The Ryder Cup is finally here! Woohoo!
The best golf event in the world kicked off at 8 AM EST with two pull/hooks from veteran players, McDowell and Furyk. No harm was done as McIlroy and Snedeker came to their rescue, but it was great to see that these guys may be good, but they are also human. 🙂
I have been thinking a lot about the teams this year and seeing 4 rookies on the US side (all great and accomplished players), I started to wonder if they were going to be able to perform under pressure they’ve never experienced before. Being a great player is less important than being a great Ryder Cup player this weekend and I hope they have the nerves for it.
I got to thinking about dream teams. You know how people always ask you who your fab foursome might be? Well, what if we were able to pick dream teams for the USA and Europe using players living or dead? Who would your dream teams be?
Here are mine…
You may be asking how I chose these and where’s Ben Hogan? He never lost a match! His point % is 100. Well that’s true, but Ben only played 3 matches and that didn’t seem quite enough for me. I chose my teams based on this criteria:
- They had to have played more than a handful of matches, which is why Rory missed “the cut” having only played 4 (I’m sure he’ll make next year’s dream team after this week’s play :))
- Their point percentage had to be at least 50% which would leave out Tiger.
So I broke rule #2 and replaced J.C. Snead (11 matches; 80%) with Tiger. Now Tiger’s never really proven to be a great Ryder Cup player because he “doesn’t play well with others”, but I can’t imagine a team without him. And because I needed to put a good partner with him I decided to drop in Stricker. Walter Hagen (7-1-1; 83%) obviously was a good choice for the team, but I just didn’t think Tiger would partner well with Sir Walter and his somewhat outrageous antics.
In looking at my teams, it is interesting to note that the only “Dream Team” players in this year’s US dozen are Tiger and Stricker. Meanwhile, on the European side, there are five! Hmmm…I wonder if this is why the odd makers have Europe taking the cup home by quite a margin.
But the beauty of the Ryder Cup is “anything can happen”, so let’s forget the bookies, cheer on the rookies and set ourselves up for an exciting 3 days that Captain Love so eloquently described as “not a war”. What a class act he is!
I don’t know about you, but I’m a couch potato for the next 72 hours. Pass the popcorn!
Golfgal
Pamper yourself on Maui! Book your little piece of heaven in golfers’ paradise. Book now at http://www.vrbo.com/424659 and tell them Golfgal sent you!
Golfgal Golf news and commentary from a business woman’s perspective.
