Golf news: Debates stir for pairing the Ryder Cup couples
Now that the Ryder cup teams are finalized, another crucial task remains for the captains. Yes that’s right, pairing the players. The Ryder cup, which is set to take place at Celtic Manor from October 1st, has in store the best players of Golf. As the players get ready to pack their bags for Wales, they still need to know who their partner will be. There were news about World number 1 and number 2 being paired together, and Captain Corey still is unsure whether he should go forward with the pairing or not.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have been teammates in five Ryder cups. They have played as a pair only in the 2004 Ryder cup. That pairing didn’t work out so well since, they lost both the matches they played with each other.
Captain Pavin said that he is not scared to make any pairs. He said that any pairing is possible ruling out the possibility of no Woods and Mickelson. Six years ago, it was Hal Sutton’s idea to pair up Tiger and Phil together. Ranking in chronological order and being number one and two, they should have made the ‘perfect couple’. However, things didn’t work out so well. Back then, Sutton said that he wanted people to know that US team does cooperate and has team-spirit, since the word was that they didn’t really ‘come together’.
Sutton says "Both were committed to it and I don't know that we could pair two guys together that were more matched for one another than those two guys." That day, however, on the first morning of the event, one went left off the first tee and the other one went right. Colin Montgomerie birdied the hole and ended up achieving lead communally with Padraig Harrington; a day the two will never forget.
Even though things didn’t go so well in the morning, Sutton still let Woods and Mickelson compete against Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke, and once again the pair was defeated.
That day is also famous for Phil’s sliced drive at the last. Phil’s actions caused Woods, who was very frustrated by then, to get a penalty drop away from the fence. This caused the European’s to take victory for that match.
Some people still believe that the Tiger-Mickelson team can surely accomplish wonders this Ryder Cup. This is six years later; a lot can happen in six years. Both the players are more reformed and mature now, and they should be given another chance to prove everyone wrong. Not only will the duo have an opportunity to bring the cup home but they will surely attract media to see their play.
Even after Pavin’s statements, there is a higher chance that Tiger Woods will be teamed with Steve Stricker. Woods and Stricker won all the matches together at the President’s Cup last year.
Where this is the talk about couples on the American side, the Europeans are a step ahead on the paring. Not only is their Captain analyzing over the possible pairs but also the players are speaking up on who they want.
Miguel Angel Jimenez thinks that he would be the perfect partner for the Italian Edoardo Molinari. He was paired with Molinari on the third day of the European Masters in Switzerland. They together took care of the rest of the field and went into the final leading the other players. Jimenez scored a 68 to move to 17-under and also maintain his three-stroke lead over Edoardo. It would be but natural to couple the Italian with Brother Francesco Molinari, but Miguel has some useful suggestions for Monty.
Molinari himself doesn’t rule out the possibility either. Even though the world would love to see the brothers play together, Edoardo has played more with Miguel than his own brother. Not very family oriented now are you Edoardo?
Families and friendships apart, the main aim of both the teams is to win. The technicalities of the paring are well understood by no one else but the captains. Golf critics hope that both Montgomerie and Pavin make the best pairs for the Ryder Cup this year.
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