Updated European Ryder Cup Standings, Final Week

Entering the final week of qualifying on points at the Johnnie Walker, the team as it stands according to Reuters: McIlroy, Rose, McDowell, Lawrie, Molinari, Donald, Westwood, Garcia, Hanson, Kaymer.

Who are you captain's picks? I would lean toward Colsaerts and Harrington. One rookie, one veteran.

Comments

[raggededge]

What about Poulter? Surely he would get the nod over Harrington?

[Sun Mountain Man]

Poulter and Coelsarts although Harrington would be fine as well.

The best thing that could happen to the European team is if Kaymer didn't make the team.

[Alex H]

Ideally, Colsaerts wins in Gleneagles, bumping my fellow German Kaymer from the team...I'm a big fan of my compatriot, but there's no arguing that he simply can't put it together these days...

In that case, Poulter and Harrington would be my picks to round it out.

[Troublelove]

No way would I take Paddy. Not a great RC record and it is far too inconsistent and the moment especially with the putter. Harrington hasn't won a Ryder Cup match playing his own ball since 2004 and only 2 points in total in the last 3 cups.

If it stays as it is then Colsaerts and Poulter all day long. Both have good matchplay records.

When did either team only have one rookie?

[elf]

As it stands picks will be Poulter and Colsaerts, but you've got to imagine Ollie is praying that Colsaerts bumps Kaymer this week.

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

Ian 'in yer face' Poulter and Nicolas 'belgian bomber' Colsaerts for me.

[Jock]

Only and American would think Harrington should get picked !

[dbh]

Echoing above, definitely Poulter over Harrington.

[Geoff]

Absolutely. I wanted to see if you all were awake. Of course Poulter will get the nod, even though his year has been largely uneventful prior to the PGA. As a blogger, Poulter and Harrington are the ideal picks because they are quotable, but Colsaerts has played better and more consistent golf than both this year, no?

[elf]

@geoff and Colsaerts won world match play

[Ghillie]

Poulter is a given. Colsaerts is the definite "pick" -- Harrington, as has been noted above, and by me ad nauseaum since the last RC -- is dead weight these days. And the team is veteran-heavy, so he adds nothing there (as if he ever did).

A lot of these guys are off form right now, but I have always maintained that RC is a different beast, and I still believe it. Nonetheless, against that daunting lineup of recent winners that will be the US team, plus US home field, plus the first US captain in a decade and a half who is known to have a brain in his head , it is a whole new ball game.

[Matt]

In my view, Poulter's case is less strong than many suggest (and I say that as someone who is a fan of his). Positives include his determination in recent Ryder Cup matches and the fact that he wins a fair bit even though he is not in contention as much as many other top players. He also deserves credit for contending in the PGA and for putting in a creditable weekend display at Lytham. Negatives include his inconsistency over the last couple of years. For a top class player he has not been putting in regular top10s, and although he has a fair number of international wins, he has only won once on the PGA tour, despite spending most of his time the last few seasons. Also, am I only the one who thinks that he should be at Gleneagles competing (i.e. if he wants to be on the team so much why has he constructed a schedule that, in effect, means that he has qualify via the world rankings)?

[dbh]

You're a tough marker, Geoff.
Poulter was top 10 in 3 majors this year and is T29 or better, no MCs, in 6 of 8 Tour events from Arnie's on. That's pretty consistent.

[Larry In Minnesota]

Poulter so that Ollie (since he has no wife) could select pink outfits for Day 1! And then Colsaerts so that his partner in Foursomes, Luke Donald, can play from places he has never seen

[Ivan Morris]

A cat could scatter a few pigeons yet - hold your breath, Ollie! Right now, le Belgian and the Pink Panther, s'il vous plait.

[Alex H]

@ Matt - Poulter is of course playing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs...we all know, that save possibly for the Olympic Golf Tournament, these are the most prestigious events in golf...and one's career will undoubtedly at some point in the future be measured only by how many FedEx Cup one wins...

[Derek P.]

The Euros dropped the ball by not including the Barclays into the World Points List. They deserve Kaymer on their team for their ignorance about the realitys of golf.

Poulter will be the pick and probably Colsaerts since they can afford a Rookie, he would be the only one. I doubt that he is a good choice though. His Match Play success is more the result of one course that is to his liking. Harringtons Ryder Cup record is spotty, but Troublelove is wrong. He won one Fourball in 2010 although he never should have been picked that year. Harrington and Colsaerts both aren't very good putters though, I doubt they put the fear of god into any opponent. Dumb move to declare Pettersson ineligible. He would have improved the european team and given them a fighting chance.

[Matt]

Hi Alex, I don't mean to be overly critical of Poulter's schedule, as I know that he rather regards himself as an "international" golfer, playing a global schedule.

As for the FedEx Cup/Playoffs, the lure seems more money, than the prestige of the tournaments per se. To be honest, even though I'm a fairly avid golf fan, who checks the golf scores from all the main tours every week, and Geoff's blog at least once a day(!), I'd struggle to name the individual tournaments in the playoffs (Barclays, BMW, Tour Championship and ???) and the winners of the FedEx Cup are in my mind only because I checked wiki the other day).

My point was perhaps more nostalgic: e.g. in years past, when the big name players would get criticised for not doing more to qualify automatically. But it was also something to keep in mind whenever players like Poulter or Harrington say that after the majors their main goal is to qualify for the Ryder Cup. Does their schedule really reflect this? How many times are they jetting to some far flung destination for a non-qualfiying event?

As for your point about the prestige of fedex tournaments, this would be a really interesting topic for Geoff to blog about. How do players rate tournaments? Are WGC events really the most prestigious after the majors? Also, how do players regard their wins on the Japanese/Aussie/Asian tours? Do they place much stock in them?

[Hawkeye]

Poulter is a lock, but comments by Olazabal indicate that Harrington probably needs to win by 15 shots next week to have a chance at getting picked unless Colsaerts finishes in the top 2 at Gleneagles to bump Kaymer out of automatic selection. The European team would be better off if he does - the only way Kaymer can score a point at Medinah would be to do a Steve Pate.

[BrianS]

What is the backstory between Ollie and Padraig ? Word is Ollie hates his guts

[FWIW]

If you're looking for a veteran, you take Poulter over Harrington every time. His Ryder Cup record speaks for itself. Harrington's is a mess.

[mivers]

Olie may hate Harringtons guts but as captain of the European team he must put this out of his mind. I agree that Poulter is a shoe in and also agree that he should play at Gleneagles for the good of the European team but he isn't and thats cocky/selfish. The main reason Poulter is a cemented as a wild card is on his form in the majors (which i totally agree with) his combined total score for being so high up the leaderboard in all 4 was -6 only bettered by Adam Scott and G Mac. Guess which player finished on -5 only one shot behind? Mr Harrington no less.
Hopefully the big hitting Colsaerts nudges the out of form Kaymer out of the automatic spots and saves Ollie a headache.
For me Harringtons form since Apríl has been very good tho there are still question marks over his putting which has been improving. I just hope Ollie is honest in his choice but i bet the US team don't want to see Harrington in the team.

[Ghillie]

Olazabal was at Celtic Manor. Harrington was in attendance, and his contribution was negligible (he was a rotten pick). He is marginallly less rotten as a potential pick this time, but does he want to go down as this era's Jesper Parnevik? Who was picked well after his sell-by date?

If the US team is scared of Harrington, they are weenies.

But if Colsaerts bumps Kaymer, all bets are off.

[Ruben]

Best case scenario: Colsaerts bumps out Kaymer, the German just isn't worth being on the team right now.

If Kaymer stays in the team, the best captains picks would be Colsaerts (world match play champion and a fantastic personality) and Poulter (great RC history and always an addition to the team).

[A Win is a Win...]

Forget Poulter, you gotta pick a player who really wants it. Who is that Open Champion who skipped the US Open to get Ryder Cup points? McGinley? He'd be a great pick. Now, how can you root against a former world number 1 like Kaymer? To have the heart to climb that mountain, the championships it takes, the competition, the performance at the Masters.... To be honest, I'd be happy if Kaymer makes the team to pick Colsaerts. He looks to be consistent, and an exciting foursomes partner. However, there is a pick, that is obvious to me. Someone with a great experience at the Ryder Cup, someone who is willing to share with other players or even the team captain. Someone who could take over if Ollie should be incapacitated or get a cold...

Colin Montgomerie!

There you have it, from one American's perspective.

[Ghillie]

Uh, yeah, JMO is going to pick #510 in the world.

The Open Champion who skipped the US Open to get Ryder Cup points is Paul Lawrie, and it worked -- he qualified, so doesn't need a pick. (Paul McGinley, who never got near a major, is a Vice Captain).

Not sure what Kaymer's thinking is: he's sitting out Gleneagles. I guess he would rather let Colsaerts do the heavy lifting: either win/come second and bump him or fail to do either and depend on a pick. Colsaerts has a chance for the team either way whereas if Kaymer played and blew it he'd never have a look at a pick. Hmmm...a strategic thinker. That could work!

[A Win is a Win...]

Ghillie, thanks for correcting my mix-up on McGinley and Laurie. They are both Pauls. You are really warming me up to Kaymer. What a cerebral (non-)player!


If I can think up someone better I will surely come back and post again!