11/21/24
September 22, 2008
9 years of Ryder Cup angst ends: With a raucous crowd covering every inch of the grounds around the hole, U.S. captain Paul Azinger riding down the fairway in his cart pumping up the fans and "Boooo" cheers echoing throughout the golf course, the underdog Americans pulled it off.
Great job by Azinger and all the rookies that played a big part in the win but for my money, the image I'll most remember is Boo riding his driver off the tee box. Almost fell off the couch laughing at that one.
posted by ksb122 at 04:33 PM on September 22, 2008
I really feel Paul Azinger laid the ground work (getting PGA to retool the selection process to provide players who were CURRENTLY hot and allowing 4 picks and later picks) and then had a concept of putting 4-somes together so they were sub teams and got used to each other even more during preparation and practice.... THEN the team of 12 did their thing and won it. Some nerves showed up on the 18th tee a couple of times... on both sides... but that's golf.... most of us would probably wiff the ball under similar pressure.
As an aside, I sure hope Boo has a good marketing team... he probably could get mega millions in endorsements just now...!!
And world, I hope everyone is ready for Tiger Kim, ur, I mean Anthony Kim....
Riveting TV. Damn it was nice.
posted by Fly_Piscator at 07:02 PM on September 22, 2008
Definitely happy to see the final score, but man, there were pockets of each day where it was literally the best golf I've ever seen, by players on both sides - to the extent that I couldn't have complained if the Europeans pulled it out. Quality stuff and praise deserved for everyone involved.
posted by littleLebowski at 10:58 PM on September 22, 2008
"the underdog Americans pulled it off."
By cheating and modifying the course.
posted by Drood at 02:31 AM on September 23, 2008
Drood, seriously, how many times do you need to be told that you don't know what you're talking about when it comes to the course changes?
The better team won and it was the best Ryder Cup for years. The course changes partly made it so - we didn't have to watch people hacking it out of tall grass all day, but instead we got to watch them demolish the place in very entertaining style.
For all Zinger's disappointment that he wasn't playing, I think Tiger's absence made the biggest difference. It's the first time the US has looked like a team since 1991.
posted by JJ at 03:45 AM on September 23, 2008
Drood, no disrespect but I have to agree with the majority. You have no clue as to what you're babbling about. No one cheated, the game was played on a level playing field and the better "team" won.
I was actually invited to Kentucky to go to Valhalla and see the Ryder Cup live. I spent the majority of my time at the club house getting my drink on with the fellas but we saw the Kim - Garcia match on Sunday even though we were bombarded with the masses and I have to tell you, it was one of the most lopsided losses that I've seen in golf in quite a while. We were able to see some of the other rounds but with so many people there in support of the US team but it was nearly impossible to get a good view of what was going on.
The US won fair and square and celebrated like if it was 1999.
posted by BornIcon at 08:42 AM on September 23, 2008
"... and celebrated like if it was 1999."
Thankfully not. They celebrated perfectly appropriately this time, and not until they'd actually won.
My only experience of actually being at a Ryder Cup was pretty similar - 40,000 people trying to watch four games of golf makes it a bit tough to get a decent view.
posted by JJ at 09:47 AM on September 23, 2008
I enjoy seeing the Yanks get humiliated at the Ryder Cup as much as... well, anyone who's not American. But I'm glad they won this one, and won it in the way they did. They were the better team, the people who came through weren't necessarily the big names -- as dyams said, the Americans won it the way the European team won it after so many barren years. People on the other side of the pond whining about Faldo are out of line too.
So, it's competitive again, and that's all good. See you all for an arse-kicking in two years' time.
posted by etagloh at 11:21 PM on September 24, 2008
I really think this Ryder Cup victory may wind up doing a great deal more for professional golf in the U.S. than it appears. It was so nice watching a team of golfers like the U.S.A. put out there this past week, playing well, and not every single moment having to be dominated by Tiger Woods. They were more of a "team" than the U.S. has put out there in quite a few years, and it really seemed to show in their overall play. I absolutely loved watching Anthony Kim destroy Sergio, and really liked his intensity when he hawked over the official and Garcia when they were making a ruling on his (Garcia's) lie during one hole yesterday. The U.S. team looked exactly like what the European teams in the past have looked like, and they took advantage of the home crowd. It's great that names like Weekley, Mahan, Kim, Perry, Campbell, and Holmes stepped up and gave fans the idea there are other players on the tour to watch and enjoy. Fantastic job by Paul Azinger!