The Road to the Ryder Cup 2014

LuckyGent88 · 14-08-2014 03:15AM

Tiger woods has pulled out of the match anyway.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2014/08/13/tiger-woods-ryder-cup-injury/14030273/

Takes a tough decision away from Watson at least anyway.
While he does have a disappointing record in the Ryder cup, it's always great to have him involved.

Hope he sticks to his plan now and not came back till December. He needs all the time to rehabilitate and strengthen his back muscles once again. Come back healthy and fresh in 2015.

abff · 22-08-2014 10:20AM

Donaldson is now 9 under par after playing 12 holes today and leading by one. If he keeps this up, he should clinch his Ryder Cup place. Gallacher is also playing well (5 under and tied for 5th). If he can finish in the top two and both McDowell and Donald finish down the field in the Barclays, it will leave McDowell, Donald, Poulter and Westwood all needing wild cards.

RikkFlair · 22-08-2014 10:51AM

abff wrote: »

McDowell, Donald, Poulter and Westwood all needing wild cards.

Big headache for McGinley that would be

Speak Now · 22-08-2014 10:52AM

Great stuff from Donaldson today with the pressure of trying to secure his place.

Russman · 22-08-2014 10:58AM

RikkFlair wrote: »

Big headache for McGinley that would be

Not really, although it'll be odd having a Ryder Cup without Westwood.....:D:D

Ahh no, you're right, someone's nose will be out of joint no matter what.

Dolph Starbeam · 22-08-2014 11:26AM

Russman wrote: »

Not really, although it'll be odd having a Ryder Cup without Westwood.....:D:D

Ahh no, you're right, someone's nose will be out of joint no matter what.

They will be, but they will only have themselves to blame, I have no sympathy for anyone relying on a captains pick who isn't picked.

abff · 22-08-2014 11:45AM

Donaldson missed a great opportunity to build a significant lead. He finished with two bogeys and a par 5. Still one ahead at present.

FixdePitchmark · 22-08-2014 12:24PM

RikkFlair wrote: »

Big headache for McGinley that would be

Id go for Poulter and McDowell

Tiger Mcilroy · 22-08-2014 01:20PM

Paul casey has to considered aswell as he looks to be over his injury and playing reasonably well again.

Going in the right direction in the rankings.

Also look at a guy like stephen gallagher that is up to 34 in the world..could see mcginley throw a surprise name out there when the time comes.

RikkFlair · 22-08-2014 01:33PM

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Id go for Poulter and McDowell

You have one more pick. Westwood or Donald? Neither have had a great year tbh.

FixdePitchmark · 22-08-2014 01:45PM

RikkFlair wrote: »

You have one more pick. Westwood or Donald? Neither have had a great year tbh.

Hard call.

I'd nearly go for neither and pick a wild - wild card,

Like Jimenez - Langer.

They would be just such a distraction and great for team. Wouldn't happen. I know.

Speak Now · 22-08-2014 02:42PM

RikkFlair wrote: »

You have one more pick. Westwood or Donald? Neither have had a great year tbh.

Donald all day for me.

Dolph Starbeam · 22-08-2014 03:03PM

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Donald all day for me.

I wouldn't have him near the team, horribly out of form for a long time. Westwood isn't much better. Poulter is in horrible form also but he is pretty much unbeatable in the RC.

ScummyMan · 22-08-2014 03:09PM

Any chance of Shane Lowry sneaking a pick?

TrapperChamonix · 22-08-2014 03:13PM

abff wrote: »

Donaldson is now 9 under par after playing 12 holes today and leading by one. If he keeps this up, he should clinch his Ryder Cup place. Gallacher is also playing well (5 under and tied for 5th). If he can finish in the top two and both McDowell and Donald finish down the field in the Barclays, it will leave McDowell, Donald, Poulter and Westwood all needing wild cards.

I'd be delighted to see Gallacher force his way into the team. Do wonders for the home town fans.
If it played out as you outline above, the smart pick is Donald, Poulter and Westwood. If it were to all go T*@# Up, then at least the English press couldn't beat you with a Donald or Westwood stick.

Speak Now · 22-08-2014 03:15PM

YayaBanana wrote: »

I wouldn't have him near the team, horribly out of form for a long time. Westwood isn't much better. Poulter is in horrible form also but he is pretty much unbeatable in the RC.

I'm only picking him over Westwood, I wouldn't have any of them near the team tbh!

McGinley will make the safe choices if McDowell stays in the last spot, he's a right P.R man and id be amazed if he did anything controversial. He certainly never says anything controversial when on sky, always safe middle of the road stuff. The only hard call will be if Gallacher nicked the last spot. Then it's 4 of the regular guys for 3 spots.

Speak Now · 22-08-2014 03:16PM

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

Any chance of Shane Lowry sneaking a pick?

No chance at all.

TrapperChamonix · 22-08-2014 03:18PM

Man.UnitedLad wrote: »

Any chance of Shane Lowry sneaking a pick?

Can't see the justification to be honest.

More sensible outside pick might be Marc Warren. 3rd in Scottish Open, 43rd in the British, 15th in the USPGA and 1st in Denmark

SnowDrifts · 22-08-2014 03:21PM

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

No chance at all.

Yeah Shane more or less confirmed this in his most recent article for The Irish Times.

Hopefully he will be in the mix come 2016.

Rikand · 22-08-2014 05:01PM

Come on gallagher and donaldson!

Speak Now · 22-08-2014 06:05PM

Poulter will be needing his wildcard again, another missed cut.

Last 5 tournaments Cut - T58 - T52 - Cut - Cut

abff · 22-08-2014 08:26PM

TrapperChamonix wrote: »

I'd be delighted to see Gallacher force his way into the team. Do wonders for the home town fans.
If it played out as you outline above, the smart pick is Donald, Poulter and Westwood. If it were to all go T*@# Up, then at least the English press couldn't beat you with a Donald or Westwood stick.

Are you seriously suggesting that he should pick all three of the above ahead of McDowell?

abff · 22-08-2014 08:35PM

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

Poulter will be needing his wildcard again, another missed cut.

Last 5 tournaments Cut - T58 - T52 - Cut - Cut

There's an outside possibility he might sneak in on the cut mark, depending on what the scoring is like this afternoon. But he would need an exceptional weekend to pick up enough points to make the top 9.

I think he's fairly safe in terms of getting a pick anyway. His Ryder Cup performances have been exceptional and it would be very hard to justify leaving him out of the team.

abff · 22-08-2014 08:38PM

abff wrote: »

There's an outside possibility he might sneak in on the cut mark, depending on what the scoring is like this afternoon. But he would need an exceptional weekend to pick up enough points to make the top 9.

I think he's fairly safe in terms of getting a pick anyway. His Ryder Cup performances have been exceptional and it would be very hard to justify leaving him out of the team.

Actually, looking at the current scoreboard, I think that if the cut marks moves at all from the current 1 over, it's more likely to go to level par than to plus 2.

abff · 22-08-2014 09:06PM

If the cut goes to level par, Westwood will be out of the playoffs. I wonder if he'll play in Italy next week if that happens? I guess it would be a statement of intent regarding the Ryder Cup if he plays.

durkadurka · 23-08-2014 02:41PM

Is this week the last qualifying event in the US for the European team?

Eg after this week in the Italian open the last chance for everyone?

abff · 23-08-2014 04:33PM

durkadurka wrote: »

Is this week the last qualifying event in the US for the European team?

Eg after this week in the Italian open the last chance for everyone?

That's correct. After this weekend, the only tournament that counts towards Ryder Cup qualifying is the Italian Open.

Rikand · 23-08-2014 05:39PM

well westwood made the cut, but he's already completed his round and shot a level par 71 to still be +1. If it was me, I wouldnt have him anywhere near the team, no matter who's qualified in front of him.

abff · 23-08-2014 05:53PM

Rikand wrote: »

well westwood made the cut, but he's already completed his round and shot a level par 71 to still be +1. If it was me, I wouldnt have him anywhere near the team, no matter who's qualified in front of him.

He's definitely not playing well, but he has a huge Ryder Cup pedigree. He's unlikely to qualify for the next stage of the play-offs unless he has a very low round tomorrow and he may not even get a chance to play tomorrow as he's currently in a tie for 70th with the third round cut to come.

If, as seems likely, he's out of the play-offs, he needs to come over to Italy and play well in order to be considered for a wild card. And even then, I can't see him being picked ahead of any of McDowell, Poulter and Donald.

At this stage, Donaldson looks like clinching his place in the automatic qualifiers this weekend and Gallacher could also make it if he has a really good round tomorrow or a very good tournament next week. Gallacher's chance of making the team automatically also depends on how well McDowell does this weekend.

abff · 24-08-2014 04:20PM

Well fair play to Donaldson. He won today to clinch his Ryder Cup place. Based on his former over previous weeks, I thought he might fall out of the top 9, but he rose to the occasion when he needed to and it's great to have players on the team who are playing well in the run up to the competition.

Gallacher will need to win next week to force his way into the automatic qualifying spots and even that may not be enough depending on how McDowell plays today.

The Road to the Ryder Cup 2014

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