GolfWRX.com: H. I. J. = Pre-Game To The K Club - GolfWRX.com

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Shhhh... If you listen closely, you can hear the whispers on the range. There is no smiling, fist bumping, or joking between teams. It's game time. The Gourmet Golfwrx build-up to the Ryder Cup starts with some pre-game analysis from Marcus Vindictus, G.Gwrx' new contributing writer. Don't forget to add your comments and opinions.
</p> <p align="justify">Enjoy!
</p><p align="justify"><img width="279" height="113" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.rydercupshop.net/gfx/faded_cup_header.gif" /></p> <div align="justify"> <img width="275" height="62" border="1" align="left" src="http://www.rydercupshop.net/gfx/ryder_cup_text.gif" /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">Irish Eyes Will Be Smiling </div><div align="justify">Marcus Vinductus </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">The Americans will bounce back. After the massacre at Oakland Hills in 2004 they will be focused, determined, and will even sacrifice personal agendas for the good of the team. They will play to their talent level for a change. They will sink the big putts. Tiger has too much pride to be considered a “loser”. He is the anointed “leader” of this team. He is playing the best golf of his storied career and he simply </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><img width="144" vspace="6" hspace="6" height="226" border="1" align="right" src="http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper410/stills/kfzpodc3.jpg" /></font></font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">cannot be beaten. He will take the youngsters under his wing and teach them how to win </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">tough </font></font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">matches. Phil is now clearly the second best player in the world and DiMarco proved his value in team competition with last year’s amazing performance in the Presidents’ Cup. If nothing else, the law of averages must even-out the lucky bounces and 25-foot bombs the Euros have dropped on the Yanks in the past two Ryder Cups. The Americans will bounce back, won’t they? They must! It was great that the Euros won a couple of times to make it a true rivalry but this is getting out of hand. The Americans have lost three out of the last four and their only victory was secured by a 50-foot prayer by Justin Leonard. It is time for them to puff out their chests and reclaim the cup that they possessed from 1959 to 1983, an astonishing 24 year dominance. It is time. They will bounce back. Won’t they? </font></font>

<font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">No. No they won’t. </font></font>

<font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Top five reasons why the cup will stay on Euro soil in 2006: </font></font>

<font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> 1. Top Guns – Forget about major championships, world events, and world rankings. This is a team event. You can only objectively draw on similar events to determine the cumulative value of each team. Tiger and Phil can only control two total points in the Sunday single matches. They are dependent on the play of their partners for the other four matches in which they are expected to compete (hopefully they are not paired together again, which was a well-documented disaster). The European team, consisting of accomplished Ryder-Cuppers Monty, Olazabal, Westwood, and Sergio, have a combined Ryder Cup record of 55-27-13 record. The most experienced U.S. Ryder-Cuppers; Tiger, Phil, Furyk, and David Toms, have a combined record of 24-31-8. We may laugh at the anguish of another failed attempt by Monty and Sergio to win an elusive major championship on any soil of the planet but they are much more accomplished in this event. There are only four competitive players in this event with double-digit career point totals in this event and they are all on the Euro side.</font></font>

<font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> 2. Experience – The cumulative Ryder Cup record of all Euros competing in this event is 75-62-21 compared to 31-39-10 on the American side. Unlike past years, in which the American team looked superior on paper, this team will include the likes of J.J. Henry, Brett Wetterich, and Vaughn Taylor. I do not recall a single significant event in which any of these players excelled. I realize that the PGA Tour is the deepest, most competitive tour on Earth and these players earned the right to be on the team based on their accomplishments over the past 12 months but can we expect them to win pressure-packed Ryder Cup matches on foreign soil? No. No they won’t.</font></font>
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