Ryder Post-Mortem
Hello. An interesting stat today in a Brian Hewitt column on thegolfchannel.com. Apparently there have been 13 American winners of the Rookie of the Year award since it was created in 1990. Only 2 of those 13 players have ever made a Ryder Cup team - Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink. Meanwhile, Luke Donald, a Euro guy who went to Northwestern, has not only played but starred in the Ryder Cup, and he's still in his 20s.
You could take this further and says only one American Rookie of the Year (Woods) has won a major and been on a Ryder Cup team.
Speaking of which, the youngest US player this year was Vaughn Taylor at 30, a few months younger than Tiger Woods. Meanwhile, Donald, Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey are all in their 20s, and are Ryder Cup veterans.
What conclusions can be drawn from the above? Regrettably Hewitt only asked for opinions instead of offering his own theories. I'm a little bolder though.
My theory is the US college golf system is obsolete. It produces Iron Byron clones instead of golfers.
Want proof? All we have to do is go back to 1994. That year Tiger Woods won the US Amateur at 18 years old, before he went to Stanford. Here was a guy who beat everyone enrolled in a US college program (among others). US college didn't prepare him to win the US Amateur. It apparently didn't prepare anyone else either.
The fact Tiger could assemble a support system independent of college at that young age that made him better prepared to win a US Amateur than any of the colleges is quite an accomplishment. Earl Woods is to be applauded, but the colleges are left holding the bag, wondering what happened. They still are, because 3 of the last 4 US Amateur winners are non-Americans.
It's time to reevaluate what the US colleges are and aren't doing well. Only then will Ryder Cup standings change.
Regards,
Steve
You could take this further and says only one American Rookie of the Year (Woods) has won a major and been on a Ryder Cup team.
Speaking of which, the youngest US player this year was Vaughn Taylor at 30, a few months younger than Tiger Woods. Meanwhile, Donald, Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey are all in their 20s, and are Ryder Cup veterans.
What conclusions can be drawn from the above? Regrettably Hewitt only asked for opinions instead of offering his own theories. I'm a little bolder though.
My theory is the US college golf system is obsolete. It produces Iron Byron clones instead of golfers.
Want proof? All we have to do is go back to 1994. That year Tiger Woods won the US Amateur at 18 years old, before he went to Stanford. Here was a guy who beat everyone enrolled in a US college program (among others). US college didn't prepare him to win the US Amateur. It apparently didn't prepare anyone else either.
The fact Tiger could assemble a support system independent of college at that young age that made him better prepared to win a US Amateur than any of the colleges is quite an accomplishment. Earl Woods is to be applauded, but the colleges are left holding the bag, wondering what happened. They still are, because 3 of the last 4 US Amateur winners are non-Americans.
It's time to reevaluate what the US colleges are and aren't doing well. Only then will Ryder Cup standings change.
Regards,
Steve
posted by Irrelevant at 5:53 PM
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