USA - Europe

EUROPE TO RETAIN RYDER CUP

The 39th Ryder Cup is scheduled for September 28-30 at Medinah Country Club,, Illinois. This is an event that seldom fails to deliver excitement, controversy and outstanding skill with no shortage of intense rivalry and patriotism from 24 players split between the two continents of USA & Europe and it's a very difficult showdown to predict this time around but lets have a go...

Ttwo captains have announced their respective wild card selections so both sides are now complete and preparations in their final stages as Europe arrive on USA soil as holders of the coveted Sam Ryder trophy and make no mistake about it team USA will be absolutely determined they get back on their team plane without it at the end of 3 days of what promises to be a titanic showdown

Let's look at Europe first:

The 12 players are:
Nicolas Colsaerts, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Peter Hanson, Martin Kaymer, Paul Lawrie, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose & Lee Westwood.

This is a hugely experienced outfit with only 1 'Rookie' in Colsaerts who was one of captain Olazabal's wild card selections over the likes of 3 time Major winner Padraig Harrington and the main reason for this choice is most likely Colsaerts length of the tee as Medinah is a long course. Colsaerts also won the World match play this season which for this format was also important

The remaining 11 players have 26 previous Ryder Cup appearances between them with an overall winning record of 44 - 32 - 18 so 62 wins or draws from 94 matches is an impressive return and there's no question of this team being intimidated - even with the vocal backing of the home support

This team also includes 3 of the top 4 ranked players in the world including current world number one Mc Ilroy and with the majority of this team playing the majority of their season on the US tour there's no longer the unfamiliar courses and conditions working against them like in years gone by

Captain of this team is Olazabal who himself was instrumental in tuning around the fortunes of European golf against the American's as his close late friend Seve & himself paired up and took the fight to team USA in some memorable encounters so passion and preparation will not be lacking from the Spaniard and the late Seve will also be looking down over this team and act as a huge source of inspiration to all 12 players

Let's now look at USA:

Their team is: Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Steve Stricker, Bubba Watson & Tiger Woods

This squad has 4 players making their debuts: Dufner, Bradley, Simpson & Snedeker which would normally be seen as a weakness but when you consider 2 of these 'Rookies' are already Major champions it doesn't provide captain Love with as much concern as it normally would

The remaining 8 American players have a loosing Ryder Cup record of 40 - 59 - 16 so just 40 wins from 115 attempts isn't as impressive as the European record but then again this Ryder Cup isn't going to win based on past events but future one's

The Americans have a vastly superior Major championship record with 8 champions on their team compared to just 4 on the European team but recent seasons have seen a much more even split of 5 European triumphs to 4 American from the last 12 Majors so it's clear Europe are now competing much better at the biggest events than in years gone by

World rankings places 4 American's in the top 10 and their lowest ranked player is Jim Furyk at 27 but as a wild card with an enormous amount of experience to call on he won't weaken the team but many were surprised Mahan or Fowler weren't selected as they're both higher ranked and both won on tour this season but recent form seemed to rule them out

So how's it going to go??

The home team are favourites but I don't see why their odds are so tight given the merits of both teams and with Recent history firmly in Europes favour with only 4 USA wins from the last 13 matches with Europe winning 4 of the last 5. I think this is going to be an emotional event, highly charged from the first tee shot to the final putt but my money is going onto team Europe as I feel their odds are too generous to ignore given all the stats and with this being the first Ryder Cup since the passing of Seve I feel that will assist them emotionally when they're struggling and help pull them through. My bet is also carrying a little back up with it as well tho as a draw with Europe therefore retaining the cup also gives us a winning bet so Europe don't actually need an outright win here with a 14-14 draw being sufficient to return us a win and it wouldn't surprise me at all if that's the final score

It should be an absolute classic encounter and I for one will be glued to all 3 days action... Enjoy... But come on Europe !!

2

Supporters

1. luckygirl34
2. c18gmr

Posted on: 16.09.2012, 14.34 CET (Viewed: 1581 times)
Match starts on: September 28, 2012

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