I admit it, I spent the last 3 days watching the Ryder Cup. I finally got out and played 9 holes today once it was over, but prior to that I just sat and watched - and fast-forwarded through all the commercials and interviews. I love watching these guys play with so much emotion, competing for each other and for their country - instead of for themselves and money. I loved Boo working the crowd, JD's monster drives, AK taking it Sergio, AK bringing out the fight in Phil, Mahan's celebration after his putt on 17, Stricker's putt on 18 to scrape out 1/2 point, and so much more! Overall, it was incredible simply to witness so much great golf, competition, and sportsmanship! Congratulations to the U.S. team and to Europe for putting up such a good fight.


2008 Ryder Cup Champions

After winning, Azinger suggested he had a secret strategy, and that he might share it in the coming days - or perhaps years. Well, with a little help from a discussion at GolfClubAtlas, we figured out that Azinger broke his 12-man team into 3 4-man teams, each of which practiced and played only with other members of their sub-team. Each sub-team had its own captain - Michelson, Furyk, and Cink - and teams seemed to be formed based on personality and ability. Michelson appears to have lead the "focused" 'A' team, consisting of Mahan, Leonard, and Kim, which competed in 7 matches. Furyk led the "southern" 'B' team consisting of Perry, Weekly, and Holmes, which competed in 5 matches. And Cink headed up the "introverted" 'C' team, consisting of Stricker, Curtis, and Campbell, who played 4 matches.

I imagine Azinger's philosophy was that a smaller team of golfers with a similar personality would bond more easily than a large 12-man team made up of a big variety of personalities. I'd guess too that his philosophy was inspired by some team building guru that helped coach him on this strategy. Leave a comment if you have any ideas on who that might be.

Whereever he learned it, it seems to have worked. 2 of these 3 sub-teams beat the Euros.

Phil's team scored 6 out of a possible 11 points in their 7 team and 4 individual matches. Furyk's team scored best with 7 out of a possible 9 points in their 5 team and 4 individual matches. Cink's team lost by capturing only 3 1/2 points out of a possible 8 points in their 4 team and 4 individual matches. Cink's team only failed to score a point in one of their 11 matches and scored a full point in 6 of their matches! Team stats are shown below.

Team Michelson (6-5)
1 Kim
.5 Mahan
0 Leonard
0 Mickelson
.5 Mickelson/Mahan
.5 Leonard/Mahan
0 Michelson/Kim
1 Michelson/Kim
1 Leonard/Mahan
.5 Michelson/Kim
1 Leonard/Mahan
-----------------------
6 pts / 11 matches

Team Furyk (7-2)
1 Perry
1 Weekly
1 Holmes
1 Furyk
1 Weekly/Holmes
0 Furyk/Perry
1 Furyk/Perry
.5 Weekly/Holmes
.5 Furyk/Perry
-----------------------
7 pts / 9 matches

Team Cink (3.5-4.5)
0 Cink
0 Stricker
1 Curtis
1 Campbell
.5 Stricker/Curtis
0 Cink/Campbell
0 Stricker/Curtis
1 Cink/Campbell
-----------------------
3.5 pts / 8 matches

==================
16.5 pts / 28 matches

Again, congratulations to the U.S. team!

Labels: Competition, Ryder Cup, Team