Another Ryder Cup has finished and once again it is the European team who will be taking the trophy home for another two years.
Paul McGinley's men sealed a 16.5-11.5 triumph at Gleneagles to secure their third win in a row and eighth win in the last ten outings.
So what were the main factors behind another European triumph?
1. Paul McGinley's performance as captain
The hero of the 2002 Ryder Cup as a player when he holed the winning putt barely put a foot wrong as captain 12 years later. Having been backed by the vast majority of players including Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell, he didn't let them down and created a wonderful spirit amongst the Europe dressing room.
His attention to detail was second to none and when he had to make big decisions on pairings, he got most of them spot on. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson was a decision that bore Europe three points. Foursome partnerships between experienced players like Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood alongside rookies Victor Dubuisson and Jamie Donaldson respectively bore four points in total and were key to victory.
And on the final day, his decision to send out Graeme McDowell first in the singles paid dividends when G-Mac fought from three down to beat Jordan Spieth 2+1. G-Mac is someone who would kill his own granny, so to speak for a singles win and he was exactly the right choice to lead the Europeans out to make sure momentum remained with the home side.
2. The team spirit.
As has been said so many times over the last decade or so, the Ryder Cup always seems to mean more to the European team no matter the team line-up and that was the case once again at Gleneagles. This time around there was nine different nationalities in the European team but they all came together to play for a continent.
Meanwhile, certain Americans looked like they would have rather been anywhere else bar the centenary course at Gleneagles. Bubba Watson barely cracked a smile all weekend. Jimmy Walker looked like he'd have preferred to be on holiday. For all his antics particularly on the Sunday, Patrick Reed at least showed some passion as did fellow rookie Jordan Spieth.
Ian Poulter's passion at Medinah inspired the rest of his European team. Perhaps if Reed had some help in that regard, it would have been a lot closer.
It is truly incredible that every two years 12 men come together to give their all for a continent, yet only twice in the last 15 years have 12 American golfers looked like caring for the Ryder Cup.
3. The foursome results
Europe won the two foursome sessions by a combined 7-1. USA didn't even win a match in those afternoon sessions on the Friday and Saturday relying on two halves to make up that score. That is a truly stunning result and once again shows how the foursome pairings for Europe gelled together and how the Americans simply couldn't get chemistry going with each other bar two rookies in the form of Spieth and Reed.
America more than held their own throughout the rest of the Ryder Cup and indeed won both fourball sessions and put up a great fight in the singles today for long spells. But you can't lose one format 7-1 and expect to win the Ryder Cup.
4. Bad decisions by Tom Watson
As good as Paul McGinley performed as European captain, criticism has to come the way of American captain Tom Watson. Watson was picked because he was the last American captain to win the trophy on European soil, back in 1993 at the Belfry. And there aren't many more respected figures in the world of golf than Watson.
However, for all his experience he got some decisions badly wrong this weekend. The decision to bench Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed on the Friday afternoon was astounding. The pair had performed brilliantly in the morning to defeat Poulter and Stephen Gallacher 5+4 and were raring to go. The fact that they were benched would have given the European team a big confidence boost.
Another poor decision by Watson was to bench Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley for the entire day yesterday. Although they had been beaten 3+2 by McDowell and Dubuisson on Friday afternoon, the pair had proved a tremendous pair at Medinah and surely deserved a chance to put things right. Furthermore, Mickelson was the senior figure in the US team and the seeming lack of trust by Watson in him was strange and it is no surprise to hear that "Lefty" has already criticised Watson's captaincy formula.
5. The differences in choice of vice-captains
Whilst there's certainly a case for arguing that McGinley's appointment of five vice captains was excessive, he certainly made wiser appointments to the team room than Watson.
By hiring Jose Maria Olazabal and Sam Torrance, he had hired two successful European captains, including the man who turned it around at Medinah two years ago. And in Torrance he had someone who knew the course inside out. Factor in the cool and charismatic personality of Miguel Angel Jimenez, and the knowledge of Des Smyth and Padraig Harrington, then McGinley had a winning formula.
Contrast that with Tom Watson. He piled on the experience to his side by picking 72 year old Ray Floyd and 64 year old Andy North. In hindsight this was a mistake. Whilst experience can be an advantage in any sport, in the Ryder Cup it is better to pick vice-captains who still have links with the players. In fairness, Watson did try to do that by selecting Steve Stricker as his third vice-captain. But where were they during the weekend? You barely saw them on Sky's coverage.
Why didn't Watson pick Paul Azinger, the successful Ryder Cup captain from 2008 or even a Justin Leonard or David Toms figure. Another area where McGinley got one over on Watson.
In two years time at Hazeltine, Europe will be strong favourites to win a fourth successive Ryder Cup, something they have never achieved before. There will be strong competition for places considering players like Luke Donald, Francesco Molinari and Nicolas Colsaerts missed out this time to name a few.
For America, they have two years to find a team spirit to stop this tournament developing into one that was as one sided in the pre European days.
Sunday 28 September 2014
Thursday 25 September 2014
First Blood to Europe: Friday morning's Ryder Cup fourballs
The time for shouting is just about all over. At 7.35 am tomorrow the first tee shots will be hit in the 40th Ryder Cup and once again the eyes of the world will be on Scotland.
The 2014 edition at Gleneagles certainly has a lot to live up to after "The Miracle of Medinah" two years ago, when Europe came from 10-4 down at one stage on the Saturday to win and another superb tournament at Celtic Manor in 2010.
Today's opening ceremony certainly threw up some interesting pairings on both sides for tomorrow morning's opening fourball matches.
Here's how I think they'll go.
Match One: Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson (Eur) V Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson (USA)
A match featuring three Majors and a FedEx Cup winner isn't a bad way to get the Ryder Cup under way. Rose and Stenson are two of the greatest drivers of the ball in the European team, and they aren't too bad at iron play either which should set up plenty of birdies for both of them.
However, they will come up against a very formidable American pair. Two time Masters champion and US Open champion Webb Simpson formed a superb partnership at Medinah as they won two fourball matches 5+4, including one against Rose when he partnered Francesco Molinari.
I expect this one to go down the 18th and such is the standard of golfers on both sides in this match, I'm going to give each team a half for this match.
Match Two: Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer (Eur) V Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker (USA)
The Bjorn/Kaymer partnership took me aback somewhat when it was announced earlier. Bjorn's experience cannot be denied and Kaymer's won two of the biggest tournaments in golf this year, but I was surprised to see McGinley leave out matchplay specialist Graeme McDowell or even Lee Westwood out altogether.
It's still a strong pairing though with Kaymer back to his best this year, after being at this worst in the run up to the 2012 Ryder Cup, where he still managed to hole the winning putt. Bjorn is enjoying a comeback in his 40s like so many golfers do nowadays and is one of the most respected golfers on tour.
However, I think that the US pairing of Fowler and Walker will have too much for them. Fowler has the potential to become a talisman for his side over the weekend having finished in the top five in all four majors this year whilst Walker has enjoyed three wins this season and his long hitting will setup plenty birdie opportunities.
USA to get the first full point of the match in this one.
Match Three: Stephen Gallacher and Ian Poulter (Eur) V Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed (USA)
The hometown hero and Mr Ryder Cup against two Ryder Cup rookies. I know where my money is going in match three and let's just say it might just get messy for Spieth and Reed.
The noise that will greet Gallacher and Poulter at the first tee at 8.05am tomorrow morning will be unbelievable and will give rookie Gallacher a massive boost. Poulter is of course 'Mr Ryder Cup' and boasts a record of 12 wins out of 15 matches. I've had a few texts from friends saying they think Poulter is due a bad Ryder Cup, but all I see is someone that is fired up to deliver again.
Spieth and Reed are two youngsters who have burst onto the scene in the last year or so and like most rookies, they will be fired up. But Watson has made an error here by putting two rookies together rather than pairing one of them with say a Jim Furyk figure.
Europe to win this one.
Match Four: Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy (Eur) V Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley (USA)
Mouthwatering. That's the only word to describe the final fourball match of tomorrow morning. And after Phil Mickelson's "litigation" jibe towards McIlroy yesterday, it comes with added spice.
McIlroy and Garcia is a partnership which intrigues me as I thought Rory would be paired with Poulter. But the men who pushed each other so close at the Open will team up to form an incredible partnership. McIlroy has been in scintillating form throughout this year, winning back to back majors and cementing his position at the top of the world rankings.
And Garcia looks like a man who is loving his golf again and he isn't far off Poulter in terms of someone who thrives on the Ryder Cup.
But the pair from Northern Ireland and Spain respectively will face the partnership that blew Europe away for two days at Medinah in the form of Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. Neither has been at the top of their game this year but the pair thrive off each other's personality and will be keen to avenge that loss at Medinah more than anyone.
I'm sticking my neck out though and I'll say Europe to win this one on the 18th green to take a 2.5-1.5 lead into the afternoon.
The Ryder Cup is three days of sporting action every two years that has me glued to the television (or in the case of the Medinah match, my friends Sky Go on his phone as I was on a trip to London) and the fact that it is in Scotland makes that little bit extra special this year. Let battle commence.
The 2014 edition at Gleneagles certainly has a lot to live up to after "The Miracle of Medinah" two years ago, when Europe came from 10-4 down at one stage on the Saturday to win and another superb tournament at Celtic Manor in 2010.
Today's opening ceremony certainly threw up some interesting pairings on both sides for tomorrow morning's opening fourball matches.
Here's how I think they'll go.
Match One: Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson (Eur) V Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson (USA)
A match featuring three Majors and a FedEx Cup winner isn't a bad way to get the Ryder Cup under way. Rose and Stenson are two of the greatest drivers of the ball in the European team, and they aren't too bad at iron play either which should set up plenty of birdies for both of them.
However, they will come up against a very formidable American pair. Two time Masters champion and US Open champion Webb Simpson formed a superb partnership at Medinah as they won two fourball matches 5+4, including one against Rose when he partnered Francesco Molinari.
I expect this one to go down the 18th and such is the standard of golfers on both sides in this match, I'm going to give each team a half for this match.
Match Two: Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer (Eur) V Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker (USA)
The Bjorn/Kaymer partnership took me aback somewhat when it was announced earlier. Bjorn's experience cannot be denied and Kaymer's won two of the biggest tournaments in golf this year, but I was surprised to see McGinley leave out matchplay specialist Graeme McDowell or even Lee Westwood out altogether.
It's still a strong pairing though with Kaymer back to his best this year, after being at this worst in the run up to the 2012 Ryder Cup, where he still managed to hole the winning putt. Bjorn is enjoying a comeback in his 40s like so many golfers do nowadays and is one of the most respected golfers on tour.
However, I think that the US pairing of Fowler and Walker will have too much for them. Fowler has the potential to become a talisman for his side over the weekend having finished in the top five in all four majors this year whilst Walker has enjoyed three wins this season and his long hitting will setup plenty birdie opportunities.
USA to get the first full point of the match in this one.
Match Three: Stephen Gallacher and Ian Poulter (Eur) V Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed (USA)
The hometown hero and Mr Ryder Cup against two Ryder Cup rookies. I know where my money is going in match three and let's just say it might just get messy for Spieth and Reed.
The noise that will greet Gallacher and Poulter at the first tee at 8.05am tomorrow morning will be unbelievable and will give rookie Gallacher a massive boost. Poulter is of course 'Mr Ryder Cup' and boasts a record of 12 wins out of 15 matches. I've had a few texts from friends saying they think Poulter is due a bad Ryder Cup, but all I see is someone that is fired up to deliver again.
Spieth and Reed are two youngsters who have burst onto the scene in the last year or so and like most rookies, they will be fired up. But Watson has made an error here by putting two rookies together rather than pairing one of them with say a Jim Furyk figure.
Europe to win this one.
Match Four: Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy (Eur) V Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley (USA)
Mouthwatering. That's the only word to describe the final fourball match of tomorrow morning. And after Phil Mickelson's "litigation" jibe towards McIlroy yesterday, it comes with added spice.
McIlroy and Garcia is a partnership which intrigues me as I thought Rory would be paired with Poulter. But the men who pushed each other so close at the Open will team up to form an incredible partnership. McIlroy has been in scintillating form throughout this year, winning back to back majors and cementing his position at the top of the world rankings.
And Garcia looks like a man who is loving his golf again and he isn't far off Poulter in terms of someone who thrives on the Ryder Cup.
But the pair from Northern Ireland and Spain respectively will face the partnership that blew Europe away for two days at Medinah in the form of Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. Neither has been at the top of their game this year but the pair thrive off each other's personality and will be keen to avenge that loss at Medinah more than anyone.
I'm sticking my neck out though and I'll say Europe to win this one on the 18th green to take a 2.5-1.5 lead into the afternoon.
The Ryder Cup is three days of sporting action every two years that has me glued to the television (or in the case of the Medinah match, my friends Sky Go on his phone as I was on a trip to London) and the fact that it is in Scotland makes that little bit extra special this year. Let battle commence.
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