Ryder Cup Final Analysis

The Americans were down 9.5 to 6.5 entering Monday, the final day, with 12 singles matches to be played.  The Americans battled.  The team that was thought to be out of contention battled back, and forced the final match between Graeme McDowell (EUROPE) and Hunter Mahan (USA) to be the deciding match for the Ryder Cup.

The 11 earlier matches were decided:                                                            Score

Stricker (USA) wins 2 & 1 over Lee Westwood (EUROPE)           9.5-7.5 EUROPE

Cink (USA) halves match with McIlroy (EUROPE)                       10-8 EUROPE

Donald (EUROPE) wins 1 up over Furyk (USA)                               11-8 EUROPE

D. Johnson (USA) wins 6 & 4 over Kaymer (EUROPE)                 11-9 EUROPE

Poulter (EUROPE) wins 5 & 4 over Kuchar (USA)                           12-9 EUROPE

Overton (USA) wins 3 & 2 over Fisher (EUROPE)                            12-10 EUROPE

Jimenez (EUROPE) wins 4 & 3 over Watson (USA)                         13-10 EUROPE

Woods (USA) wins 3 & 2 over F. Molinari (EUROPE)                     13-11 EUROPE

Fowler (USA) halves match with E. Molinari (EUROPE)                13.5-11.5 EUROPE

Mickelson (USA) wins 4 & 2 over Hanson (EUROPE)                      13.5-12.5 EUROPE

Zach Johnson (USA) wins 3 & 2 over Harrington (EUROPE)         13.5-13.5 EVEN

The final match was featured 2008 Ryder Cup hero Hunter Mahan (USA) vs. 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell (EUROPE).  Because the United States won the most recent Ryder Cup, in 2008, the team only needed to Mahan to halve the match, and 14 points would have been sufficient for the United States to reclaim the Ryder Cup.  The Europeans, however, needed McDowell to win the match outright to acquire the full point to capture the 14.5 points needed to win the Ryder Cup.  More and more players from each side filtered in to watch the deciding match as the other matches ended, and more and more patrons filled the specatator areas of Celtic Manor.  Mahan fought himself out of a 3 down position after only 6 holes to pull within 1 hole after 15.  However, true to form, at least in 2010, McDowell stayed cool and collected, and proceeded to take holes 16 and 17 to assure a European victory in the 2010 Ryder Cup.  After briefly shaking hands with Mahan on the 17th green, McDowell was stormed by his grateful teammates and his captain, Colin Montgomerie.  Montgomerie said of the Ryder Cup victory, “This is the greatest moment of my golfing career.”

Key players for the USA team:

Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink, Jeff Overton, and Zach Johnson were the key players that came up with big putts and big wins at the right times for the United States.  Stricker was electric with the putter all weekend, Cink took the tournament by storm on the first day and continued to play well, Overton was the Ryder Cup rookie that captured the moment best did the most for the US team, and Zach Johnson was the golfer to whom no one really paid attention this weekend, but consistently played well and acquired 2 points for the United States, including a critical late win in singles over Padraig Harrington.

The future looks very bright for the Americans in the Ryder Cup.  In two years, the Ryder Cup will be played at Medinah Country Club in Illinois, a course in the heart of Chicago that will prove to be a major home course advantage for the United States.  Medinah is a well-known, famous course that has hosted 3 US Open Championships and 2 PGA Championships, most recently in 2006.  One should fully expect to see Jeff Overton, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson, and many other young talents, including some not at Celtic Manor this year, such as Anthony Kim and Ryan Moore, to tee it up at Medinah in 2012 with full intention of bringing the Ryder Cup back to US soil.

Get Your Popcorn Ready

Terrell Owens and the Cincinnati Bengals have agreed to a 2 year, $2 million dollar deal laden with potential added incentives.  Terrell will now line up as an outside wide receiver with Chad Ochocinco, another receiver who has a flair for the dramatic, to say the least.  The Bengals won the AFC North last season, and the deal for Owens is an effort to balance the passing game with their already strong running game led by the resurgence of Cedric Benson last season.  The Bengals have also signed WR Antonio Bryant this offseason.

What do I think of the deal?  I wouldn’t have done it, that is for sure.  I saw firsthand what he could (or couldn’t) do in Buffalo last year.  Did he have a great quarterback throwing to him?  Absolutely not.  But I don’t remember Trent Edwards or Ryan Fitzpatrick dropping multiple passes per game, either.  T.O. is a wide receiver who has never been a good catching receiver.  His edge has always solely been his athleticism and his ability to break away from defenders on his routes and after the catch.  However, Owens is now past 35 years old.  He has certainly shown signs of slowing down (ie. not breaking away from defenders as well, significantly less YAC [Yards After Catch]).  And he certainly isn’t holding onto the ball with any more frequency than he did earlier in his career.  Therefore, I think T.O. is significantly on the downswing of his career, and with the fact that he has the strong potential to cause problems in the locker room like in the past, I believe that the deal is not what the Bengals should have been seeking at this point.

Think about this.  In which situations has T.O. caused problems in the past?  He caused problems when he wasn’t the main focus.  In Philadelphia, it began with a contract dispute, but ended with T.O. essentially dismantling his quarterback, Donovan McNabb, after McNabb had been getting more media and fan attention than him.  In the first year in Dallas, he was a model citizen.  He was the talk in Dallas, and he loved it.  He was very productive and no one heard a peep from him.  Then, in subsequent years in Dallas, Tony Romo became a household name both in the football and entertainment world (ie. his relationship with Jessica Simpson), and Jason Witten was getting thrown many more passes than was Owens.  It was at this point that Owens imploded the team for the following 2-3 years until he was cut.  Then, in Buffalo, he was given the keys to the city after stepping off the plane, and there was no one else on the team who garnered any media attention.  T.O. was not a significant distraction under these conditions in Buffalo.

Now turn your attention to Cincinnati.  Chad Ochocinco is arguably the biggest media craze in NFL Football (Brett Favre also has a shot at the title).  He never misses a chance to be in the spotlight or make a name for himself, and the highlight of his ridiculous antics was the changing of his name from “Johnson” to “Ochocinco,” which isn’t even Spanish for 85.  How will T.O. handle being second fiddle in terms of media and fan attention?  All you need to do is look at his behavior in the past under these conditions.  Brace yourself, Cincinnati, T.O is coming.