AMERICANS' BACK-BITING HAS BEGUN IN WAKE OF ANOTHER DEFEAT

Phil Mickelson criticism of Tom Watson leads 

to the most awkward press conference ever

FROM GOLF DIGEST.COM
By Alex Myers

The week's best drama at Gleneagles didn't play out on the course, but in the media centre following Europe's latest win at the Ryder Cup. A disappointed U.S. team showed up for their joint press conference and things got awkward. Really, REALLY awkward.
We'll let the two main actors in this play, Phil Mickelson and Tom Watson, take centre stage starting with this question a few minutes in:

Q. Anyone that was on the team at Valhalla, can you put your finger on what worked in 2008 and what hasn't worked since?

Mickelson: There were two things that allowed us to play our best I think that Paul Azinger did, and one was he got everybody invested in the process. He got everybody invested in who they were going to play with, who the picks were going to be, who was going to be in their pod, who -- when they would play, and they had a great leader for each pod.
 In my case, we had Ray Floyd, and we hung out together and we were all invested in each other's play. We were invested in picking Hunter that week; Anthony Kim and myself and Justin were in a pod, and we were involved on having Hunter be our guy to fill our pod. 
So we were invested in the process. And the other thing that Paul did really well was he had a great game plan for us, you know, how we were going to go about doing this. 
How we were going to go about playing together; golf ball, format, what we were going to do, if so-and-so is playing well, if so-and-so is not playing well, we had a real game plan.
 Those two things helped us bring out our best golf. And I think that, you know, we all do the best that we can and we're all trying our hardest, and I'm just looking back at what gave us the most success. Because we use that same process in The Presidents Cup and we do really well. Unfortunately, we have strayed from a winning formula in 2008 for the last three Ryder Cups, and we need to consider maybe getting back to that formula that helped us play our best.
Q. That felt like a pretty brutal destruction of the leadership that's gone on this week.
 
Mickelson: Oh, I'm sorry you're taking it that way. I'm just talking about what Paul Azinger did to help us play our best. It's certainly -- I don't understand why you would take it that way.
 You asked me what I thought we should do
 going toward to bring our best golf out and I go back to when we played our best golf and try to replicate that formula.
Q. That didn't happen this week? 

 Mickelson: Uh (pausing) no. No, nobody here was (involved) in any decision. So, no. 

Then someone asked Phil about the great play of the U.S. rookies. Boring. We skip ahead to a reporter asking Tom for his take. . .

Q. Can you tell us what you think of what Phil said about Paul Azinger?
Watson: I had a different philosophy as far as being a captain of this team. You know, it takes 12 players to win. It's not pods. It's 12 players. And I felt -- I based my decisions on -- yes, I did talk to the players, but my vice captains were very instrumental in making decisions as to whom to pair with. 
I had a different philosophy than Paul. I decided not to go that way. But I did have most of them play in the practice rounds together who played most of the time in the matches. I think that was the proper thing to do. 
Yes, I did mix-and-match a little bit from there, but again, you have to go with the evolution of the playing of the match and see who is playing the best and who to play with whom, and that's what I did.
Q. Do you think that Phil was being disloyal, because it sounded like that? Watson: Not at all. He has a difference of opinion. That's okay. My management philosophy is different than his.
After another couple questions, blah, blah, blah... back to the juicy part:
Q. Do you still consider the philosophy you came here with a winning philosophy? Watson: Yes, absolutely.
Q. And secondly, have you read Paul Azinger's book, and if so, why did you discount it in regards to using it this week? Watson: I didn't discount it. I just had a different philosophy right off the bat, Alex. I felt that the assessment of the players was paramount from the standpoint of my vice captains and me and see who is going to play with whom. 
My two jobs are to make the captain's picks and then put the team together. Those are my two most important jobs. I felt that the -- again, that was -- whether I did the best possible job of putting the teams together, that's up to you people to debate. But the other thing is, I used the experience and the thoughts of my vice captains a lot, and the players to some extent, to make sure that I felt we had the very best teams out there possible. 
Listen, the Europeans kicked our butt. The bottom line is they kicked our butts. They were better players this week. I mean, we had a chance today. We started off, got everything in the red, almost everything in the red. Then they turned it on us, and that's what champions are made of. 
They get down and come back and win. They kicked our butts, and that's the bottom line.
Q (to Mickelson) You talk about the template there. Just curious to know, did you speak in advance with Tom about that, your preference for that template? Was this a conversation that you had in advance of coming over?

Mickelson: What template are you talking about?
Q. Getting people involved, the pod system, and getting people involved in the process. Mickelson: No.
Then Jim Furyk makes a (reluctant) cameo!
Q. You've listened to the back and forth between Phil and Tom, and as the other veteran, I was curious for your opinion. Furyk: Gee, thanks (laughter). Just sitting over here minding my own business (laughter).
Mickelson: I don't think the premise of your question is very well stated. I don't think that this has been back and forth.
Furyk: I have a lot of respect for both gentlemen. I've known Phil my entire life. Since I was 16, I've competed against him. He's one of my dearest friends on the PGA TOUR. And I have a lot of respect for our captain. I know he put his heart and soul in it for two years. 
He worked his ass off to try to provide what he thought would be the best opportunity for us. I don't think it's wise for either one of us to be pitted in the middle of that. I respect both of those gentlemen. 
I would suggest that you direct the questions that way rather than to put one -- I know what we are all trying to do. We all come here and we are trying to win a Ryder Cup together, trying to pull together as 12, as one unit.
 We've fallen short quite a bit, and it's -- you know, five of you have already asked me tonight what's the winning formula and what's the difference year-in, year-out. 
If I could put my finger on it, I would have changed this shit a long time ago but we haven't and we are going to keep searching.
Sounds like if Phil has any say, that search won't last too long. In related news, don't expect Phil and Tom to sit next to each other on the flight home.

TWO FOURSOMES SESSIONS COST AMERICANS DEARLY

SPIETH, REED, FOWLER GIVE USA HOPE

FOR  FUTURE RYDER CUP REVIVAL

FROM GOLFWEEK.COM
By ALISTAIR TAIT
GLENEAGLES: Let the soul searching begin. Once again a United States team leaves a Ryder Cup asking the same question: What do we have to do to win Samuel Ryder’s prized chalice?
Europe’s 16.5-11.5 victory makes it three in a row for the Europeans, the sixth victory in the last seven matches and eight of the last ten.
We’re talking domination, folks.
Get ready for the usual platitudes from another losing U.S. team: They just played better than us; they holed the putts when it mattered; they jelled better, yada, yada, yada. Sorry, but those excuses don’t wash when you’re on the losing streak the U.S. is on.
The U.S. ostensibly lost this match because of two foursomes sessions. Twice they went down by 3.5 points to a half.
Symbolic? Perhaps.
The U.S. players will disagree, but once again Europeans were a more cohesive unit. Maybe that explains why they dominated the foursomes, the format that calls for utmost unity.
The writing was on the wall from the start of the singles, with Europe 10-6 ahead. But it became clear the U.S. squad was dead and buried when Rory McIlroy took out Rickie Fowler 5 and 4 to earn the first singles point. 
Even Tom Watson in his prime would have struggled to defeated McIlroy. The world number one was 6 under par for six holes. Fowler was never going to survive that tempest.
"There was no option other than to win. I played my best golf of the week,” McIlroy said.

“I knew that I needed to get off the fast start just to let the boys see some blue on the board.
“I was really up for today. I was probably more up for this day than I was the last two rounds of this year’s majors.”
Jordan Spieth did his part in getting American red on the board early against Graeme McDowell. He raced to a three-hole lead after five holes, but let it slip to lose 2 and 1.
“We talked last night in the team room, even if you are three or four down, just try and win the next hole because it sends a message to your teammates,” said McDowell. 
“I just tried to win the next hole over the front nine.”
McDowell’s point took Europe to 12 points. Reed gave the Americans hope when he defeated Henrik Stenson on the 18th green, 1 up, to take the U.S. to seven points. However, it was too little too late.
Martin Kaymer made it 13 points with a 4-and-2 win over Masters winner Bubba Watson. 
Kaymer ended in style, chipping in for eagle at the 16th green.
Mickelson defeated home favourite Stephen Gallacher by two holes, before Matt Kuchar won 4 and 3 over Thomas Bjorn to take the U.S. to nine points.
Hunter Mahan suffered the chipping nightmare of Celtic Manor when he bladed a chip over the 18th green to hand the hole to Justin Rose and halve his match. That made it 13.5-9.5 for Europe.
The fat lady was clearing her throat.
She started singing when rookie Jamie Donaldson went dormie after 14 against Keegan Bradley to guarantee Europe the 14 points needed to keep the Ryder Cup. 
The fat lady was in full voice when the Welshman closed out the match by stiffing a wedge shot to the 15th green for a 4-and-3 win, and start the chants of "Ole, ole" around Gleneagles.
Tom Watson talked about an evolution taking place at this Ryder Cup, which is why he put rookies Spieth and Reed out first to lead off his order. Fowler played number three to see the three young guys lead the American charge.
If there are any positives the U.S. can take from this match, then look no further than those three youngsters. 
 Watson was smart to put them out first. If you want fire in the belly, then they proved they have it in spades.
Especially Reed.
That’s for the future. Right now, the same old questions remain.

MAGNIFICENT McILROY'S INSPIRING LEAD-OFF WIN IN SINGLES

EUROPEAN PLAYERS' PRAISE FOR 

SKIPPER McGINLEY

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

World Number One Rory McIlroy led the way as Europe retained the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
The Northern Irishman lived up to his reputation by delivering Europe's first point of Sunday's singles with a 5 and 4 victory over good friend Rickie Fowler.
Compatriot Graeme McDowell then followed him home, recovering from three down after five holes against impressive rookie Jordan Spieth to win 2 and 1.
America briefly threatened a comeback as Patrick Reed beat Henrik Stenson on the 18th, Phil Mickelson took down Stephen Gallacher and Matt Kuchar beat Thomas Bjørn.
But Martin Kaymer chipped in to complete a 4 and 2 win over Bubba Watson and Justin Rose snatched a half from Hunter Mahan at the 18th to take Europe to 13 ½ points.
That left Jamie Donaldson to cap an impressive debut by sealing the winning point with a 5 and 3 victory over Keegan Bradley.
"I hit the wedge shot of my life to close the game out. I can't really put words to it. It is unbelievable," Donaldson said.
"I knew it was getting tight there at the end and everyone was building on my group. I just tried not to spend too much time looking at the scoreboard.
"I was able to do it well enough to close it out.
"The lads have got on so well all week. There has been a great craic in there, it is an incredible week. It is hard to describe how good it is - there is nothing else like it in golf.
"It has been amazing to be a part of it."
On victorious Captain Paul McGinley, he added: "He's been sensational, incredible. It's been a hell of a week."
McGinley paid tribute not only to his players, but everyone who had contributed to the win.
"It has been a real honour to captain these 12 players, our backroom team, it has been a huge team effort," he said.
"We had three or four big ideas which we kept feeding back to and they came off.
"I have a great sense of pride giving happiness to everyone."
Europe's players were quick to praise McGinley, who received public support from the likes of McIlroy, Poulter and Luke Donald when the post was being decided in January 2013.
Sergio Garcia, who beat Jim Furyk on the 18th, said: "He has been so methodical. Every single aspect he needed to touch on, he did. I've been fortunate to have a lot of great Captains but Paul did things a little bit differently but with great style.
"He has been a little bit more of a modern Captain, taking care of every single detail. He knew what we had was good and working but improved it without changing it."
McIlroy added: "I can't say enough about the Captain. Paul McGinley has been absolutely immense this week. He has left no stone unturned. He has given this week a lot of thought over the last two years. I am just glad it worked out for him."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Thank goodness for the 4pt lead established over the first two days' foursomes and four-ball ties. The 12 singles were close: 6 1/2pt to Europe, 5 1/2pt to the United States. 

SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL OF THE SINGLES RESULTS.

WE WILL HAVE MORE COMMENT, INCLUDING WHAT THE AMERICAN MEDIA THOUGHT ABOUT THEIR TEAM'S PERFORMANCE, LATER IN THE EVENING 

HOST CLUB RUNNERS-UP IN THEIR OWN TOURNAMENT

ROYAL ABERDEEN WIN MURCAR 

LINKS JUBILEE SHIELD 

Royal Aberdeen won the Murcar Links Jubilee Shield tournament  today by a big margin. 
They totalled 662 - 23 shots ahead of the host club who were runners-up:

662 Royal Aberdeen (N Strachan 74, J Cramond 75, I Middleton 78, G. Watson 79, J Emslie 81, R
Lawrenson 86, G Thomson 88, K. Wong 94).
685 Murcar Links (J M Henderson 68, R T Fraser
83, I A Galbraith 83, G Aitchison 83, L Mitchell 87, D P Bell 89, G Edwards 95, D. Stuart 97),
695 Northern (S Muir 74, J Duff 85, S. Kennedy 86,  A. Sherriffs 88, I Petrie 89, G. Cheyne 90, S. Milton 90, W Rae 93)
717  Caledonian (W Ross 78, S Allan 85, G Meade 85, J Lind 85,  S Meade 92, S. Allison 93,  L Ross 94, R Davidson 95).
751 Nigg Bay (R Young 78, R L O'Conner 79, S Bennett 85, Z Wood 89, K Walton 90, J Allan 96, S. Greening 99, F. Marr 132)
No Returns:  Hazlehead, Auchmill, Deeside

FINAL DAY SINGLES AT GLENEAGLES WERE MIGHTY CLOSE

EUROPE KEEP THE CUP - BUT THANK 

GOODNESS FOR THAT 4pt LEAD!
 
So Europe keep the Ryder Cup for at least another two years - but it was not quite so easy as the 16 1/2-11 1/2 scoreline suggests.
Europe started the final day's 12 singles with a 4pt lead and they finished up overall winners by 5pt so the singles were pretty even. Europe won five, the Americans 4 and three were halved
Any chance of making future Ryder Cup matches singles only every day? Not a chance! But it's worth a thought. 
 


FINAL SCORE
Europe 16 1/2, UNITED STATES 11 1/2

SINGLES RESULTS 
EUROPE 6 1/2, USA 5 1/2
McIlroy v Fowler - Europe won 5 and 4
McDowell v Spieth - Europe won 2 and 1
Stenson v Reed -USA won by 1 hole
Bjorn v Kuchar - USA won 4 and 3

Kaymer v B Watson - Europe won 4 and 2  
Rose v Mahan - Match halved
Gallacher v Mickelson - USA won 3 and 1
Donaldson v Bradley - Europe won 4 and 3
Garcia v Furyk - Europe won by 1 hole
Poulter v Simpson - Match halved

Westwood v Walker - USA won 3 and 2 Dubuisson v Johnson - Match halved

AMERICAN'S MISTAKES BEGAN WITH ASKING FOR ONLY THREE PICKS

 GRADING CAPTAINS McGINLEY AND WATSON - GUESS WHO GETS BETTER MARKS SO FAR

 FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
By ALAN SHIPNUCK, Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated

AUCHTERARDER, Scotland -- On Sunday the Ryder Cup captains will recede into the background, at least until one of them uses champagne for shampoo. Because the singles line-up is done in a vacuum, there’s not much to second-guess. Unless you’re Mark James and you put all your scrubs out first and let the opponent build critical momentum.
No, Sunday singles is all about the players, so this is the perfect time to assess the Watson and McGinley administrations. (Trigger warning: may contain graphic metaphors and offensive criticism.)

Captain’s Picks
It’s fun to second-guess the choices as soon as they’re made, but this week is where the rubber meets the road. Tom Watson’s first mistake was asking for only three picks instead of the four the PGA of America was willing to grant him; one extra spot would’ve allowed him to take a flier on a Billy Horschel or a Chris Kirk.
 His second mistake was not pushing the selection date back until after the Tour Championship. If you ask for the world the PGA will give it to you. (See Azinger, Paul.) 
Watson’s third mistake was having the wrong revelation, as Webb Simpson was clearly a bad call. His fourth mistake was sending Simpson out in the very first match of the Cup (!), with a flighty partner no less, in Bubba Watson. 
Poor Webb was already on the hot seat, and he never recovered from his ghastly pop-up on the 1st tee, getting benched for the next three sessions. Keegan Bradley and Hunter Mahan were O.K. selections and played decent enough.
As for Paul McGinley, Stephen Gallacher seemed like a good choice at the time, based on his strong season, but he looked overwrought in front of the home folks in Friday four-balls and was benched thereafter -- but give McGinley credit for that, as there was considerable external pressure to play the only Scot on the roster.  
Any captain would have selected Ian Poulter, based on his body of work, so his shaky play doesn’t reflect that poorly on McGinley. At least Poults provided some fireworks down the stretch in Saturday fourballs, helping Europe earn an important halve. McGinley’s biggest quandry was whether to take Lee Westwood or Luke Donald. He went with the former, and the wily veteran responded with two key foursomes victories, mentoring rookie Jamie Donaldson in both.
Watson: C-
McGinley: B-

Wardrobe
When it comes to choosing clothes, the point is not to do something stupid, a la the Americans’ notorious Sunday shirts in 1999. Europe’s duds were entirely forgettable, which is the point. I liked the U.S.’s pinstriped pants on Friday, but Grandma’s crocheted American flag sweaters on Saturday provoked some of the funniest tweets of the week.
McGinley: Pass
Watson: Fail

Media Presence
Winning the press conferences is almost as important as winning the matches. McGinley exuded confidence and ease, and was expansive and good-natured throughout. He had a well thought-out answer for everything. 
Watson was crotchety and defensive, and that was before the matches even began. It got even worse once things went pear-shaped. 
His incoherent mumbo-jumbo in trying to explain his thinking -- or lack thereof -- in his Friday night presser will forever colour how his captaincy is remembered. On Saturday night, instead of projecting Crenshaw-like belief, he was strangely subdued. Such a tone filters back to the team room.
McGinley: A
Watson: F

Pairings
What you have read above is fine and dandy, but the pairings are by far a captain’s most important chore. Oh boy, where to start with Watson’s blunders? 
His decision to send Simpson out first on Friday has been covered. Partially. It also speaks to Watson’s arrogance and rigidity. That was his way of saying, Y’all didn’t like my pick, so suck on this. That meant leaving Matt Kuchar on the bench, even though he’s 18th on Tour in birdie average. 
When Kooch and Bubba lit up Gleneagles in fourballs on Saturday, it only made the Simpson decision look worse.
Capt Tom deserves credit for coming up with two inspired teams involving three rookies: Jordan Spieth-Patrick Reed and Jimmy Walker-Rickie Fowler. Unfortunately he mishandled both.
The benching of Spieth-Reed for Friday’s afternoon session and playing Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley was extensively picked over that night -- never sit your hottest players, especially in favour of an arthritic 44 year-old who had already played 18 high-stress holes! -- but the ramifications continued to play out on Saturday. Because Phil was so gassed and needed a break, it broke up the U.S.’s best fourball team. 
And because the tired Mickelson-Bradley team struggled in alternate shot on Friday, Watson wouldn’t give them a second chance and exiled for all of Saturday his putative team leader (Phil) and potentially his emotional juggernaut (Keegan). 
It’s particularly curious that Bradley didn’t play in afternoon foursomes, given that he is one of the best drivers of the golf ball on the planet. Memo to the captain: Keegan doesn’t have to play with Phil. For that matter, why was two-time Masters champ Bubba sitting on Saturday afternoon? 
His style is certainly quirky for fourballs, but Watson played beautifully in morning fourballs. If he’s driving it in the fairway, and he was, who wouldn’t want to play from there? 
Instead Kuchar was given for a partner pea-shooting Zach Johnson, who was overmatched on the par-5s while getting whipped by Westwood and Donaldson.
Finally, there was the decision to trot out Jimmy-Rickie on Saturday afternoon even though the duo had already played three of the most intense matches of the Cup, each a nail-biter that went the full 18 holes. (Spieth-Reed’s stress-free 5-and-4 win on Friday morning made them better candidates to play every session.) 
Walker-Fowler had nothing left and predictably lost five of the first eight holes in a tone-setting ambush by fresh-legged Victor Dubuisson and Graeme McDowell. 
Even after a disastrous Saturday afternoon, Watson was asked by NBC’s Steve Sands if he was happy with the decisions he’d made. “Yes,” was the terse reply. This guy is either stubborn or delusional, or both.
McGinley certainly had the advantage of better players -- or, at the very least, players playing better -- but he also emerged as a canny tactician. 
The Justin Rose-Henrik Stenson coupling was inspired, and McGinley rode them masterfully, giving Stenson the afternoon off on Saturday but going to the whip with Rose in a fourth session. (JRo’s gritty play positioned him as the man of the match so far.) 
The Sergio-Rory team was the right call for two veterans who never had their A-game; neither panicked and their mellow vibe allowed them to keep scuffling, ultimately earning a halve and a win in their last two matches together.
 At the same time, McGinley was flexible enough to detach McIlroy on Saturday morning to help get Poulter going, and he responded with a pair of momentum-turning hole-outs. 
Dubuisson-McDowell also emerged as a potential powerhouse, with a pair of victories in matches that never reached the 17th tee. It was such a good pairing that McGinley loses a few points for not rolling them out at least one more time.
McGinley: A-
Watson: F

Singles line-up
Time will tell, but there are no obvious screw-ups here, only minor annoyances. On Friday, Bradley’s girlfriend, Jillian Stacy, told me he had been up since 4:30 a.m. because he was so amped to play. The couple spent an hour in their room looking at pictures and watching videos of their new puppy, just to kill time. 
After sitting around all day on Saturday, Bradley is going to be crawling out of his skin to tee it up in his singles match. I would have sent him out early, but Watson is icing Bradley until the 10th match, at 1:36 p.m. 
The captain said on Saturday evening he knew the Euros would send out their best players first, so why wait until the fifth match to use Mickelson, his well-rested Hall of Famer? 
I do like young guns Spieth, Reed and Fowler going 1-2-3.
McGinley has his deck stacked just about right, except for Dubuisson in the 12th spot. His play has been pretty much perfect -- I’d have had Dubu in the first half of the draw to try to help end things quickly. And if it all goes wrong and the Cup comes down to the anchor match, I’m not sure you want a Ryder rookie there, no matter how well he’s swinging.
Watson: B+
McGinley: B+

So, if the U.S. storms back and somehow wins 8.5 points to steal the Cup, does that make Watson a great captain? No, it makes him a lucky devil. Likewise, if McGinley’s troops suffer an epic collapse, is it his fault? Nah. He’s given them every chance to succeed. That’s all he can do. 
Sunday singles will determine how the captains are remembered, but for me the grades are already in.