Yesterday's decision by the European Tour's Tournament Committee to appoint Paul McGinley as the European Ryder Cup captain for 2014 was absolutely bang on the money.
The 46 year old Irishman was simply the only man for the job despite the late pleas of the man who captained Europe in 2010, Colin Montgomerie. It would have been absolutely outrageous if 'Monty' had been given the job again.
And I say that as someone who is from the same town as Montgomerie and you would also be hard pushed to find someone who was more disappointed when he blew his chance to finally win a major title at the US Open in 2006.
However, it is time to move on from this debacle and get behind McGinley who I think will be an excellent European captain at Gleneagles for many reasons. Firstly, he has the support of the entire team at Medinah, a large chunk of who will be members at Gleneagles too.
As seen with Nick Faldo's disastrous captaincy in 2008 (the only time Europe have lost the Ryder Cup in this century), if you don't have the support of the 12 men on the team, then you are already facing a massive uphill struggle to win the trophy. With Twitter support coming from the world's best two players in Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald plus the miracle man of Medinah, Ian Poulter, then it is clear for all to see who Europe's top men wanted as captain in 2014.
Factor in the support of successful former European captains Bernard Gallacher, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam and you quickly realise the Irishman isn't short of experienced heads to turn to for advice.
McGinley is one of these typical Europeans that come alive when the Ryder Cup comes around. He may give out a pretty calm persona most of the time, but he thrives on this sort of event. He was never on a losing side in three appearances between 2002-2006 and most famously holed the winning putt to win the Ryder Cup back for Europe at the Belfry in 2002.
There was a false perception going around before the decision was made to appoint McGinley that he wasn't a 'home captain' and the European committee simply had to pick someone to rival American captain Tom Watson. With all due respect, that was an utterly ridiculous opinion. McGinley might not be as passionate and charismatic as say a Seve Ballesteros or Ian Woosnam or indeed his opposite number Tom Watson, but he has tactical nous in abundance that can enable the Europeans to win again at Gleneagles.
There can be no arguing that the last two Ryder Cups have been absolutely thrilling as Europe have fought back to win them both. However, there was a real chance that we would be remembering Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal as losing European captains, rather than winning ones.
The true great European captains of the last decade were Bernard Langer and Ian Woosnam in 2004 and 2006 respectively when Europe won 18.5-9.5 on both occasions. I am not foolish enough to suggest that McGinley is going to lead his side at Gleneagles to this level of victory, but the best quality of Langer in particular was his incredible attention to detail.
McGinley will be another captain that will leave absolutely nothing to chance. He will make sure that every pairing is spot on and that every American player's strengths and weaknesses are analysed down to a tee. The Seve Trophy is not on the same scale as the Ryder Cup in terms of prestige, but it was this sort of planning in 2009 and 2011 that enabled McGinley as captain of the Great Britain and Ireland team to lead them to victories over continental Europe.
McGinley might not be as well known as Tom Watson, but he can match him in terms of motivation, tactics and organisation. You really can't ask for much more from a European captain.
Being European Ryder Cup captain is a monumental task for any man and McGinley will come under intense scrutiny until the event begins and during the three days at Gleneagles.
But as he has shown as a Vice-Captain in the previous two events and as a winning player on three occasions, he handles high pressured situations extremely well.
Wednesday 16 January 2013
Tuesday 8 January 2013
Why Michael Van Gerwen is the future of darts
Dutch darts player Michael Van Gerwen may have lost the PDC World Championship final on New Years Day, but he surely won't have to wait too long to get his hands on the trophy.
He was defeated by the greatest man to ever throw a dart, Phil Taylor, by seven sets to four at the Alexandra Palace but at one stage he led 4-2 and had darts to extend that lead further.
Taylor's class and experience ultimately shown through as he fought back to win a 16th world title.
However, in many ways the 2013 PDC World Championship was all about Van Gerwen. Still only 23, MVG finally delivered on the biggest stage of them all having came to life in the previous big events before the World Championship in reaching the Grand Slam final and winning the World Grand Prix in Dublin.
Phil 'The Power' Taylor will be around for a few years yet and stated after winning on New Years Day that he hopes to achieve an incredible 20 world titles by the time he retires. However, Van Gerwen is well placed to go on and be one of the favourites every year for the World Championship now and in the next decade become the undisputed world number one.
For years Van Gerwen was touted as the next big darts player after he burst on the scene and won the World Masters at the age of 17 in 2006, but over the next few years he flattered to deceive and from 2008-2012, he never got past the third round at the PDC World Championship. And somewhat remarkably, his best finish in a major PDC event in those years was a 4th round exit at the UK Open in 2011.
In October 2012, it suddenly clicked for MVG at the oche in Dublin. He defeated former world number 1 Colin Lloyd, two-time world champion Adrian Lewis and top 6 players Andy Hamilton and Wes Newton, before coming from 4-1 down to beat Mervyn King in the final.
He continued his fantastic form the following month at the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts, where he produced one of the finest performances of the darting year when he defeated Taylor 10-5 and averaged over 108 before losing to fellow Dutchman Raymond Van Barneveld in the final.
Van Gerwen's form meant for the first time in 20 years, Taylor wasn't favourite for the World Championship and instead the Dutchman was installed as the favourite at the bookies. After a shaky start, he showed his clinical best in an unbelievable quarter final match with Adrian Lewis. Both men averaged over 100, with each of them pounding the treble 20 like there was no tomorrow before Van Gerwen stepped in to steal the match with three successive legs.
He saved his best for the 6-4 semi final win over James Wade though. Sitting at home watching the match with a fellow darts loving friend, we both cheered for joy when he hit a fast and furious perfect nine darter. And then he almost did it again. This was the moment when MVG mania went through the roof.
And his style of play is what the fans want to see. There can be no doubting that players like Justin Pipe and Mark Walsh have quality in abundance, but their slow play can often turn off fans both at the venue and at home.
Van Gerwen throws unbelievably quick yet hits an absolute barrage of 180s throughout the match, which he regularly celebrates with huge roars of joy. With darts continuing to grow and grow, Van Gerwen is the ultimate arena player and will be a joy to watch as the Premier League tours the country over the first half of the year.
Darts fans are a unique bunch. With the pints flowing and just about everyone in fancy dress, the atmosphere at these events is just getting louder and louder. With Van Gerwen regularly averagig over 100 every three darts and with the ability to hit nine darters in every match he plays, Van Gerwen is the face of the new darting world.
Expect the fans favourite to cement his place at the top of the world just as quick as he throws over the next year.
He was defeated by the greatest man to ever throw a dart, Phil Taylor, by seven sets to four at the Alexandra Palace but at one stage he led 4-2 and had darts to extend that lead further.
Taylor's class and experience ultimately shown through as he fought back to win a 16th world title.
However, in many ways the 2013 PDC World Championship was all about Van Gerwen. Still only 23, MVG finally delivered on the biggest stage of them all having came to life in the previous big events before the World Championship in reaching the Grand Slam final and winning the World Grand Prix in Dublin.
Phil 'The Power' Taylor will be around for a few years yet and stated after winning on New Years Day that he hopes to achieve an incredible 20 world titles by the time he retires. However, Van Gerwen is well placed to go on and be one of the favourites every year for the World Championship now and in the next decade become the undisputed world number one.
For years Van Gerwen was touted as the next big darts player after he burst on the scene and won the World Masters at the age of 17 in 2006, but over the next few years he flattered to deceive and from 2008-2012, he never got past the third round at the PDC World Championship. And somewhat remarkably, his best finish in a major PDC event in those years was a 4th round exit at the UK Open in 2011.
In October 2012, it suddenly clicked for MVG at the oche in Dublin. He defeated former world number 1 Colin Lloyd, two-time world champion Adrian Lewis and top 6 players Andy Hamilton and Wes Newton, before coming from 4-1 down to beat Mervyn King in the final.
He continued his fantastic form the following month at the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts, where he produced one of the finest performances of the darting year when he defeated Taylor 10-5 and averaged over 108 before losing to fellow Dutchman Raymond Van Barneveld in the final.
Van Gerwen's form meant for the first time in 20 years, Taylor wasn't favourite for the World Championship and instead the Dutchman was installed as the favourite at the bookies. After a shaky start, he showed his clinical best in an unbelievable quarter final match with Adrian Lewis. Both men averaged over 100, with each of them pounding the treble 20 like there was no tomorrow before Van Gerwen stepped in to steal the match with three successive legs.
He saved his best for the 6-4 semi final win over James Wade though. Sitting at home watching the match with a fellow darts loving friend, we both cheered for joy when he hit a fast and furious perfect nine darter. And then he almost did it again. This was the moment when MVG mania went through the roof.
And his style of play is what the fans want to see. There can be no doubting that players like Justin Pipe and Mark Walsh have quality in abundance, but their slow play can often turn off fans both at the venue and at home.
Van Gerwen throws unbelievably quick yet hits an absolute barrage of 180s throughout the match, which he regularly celebrates with huge roars of joy. With darts continuing to grow and grow, Van Gerwen is the ultimate arena player and will be a joy to watch as the Premier League tours the country over the first half of the year.
Darts fans are a unique bunch. With the pints flowing and just about everyone in fancy dress, the atmosphere at these events is just getting louder and louder. With Van Gerwen regularly averagig over 100 every three darts and with the ability to hit nine darters in every match he plays, Van Gerwen is the face of the new darting world.
Expect the fans favourite to cement his place at the top of the world just as quick as he throws over the next year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)