Darren Clarke Wins Dutch Open
Darren clinched the Dutch Open with another impressive round of 66 today, bringing him in 4 strokes ahead of Paul McGinley. The question on everyones mind is - has he done enough to secure a wildcard place on the Ryder Cup team?
Nick Faldo will announce his two wild card picks after the European team’s ten automatic qualifiers have been decided next week at the Johnnie Walker Championship in Gleneagles.
Clarke had a great outing last Ryder Cup, with 3 wins out of 3 - but we all know that Faldo is looking for current form not nostalgia and will no doubt keep his powder dry until he’s seen what Clarke brings to Gleneagles…
Is Tiger’s absence balanced by Luke’s?
As feared, Luke Donald won’t be participating in this year’s Ryder Cup having undergone surgery on his left wrist. This is a significant, if fully expected, blow to the chances of the European team. Donald’s Ryder Cup record is excellent, having been a key contributor to the last two victories.
A comparison of Luke’s record with Tiger’s is interesting: Luke has won 5.5 points from a possible 7; Tiger has won 11 points from a possible 25. Tiger’s poor record in fourballs/foursomes is well documented. Luke is unbeaten in pairs.
For all of Tiger’s greatness (and yes, he is the greatest player to ever play the game), maybe his absence has been balanced by that of Luke Donald?
News Roundup
Europe Ryder Cup Team News
Congratulation to Padraig Harrington who is on fire, with a win at the PGA Championship. By adding the Wanamaker trophy to the Claret Jug he has sealed his place in history with back to back Majors victories and also further increases his position at the top of the automatic qualifiers for Team Europe.
Sergio Garcia, who started the PGA outside the top ten has jumped to third in the European standings with second place at Oakland Hills (which may be a small consolation for running up to Harrington again).
US Ryder Cup Team News
The PGA championship at Oakland Hills was the last chance saloon for players wanting to qualify for the US Ryder Cup Team and the automatic qualifiers are as follows:
* Phil Mickelson
* Stewart Cink
* Kenny Perry
* Jim Furyk
* Anthony Kim
* Justin Leonard
* Ben Curtis
* Boo Weekley
Ben Curtis zoomed up 13 places in the rankings after his tie for second place in the Championship which means that Steve Stricker, who went into the Championship in eighth place was bumped.
This leaves captain Paul Azinger with 4 captains picks to make up the US team, he has until Sept 2nd to announce his picks.
After the Open - random thoughts
With the 2008 Open Championship now part of golf history, here are some random thoughts on where we stand for the 2008 Ryder Cup:
- It’s not the same without Tiger. It’s difficult to know if Tiger would have been competing for the lead in windy Royal Birkdale but what is certain is that the tournament wasn’t quite as exciting as it might have been with Tiger in the field. Greg Norman’s surprise performance injected some real drama into the weekend but the reality is that TV viewing numbers, especially in the US, were down on last year.
US Ryder Cup Points 2008
UPDATED (24 July 2008): The latest standings for the US Ryder Cup team are shown below. This is following the latest qualifying events and also takes into account the news that Tiger Woods will be missing from the Ryder Cup this year.
Don’t forget that the new US Ryder Cup qualification system is in place so there are only 8 rather than 10 automatic qualification spots this year.
|
2008 US Ryder Cup Points - (24 July 2008) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Points | |||
| 1 | Stewart Cink | 4906 | |||
| 2 | Phil Mickelson | 4570 | |||
| 3 | Kenny Perry | 4445 | |||
| 4 | Jim Furyk | 4186 | |||
| 5 | Anthony Kim | 3807 | |||
| 6 | Justin Leonard | 3278 | |||
| 7 | Boo Weekley | 2592 | |||
| 8 | Steve Stricker | 2557 | |||
With time running out the really interesting part is looking at who is hovering just outside the top eight with time running out and opportunities to earn those valuable points running out. Listed below are those who are just outside the automatic qualification spots.
| 9 | Woody Austin | 2381 |
| 10 | Rocco Mediate | 2204 |
| 11 | Hunter Mahan | 2172 |
| 12 | D.J. Trahan | 2132 |
| 13 | Zach Johnson | 2102 |
| 14 | Brandt Snedeker | 2088 |
| 15 | Jeff Quinney | 2014 |
| 16 | J.B. Holmes | 1979 |
| 17 | Bart Bryant | 1900 |
| 18 | Sean O’hair | 1804 |
| 19 | Ben Curtis | 1787 |
| 20 | Jerry Kelly | 1753 |
There is a lot of players bunched up just below this and if you want to see all 204 players who currently have some US Ryder Cup points see here.
Padraig Harrington Open Victory
Congratulations to Padraig Harrington who successfully defended his Open Title over the weekend at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport. Padraig is the first European in over a century to win the Open back to back and shares the feat with Tiger Woods who won it in 2005 and 2006.
In a confident display Harrington saw off Greg Norman, who emerged as a surprise contender and led going into the final round. Harrington finished with 4 shots in hand at 18th. The weather was foul over the weekend with high winds and rain, which meant the scores were quite high - Harrington ending up 3 over for the tournament.
This win will see Padraig safely on the European Ryder Cup team, and by the looks of this tournament he will be a major force on the team.
Tiger Woods turns down Ryder Cup Vice Captaincy
Tiger Woods has stirred up all the usual Tiger/Ryder controversies with his refusal to accept the Vice Captaincy offered by Paul Azinger. On Tiger’s official website he says:
“I’m not on the team,” and “The event should be about the competitors and the competition. The guys will have plenty on their minds and I wish them the best. I’ll be cheering loudly.”
Azinger obviously felt that the event and the US team would benefit by the presence of the world’s No 1 ranked player, however Tiger is not going to play ball. Is this simply a manifestation of Tiger’s single-minded determination and focus (this time on healing his knee) or is it, as many are claiming, evidence that Tiger just doesn’t care about the Ryder Cup, the Team or representing the US? I guess it we’ll never really know but it certainly adds to the media entertainment factor as pro-Tiger and anti-Tiger journalists slug it out!
Ryder Cup Memorabilia
There’s a very interesting Golfing Memorabilia auction next Monday (14th of July 2008) at Bonhams in Chester in the UK. Amongst the treasure trove of items are some exciting Ryder Cup pieces. Lot 115 is The ‘Third Biennial International Dinner’ menu 25 June 1931 - the front cover signed with 12 player’s autographs to include George Duncan, Walter Hagen, Arthur Havers, Fred Robson, Abe Mitchell, Billy Burke together with the Mayor of Columbus and the Governor of Ohio.
With an estimate of £2,000 - £3,000
For further details contact the auction house:
Bonhams
New House
150 Christleton Road
Chester, Cheshire
CH3 5TD
Tel: +44 (0)1244 313 936
Fax: +44 (0)1244 340 028
Ryder Cup Wales
The 38th Ryder Cup Matches will be held in Wales in the Celtic Manor Resort which is located in the beautiful Usk valley close to Newport in South Wales.
For accommodation for the event contact the Ryder Cup Travel Services who are co-ordinating bookings for the majority of hotels within a 30 mile radius. Their (UK) contact number is 0870 755 3004.
Tickets will as usual be issued by lottery to be announced after the 2008 event - we’ll keep you posted…
Wales has some wonderful courses that are worth a visit if you are traveling to the event, including the Royal St Davids, which dates back to 1894, Cardigan and Cradoc - to mention just a few. Feel free to let us know what your favourite Welsh course is and why…
Ryder Cup Blog
The RyderDiary.com is the definitive Ryder Cup Blog. We are all Ryder Cup ALL the time. We are always interested in new contributors and what you have to say, so if you are passionate (and knowledgeable) about the Ryder Cup and have some interesting insight we’d be delighted to hear from you…
We’re interested in anything Ryder Cup related from Ryder Cup History to Ryder Cup News
No Tiger in Kentucky!
The game’s greatest player will not be playing in this year’s Ryder Cup in Valhalla. News that Tiger will have reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of his left knee emerged today from his personal website.
Tiger’s golfing accomplishments in the last twelve months seem even greater with the news that he ruptured his ACL shortly after last year’s Open Championship yet since then has battled on to win ten of the thirteen tournaments in which he has played (btw, the other three were two second-place finishes and one fifth-place!). Even more extraordinary is the news that he also has a double stress fracture of his left tibia. One can only speculate how well Tiger could be playing if he was fully fit!
New faces on the European team?
With just 16 weeks of golf remaining before European captain Nick Faldo finalises his team for Ryder Cup 2008, it does appear likely that the European team will feature quite a few new faces in Valhalla.
Some of the veterans of the 2006 victory, and indeed of many previous victories, will have to play a lot of successful golf to climb back into serious contention for this year’s team. Previous European stalwarts such as Colin Montgomerie, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Jose-Maria Olazabal are all facing an uphill climb to get themselves into contention on the points lists.
Ryder Cup Captains Spat
You know the Ryder Cup season is firmly in train when the first PR salvos are fired! In a recent article in the UK paper Mail on Sunday Paul Azinger loosed the following shot across Nick Faldo’s bow…
“Nick Faldo has tried to redefine himself,” “I’d say he is both who he is and who he was.
“Some people have bought it. Some have not. But if you’re going to be a p***k and everyone hates you, why do you think that just because you’re trying to be cute and funny on air now that the same people are all going to start to like you?”
“The bottom line is that the players from his generation and mine really don’t want to have anything to do with him. He did what he did as a player and there are consequences.”
The Mail on Sunday is not exactly the paper of record and as we all know controversy sells papers however there’s often no smoke without a fire…
Olazabal won’t be teeing it up in September
Jose Maria Olazabal, vice-captain of the European team in this year’s Ryder Cup is almost certainly going to contribute in a non-playing role only. Olazabal has played in seven Ryder Cups, most recently in Ireland in 2006. He has battled bravely against different forms of rheumatism and arthritis for over a decade, famously coming back from crippling arthritis in his foot to win the Augusta Masters in 1999. (Read on …)
Match-play format certainly suits Tiger!
Match-play format, where players compete directly against each other to win each hole, is rarely employed on the major golf tours. This is primarily due to the impracticality of arranging a tournament in head-to-head fashion, in contrast to the standard practice of allowing 100+ professionals to measure themselves against the par of the course. The Accenture Match Play Championship (part of the World Golf Championships series) is one such rare event and has brought the (nominally) Top 64 players in the world together in Tucson, Arizona for five glorious days of mano-a-mano competition.
The next time we see match-play dividing some of these talented players will be in Valhalla in September. (Read on …)
Will a change in format bring a change in outcome?
The captain of the American team for Ryder Cup 2008, Paul Azinger, has already shown great determination to do whatever it takes to wrestle the Cup back to the Americans in Valhalla in September. He introduced a radical shake up to team selection by doubling the size of his personal picks, from two to four, and has transformed the qualification criteria for the other eight players.
Now, he’s requested a change in the format of the competition itself. (Read on …)
Ryder Cup Louisville
Louisville is host to the Ryder Cup 2008, which will be held at Valhalla Golf Club just outside the city in September 2008.
The city is preparing to host the event in style with a wide ranging program planned in the lead up to the Ryder Cup matches. The city is no stranger to major events as it plays host to famed The Kentucky Derby and The Iron Man every year. There is no doubt that Louisville intends to surpass itself for golf’s premier event. Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson has formed a task force comprised of local business executives to create activities surrounding the event that include the entire community. The Governor of Kentucky has formed a similar group on behalf of the Commonwealth.
“The Cup Experience” is expected to draw thousands (Read on …)
Elin Nordegren Woods Settles Case
Elin Nordegren Woods settled her libel case against The Dubliner magazine in the High Court in Dublin for a reported sum of $183,250 and an apology.
She has indicated that the settlement will be donated to a cancer charity in honour of Heather Clarke. (Read on …)
Ryder Cup Gleneagles
The 40th anniversary Ryder Cup matches will be held on the Centenary Course at Gleneagles in 2014.
Gleneagles has a special historic connection with the event as it was here that the precursor of the Ryder Cup was held in 1921. This informal competition between British and American teams was won by the British team which included James Braid, the course designer. (Read on …)
Ryder Cup Information
The Ryder Cup Diary provides comprehensive information on the Ryder Cup. It’s a valuable resource for those who want to attend and are looking for information on the Ryder Cup 2008 at Valhalla or the Ryder Cup 2010 in Wales, for those looking for information on the History of the Ryder Cup and we also have lots of information from the European Team and the US Team for the enthusiast.
On the other hand if you are a Ryder Cup novice and are trying to figure out what it’s all about and how it works we have a Ryder Cup for Dummies introduction…
We welcome any up to date information on the Ryder Cup, Player information, Ticket information, and General Ryder Cup information, so if you want to share something relevant just contact us and we’ll tell the fans…
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