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2008 U.S. Ryder Cup captain

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by TwoGloves, Sep 24, 2006.

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Who will be the next U.S. captain to lose the Ryder Cup?

  1. Paul Azinger

    8 vote(s)
    33.3%
  2. Mark Calcavecchia

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  3. Fred Couples

    1 vote(s)
    4.2%
  4. Fred Funk

    2 vote(s)
    8.3%
  5. Jay Haas

    1 vote(s)
    4.2%
  6. Mark O'Meara

    9 vote(s)
    37.5%
  7. Corey Pavin

    3 vote(s)
    12.5%
  1. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    The PGA of America will never have a captain who didn't win a major, so scratch Funk and Haas.
    They should make Larry Nelson the captain: ex Vietnam combat veteran, three majors, going into the Hall of Fame next month, class act. But he may be too old. He should have been the captain in 1997.

    They've tried nice guys (Kite, Lehman). They've tried tough guys (Strange, Sutton). They've tried picking everyone's drinking buddy (Wadkins). Maybe no captain can overcome the fact that Phil doesn't care, Tiger doesn't play well with others, DiMarco can't fist-pump his way into hitting a drive longer than 260 yards and we always seem to get rookies who are scared to death (Wetterich and Henry this year, Campbell and Kenny Perry in 2004).
     
  2. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Oh.

    Sorry, my bad.
     
  3. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    If they wanted to win, they'd pick Johnny Miller. It's so easy.

    When I think of Funk, I always remember that he was one of the most vocal when Tiger first went pro. He kept saying Tiger would never amount to anything -- couldn't "hang" with the PGA Tour guys. Plus he felt Tiger was getting too much attention.

    Mr. Lugs and I often mock a sour-grapes Funk quote whenever Tiger does something good: "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger. All we hear is Tiger."
     
  4. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Luggie, that's fabulous. Miller could use his captain's walkie-talkie to second-guess himself live on NBC.
     
  5. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    ;D Now you're thinking like a TV person! (I'm kidding.) Or better yet, he could use it to rip his players. "Mickelson stinks. Dan, back to you."

    I just looked up Miller's Ryder Cup record: 2-2-2. Doesn't exactly help his cause.
     
  6. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    Does it really matter who coaches? I mean, it's an individual sport, just in a team format; you can't do much more than put the best out there and hope. These multigazillionaire players aren't going to listen to pep talks. The key is to pick players who are really eager to do it, and who will give up time from the Tour to play on the Ryder course or courses like that a few times for at least a couple of months before the event. Instead of having a point system based on a non-Ryder (and thus irrelevant) format, have a blue-ribbon panel choose from among the players who seek out a spot on the team.
     
  7. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    dools,

    It's not really 'coaching,' it's captaining. If you read the first few chapters of A Good Walk Spoiled, you'll understand. It tells the story of Tom Watson's brilliant captaincy in '93.

    A lot of us feel the pairing decisions end up being critical. Personally, I think Tiger and Phil should be put with the weakest teammates. If they feel intense pressure to "carry" the pairing, they might play better.
     
  8. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    But not every player can make the adjustment from playing with only himself in mind to playing with the partner's strengths and weaknesses in mind. In the end, it's still an individual making a shot against the course. That's why the selection process is more critical than the coaching/captaining process, whatever you want to call it. That's why you pick people who are willing to give up the chance at hundreds of thousands for a couple of months. In that process, you can develop complementary pairings. And the best "team" may very well not include Woods or Mickelson, if they don't want to buy in.
     
  9. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    Sorry, I think the word "coach" is a complete misnomer for the position.

    Again, I refer you to A Good Walk Spoiled -- just the first few chapters.

    And yes, I agree the selection process is important as well.
     
  10. TwoGloves

    TwoGloves Well-Known Member

    I also think Nelson would be a good pick. But I think the PGA of America is too caught up in this crap of the captain having to be somebody who is in his mid-40s and is "in touch" with the PGA Tour. Nicklaus sure hasn't done badly as a President's Cup captain, has he? Here's an idea, ask Nicklaus and Watson and guys like that who they think would be a good captain.
     
  11. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    You must have a really old quote there or are mistaken. I cover 8-10 Tour events a year, and the guys who are out there that much and more know that if you really need a positive quote about Tiger from a veteran player, Funk is a go-to guy. He always praises Tiger and what he's done for the Tour.
     
  12. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    Why isn't it Tiger? The greatest golfer of all time is an American, he should be Captain For Life. Generalissimo Francisco Tiger Woods
     
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