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Do we not have a running 2017 golf thread?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by BitterYoungMatador2, May 26, 2017.

Page 22 of 28
  1. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I will always believe that Ted Bishop got whacked from his PGA Prez gig not because of his politically incorrect "Li'l girl" tweet at Poulter, but because the U.S. lost the Ryder Cup and his selection of Watson as captain backfired badly.
     
    playthrough, Nov 9, 2017
    #253
    maumann likes this.
  2. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    I believe that to be totally correct.
     
    Michael_ Gee, Nov 9, 2017
    #254
    maumann likes this.
  3. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    It played a huge role.

    Bishop was done wrong for a dumb thing he said (I believe two of his daughters are PGA teaching pros so it's not like he actually hates women) but he was a garbage Ryder Cup fanboi who picked maybe the worst RC captain in 20 years (you're off the hook, Corey Pavin) and Mickelson rightfully shanked him and Watson knowing shit would never change otherwise.
     
    Double Down, Nov 9, 2017
    #255
    maumann likes this.
  4. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    No one thought Watson was a bad pick when Bishop made it. It was out of left field but celebrated as an old-school pick, a guy who hated to lose, who could get the young whippersnappers into shape, blah blah blah. It was all fantastic ... until the tees went in the ground. Then afterwards Bishop, who never said no to a reporter during his entire tenure as Prez, went dead silent. Until the Twitterz.
     
    playthrough, Nov 9, 2017
    #256
    maumann likes this.
  5. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    Yeah, that was the thing. Any front office can make a mistake with a pick for coach/manager/captain. When it goes wrong, own it. How was Bishop to know Mickelson (morale leader of about the last 10 US teams in international play) and Watson weren't gonna get along? Oh, right, he could've asked Phil. Or Tom.
     
    Michael_ Gee, Nov 9, 2017
    #257
    maumann likes this.
  6. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    Look, you guys, they hated Watson. Mickelson took a bullet for all of them. He was the only one with the clout and the moxie to burn it down. The players wanted a Euro-style system for years and people like Bishop wouldn't listen. Azinger had a system that worked and Pavin just ignored it. Watson was literally sketching pairings on napkins for the afternoon while morning matches were concluding. He was totally clueless and had no idea how to handle the whole process. The idea that no one criticized his selection before it went bad is just false. He took a ton of justified criticism for stupidly letting Webb Simpson text his way onto the team. Yes, he got a bad break when Tiger and DJ and Dufner all had to miss with injuries or cocaine treatment/suspensions. But he was bad in every aspect. Strategy, camaraderie, energy, etc.

    Brendan Porath detailed it pretty well here.

    Tom Watson was a terrible Ryder Cup captain
     
    Double Down, Nov 9, 2017
    #258
    maumann and expendable like this.
  7. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Not arguing that in the least. It was a dumpster fire of a Ryder Cup for the U.S. And it was comical for one guy (Bishop) to have the right to pick the captain, just as it was comical afterwards to have to create a task force to try to get it right next time.

    Call me a traitor, but the Ryder Cup is a lot more interesting with the U.S. bumbling it up. Makes better copy.
     
    playthrough, Nov 10, 2017
    #259
    Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!! likes this.
  8. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    It should be competitive first and foremost. I covered the 2004 blowout at Oakland Hills, the prime example of US bumbling, and it was very boring after the first day's epic debacle of the Tiger-Phil pairing. Now THAT was a show.
     
    Michael_ Gee, Nov 10, 2017
    #260
  9. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    That would make a good 30 for 30 short.
     
    playthrough, Nov 10, 2017
    #261
    Hermes likes this.
  10. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    The best part was by the afternoon match, Woods and Mickelson were not only not speaking, they were standing on opposite sides of the fairway whenever they could. Meanwhile Elin Woods and Amy Mickelson are walking along together, chatting, laughing and getting on like a house afire.
     
    Michael_ Gee, Nov 10, 2017
    #262
  11. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    JC, Dec 11, 2017
    #263
    Chef2 and lcjjdnh like this.
  12. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    Thank god. What happened to Lexi, being told about a ballmark almost a full day after it happened, while on the final 9 of a major you are leading, is one of the dumbest things to ever happen in golf.
     
    Double Down, Dec 11, 2017
    #264
    expendable, Tarheel316, MileHigh and 3 others like this.
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