Reasons Europe won the Ryder Cup
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by user Alex Holowczak
- United States are not used to matchplay. The Accenture Matchplay is held in lower regard to the World Matchplay on the European Tour. Usually, a European Tour invite is declined by US players (e.g. Woods, Mickelson, Furyk etc.)
- United States just don't play well as a team.
- Tiger Woods cannot lead as well in matchplay than strokeplay.
- Tiger is poor in matchplay himself - Okay, he was top scorer, but he only scored 3 out of 5. Not good for a World Number 1. Also, you may argue that Woods is 8-1 in career playoffs - a matchplay situation. But all of those have been against US opponents, who seemingly are also as bad at matchplay.
- United States don't seem to care - In Europe, it has been all over the news for weeks. I have read only 1 article on here about it (until now, besides a humourous view on it). Some people didn't even know it was going to be held at the K Club.
- Europe had a better team spirit
- The European Team wanted to win it for Darren Clarke, who's wife died recently
- The weather - US players cannot play in wind and/or rain (Woods was a rare exception at the Open Championship - he played perfectly although every American was appalled at the manner he played - i.e. irons of the tee when he could take driver)
- United States put all their eggs in one basket AGAIN. It didn't work with Woods and Mickelson in 2004, so this time they put World Number 1 and 3 in the same group (Woods and Furyk). Arguably, the 2 and 4 in the US Team were in another group (Mickelson and DiMarco). Those teams had to win games.
- Failure to understand matchplay tactics - during the Fourballs, USA played as though it was Singles.
- Little team spirit - The European team seemed more into the game than the US
- The European Fans - They were brilliant - the roars on the 1st Tee on Friday morning were deafening.
- They were underprepared - Mickelson and Furyk were invited to the World Matchplay Championship last week, and declined the invite. They missed a great warm up opportunity. By contrast, Montgomerie, Westwood, Casey, Harrington and many more were there from Europe.
- Dodgy selection system - Europe has a great way to select the team, with events closer to the tournament counting more. E.g. an August Tournament will count more than a tournament in March. Also, the majors are not wholly overstressed. As a result, we get the in form players in our team.
So Europe won the Ryder Cup for the third time in a row.
Europe always have the weaker team, but they always seem to win.
Date
Sun 09/24/06, 8:49 am EST
