A few years ago, trying to do favor to do favor as I interviewed Bernhard Langer, I said, “What was Hal Sutton thinking, pairing Tiger and Phil?”
In the 2004 Ryder Cup, in Oakland Hills, Langer was the European captain, Sutton was the American captain, and Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were the two best and most famous players in the world. They were not famous not friends. On the first day, Sutton sent that duet twice, the morning session and after lunch, also, first filling them on Better Ball and the third in the afternoon alternative game. They lost both times.
Suppose Bernhard’s voice here. Monotony, Authority: “You are just saying it because it didn’t work.”
Precise
In all cases, the two easiest places to make some second serious conjectures are changing when your starter is going well through six and Ryder Cup Cireings. In all ordinary golf fans cannot understand why American captain Keegan Bradley brought Harris English and Collin Morikawa Friday morning alternative shots. Does this look like a natural couple? Which guy will bring a match and a starting liquid? They were shocked by a European electricity squad, Tommy Fleetwood and Rory Mcilroy. Then Bradley kept the team Together Saturday morning.
“We enter here this week with a plan and the players are prepared for that plan,” Bradley said Friday evening. “We will adhere to this plan.”
That’s right from the Tiger Woods game book, what Woods made as captain of the US team at the 2019 presidents at Royal Melbourne. On Saturday morning, as luck would have it, they attracted Fleetwood-Mac again. Again, Europeans won without breaking a sweat. Two light points on their way to 14.5 they look for.
The second hammer is the great casual sport because it is so easy. We all have our instinctive feelings for what makes sense and what does not. Would you really want to pair Mickelson and Woods together when they were barely in spoken conditions?
Maybe you think, when you create teams with two men, one of the players must be the natural leader, so one player sets the example and the other player tries to live in him. Older brother-in-law. Who is the older brother in English-Morikawa? English is 36 years old and Morikawa is 28. Morikawa has won two degrees, English has not earned anyone. So who is who?
Maybe you think A Of the two players, in every team with two men, there should be some kind of light charisma, in the interest of engaging fans and soothing nerves on the walks down the road. In the English-Morikawa team, where is charisma? Who among them can provide the explosive shooting that make a team event a team event? Where is the necessary passion?
When you have 12 players in your team, you can create 132 teams with two men (say math diplomas). There are 132 permutations. Stat Mavens on an online site called Data Golf understood a formula to analyze all 132 US teams based on the latest performance. The Morikawa-English team was ranked in 132. The last dead. Both players made the team in the point. Both are world -class players. But none have provided any necessary moment for this year. Harris plays a Title Prov1. Morikawa plays a Tayormade TP5. Does this really matter? Who knows. It should be something.
I understand this sounds harsh. Bradley certainly had his reasons to unite these two great players into an alternative blow, Aka Foursomes, the first time. It didn’t work. The players were eager to try their correct captain on day 2. Groundhog’s day.
The second hammer is easy. Is a random right. These words can only be printed for one reason: Harris English-Collin Morikawa alternative-shop, such as the Phil Mickelson-Tiger Woods pairing, did not work. You can say that when the results cards are delivered. However, Bernhard’s penetration lives. Alive is alive and good and will be forever.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments on Michael.bamberger@golf.com.
