Ryder Cup Wrap: 2012 United States Team Coverage
/I'm sure the autopsies will be plentiful in the coming weeks, but a few immediate reactions after the United States loses at Medinah.
Jay Coffin on Tiger's 0-3-1 record.
Woods did not play well in his singles match against Francesco Molinari, making one birdie and two bogeys to shoot the equivalent of 1 over par. He took a 1-up lead into the 18th hole when Molinari made bogey on No. 17 but the Ryder Cup was over with Woods in the middle of the fairway as Martin Kaymer closed out Steve Stricker on the 18th green ahead.
“It’s the second time it happened to me being in the fairway,” Woods said, recalling a similar situation in 2002 at The Belfry in a match against Jesper Parnevik.
Nick Faldo during Golf Channel's post game coverage:
“The amazing thing for me is that Tiger has his two partners that he is very happy with – Furyk and Stricker – and they have had the most dreadful records out there…we keep referring back to Seve because he was so good at taking a young kid under his wing. Tiger should be the wingman for somebody else. For a youngster. For some reason, Tiger just wants to be in his own comfort zone with his mate, and they can’t make it happen.”
Bob Harig on the defeat burdening captain's picks Stricker and Furyk.
"That was fun," said Furyk, who along with Love, Woods and Phil Mickelson played on that winning 1999 team. "This was pretty miserable. It was a hell of a lot of fun being on the other end. It wasn't very much fun today."
"There's a lot of expectations on us," Stricker said. "We put a lot of expectations on ourselves to perform. Sometimes it's good and bad. I mean, when you're going good, it's great, and when you're not, it can be a negative, because you feel like you're letting the crowd down.''
It was especially tough for Stricker, who played college golf at the University of Illinois and who lives in nearby Madison, Wis. Along with Furyk, Dustin Johnson and Brandt Snedeker, he was chosen by Love as an at-large addition to the team.
Nick Masuda on a similar theme, lumps Mickelson in too.
Mickelson was the most successful 40-something this week, going 3-1 - but the point he lost on Sunday proved costly. Not only because it handed Justin Rose a dramatic point, it also seemed to be an emotional shift for the Europeans.
Frank Nobilo during Golf Channel's postgame on where the U.S. goes from here:
“They’ve tried everything. Widen fairways. I think Davis did a great job, but in the end it doesn’t add up on paper. Statistically, this was a great team. But seven out of nine losses – seven out of nine Ryder Cups – have been lost by very good teams. So, in the end I think, forget the pod system, forget everything they’re trying to do. Right or wrong. It’s like the curse of the Bambino. Restore a wrong. Give the captaincy an honorary role to someone like Larry Nelson, two-time PGA Champion, U.S. Open champion, or Hale Irwin. Just restore the balance and bring it back to, sort of what Europe does – which is, they put a very proud man in front, they let his guys play. Europeans, they change their lineup, they do this, they don’t play to a system – they play to who they’re playing against. Just right a wrong, that’s all they gotta do.”
James Corrigan with the biggest bright spot for the US, rookies Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker:
Regardless of the singles, the new Starred and Striped generation had already proved one thing. They do not require Woods to show them the way.
Their insecurities are not wrapped up in one player, one icon. They are their own men and have formed their group. Woods simply has to fit in, not vice versa.
Steve Keating with Captain Love's reaction:
"I don't have a reaction yet, we are all kind of stunned," Love told reporters. "We know what it feels like now from the '99 Ryder Cup.
"It's a little bit shocking. We were playing so well, everyone on our team was playing so well, we just didn't figure it didn't matter who we sent them out there.
"We put who we thought was our hot players up front and who we thought was our steady players in the back that would get us points and we all thought it would come down to Jason Dufner.
"He played very, very well. We got a couple matches flipped there in the middle that cost us."
ESPN puts together questions and answers from their reporters, starting with "who shoulders the most blame for the Americans?" Gene Wojciechowski:
It's a shared blame. Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker will take the most heat, but this truly was a team semi-collapse.
GolfChannel.com's Team USA report card.
And finally, this assessment from Brandel Chamblee from the Golf Channel postgame show:
“One of the weaknesses, you would say, of Davis Love – and we said this – was that he was a very nice guy. Perhaps too nice. And, ironically enough, perhaps too nice to sit a veteran. But it was his very decision to sit a veteran that you’re referring to is nice. And, in this instance, it’s falling in love with a plan. Falling in love with a system. And also, letting your players be the coaches. Ultimately, the responsibility of those decisions fall on Davis’ shoulders, not the shoulders of his players. Davis is the coach and – to both of your points – that’s exactly what should have transpired. He would have said, “You won your first match 4-and-3, you won 2-and-1, you won 7-6. You’re contributing more than the points. You’re contributing to the morale, but more than that, you’re deflating the other team. If he, perhaps – and you can speculate ‘til the cows come home – but perhaps if he puts them out there against Garcia and Donald, this is a very close match. They went to the last hole against Woods and Stricker. Woods and Stricker didn’t win a point. They were ineffective. You take your most important team, put them against, well, you wouldn’t have known who they were going against, but you put them out there where they are impactful. It will be the single biggest question mark about Davis’ captaincy. And that’s what goes with the captaincy. He’s a marvelous captain. He’s going to end up in the Hall of Fame. Great man. Gentleman. For sure. But those decisions are his.”
The video version of Golf Channel's Team USA-related coverage, including Davis Love's closing ceremony speech and more.
