John Daly answered all the Captain's Pick doubts today didn't he?. It's only the first round but +9 puts him out of any consideration for the Ryder Cup team. Captain Sutton as much as told Daly that he would have to play his way onto the team with a top 4 finish at the PGA Championship. I like Big John, but +9 today says volumes about his desire. The Ryder Cup is about applying and handling pressure and I think Daly took the pressure off of everyone, including himself, by playing so poorly today. I'm curious to see if he comes back strong tomorrow, or packs it in like he has (far too often) in the past. It's only a golf score and not life or death and I really hope John can keep it together long enough to earn his way on to a future Ryder Cup team.
I think how he reacts and comes out tomorrow will determine it. Remember, he is a birdie making machine normally but just makes a couple big numbers...those don't hurt as much in Match Play. I really think tomorrow is key for his chance at the Ryder Cup.
I think how he reacts and comes out tomorrow will determine it. Remember, he is a birdie making machine normally but just makes a couple big numbers...those don't hurt as much in Match Play. I really think tomorrow is key for his chance at the Ryder Cup.
Sutton also mentioned that Oakland Hills only has 2 or 3 par 5's and more par 3's and 4's than other courses. Sutton is quoted as stating "Go look at everybody's stats for 3's and 4's for the year. And you'll find out what I think is important and what's not important." (Daly ranks 2nd on Tour in par 5 scoring but ranks 159th in par 3 scoring and 48th in par 4 scoring) This sure doesn't sound like a man trying to decide if Daly will be a Captain's Pick. I'm not picking on John...I just firmly believe that there are more deserving players who have earned a chance to be part of the team.
No matter how much I like John and wish him success, he did not rise to the occasion yesterday. I don't think that anything he does today will matter. He will not make the team this time around.
No way Daly gets picked now - not only wasn't he able to put the score he needed to deserve a chance, but even he he did make the cut by some miracle, he has about a 1% chance of being in the top 10 to earn a few Ryder Cup points. If you selected him after finishing about 20th place on points, you would have quite a few golfers really teed off that finished ahead of him. Verplank has several 11th place finishes this year, thereby just missing out on getting additional points and is out of the Top 10 overall, I think he's a lock for one of the picks.
August 12th, 2004, 08:31 PM
I'm not picking on John...I just firmly believe that there are more deserving players who have earned a chance to be part of the team.
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