ryder Cup. That's not exactly lighting it up. He's won four PGA events, and hasn't won since 2004. He either places high in many events that don't mean much, or he hangs out around the perifery of the leaderboard at big tournaments, but never makes a charge. He's interchangeable with Bob Estes. Thrilling...
Jim Furyk's old nickname was T-4, because he played well but rarely won. Cink should take over the nickname, but it should be T-12 instead. It's not an inspired choice, and it was easy for Tom to do since he and Stewie are such good friends.
Verplank is a better pick for what Lehman was obviously looking for -- a solid veteran. Since Lehman felt compelled to pick a veteran, I would have liked him to choose a young player to complement Verplank. I would have taken Ryan Moore, Lucas Glover, or Arron Oberholser.
Though I can accept Verplank, Lehman missed the boat entirely by not picking Steve Stricker. He's earned his way on the team, and he really WANTS to be there. He can putt like a demon, and he never gives up. Plus, his game is on the upswing this year.
Here are my top 5 best combinations of wild card picks:
1) Stricker and Moore
2) Stricker and Jerry Kelly
3) Stricker and Oberholser
4) Stricker and Glover
5) Stricker and Verplank.
If the U.S. doesn't win this year, there's going to be a lot of second-guessing of Lame-an's safe picks. If they lose, it would be sweet to see Steve Stricker win the Valero Texas Open and begin making his case for 2008.
posted by John Gorman at 12:10 PM
2 Comments:
JET-
Your points are well-taken, and I respect your opinion. However, the US squad over the past few Ryder Cups has tried to go the veteran route, and it hasn't produced many wins (one out of five). Maybe this year should have been a laboratory for making gutsy picks. What do they have to lose other than another Ryder Cup?
Ryan Moore hasn't done enough to merit being picked based on points, but he did step up this week. Plus he was out a lot of the year with that wrist injury. He is lights-out in match play, as evidenced by his Amateur record. The guy may be young, but he's money.
As far as Bonds and the Negro Leagues goes, Ryan may be confused about that because that league is irrelevant, and so is Barry. We all know Barry Franklin is the only relevant person in baseball history...
How much do you want to bet on the Purdue game? $50? With your confidence, we might as well bet straight up, no points.
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