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Hindsight: a Ryder
Cup tradition, like no other...
Billy Horschel reacts
after making a putt to save par on the 17th hole during
the final round of play in the
Tour Championship
golf tournament Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014, in Atlanta.
Horschel won the tournament.
Tom Watson didn't appear to be kicking
himself.
On the day after Billy Horschel posted
his 12th straight round in the 60s, won
his second straight tournament against a
world-class field and picked up an
additional $10 million bonus as the
FedEx Cup champion, Watson was kicking
back in his seat at a Kansas City Royals
game. The 65-year-old Ryder Cup captain
wore a Royals cap and a constant grin as
he watched Omar Infante work the count
to 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth
inning.
These questions will follow Watson and
his American team to Gleneagles next
week for the Ryder Cup: Does he wish he
could have Horschel on his team? Should
the deadline to make his selections have
been pushed back?
It makes for an easy — if not lazy —
narrative. Hindsight allows for that.
Horschel not only won the final two
FedEx Cup playoff events, he beat the
top qualifier from each Ryder Cup team —
Bubba Watson at Cherry Hills and Rory
McIlroy at East Lake. It was McIlroy who
said at the Tour Championship, "I'm sure
Tom Watson is kicking himself at the
minute."
Adding to the debate is that Horschel
was runner-up in the event that preceded
his back-to-back wins. Tiger Woods is
the only other player to have two wins
in a runner-up finish in the FedEx Cup.
Then again, Horschel is not Tiger Woods.
Watson made his wild-card picks after
the Deutsche Bank Championship, where
Horschel was in prime position to force
a playoff with Chris Kirk until he
chunked a 6-iron so badly on the par-5
18th hole that it landed in the front of
the hazard protecting the green. No one
would have suggested Horschel as a pick
the next day.
So why was the deadline set so early for
the picks?
Remember, for years the American captain
made his selections the day after the
PGA Championship, six weeks before the
Ryder Cup matches. Thanks to Paul
Azinger, the U.S. captain now gets an
extra three weeks to find the hot hands.
Why not extend it through the Tour
Championship? If that's the case, why
not wait until the final week to
determine the entire team? This is not
about uniforms, programs or any
propaganda. This about a team, one that
should know who is on the side with
ample time to prepare leading to the
matches. Four straight playoff events
caused enough fatigue as it was.
Besides, would anyone be talking about
an early deadline if McIlroy, Jim Furyk
or Jason Day had won the Tour
Championship?
And who's to say Watson would have taken
Horschel even if he could have waited?
Watson said he was looking for the hot
hand and still passed over Kirk the day
after his victory at the Deutsche Bank
Championship.
Watson was looking for experience.
He wanted Keegan Bradley and Webb
Simpson all along. He would have
preferred Brandt Snedeker as the third
pick, except that Snedeker missed the
cut at both playoff events. Hunter
Mahan, who has played on two teams, won
The Barclays and became an obvious
selection, and then Simpson won out over
Kirk.
As good as Horschel looks now, how can
anyone project how he would have played
in Scotland?
Two years ago, Snedeker looked like a
great captain's pick when he won the
FedEx Cup. He went 1-2 at the Ryder Cup.
Snedeker wasn't at his best that week.
He blocked a tee shot on the 18th hole
that led to bogey in foursomes and cost
the Americans at least a half point. On
the final day, he bogeyed three straight
holes against Paul Lawrie and suffered
the worst defeat of any singles match.
Woods was a captain's pick in 2010. He
was coming off the upheaval in his
personal life, split with his swing
coach and failed to qualify for the Tour
Championship. He had gone seven straight
tournaments without a top 10, and he
failed to break 70 in 19 of his last 25
rounds.
Woods went 3-1 at Celtic Manor, his best
Ryder Cup performance.
Horschel will be cheering from home. His
big finish will put even more scrutiny
on the captain's picks than they already
have. And that will lead to another
round of hindsight, unless the Americans
can find a way to win.
Maybe it was a good sign that the Royals
rallied with two runs in the bottom of
the ninth to win Monday night.
As for Infante? He struck out swinging.
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John Herlong, PGA
WebGolfClub Staff Writer
herlong@pga.com
September 18, 2014 |
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