UK Books angry at Tiger

Three words…BO…VAN…PELT.

Look, I don't want to say it's all Davis Love III fault that the US lost the Ryder Cup….but it's all Davis Love III fault that the US lost the Ryder Cup. The second they released the Captain's picks I knew we were in trouble. DLIII was asked by Jimmy Roberts after the match if he could do anything differently, including his captain's picks, would he? He obviously gave the politically correct response of, "no." Well, I have a different response.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, someone much smarter than me is going to have to explain why everyone always refers to Jim Furyk as "clutch" and a "true grinder"; how he was a "must pick" for DL III at the Ryder Cup? Last time I checked Jim Furyk is the meltdown master. He was 8-15-4 going into the Ryder Cup and he was picked to hit the opening tee shot for US Friday morning…seriously? Throw in the fact that his 2012 season is like watching a Jean Van De Velde movie on repeat and his selection onto the team is an even bigger mystery. Somewhere there is a joke that starts, "Greg Norman and Jim Furyk walked into a bar…and ends with, Greg Norman is clutch."

You know who wouldn't have blown a 1-up lead with two to play and the Ryder Cup on the line? I'll give you a hint, his initials are BVP.

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With that said, as bad a Jim Furyk was Steve Stricker might actually have been worse. Again one of DLIII captain's picks. Tiger is getting thrown under the bus for not winning any points for the US in team play but if you actually watched the matches Tiger was the only reason their matches even went to the 18th hole. They played a guy Friday afternoon that made 8 birdies and an eagle and still had to go to the 18th to win it. Saturday wasn't much different. Tiger was 10 under on the back nine Friday and Saturday afternoon; Steve Stricker made 2 birdies the ENTIRE tournament. Then to top it off he managed to lose to probably the worst player on the entire European squad in Martin Kaymer. If Stricker at least halves that match Tiger seals it on 18…zero percent chance he doesn't make par there. In other words, I earned as many points for the US team as Steve Stricker did. Sitting on my couch I could tell you that pairing needed to be blown up on Saturday, how in the hell did DLIII allow them to play together again on Saturday afternoon?

You know who wouldn't have gone 0fer in the Ryder Cup…I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with Joe Can Melt.

The other story that real concerns me, and frankly is once again DLIII's fault is the fact that Polo and Webb Simpson parted ways earlier this month. Do you really think Webb's head is going to be in the game after a break-up that serious less than a month before the Ryder Cup? How is that Love's fault you ask? Well, last I checked DLIII was the Godfather of Polo on the PGA Tour and you mean to tell me he couldn't have done something to at least put that on hold until October? You think Nick Saban would have ever allowed this happen to one of his key starters? Never. That's just unacceptable as the team captain.

Finally regarding DLIII, I want to make sure I understand his strategy going into the singles matches. You basically have a 1% chance of losing and really the only possible way to do that is to give Europe any sort of momentum, so what do you do? You send out your rookies early against the best they have and save your veterans "in case it comes down to the last matches." Seriously, what kind of dumbass strategy is that? Hey, let's play not to lose instead of playing to win. In the history of sport, any sport, it fails EVERY TIME.

Some other thoughts from the weekend…

I think the Ryder Cup needs to adopt a singles format where neither captain gets to pick the order; it's done by an online vote and the Captain's simply get to put them in the order they want from there. Seriously, as great as the drama was on Sunday how much better would that have been if we had been able to vote for the singles matchup's we wanted. Think about it, no chance we wouldn't have seen Poulter vs. Bradley; Tiger vs. Rory; Dufner vs. Rose; Bubba vs. Sergio…and put people like Furyk vs. Kaymer and Stricker vs. Molinari. Put some thought into that Ryder Cup people.

Somewhere Hunter Mahan is secretly smiling.

José María Olazábal had another advantage this weekend that wasn't really talked about much, the assistant captains. Fred Couples is about as cool as it gets, but he is no Miguel Ángel Jiménez. The "Mechanic" alone is worth at least ½ a point per day.

I forget how much I love this tournament. It always sneaks up on me due to the fact that they play it during football season, but it is my favorite tournament in golf outside of the Masters.

With BVP - USA 15.5…Europe 12.5
W/O BVP - USA 13.5….Europe 14.5

My man crush on Keegan Bradley by lunchtime Saturday had hit a point that was honestly borderline awkward. I hate to admit this, but he actually made me even root for FIGJAM. Sitting them on Saturday afternoon was a brilliant idea Davis, it's not like they were winning every match they played and electrifying the crowd. It's called adjusting your game plan on the fly, look into it. Oh wait; you won't have a chance because you are forever fired as Ryder Cup Captain.

Jason Dufner continues to be the coolest guy on the PGA Tour…and there's not even a close second.

Number 17, while essentially the hole that ended up costing the United States the Ryder Cup might be the best hole in Ryder Cup history taking in all the elements that came along with it.

I'm the rare guy that actually thinks Johnny Miller is great in the booth; however he was pretty bad this weekend, even for him. On the flip side, Monty was awesome in the booth. I can't believe I just wrote that.

Ian Poulter would be the greatest golfer in the history of the sport if it was simply based on Ryder Cup performance.

Finally, Rory rolling up to the course 11 minutes before his tee time, hitting zero balls and winning his match was kind of awesome actually. Apparently being hungover is no longer an acceptable reason for being late, so they made up that horrible time zone story. Just come out and say you were taking body shots off Chicago strippers with Jiménez until 4 a.m. We all know that's what really happened and look where lying about it got Tiger.

Until Next Golf Season,
Dan Daly