Tour News

Ryder Cup: Olazabal made the right decisions

Published

12 years ago

Aug 27, 2012

Greg Moore

By Greg Moore

GolfWRX Staff

Sorry for you Padraig Harrington fans who wanted to see the three-time major champion make the European team for the Ryder Cup, but Jose Maria Olazabal made the right decisions for his team.

Let’s dig a bit deeper into why Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts were the best (and I mean logical) selections.

Colsaerts was No. 9 in European Ryder Cup points and No. 12 in World Ryder Cup points. Poulter was No. 17 in Euro Ryder Cup points and No. 11 in World Ryder Cup points. Harrington stood No. 27 and No. 19 respectively on those points lists, and there were a lot of players ahead of him that were playing a lot better who were also left off the team.

Ian Poulter

This will be Poulter’s fourth Ryder Cup. He was on the winning teams in 2004 and 2010 and on the losing side in 2008. His record in eleven matches is eight wins and three losses. IJP is also the winner of both of 2010 WGC – Accenture Match Play and 2011 Volvo World Match Play. In the qualifying period for Ryder Cup points, Poulter has had nine top 10s including victory in the 2011 JBWere Masters.

Who can forget just how fired up Poulter gets, not just in match play but for the Ryder Cup, his mates on the Euro team and his country.

His singles record is 3-0-0 with wins over Chris Riley 3 & 2, Steve Stricker 3 & 2 and Matt Kuchar 5 & 4.

Here’s a link to IJP’s Euro Tour page http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/players/playerid=2133/index.html

Nicolas Colsaerts

He’s the only rookie on the European team. He is No. 9 in the point standings. His match play record is stellar as he finished runner up in 2011 at the Volvo World Match Play and he won the Volvo World Match Play Championship in May, defeating Graeme McDowell in the finals in Spain.

Link to Colsaerts Euro Tour page http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/players/playerid=3456/index.html

This will be the first time that the European team has been made of its 12 top players in the Official World Ranking with every player inside the top 35 in the Official Golf World Rankings.

As for Harrington, he’s 48^th in the OWGR. So you can argue that maybe one of the others players left off like Alvaro Quiros, Marcel Siem or David Lynn should have made the team but the numbers just didn’t add up for Harrington this year.

Click here for more discussion in the “Tour Talk” forum.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

Published

3 days ago

Apr 23, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is live on site this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans for the PGA Tour’s one-and-only two-man team event.

As usual, general galleries, WITBs, and pullout albums — including some pretty spicy custom putters and headcovers — await your viewing.

Be sure to check back for more photos from the Big Easy, as we’ll continue to update this page with additional galleries throughout the week.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about our photos from the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in the forums.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage

Published

1 week ago

Apr 16, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.

We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.

We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.

Check out links to all our photos, below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open

Published

4 weeks ago

Apr 1, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.

The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.

GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.