‘Gliese 581G’ took 11 years; Team USA taking 17 years for Ryder Cup win abroad
If scientists’ can find a “Goldilocks planet” in space, then it’s equally plausible for Team USA to win the Ryder Cup on foreign soil. No matter how many professional golfers do the Europeans have, no matter how well they know the course and no matter how
the world ranking goes, the Yanks may still have a chance to win? Not really.
The Ryder Cup has teed off today and holds a purse of $4 million for the winners. Last time round, the Yanks finally won the Ryder Cup in 2008 after a 9 year long effort. Their last victory on foreign soil came in 1993 when Tiger Woods won his third U.S
Amateur Championship. It has been 17 years since then.
Although historical analysis has its due importance, but the American Team is respected due to three players and no, it does not include Tiger Woods. These players are Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Steve Striker.
Phil Mickelson had his five best finishes this year. He finished 8th at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-am, 5th at the Memorial Tournament and fourth at the U.S. Open. The lefty finished in the runners up position of the Wells Fargo
Championships and also won the Masters Tournament - all in 2010.
Other than the lefty, Jim Furyk is the winner of the FedEx Cup 2010 and Steve Stricker’s score of a minus 10, minus 13, minus 4 and then a plus 5 at the 4 events of the FedEx Cup is enough to scare the critics from saying too much.
If the Americans bank on the latter 2 players - provided with a basic attack from the lefty and Woods disappear - the European Team has its own lethal front to scare the Yanks away. This team has several players to boast about with the likes of Lee Westwood,
who was injured but is making a comeback, Graeme McDowell, the 2010 U.S Open winner and the winner of the 2010 PGA Championship, Martin Kaymer. As if this isn’t enough, the line-up has the Tours Champion runner up Luke Donald and a classy youngster Rory Mcilroy.
You may wonder why Goldilocks was mentioned before. According to latest reports, scientists have found a new planet ‘Gliese 581G’ located in the ‘Goldilocks zone’ which has the right size, distance from the sun and atmosphere to live in. It took scientists
almost 11 years to find a planet with proper supply of water and gravity but Ryder folks wonder the amount of time team USA needs to grab a foreign victory - surely not more than 17 years.
The thing is, apart from the pro-line-up, the courses that the Yanks play at home are very different from what the Wales course present at Celtic Manor offers. From many of the Ryder Cup privileges, European Captain Colin Montgomerie has the right to set
up the course in any manner he feels. The Yanks had a total of three days to familiarize themselves with the course which they have never seen before and the Europeans on the other hand have been doing everything short of curling up in there sleeping bags
at the Manor Resort Course.
No, we can’t bank on the so-called world rankings over here. Team USA has 8 players from the top 20 in the world rankings and the Europeans have 7, so we can call it a tie. However, if the rankings hold true, then how come Woods, who finished only 2-times
in the top 10 in his 12 tournaments this season is still standing at the number one spot in world’s ranking?
Team Europe has carded scores of minus 15, minus 10 and minus 9 by McDowell, Donald and Edoardo Molinari respectively in June proving that the Europeans know the course a bit too well. Those who bank on Team USA to win the Ryder Cup 2010 might consider scientist
finding ‘Gliese 581G’ in 11 years and the yanks attempt for victory since 17 years and still counting.
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