If Keegan ends up the captain, we may see some interesting captains picks, considering that he isn't really part of the "boys club".

Takes a pretty big effort to f up the Ryder Cup at home these days.

Stack the deck in your favor in foursomes and don't completely wet the bed in singles.

Of course no idea what the teams will look like. But with the circus animals that will certainly be in attendance at Bethpage, if we lose to the Euros it will be an ENORMOUS disappointment.


Hopefully Keegan will be up to the task.

I'm guessing Keegan will take who he thinks gives them the best chance to win. And I'm not sure why he would hold a grudge against JT or Rickie. They didn't make the call.

I would have put Keegan on the team over Sam Burns. But it wasn't a no brainer and a case could be made for each guy taken just like a case can be made for Keegan and Glover.

And at the end of the day, we didn't lose the Ryder Cup because of the bottom of the lineup. We lost it because pretty much everyone crapped the bed.

But to get back to the thread topic, he's an interesting choice. Definitely outside the box. But I like his intensity and obvious love of the Ryder Cup. Will be interesting to follow.

My point towards JT and Rickie not making the team isn't because Keegan would hold a grudge. It's because they don't deserve it. Most notably Jt. He sucks these days

AustinCountyAg said:

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My point towards JT and Rickie not making the team isn't because Keegan would hold a grudge. It's because they don't deserve it. Most notably Jt. He sucks these days

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If they keep playing the way they've been playing, I agree they will have a hard time making the squad. But there was a case for both last year. Rickie played well last year and JT (while going through a tough season) was the closest thing we had to Poulter. It just didn't work out.

CyclingAg82 said:

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concac said:

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Ryder Cup captain is overrated. They didn't lose because of Zach Johnson or whoever; they lost because they suck.

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Agree.....

But Lucas Glover and Keegan Bradley would have been better Captain's Picks than Fowler or Spieth (the buddy picks & although standings wise, Spieth was 7 in the points).

However, there should be an added metric for players who are on the bubble but on a hot streak the previous 6 weeks - which Glover and Bradley certainly were.

We also got out-strategerized by Luke Donald & Eduardo Molinari specifically.

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Spieth and Rickie weren't the problem or controversial picks. It was JT and even worse Sam Burns.

I don't get why Tiger turned it down. He accepted as Captain for the Presidents Cup...

Spieth was bad during the RC - went 0-2-2. Didn't play much or at all in the 5 weeks prior to the RC at Marco Simone. Contributed 1 point by halving two matches.

Super surprising was Scheffler who went 0-2-2 as well.

Stat analysis by Molinari was where the US was out-strategized .... the course set up favored Euros on several key holes IIRC.

Maybe Tiger didn't want to have to tell JT no so he just passed all together.

CyclingAg82 said:

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Stat analysis by Molinari was where the US was out-strategized .... the course set up favored Euros on several key holes IIRC.

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Recent results indicate that you can really stack the deck in your favor in foursomes with analytics and having control over the course setup.

Home-Away points in foursomes:

2023: 7-1
2021: 6-2
2018: 6-2
2016: 5.5-2.5
2014: 7-1


Other formats have been pretty even.

cb1919 said:

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concac said:

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Ryder Cup captain is overrated. They didn't lose because of Zach Johnson or whoever; they lost because they suck.

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Yep the captain who chooses 6/12 team members and pairings during the cup is overrated….

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Sure, the captain plays a big role in team selection but golf is an individual sport. These guys just need to hit their shots and make their putts. Who you paired up with shouldn't affect you. If it does, then you're soft.

Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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concac said:

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cb1919 said:

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concac said:

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Ryder Cup captain is overrated. They didn't lose because of Zach Johnson or whoever; they lost because they suck.

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Yep the captain who chooses 6/12 team members and pairings during the cup is overrated….

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Sure, the captain plays a big role in team selection but golf is an individual sport. These guys just need to hit their shots and make their putts. Who you paired up with shouldn't affect you. If it does, then you're soft.

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There is more to pairing than just "hit their shots and make their putts". Pairing guys with different strengths, like a bomber off the tee paired with a guy that can't hit as far, but is a wizard around the green, can tip the scales in matches.

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That's just basic and common sense stuff. You don't need Nick Saban to figure that out.

course set-up is huge as well. If Molinari has an assistant we need to hire him right now or grant him US citizenship. The captain needs to get everyone to buy in. yes individuals hit the shots but meshing the team and getting them to play as a team is really important. wouldn't be surprised at all if he makes a few off the board picks for his selections.

The US didn't really prep at all. 9 of the 12 showed up having not played a competitive round in 5 weeks. 2 of the 3 that did actually played well. The other was Brooks

Old Tom Morris said:

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The US didn't really prep at all. 9 of the 12 showed up having not played a competitive round in 5 weeks. 2 of the 3 that did actually played well. The other was Brooks

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I agree that they didn't prep well enough. But I'm curious how you put Brooks in the top 3. He was 1-1-1. He garnered less points than Homa, Cantlay, and Harmon and tied in points with Wyndham and everyone's favorite whipping boy, JT. He was certainly fine but didn't stand out either as best I can recall.

Scheffler and Xander really tanked that team. They were arguably 2 of our best and went a combined 1-5-2.

I think you're misreading him. He's saying Brooks was the one guy who had played tournament rounds prior to the Cup that didn't perform well.

Seems strange to me
Hasn't been part of a team in a decade, then just one day gets a call to be captain? Making a change this drastic at home where we've been dominant is gonna put a lot of pressure on Keegan.

When Europe got blown out at Whistling, they didn't reinvent the wheel. Not sure why we are.

I didn't put Brooks in the top 3. Read it again.

CyclingAg82 said:

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concac said:

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Ryder Cup captain is overrated. They didn't lose because of Zach Johnson or whoever; they lost because they suck.

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Agree.....

But Lucas Glover and Keegan Bradley would have been better Captain's Picks than Fowler or Spieth (the buddy picks & although standings wise, Spieth was 7 in the points).

However, there should be an added metric for players who are on the bubble but on a hot streak the previous 6 weeks - which Glover and Bradley certainly were.

We also got out-strategerized by Luke Donald & Eduardo Molinari specifically.

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Lucas wasn't screwed in any way shape or form. Guy had a good two weeks, but he hadn't played well in big events in a long time. Nobody should have considered taking a guy who hadn't even qualified for a major in a year and a half to Rome for his first Ryder Cup.

If somebody was screwed it was Cam Young, but he didn't have the Netflix or Barstool crews following him around to build the story line like Keegan did. Outside of Keegan's win, his results between April and the Ryder Cup last year were 23, 48, 35, 29, 30, CUT(major), 21, CUT (major), 43, 29 and then 9th at a 30 man handicapped TOUR Championship. The narrative that he was a hot player when the captain's picks came up is false. You don't leave a 6-2-1 Ryder Cup record at home for a guy with 1 win and no other real top 20s in the 5 months leading up to the picks.

The only change I make to the picks is Young over Burns. Harman winning the Open when he was never going to be close to a pick didn't help either. Zach was unorganized and overwhelmed and a terrible choice as a captain, but not picking Keegan wasn't a bad choice.

I love the pick. That said, until the USA gives a **** about the Ryder cup we will continue to lose more often than not. I also
Vote that if you and your family lives in the USA then you are disqualified from playing for Europe. Those are my hot takes.

I approve of the captain's pick.

Keegan Bradley was read to beat the **** out of Miguel Angel Jimenez and don't get me wrong. I like Jimenez and his goofy stretches. But when it's American vs euro, there's no love.

AggieDruggist89 said:

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Are they allowing LIV guys to play in the RC?

I'd want to see Bryson and Brooks on the team. Because even if we lose the cup, they can beat the **** out of those pansy ass euros... but not JT or Rickie, I don't think they can fight.

I know Azinger wasn't your MMA built golfer but he was ready to beat the **** out of Seve in a fist fight. That's the kind of moxie we need from our players and captains. To win.

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Keegan is taking the exact opposite stance as Zach Johnson. He said in his interview he's taking the best players regardless of which tour they play. I really like this pick for captain.

Is the Keegan appointment the beginning of a Ryder Cup captain youth movement? A source close to the selection process told me there was a feeling on the RC committee that “we were just in this echo chamber of sameness. The Band-Aid had to be ripped off.” https://t.co/xnzM8NPcQM

— Alan Bastable (@alan_bastable) July 10, 2024

Keegan mentioned in his presser about the use of analytics. Apparently team Europe runs circles around us on this front and were shaking their heads last year at some of our pairings as they're looking at the data (and we were not).

I would be interested in learning more about the use of analytics in team golf, what stats are used etc. Since this is essentially the only golf team event anyone cares about, the topic is rarely discussed.