19th Hole

2021 Ryder Cup Player Ratings

Published

3 years ago

Sep 27, 2021

The U.S. recorded the biggest margin of victory in Ryder Cup history at Whistling Straits, dominating the European side all three days to win 19-9.

It was an incredible display by the U.S. youngsters and a chastening experience for Team Europe, with some veterans on the side likely to have competed in their final Ryder Cup.

Here we take a look at each player and rate their performance for the week at Whistling Straits.

U.S.

Patrick Cantlay: Three and a half points out of a possible four, as Patrick Cantlay continues to impress. Looks as calm and confident in his ability as anyone these days, and while his singles match against Shane Lowry was touted to be close, the 29-year-old bossed the Irishman. 9

Collin Morikawa: Perfect in team play, proving to be the ideal partner for both DJ and Cantlay, and his half a point against Europe’s best young gun in Viktor Hovland capped a top showing by the Californian. 8.5

Dustin Johnson: Perfection from DJ who went five for five in Wisconsin. Outstanding performance. 10

Bryson DeChambeau: Whether it was drives of over 400 yards or strutting off the first tee Sunday with a putter in hand, Bryson was at his very best last week. Dominated arguably the best Ryder Cup player in history in singles, and alongside his teammate Scheffler he was the only player who could deny World Number One Jon Rahm in team play. 9

Scottie Scheffler: There’s stepping up to the plate, and then there’s doing what Scottie Scheffler did over the weekend. Excelled in team action with Bryson DeChambeau, and then the rookie went out against the best player in the world and put him to the sword 4&3. Sensational performance. 9.5

Xander Schauffele: Phenomenal in team play, taking three points from a possible three and looks like he could partner anyone and get the best out of them. Suffered a hefty defeat in Sunday singles but had done his part brilliantly in forging the USA’s monstrous lead by then. 8

Harris English: Looked excellent alongside Tony Finau in taking down the Irish duo of McIlroy and Lowry on the opening day, but that was as good as it got for the 32-year-old who lost his Saturday fourball and Sunday single matches. 7

Daniel Berger: Another man who justified his Captain’s pick, ending the week with a winning record thanks to his single’s victory where he played the tricky anchor match. 8

Justin Thomas: Started slow but rode a wave of confidence bordering on arrogance and ended up delivering the goods. Played four times, and while he won just once in team play, JT’s crushing defeat of Tyrrell Hatton on Sunday was a statement win. 8

Jordan Spieth: Played four times and ended up on the winning side of those matches just the once. Earned half a point on Sunday, which means he’s still yet to taste victory in single’s RC action. 7

Brooks Koepka: Began the event with a nice win but struggled on Saturday, where he went 0-2 in team action. Stepped up on Sunday with a strong showing. Has the feel of a guy you’d dread to be paired against in singles play. 7.5

Tony Finau: Carbon copy of his partner Harris English’s week. 1-1 in team play, but couldn’t handle the Postman in Sunday’s singles. 7

Steve Stricker: From his captain picks to his pairings to the course setup, Steve Stricker got everything right when in the build-up to the event many had their doubts. Captained the most dominant Ryder Cup team ever. Enough said. 10

Europe

Matthew Fitzpatrick: Played three and lost them all. Has now played a total of five matches across two Ryder Cups and still hasn’t earned even half a point. Doesn’t look cut out for the competition. 3

Tommy Fleetwood: Fought hard but was only able to earn a point from his three matches in Wisconsin. Hard not to feel he was underplayed, particularly in foursomes where his omission both days raised some eyebrows. 4.5

Sergio Garcia: Another strong showing at the Ryder Cup for Sergio, who excelled alongside his fellow countryman Jon Rahm. Perfect in team play, but couldn’t handle Bryson on Sunday in a match that was more one-sided than anyone expected. 7.5

Tyrrell Hatton: Looked flat all week which was a surprise for a player that gets amped up quite often on Tour. Earned one and a half points in team play, but when Europe needed him on Sunday, he offered nothing as JT ran over the Englishman. Highlight was a stunning shot on 18 to earn half a point on Friday afternoon. 4.5

Paul Casey: Played four and lost four. Really poor performance from Casey, who despite his experience, looked out of his depth at times. 3

Rory McIlroy: Failed to contribute anything in three appearances in team play. Was bitterly disappointed in his performance in a very honest interview on Sunday. Did show up and perform admirably in singles action, but his assessment of his contribution over the week was correct; he needed to do much more. 4

Viktor Hovland: Didn’t play particularly poorly, but when you play all five matches and bring home just one point, it must go down as a big disappointment. Will learn a lot from his experience at his first Ryder Cup. 4

Shane Lowry: Trusted just the three times by his captain, Lowry delivered a great moment on Saturday on 18 to win his match, but that was as good as it got. Comfortably defeated in Sunday’s singles. 4.5

Jon Rahm: Showed he’s now the European leader with a strong display, particularly in team play. Earned three and a half points from a possible four over the first two days, which was a top, top display against this U.S. side. Ran out of gas on Sunday in a surprising upset. 7.5

Lee Westwood: Likely to be Westwood’s final Ryder Cup, and while he offered very little over the opening two days, it was nice to see him pick up a point, albeit a pretty meaningless one, on Sunday. 4.5

Bernd Wiesberger: A very tough debut at the Ryder Cup for Wiesberger, who went 0-3 in Wisconsin. You’d hope he’d be better for the experience. 3.5

Ian Poulter: Credit to Poulter, put him out in Sunday’s singles, and he’ll will himself to a point against anyone it seems. Sadly his days look numbered as a competitor at the event, however, as he looked miles off it in the team format. 4.5

Padraig Harrington: Didn’t get much right, offering himself fewer captain picks than his adversary, some odd pairings, and not picking Fleetwood for foursomes was a strange one. In his defence, if he had done everything perfectly, he’d still have been on the losing side. 4

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19th Hole

‘Absolutely crazy’ – Major champ lays into Patrick Cantlay over his decision on final hole of RBC Heritage

Published

1 day ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

Over the past year or so, PGA Tour star Patrick Cantlay has taken a great deal of criticism for his pace of play.

Now, Cantlay is once again under fire for a questionable decision he made on Sunday at the RBC Heritage.

After the horn sounded to suspend play due to darkness, Cantlay, whose ball was in the fairway on the 18th hole, had a decision to make. With over 200 yards into the green and extreme winds working against the shot, conventional wisdom would be to wait until Monday morning to hit the shot.

Related: Patrick Cantlay WITB

On the other hand, if he could finish the hole, he may just want to get the event over with so he could get out of Hilton Head.

Curiously, Cantlay chose neither of those options. After hitting 3-wood into the green, and still coming up short, the former FedEx Cup champion chose to mark his ball and return to chip and putt on Monday morning.

Ian Woosnam, who was watching from home, took to X to give his thoughts on Cantlay’s decision-making.

Can’t believe my eyes watching Patrick Cantlay why on earth would you hit your second shot then mark your ball absolutely crazy, maybe says a lot ?

— Ian Woosnam (@IWoosnam) April 22, 2024

Cantlay would end up getting up and down for par when play resumed at 8:00 Monday morning.

Following his round, Cantlay explained his decision to wait to hit his third shot the next morning:

“I really did want to finish last night, so I felt like if I could get the ball up there maybe in an easier spot, maybe I would have finished, but as I got the ball up near the green, I realized it would be easier to finish this morning. That’s what I decided to do.”

GolfWRX has reached out to Patrick Cantlay’s management team for a response to Woosnam’s comments.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans betting preview

Published

2 days ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

The PGA TOUR heads to New Orleans to play the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. In a welcome change from the usual stroke play, the Zurich Classic is a team event. On Thursday and Saturday, the teams play best ball, and on Friday and Sunday the teams play alternate shot.

TPC Louisiana is a par 72 that measures 7,425 yards. The course features some short par 4s and plenty of water and bunkers, which makes for a lot of exciting risk/reward scenarios for competitors. Pete Dye designed the course in 2004 specifically for the Zurich Classic, although the event didn’t make its debut until 2007 because of Hurricane Katrina.

Coming off of the Masters and a signature event in consecutive weeks, the field this week is a step down, and understandably so. Many of the world’s top players will be using this time to rest after a busy stretch.

However, there are some interesting teams this season with some stars making surprise appearances in the team event. Some notable teams include Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa and Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala as well as a few Canadian teams, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners.

Past Winners at TPC Louisiana

2023: Riley/Hardy (-30)
2022: Cantlay/Schauffele (-29)
2021: Leishman/Smith (-20)
2019: Palmer/Rahm (-26)
2018: Horschel/Piercy (-22)
2017: Blixt/Smith (-27)

2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Picks

Tom Hoge/Maverick McNealy +2500 (DraftKings)

Tom Hoge is coming off of a solid T18 finish at the RBC Heritage and finished T13 at last year’s Zurich Classic alongside Harris English.

This season, Hoge is having one of his best years on Tour in terms of Strokes Gained: Approach. In his last 24 rounds, the only player to top him on the category is Scottie Scheffler. Hoge has been solid on Pete Dye designs, ranking 28th in the field over his past 36 rounds.

McNealy is also having a solid season. He’s finished T6 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T9 at the PLAYERS Championship. He recently started working with world renowned swing coach, Butch Harmon, and its seemingly paid dividends in 2024.

Keith Mitchell/Joel Dahmen +4000 (DraftKings)

Keith Mitchell is having a fantastic season, finishing in the top-20 of five of his past seven starts on Tour. Most recently, Mitchell finished T14 at the Valero Texas Open and gained a whopping 6.0 strokes off the tee. He finished 6th at last year’s Zurich Classic.

Joel Dahmen is having a resurgent year and has been dialed in with his irons. He also has a T11 finish at the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass which is another Pete Dye track. With Mitchell’s length and Dahmen’s ability to put it close with his short irons, the Mitchell/Dahmen combination will be dangerous this week.

Taylor Moore/Matt NeSmith +6500 (DraftKings)

Taylor Moore has quickly developed into one of the more consistent players on Tour. He’s finished in the top-20 in three of his past four starts, including a very impressive showing at The Masters, finishing T20. He’s also finished T4 at this event in consecutive seasons alongside Matt NeSmith.

NeSmith isn’t having a great 2024, but has seemed to elevate his game in this format. He finished T26 at Pete Dye’s TPC Sawgrass, which gives the 30-year-old something to build off of. NeSmith is also a great putter on Bermudagrass, which could help elevate Moore’s ball striking prowess.

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19th Hole

Vincenzi’s 2024 LIV Adelaide betting preview: Cam Smith ready for big week down under

Published

2 days ago

Apr 22, 2024

Matt Vincenzi

After having four of the top twelve players on the leaderboard at The Masters, LIV Golf is set for their fifth event of the season: LIV Adelaide.

For both LIV fans and golf fans in Australia, LIV Adelaide is one of the most anticipated events of the year. With 35,000 people expected to attend each day of the tournament, the Grange Golf Club will be crawling with fans who are passionate about the sport of golf. The 12th hole, better known as “the watering hole”, is sure to have the rowdiest of the fans cheering after a long day of drinking some Leishman Lager.

The Grange Golf Club is a par-72 that measures 6,946 yards. The course features minimal resistance, as golfers went extremely low last season. In 2023, Talor Gooch shot consecutive rounds of 62 on Thursday and Friday, giving himself a gigantic cushion heading into championship Sunday. Things got tight for a while, but in the end, the Oklahoma State product was able to hold off The Crushers’ Anirban Lahiri for a three-shot victory.

The Four Aces won the team competition with the Range Goats finishing second.

*All Images Courtesy of LIV Golf*

Past Winners at LIV Adelaide

2023: Talor Gooch (-19)

Stat Leaders Through LIV Miami

Green in Regulation

Richard Bland
Jon Rahm
Paul Casey

Fairways Hit

Abraham Ancer
Graeme McDowell
Henrik Stenson

Driving Distance

Bryson DeChambeau
Joaquin Niemann
Dean Burmester

Putting

Cameron Smith
Louis Oosthuizen
Matt Jones

2024 LIV Adelaide Picks

Cameron Smith +1400 (DraftKings)

When I pulled up the odds for LIV Adelaide, I was more than a little surprised to see multiple golfers listed ahead of Cameron Smith on the betting board. A few starts ago, Cam finished runner-up at LIV Hong Kong, which is a golf course that absolutely suits his eye. Augusta National in another course that Smith could roll out of bed and finish in the top-ten at, and he did so two weeks ago at The Masters, finishing T6.

At Augusta, he gained strokes on the field on approach, off the tee (slightly), and of course, around the green and putting. Smith able to get in the mix at a major championship despite coming into the week feeling under the weather tells me that his game is once again rounding into form.

The Grange Golf Club is another course that undoubtedly suits the Australian. Smith is obviously incredibly comfortable playing in front of the Aussie faithful and has won three Australian PGA Championship’s. The course is very short and will allow Smith to play conservative off the tee, mitigating his most glaring weakness. With birdies available all over the golf course, there’s a chance the event turns into a putting contest, and there’s no one on the planet I’d rather have in one of those than Cam Smith.

Louis Oosthuizen +2200 (DraftKings)

Louis Oosthuizen has simply been one of the best players on LIV in the 2024 seas0n. The South African has finished in the top-10 on the LIV leaderboard in three of his five starts, with his best coming in Jeddah, where he finished T2. Perhaps more impressively, Oosthuizen finished T7 at LIV Miami, which took place at Doral’s “Blue Monster”, an absolutely massive golf course. Given that Louis is on the shorter side in terms of distance off the tee, his ability to play well in Miami shows how dialed he is with the irons this season.

In addition to the LIV finishes, Oosthuizen won back-to-back starts on the DP World Tour in December at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the Mauritus Open. He also finished runner-up at the end of February in the International Series Oman. The 41-year-old has been one of the most consistent performers of 2024, regardless of tour.

For the season, Louis ranks 4th on LIV in birdies made, T9 in fairways hit and first in putting. He ranks 32nd in driving distance, but that won’t be an issue at this short course. Last season, he finished T11 at the event, but was in decent position going into the final round but fell back after shooting 70 while the rest of the field went low. This season, Oosthuizen comes into the event in peak form, and the course should be a perfect fit for his smooth swing and hot putter this week.