Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Did the Revamped Ryder Cup System Work?

We won't know Captain Paul Azinger's picks for another 3 weeks, but we do know the 8 players that automatically qualified using his modified system of (basically) a point per $1000 earned.

Steve Elling ain't so keen on it.

The host PGA of America agreed to revamp the points selection system, putting an emphasis on recent performance, and allowed him to wait until the last moment to name his at-large picks, which were doubled to four spots.

The early returns are in: Oops.

Early Monday morning, with the echoes of Padraig Harrington's victory in the 90th PGA Championship still wafting over the grounds at Oakland Hills, Azinger sat back in a chair and eyeballed the names of the eight players who had cemented spots on his team.

"This time I think it's clear that we are the underdogs going into these matches," Azinger said.
We have three rookies in the mix - Anthony Kim, Ben Curtis, Boo Weekley - and a bunch of the usual suspects. But, are there any golfers that you might feel are missing from the usual suspects that might actually help the US cause? (Not named Tiger.) Zach Johnson (16th in points, 1-2-1 career RC record)? Chad Campbell (20, 1-3-2)? David Toms (38, 4-6-2)? Fred Couples (58, 7-9-4)? Davis Love III (64, 9-12-5)?

That's no better than what we got already.

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