How many words do you want for “team USA was bad?”Setting the standard for cringe-worthy "can you put it into words" questions about things that, by their nature, can't be put into words. Not a single question about "what happened out there."
And ultimately even the final score shows how badly the US performed.Final score kind of undersells how non-competitive this week was.
Ha. I dont think Donald would have said that. (Even if he was thinking it).How many words do you want for “team USA was bad?”
I mentioned this earlier. You also couldn’t get a sense of how good those players were because of LIV. DJ, Gooch, Bryson?I can’t help but feel that LIV really fucked the US Ryder Cup team. Fractured their best 12 and forced some shaky captains picks who weren’t playing good golf down the stretch.
Sports media is not good at reporting things like this. If the parties can't agree to contract terms then X can't happen (like playing in the event) is pretty common stuff.Can anyone imagine Rory, Rahm, Hovland, Rose making a stink and getting into a contract dispute over not being paid to participate in the Ryder Cup? Even the ahole old guard who took LIV money like Sergio, Westwood and Poulter?
I think these guys are handling this all wrong but it does seem strange to me that the PGA agrees to film a series and then requires all of its members to participate and open their lives to it with no direct compensation?And here we go!
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/5d7d5410-610b-11ee-977c-44b3e2b54888?shareToken=7ba9cf1d13c261d528f044206355e6d3
Xander's dad has spoken. Apparently Xander almost didn't play due to a contract dispute with the PGA of America. It's essentially about the money, but one of the sticking points was Xander (and Cantlay) didn't want Neflix around. The dispute wasn't resolved until Labor Day. Xander and Cantlay both skipped the team scouting trip to Rome.
I am totally fine with not compensating the Ryder Cup participants. If the players don't want to particiapte then don't. Here is an interesting perspective on the Ryder Cup's current status and how it is unlikely to change.Hard to know exactly what the ask was from Netflix but I do agree in general that player participation should be voluntary. The rest of the whining about money...I'm not sure what to make of it. I get wanting to be compensated for services. They're the product and others shouldn't take all the profits. That said the PGA Tour does get 20% of the TV revenue from the week and it's supposed to go into player pension fund. I guess the solution here is for the Tour to give a higher chunk of that to the 12 guys who play as a bonus.
At the same time...Cantlay and Xander have made ~$60+ million each on the golf course over their career, not including endorsements. So as a fan I also feel like they can STFU for a week and play.They are veterans who have been there before so they knew the drill regarding compensation. If it was an issue, decline the invite. And skipping a team scouting trip is pretty shitty.
It just seems like this stuff doesn't happen to the Euro's. Win or lose you never hear the in-fighting, fractured team, and finger pointing from players that comes out of almost every US team, especially when they lose. Maybe it goes on for the Euro's and we just never hear it from the media.
On the course, it's the foursomes thing. I don't have any clue as to why it happens but that's the difference. They get destroyed in Europe in foursomes, but it flips in the US. Whoever figures out the why will probably be the team that wins a road Ryder Cup first.
I've seen enough, and only fools let themselves be deluded for more than a decade. The fact of the matter is that the Ryder Cup has evolved into a malfunctioning affair in which the script is pre-written. The home team reigns supreme and has done so for five straight Ryder Cups, winning by gaudy margins. This will continue into the future—and there appears to be no practical solution that doesn't involve removing the Ryder Cup from its host nations—an obvious impossibility that wouldn't be desirable even if it could be done without hemorrhaging money (which it could not). In modern sport, there is nothing as predictable as a Ryder Cup; the drama is dead.
I think that's perfectly reasonable, but at the same time I don't see why it's not just as fine for the players to squeeze the PGAoA / Ryder Cup if they feel they have leverage and want to do so. This isn't just some fun silly season event like it was decades ago, there's serious money behind this thing.I am totally fine with not compensating the Ryder Cup participants. If the players don't want to particiapte then don't.
I'd at least try having a neutral party set up the golf course but the more I read and think about it, the more I'm not sure it would change much. Fourball and singles tend to be roughly even, then foursomes is a curb stomping. Does home course set up specifically favor that format and dramatically tilt the scales?I am totally fine with not compensating the Ryder Cup participants. If the players don't want to particiapte then don't. Here is an interesting perspective on the Ryder Cup's current status and how it is unlikely to change.
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/ryder-cup-2023-broken-no-easy-fix-requiem
I think the captaincy is mostly group think now and the captain is just out there to do media. There is probably some stuff on the margins that ZJ would change if he had a 2nd crack at it but ultimately I think the decision making stays the same. Strategy and pairings comes from the data team.I’d like to see the captains in 2 Ryder cup cycles but have them alternate when they start.
Have the captain start with the home Ryder Cup and end with the away one. That way they are more seasoned and can maybe make better decisions.
Tiger as Captain in the NY area makes a lot of sense if Phil is out. Given how beloved Phil is in this area, he would have been a slam dunk captain but that is not the case anymore.I think the captaincy is mostly group think now and the captain is just out there to do media. There is probably some stuff on the margins that ZJ would change if he had a 2nd crack at it but ultimately I think the decision making stays the same. Strategy and pairings comes from the data team.
That said, there's a core group of like 5 guys that are the captain's every year (including the PC). First of all, in a 12 player team that is together for all of a week is it necessary to have 5 total captains? 5 captains always seemed like overkill to me. It's always some combination of ZJ, Stricker, DL3, Couples and Furyk. I don't mind them sticking around for 1 more at Bethpage but next time we go to Europe I'd like to see some turnover and maybe fresh thinking.
Edit: I'm guessing Bethpage is Tiger's if he wants it. There's no real other option unless they dip back into the aformentioned group of 5.