Nicklaus Prepares For '07 President's Cup By Watching As Little Of Ryder Cup As Possible

From a story by Garry Smits:

Nicklaus said the U.S. Ryder Cup team had the same intangibles going for it as the European team.

"They [the U.S.] played for pride and their country, the same things as they other guys," he said. "They played as a team. They just got whipped. The Europeans just played better."

Nicklaus said he didn't watch all the matches, but he guessed that the U.S. team played with as much desire as it did last year in the Presidents Cup.

"They probably played just as hard for [captain] Tom [Lehman]," he said.

Nicklaus said reversing the U.S. Ryder Cup fortunes had to start with developing younger players who had an instinct for winning.

"The big problems is we don't have any young players," he said. "Tiger was the youngest player on our team, and he's 30. We've only got one player in the U.S. under 30 who's won more than one more tournament.

"I think the colleges are developing players who are good at winning college tournaments, but that promotes playing conservatively. I don't think they come out of college knowing how to win yet."

Comments

[Steven T.]

What about winning on the Nationwide Tour? I guess that doesn't count in JN's mind. I guess we'll have to wait for Jim Flick's protege, Philip Francis, to turn pro.

[Smitty]

I agree with Nicklaus on the young players not winning because they play conservatively. Again, this relates to not playing much match play golf. Medal play leads to playing conservatively--you have to be careful not to waste shots. In match play, you are rewarded by using calcated risk to achieve a win, or sometimes a half. I believe that today's young guns are somewhat lacking in playing with calculated risk.

[Brian]

It's because Gary never won a Nationwide event.