RC Team Is Anyone's Guess

This time a couple of years ago I think the make up of our RC team was sorted, except for the last couple of places and captain's pick options. The captains pick turned out to be the biggest talking point for months leading up to the event.

This time besides the obvious candidates, I think theres plenty of scope and it's wide open. Paddy needs to start performing, and don't think he had his best RC last time. Paul Casey was unlucky to miss out last time, but needs to get some decent form back, as does Gmac. kaymer is another that hits highs a lows, and even though Darren won his first major, his form is at an all time low at the moment. We had high hopes for young Manaserro, but is another that sems to have had a slide, along with his fellow countrymen, the brothers Molinari. Ross Fisher has gone backwards, but Poulter makes a recent come back. Hanson still shows glimpses of good form along with big hitting Alvero, and maybe a resurgent Sergio can make it back, but it does seem to be a wide open list of possibilites so far, and reckon the captains pick is the least of our worries this time.

Donald, McIlroy, Westwood, Kaymer will certainly be there... the are pretty consistent.

Poulter, Garcia and GMac will probably play there way in and if they don't they will be the main contenders for WC based on their recent RC records. Casey could nudge his way into this category if he finds some consistency, rediscovering some of his fine desert form in Jan/February would do his chances no harm at all.

Harrington will need to play his way into the side, I can't see any reason to give him a WC, he has been poor at the last few RC and a shell of the player he was a few years ago. I think Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and MA Jiminez will also need to play their way in despite their good form this year.

They will be competing with a number of top players, Dyson, Quiros, Karlsson, Stenson (similar to Casey - could really do with rediscovering his gulf form), Peter Hanson, Anders Hansen, Alex Noren, the Molinari's, Manassero, Luiten, Laird, Fisher, Rose, possibly Tom Lewis and any bolters early in 2012.

I think the first 8 picks will make it and any of the others, but have doubts about Casey's form and I don't see Harrington making it.

Right now, my 12 from world rankings and captains picks would be...

Luke
Lee
Rory
Kaymer
Poults
Sergio
GMac
Dyson
Casey
Quiros
Noren
Karlsson

If Tom Lewis can come out hot at the start of the year he could force his way in there

Early days for young Tom, I'd be extremely surprised if he made the team. I would also be surprised if Dyson doesn't make the team, I think he is a good gutsy player that really would give absolutely everything. Expect a resurgent Sergio to be in there as well.

Apart from the other obvious choices (Luke, Lee, Rory, Poults) I don't have a clue who will make the team.

Hi Davie,
Difficult to argue with your picks at first glance. Probably means that half the field is now jinxed. Here's the criteria grabbed from the RC website:

"After consultation with European Team Ryder Cup Captain José Maria Olazábal, The European Tour Tournament Committee is pleased to announce a modified qualification procedure for The 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club, Chicago, Illinois, from September 28-30, 2012.

The qualification criteria, beginning at the Omega European Masters at Crans-Sur-Sierre from September 1-4, 2011, and ending at the conclusion of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in 2012, will now see the leading five players from the European Points List joined by the leading five players from the World Points List as automatic qualifiers to the European Team. This represents a reversal of the two lists with the European Points List counting before the World Points List.

Olazábal will then add two Captain’s Picks to complete the 12-man team that will defend The Ryder Cup against the United States at Medinah Country Club."

Will have to study the points a bit but there'll be some surprises no doubt. Have to believe Francesco will be putting his 2 cents in the pot. Matteo and Eddie are currently bums and Lorenzo d'Italia is still too green. Don't think we'll see Padraig until he is the captain one year.

As I said, Its wide open this time, and will probably mean many of the 'promising fringe' guys will buckle down and try and go for some form this year. There are plenty who could force their way in, so its going to be very interesting over the next couple of months.

Venice, whats the status of Martin Laird, is he doing mainly PGA, or has he declared some ET to have a go for a spot?

Poulter has never been everyones cup of tea, but a tough matchplay competitor, and recent form would have him as a shoe-in if he can keep it up. Casey had a drop in form, but then had time out through another injury, but has shown recent form and I think he'll make it, and the same could be said of GMac. Ross Fisher though has had a massive dip which I don't get at all, I know he took time out for the birth of his child etc, but he needs to get it back. Harrington has changed everything again and showed bits a pieces of form, but never held 4-rounds together, but could have a good year. Karllson was in the worlds top 5 not so long ago, and had time out with an eye injury, but again showed bits a pieces recently, so maybe he could do it, but not sure about Stenson. Other Scandinavians there or there abouts, 3 or 4 Italians are capable, Alvaro should make it I hope as he's a crowd pleaser and the Spaniards could make a big push if Sergio carries his recent form through to next year.

Will we have more of an idea after the desert swing?

Jan-Feb will be massive for Casey and Stenson's chances, they are good enough to win elsewhere but this is where they will expect to pick up a lot of points... and if they don't I would be prepared to give them little chance of playing their way in. If they can't find something here then I would imagine they will struggle to find form anywhere else given the competition they face.

Hi Doc,

Difficult to get a grasp on Laird's overall plans as he doesn't appear to promote himself as much as others through the social media channels. One of his sponsors, TaylorMade, probably wants him to establish a strong foothold in the U.S. market and hopefully build on his win last year at the Palmer tourney but pretty sure they'd be delighted if he makes the RC team. But according to the only definitive article I've read about his RC plans which is dated July 6, 2011 he stated:

“It’s definitely high on the list,” Laird said. “I will be joining the European Tour next year and plan to play in a few more tournaments. I want to make it clear that I don’t want to just make the team from staying in America. I want to come back and play a few more events and hopefully be in a situation where I can play myself onto the team."

“It’s a situation where if I just might miss out, at least I’ve made the point that I came back to make the team, that I came over to try to make the team.”

The full article:
http://www.golfweek.com/news/2011/jul/06/laird-strives-make-ryder-cup-team-merit/

I know we have got used to seeing a new Padraig Harrington every year but I think in 2012 we will see him getting back to what he does best, chipping and putting and I think Cowan is just the guy to push him in that direction. I think he will play himself into the team on the world list.

Hogie I'd love to hear why you think he can play himself back into the team (as opposed to "hoping" he can do it). I've seen nothing in the last 12 months to suggest he has a chance. Are you letting your heart rule your head just a little?

There is an old saying about form being temporary but class being permanent. To me, Padraigh seems to be someone who showed a couple of years of "form" rather than a career of "class" (and I'm just talking about his golfing ability - as a person he seems to show plenty of class but not sure it can be applied to his golfing career

Davie wrote:Hogie I'd love to hear why you think he can play himself back into the team (as opposed to "hoping" he can do it). I've seen nothing in the last 12 months to suggest he has a chance. Are you letting your heart rule your head just a little?

There is an old saying about form being temporary but class being permanent. To me, Padraigh seems to be someone who showed a couple of years of "form" rather than a career of "class" (and I'm just talking about his golfing ability - as a person he seems to show plenty of class but not sure it can be applied to his golfing career

Completely disagree with you there Davie, starting in the mid nineties, with 26 professional wins (all over the world) including 3 Majors + RC contributions. If that's not class then what is?

3 Majors means absolutely nothing in a Ryder Cup Matchplay sense.

Look at the best players in recent years in the Ryder Cup : Montgomerie, Garcia, Poulter, then compare their records to Harrington or Woods and 17 Majors mean absolutely nothing to how they'll play in the Ryder Cup.

If Harrington regains form and plays his way into the team, then fair enough, but no one should get into a team on the basis of 3 (or 14) Majors, it's irrelevant.

super_realist wrote:3 Majors means absolutely nothing in a Ryder Cup Matchplay sense.

Look at the best players in recent years in the Ryder Cup : Montgomerie, Garcia, Poulter, then compare their records to Harrington or Woods and 17 Majors mean absolutely nothing to how they'll play in the Ryder Cup.

If Harrington regains form and plays his way into the team, then fair enough, but no one should get into a team on the basis of 3 (or 14) Majors, it's irrelevant.

What's that got to do with the price of fish - What I'm saying, in relation to class is permanent and form is temporary, is that Harrington is, and has been for some time, a class player, regardless of whether you include his Ryder Cup or any other matchplay wins. If you can't recognise that then you have completely missed the point.

Don't be too hard on super - it was me that drew the form/class comparison

Personally I think Pod has a stellar couple of years but IMO he hasn't done enough to go down as an all time "class" player. You obviously disagree and that's cool - no problems from me on opinions. I just don't think he's done enough with a career that SHOULD have been class but ended up IMO as a "form" player

I think there's about 5 shoe-ins for a place (Luke, Lee, Rory & Kaymer....and for those that don't see it yet Sergio) there is then going to be an almighty scrap from about 20 players for the other 7 places. I don't think it'll become any clearer until after the Open in July who the front runners to join those top 5 will be. I also think come August Ollie will still still be left with an almighty dilemma over his Captains picks.

Davie wrote:Don't be too hard on super - it was me that drew the form/class comparison

Personally I think Pod has a stellar couple of years but IMO he hasn't done enough to go down as an all time "class" player. You obviously disagree and that's cool - no problems from me on opinions. I just don't think he's done enough with a career that SHOULD have been class but ended up IMO as a "form" player

The strange thing about Harrington is that apart from the majors he won his form in 2007 and 2008 wasn’t great … he played far better at the end of 2009 but didn’t get a win out of it.

I think Harrington swing looks forced, not like the really natural looking swings of a Sergio or Rory, so people do not give him as much credit as he deserves. But he has enough worldwide wins to be regarded as a “class” player (however that is defined) and don’t forget the ridiculous number of second place finishes he had too so plenty of good golf on his resume.

He is only 40 so it is not as if his career is over yet, if he rediscovers his game he has a few good years left in him. I think he will qualify for the team based on results, he just looks to be playing better since his split with Torrence, he has bagged a couple of top 10's in his last 5 outings and if you get enough top 10's you will fall across the line eventually. I can’t really see him as being a captains pick unless he is very close to qualifying…

As for Harrington’s Ryder Cup record itself, well he had a good percentage of wins prior to the K club in 2006. This percentage dropped drastically after the K club and Valhalla.

I agree with you hogie.

His game is showing signs of improvement recently and he's too good a player not to contest much more this year especially with it being a RC year which he loves playing in although his previous performances have been very average.

I enjoy watching Padraig play especially when he's at his scrambling best and I hope his form (Davie ) returns and he wins this year.

Yads, that's the point I'm trying to make. In the Ryder Cup it doesn't matter if you are considered a class player or have a history as long as your arm. What matters is that you are a player who can play the format and has the mental attitude and composure to do well in it. Majors, strokeplay events and public hype and favouritism don't really matter,hence why Poulter has been by far and away Europes best player in the last two RC's.

I particularly dislike the form is temporary class is permanent analogy about golfers. Class inevitably takes a slide at some point. And in golf that can anywhere from 25 to 50.

super - I dislike the "form is...." analogy in any terms. It's just a twee statement about any sportsman (or celebrity)

Does Rooney have form or class? Beckham? John Terry? In golfing terms, does Daly?

Form always comes down to personal opinions and IMO so does "class"

super_realist wrote:Yads, that's the point I'm trying to make. In the Ryder Cup it doesn't matter if you are considered a class player or have a history as long as your arm. What matters is that you are a player who can play the format and has the mental attitude and composure to do well in it. Majors, strokeplay events and public hype and favouritism don't really matter,hence why Poulter has been by far and away Europes best player in the last two RC's.

I particularly dislike the form is temporary class is permanent analogy about golfers. Class inevitably takes a slide at some point. And in golf that can anywhere from 25 to 50.

I don't disagree with you there Super, but we were previously discussing whether he is a class or form golfer.

I suppose the expression form is temp and class is permanent can be ambiguous; 'class' in my book means winning big competitions over a reasonable period of years and during the bad times being able to 'bounce back' when the results or form has gone against them. Form. however, is in my view, something that may happen on just a few occasions and may never return. Consistently, Harrington has shown the ability, purpose and strength of mind to bounce back. He is a class golfer.