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Yes, the American team does actually bond
Every time the Ryder Cup comes around…
European golf writers ask why it is that no American team captain can get the best out of Tiger Woods.
Apart from the lunacy of partnering Woods with Phil Mickelson (a partnership made in the Land of Nod by Hal Sutton, who admitted that when it failed to work, he had no Plan B), Woods actually has a pretty good Ryder Cup record, and will surely finish his career as the competition’s record points scorer.
And his record in the Presidents Cup is not too shabby either. Despite suffering from continuing back problems, he finished with a record of 4-1 at Muirfield Village (better than any other player), and secured the winning point for Freddie Couples’ team over the Internationals. But it was what he said afterwards that revealed the most. In Europe, it is widely believed that Woods is not a team player, that he doesn’t get on particularly well with his teammates and finds it difficult to communicate.
Now read the following quotes from Woods after he beat Richard Sterne on the 18th green and tell me that they are not the words of a team player:
"It feels good. It was a team effort this whole week. We really played well and gave ourselves a really nice lead going into the singles and it was a tough day, tough conditions, rain, wind, tough all around," he said. "I was like in a similar position as Freddie; where is our fourth point going to come from? I was at a point where I wasn’t feeling my best coming down the stretch, and happened to get a one-up lead. I was just trying to hang on to that. Problem was, I knew I wasn’t feeling good, and if I happened to mess up 18 we had to continue playing until it was decided."
"I really don’t want to play anymore. I just thought - can I win, can I halve this last hole, somehow? And it ended up being that way. To have the opportunity to win the Cup for Freddie and all the guys on the team, it means a lot to me, and to be able to have trust in the guys and be able to go out there and earn a point, it means a lot."
Despite many rain delays throughout the competition, and the pain in his back, Woods said he had enjoyed being back in the team environment. “We have a great time, you kidding me? This is why when you first experience it. You want to get back on these teams each and every year. It’s just a lot of fun. It was a long week but it was worth it. We did it.” he said.
And just in case anybody thinks that the Ryder Cup doesn’t matter to the Americans, there were some revealing comments made by Steve Stricker, a member of the team that suffered a shock defeat by Europe at Medinah last year and feared that history might be repeating itself at Muirfield Village.
“Last year still stings,” Stricker said. “If you ask the guys that were on that team last year, I guarantee every one of them would think that last year at the Ryder Cup hurts. So I think it’s important that we came here and got a win, moving forward in the right direction to try to win the Ryder Cup next year.”
Nine of the 12 US players who lost at Medinah were on the Presidents Cup-winning squad and 2012 US Ryder Cup captain David Love was an assistant to Fred Couples.
On Sunday, International side, captained by Nick Price, needed to win the last seven singles matches just to earn a draw but captured the first four and lost only after Woods beat Sterne.
"It was a tough day I think for all of us," Stricker said. "I mean, it had a scenario brewing much like the Ryder Cup last year coming down to the end, so I think we can all take positives from this going forward to next year."
"As golfers, we’re dealt defeats all the time," Stricker said. "It’s more about picking yourself up and dusting yourself off and getting ready to go again. But I think it was a good step for all of us to in again."
The Americans seem to have grasped that there is no “I” in team, and there was some serious bonding going on at Muirfield Village. They will travel to Gleneagles next year confident of regaining the Ryder Cup.
Every time the Ryder Cup comes around…
European golf writers ask why it is that no American team captain can get the best out of Tiger Woods.
Apart from the lunacy of partnering Woods with Phil Mickelson (a partnership made in the Land of Nod by Hal Sutton, who admitted that when it failed to work, he had no Plan B), Woods actually has a pretty good Ryder Cup record, and will surely finish his career as the competition’s record points scorer.
And his record in the Presidents Cup is not too shabby either. Despite suffering from continuing back problems, he finished with a record of 4-1 at Muirfield Village (better than any other player), and secured the winning point for Freddie Couples’ team over the Internationals. But it was what he said afterwards that revealed the most. In Europe, it is widely believed that Woods is not a team player, that he doesn’t get on particularly well with his teammates and finds it difficult to communicate.
Now read the following quotes from Woods after he beat Richard Sterne on the 18th green and tell me that they are not the words of a team player:
"It feels good. It was a team effort this whole week. We really played well and gave ourselves a really nice lead going into the singles and it was a tough day, tough conditions, rain, wind, tough all around," he said. "I was like in a similar position as Freddie; where is our fourth point going to come from? I was at a point where I wasn’t feeling my best coming down the stretch, and happened to get a one-up lead. I was just trying to hang on to that. Problem was, I knew I wasn’t feeling good, and if I happened to mess up 18 we had to continue playing until it was decided."
"I really don’t want to play anymore. I just thought - can I win, can I halve this last hole, somehow? And it ended up being that way. To have the opportunity to win the Cup for Freddie and all the guys on the team, it means a lot to me, and to be able to have trust in the guys and be able to go out there and earn a point, it means a lot."
Despite many rain delays throughout the competition, and the pain in his back, Woods said he had enjoyed being back in the team environment. “We have a great time, you kidding me? This is why when you first experience it. You want to get back on these teams each and every year. It’s just a lot of fun. It was a long week but it was worth it. We did it.” he said.
And just in case anybody thinks that the Ryder Cup doesn’t matter to the Americans, there were some revealing comments made by Steve Stricker, a member of the team that suffered a shock defeat by Europe at Medinah last year and feared that history might be repeating itself at Muirfield Village.
“Last year still stings,” Stricker said. “If you ask the guys that were on that team last year, I guarantee every one of them would think that last year at the Ryder Cup hurts. So I think it’s important that we came here and got a win, moving forward in the right direction to try to win the Ryder Cup next year.”
Nine of the 12 US players who lost at Medinah were on the Presidents Cup-winning squad and 2012 US Ryder Cup captain David Love was an assistant to Fred Couples.
On Sunday, International side, captained by Nick Price, needed to win the last seven singles matches just to earn a draw but captured the first four and lost only after Woods beat Sterne.
"It was a tough day I think for all of us," Stricker said. "I mean, it had a scenario brewing much like the Ryder Cup last year coming down to the end, so I think we can all take positives from this going forward to next year."
"As golfers, we’re dealt defeats all the time," Stricker said. "It’s more about picking yourself up and dusting yourself off and getting ready to go again. But I think it was a good step for all of us to in again."
The Americans seem to have grasped that there is no “I” in team, and there was some serious bonding going on at Muirfield Village. They will travel to Gleneagles next year confident of regaining the Ryder Cup.
