Ryder Recriminations

We're on the clock, as the Met. Golf Writers are meeting at Century Country Club.... Cobra/Puma will be there with demos for us, so there goes all the good work we did at yesterday's lesson.

Lots to talk about with the seemingly-deserving Russell Knox left at home....First, John Huggan tells us what Darren Clarke was thinking:

Perhaps the biggest influence on Clarke’s overall decision was the presence of five Ryder rookies amongst those identified by the two-pronged qualifying system that involved

European and World Ranking points lists. A keen student of statistics, the Northern Irishman knows that success rates within the biennial contest tend to drop off markedly whenever the number of debutants in a 12-man team goes above four.

Still, just as then-captain Colin Montgomerie rewarded the fast-finishing Edoardo Molinari in 2010 ahead of the much higher-ranked Paul Casey—the Italian birdied the last three holes to win the final qualifying event, the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles—Clarke has similarly opted to add a sixth rookie in the big-hitting Pieters. The Belgian closed with three successive birdies to claim last week’s Made in Denmark tournament on the European Tour (where, significantly, he shot an opening 62 playing alongside his captain). Further strengthening his last-minute case, Pieters was runner-up in the Czech Masters one week earlier and, seven days before that, fourth in the Rio Olympics.

Given the field in Rio, that 4th isn't all that impressive, but there's little doubt that Pieters is a rising talent.

But a meme has developed that it's Knox's "arrogance" that kept him off the team.... Huggan had this:

On the other hand, one week before his trip to Long Island, Knox was asked to play in the Wyndham Championship by Clarke and European vice captain Ian Poulter. This could be interpreted as a strong hint as to Clarke’s intention not to select Knox (or indeed mildly insulting to someone who had just won on the world’s most competitive circuit) as a good performance in North Carolina could have seen the Scot make it to Hazeltine as an automatic qualifier. But Knox declined, citing his high standing in the FedEx Cup and the need to already play four weeks out of five immediately before the Ryder Cup. 

But why Westwood and Kaymer, both without wins on either the U.S. or European circuits since 2014, over Knox?

 More telling is this from Tom English at the Beeb:

He should have gone to Denmark last week, thereby showing his captain that he had a huge desire to make the team, but instead he opted for the cash mountain that was The Barclays. There were Ryder Cup points on offer in Denmark but not in the USA. In choosing the USA, the Scot gave out a bad signal.

First of all, is that even factually correct?  I assume that Knox would only have qualified based upon their international points list, for which I'd assume The Barclays counts.  More to the point, Knox supported the Euro Tour earlier in his season, and as a member of both Tours would naturally want to participate in its season-ending playoffs cum money grab.  

This is the bit that's causing Russell the pushback:

"As I said to someone recently, my big problem was not getting the points for winning in 

China," said Knox of his victory in Shanghai. 

"I'd be in if they counted. So there is a moral obligation to pick me, I guess. I don't want Darren to pick me because of that, though. His goal is to pick the three best players who did not make the team. And I have a hard time not thinking I am one of those right now." 

Moral obligation? This was a player dictating to a captain - and no good ever comes of that. It was a bizarre approach from Knox; it was utterly self-defeating when Pieters was already laying down a huge case for inclusion.

Does that offend any of you?  If it does, it might say more about you than him....  But this does seem like it's more on point:

Clarke hinted at Knox being an outsider when he said Tuesday the Ryder Cup is about more than just playing. ''It's about the team room and the dynamics and everything that's involved in it,'' he said. 

Knox was hard-pressed to think of another European who played primarily in America. He said he barely knows Clarke or the assistants. That includes Poulter, even though they've had the same agent for years.

''Ultimately, I had that going against me,'' Knox said. ''I don't even know Paul Lawrie. Sam Torrance seems like a legend - I don't know him. I played with Thomas Bjorn once, and we didn't speak one word. I don't have relationships with anyone. I'm not really close to anyone on the team."

We have way too much time to fill and too little to talk about, so we inevitably blow these things out of proportion.  It's apparent that, given the composition of his automatic qualifiers, Clarke was always taking Westy and Kaymer.  Given their form, that can be legitimately questioned, but that's his job.

It came down to Knox v. Pieters for the last slot, and Clarke went with Belgian.  He's younger than Knox, so there's a long-term benefit potentially, but I could also see where he projects as more valuable.  As one of the GC commentators noted last evening, Knox's principal skill set is bogey avoidance, which is not a priority in team formats.  perhaps more to the point, he's a much longer hitter than Knox, and Hazeltine will play long.

For an amusing walk down memory lane, John Strege ranks the biggest Ryder Cup snubs of all time here.  Like Shack, the Casey snub simply has to top the list.  as even John agrees in this argument against interest:

Paul Casey -- 2010

Arguably the biggest snub in the annals of the Ryder Cup, Casey was ranked inside the

world's top 10 the entire year, yet was left off the European squad in favor of Pádraig Harrington, who was struggling mightily at the time of selection. Not helping matters was captain Colin Montgomerie's refusal to discuss the matter, with sources around the team saying the pick was influenced by politics. Casey remains bitter to this day: many viewed his decision to end European Tour membership in 2015 as fallout from the 2010 overlook.

Though I also like this one, because it shows the Sir Nick that's so beloved in the game:

Nick Faldo -- 1999

Although Faldo's game was a mess in 1999 (falling to 197th in the world after being in the top 10 just two summers before), Sir Nick expected to make his record 12th Ryder Cup team that fall. Instead, Mark James picked Andrew Coltart and Jesper Parnevik. The decision caused a split between the two; James would later claim in a book that Faldo tried to undermine the European effort.

I have more of everything for you, except time.  See you tomorrow....