President's Cup

[GolfSpy WD]

Team America (Captain Fred Couples)

Tiger Woods

Brandt Snedeker

Phil Mickelson

Matt Kuchar

Jason Dufner

Keegan Bradley

Steve Stricker

Bill Haas

Hunter Mahan

Zach Johnson

*Jordan Spieth

*Web Simpson

 

Missed the cut: Jim Furyk, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, and Dustin Johnson.

 

Team International (Captain Nick Price)

Adam Scott

Charles Schwartzel

Jason Day

Ernie Els

Louis Oosthuizen

Hideki Matsuyama

Branden Grace

Graham DeLaet

Richard Sterne

Angel Carbrera.

*Brendon de Jonge

*Marc Leishman

 

* Captain's Picks

[GolfSpy WD]

Love the Spieth pick. Not crazy about Simpson. I personally like Bubba more than Simpson, but that pick was a toss up as long as he didn't pick Furyk or Fowler.

 

Team America is going to tear through this one!

[Mr_Theoo]

Wish I was able to go watch it!

[RoverRick]

I was thinking about starting a thread about this all week. Earlier I was going to lobby for the selection of Webb and Jordan. Couples already had enough people telling him to do that.

 

Webb and Jordan are excellent pics for the very reasons Couples said. Simpson, has been in the top 10 for 2 years. While he has struggled to putt four good rounds together in a weekend, he has had many great rounds. Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker played awesome last weekend to bump Simpson out of the automatic qualifiers. Jordan Speith is simply an awesome player and no doubt is the Rookie of the Year.

[RoverRick]

I was not done expressing my thoughts here. I was so disappointed last year at the Ryder Cup with Furyk and Stricker. I had been a big advocate of them being Captain's picks. I bought into the "leadership" and "experience" they brought to the team. I was so disappointed when both, but especially Stricker, made comments about they are not leaders in the pre-tournament press conferences. We have since seen that the experience they bring is how to lose a tournament or a match in the closing seconds. I would not pick either of these guys in my Wednesday Night Scramble Team. Ok, it depends on who else is available, because they definitely are better than my other choices.

 

Ricky Fowler is not a bad choice. He has played better lately but for most of the year he has left a bit to be desired.

 

Bubba Watson, well, he has not done much since he hit the wedge out of the woods.

 

Dustin Johnson has his mind on other asses, I mean assets right now.

[whiskey golf]

I agree with the idea of Spieth being picked but not a big fan of Simpson.

[whiskey golf]

Dustin Johnson has his mind on other asses, I mean assets right now.

 

This is great, definitely true.

[Golfn' Dude]

I'm not big at all on the Webb Simpson pick. Jordan Spieth was a no brainer as far as I was concerned. If you look at the stats for their last 6 starts - Simpson, Spieth, and Furyk - Simpson does not hold a stick to either one of those guys. Not sure about Watson's stats, but I really don't think he's been all that impressive this year. As I said in an article I wrote, I think Freddie may live to regret this decision. Hope not.

 

And I'm not necessarily pro-Furyk...his twitching and slow play can get to me but from a performance standpoint, if you look at the stats of the last 6 events him and Spieth aren't that far off.

 

I'm Freddie I want players that are hot leading up to the picks. For me, Spieth and Furyk IN and Simpson out.

[Golfn' Dude]

I would say that is fairly accurate. Dude needs to start playing again. Lots of natural talent but nows his time.

 

This is great, definitely true.

[Golfn' Dude]

And lets not forget the international side...a boatload of talent there. Louis could be a question mark with his back/neck. Hope not. Love watching that dude swing and play.

 

Should be fun to watch.

 

Team America (Captain Fred Couples)

Tiger Woods

Brandt Snedeker

Phil Mickelson

Matt Kuchar

Jason Dufner

Keegan Bradley

Steve Stricker

Bill Haas

Hunter Mahan

Zach Johnson

*Jordan Spieth

*Web Simpson

 

Missed the cut: Jim Furyk, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, and Dustin Johnson.

 

Team International (Captain Nick Price)

Adam Scott

Charles Schwartzel

Jason Day

Ernie Els

Louis Oosthuizen

Hideki Matsuyama

Branden Grace

Graham DeLaet

Richard Sterne

Angel Carbrera.

*Brendon de Jonge

*Marc Leishman

 

* Captain's Picks

[Hula Rock]

Furyk = 5-0 ......... I'm just saying......

[RoverRick]

Furyk = 5-0 ......... I'm just saying......

 

 

 

Furyk qualified for every President's or Ryder Cup team from 1997 until 2012. He might have qualified for the 2012 Ryder Cup team except for two shots that could have cost him two wins. One was the 3-wood he hooked into the trees on the 16th hole at the U.S. Open, and the other was an approach that missed the 18th green at Firestone and led to a double-bogey. He was picked for the Ryder Cup team, a move that I thought was good at the time, and then collapsed on the last two holes finishing bogey bogey to lose to Sergio Garcia of all people.

 

This year, he had a one shot lead at the PGA Championship, a win that would have assured him a place on the team, and played poorly on the last day. I really like Jim Furyk but he is becoming a head case on par with Sergio Garcia, whom he lost to in the Ryder Cup, as far as being unable to finish a tournament.

 

He has not won a tournament since 2010 and has blown last day leads in at least 6 events since then. Until he proves he can close another event, there is no reason to waste a pick on him. IMHO.

 

I am not so sure Webb is best pick, and just because he was qualified for most of the two years, but I can understand that pick. Certainly, Speith is more deserving than these others. Points are accrued for two years and he was not on the tour last year.

[Golfn' Dude]

I can understand what you're saying about Furyk, and how points are accrued over the past two years. Furyk has just been playing pretty solid leading up to it. If he wasn't I'd be saying to leave him at home for sure. Just a gut feeling I suppose. But i would have picked him and Spieth.

 

Spieth was a great pick. An obvious one at this point in the game.

 

Here's a question to throw out there...if not Furyk then who is the next best pick based on standings and play leading in? Tough to find one, in my opinion.

 

Food for thought...

 

Furyk qualified for every President's or Ryder Cup team from 1997 until 2012. He might have qualified for the 2012 Ryder Cup team except for two shots that could have cost him two wins. One was the 3-wood he hooked into the trees on the 16th hole at the U.S. Open, and the other was an approach that missed the 18th green at Firestone and led to a double-bogey. He was picked for the Ryder Cup team, a move that I thought was good at the time, and then collapsed on the last two holes finishing bogey bogey to lose to Sergio Garcia of all people.

 

This year, he had a one shot lead at the PGA Championship, a win that would have assured him a place on the team, and played poorly on the last day. I really like Jim Furyk but he is becoming a head case on par with Sergio Garcia, whom he lost to in the Ryder Cup, as far as being unable to finish a tournament.

 

He has not won a tournament since 2010 and has blown last day leads in at least 6 events since then. Until he proves he can close another event, there is no reason to waste a pick on him. IMHO.

 

I am not so sure Webb is best pick, and just because he was qualified for most of the two years, but I can understand that pick. Certainly, Speith is more deserving than these others. Points are accrued for two years and he was not on the tour last year.

[RoverRick]

I can understand what you're saying about Furyk, and how points are accrued over the past two years. Furyk has just been playing pretty solid leading up to it. If he wasn't I'd be saying to leave him at home for sure. Just a gut feeling I suppose. But i would have picked him and Spieth.

 

Spieth was a great pick. An obvious one at this point in the game.

 

Here's a question to throw out there...if not Furyk then who is the next best pick based on standings and play leading in? Tough to find one, in my opinion.

 

Food for thought...

 

 

 

If you look at the Yahoo Fantasy Golf points by round you can see how they do, relative to the leader, every day. To me, it tells a story of the players. Since most have over 20 tournaments at this stage you can get a feel for how they play through out the week. Fridays, when they are trying to make the cut, and you have to make 15 cuts to make my team. Sundays, when the pressure is really on, is really the most important stat. This is also the day during the cup where every player has to stand on their own and win for team/country. The pressure can really be on them at this point.

 

Furyk's Sunday score sucks 7.38 points. There are at least 70 Americans that play better than Furyk on Sundays. Tiger's Sundays are bad also but he is still he averages 9.8. Webb is 10.35 and that puts him in Mickelson territory. DJ is 9.67 and Bubba is 7.33 and Fowler is 8.14 and Speith is 9.73.

 

This is an important number to me because there is no round 5. That is it. Play on Sunday, more than any other time, affects the pay check, and points standing, and their status. Based on this rating system, the order of merit is:

 

Webb Simpson

Jordan Speith

Dustin Johnson

Rickie Fowler

Jim Furyk

Bubba Watson

 

Granted, this does not take into account strength of the field, but these are top tier players and generally only play top tier events. So I guess I am going on record as saying I think these are excellent picks and would do the same if I were Captain.

 

Keep in mind that I was fired as Ryder Cup Captain last year for my horrendous captain's pics. Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker. Haha.

[Golfn' Dude]

Funny you say that about being fired as captain. When I give my two cents worth, at the end of the day what the hell do I really know. Haha. Or anyone for that matter. Simpson could go out and be the best player out there. Or stink it up. Time will tell. Should be fun to watch.