Hal Sutton: America Is Not Producing Complete Players And The Ryder Cup Is Proof Of That
I'm a little surprised that golf.com chose to frame this excerpt from their Hal Sutton's interview with Alan Bastable as a Tiger-Phil-letting-us-down item, when it's clear the former Ryder Cup captain is saying the superstars have let us down in the Ryder Cup because there is too much for them to do.
We've created some real superstars in the U.S. who have failed us when it comes to [the Ryder Cup]. They don't fail because they don't have enough talent; they fail because there's too much for them to do.
You mean Tiger and Phil?
Yeah. I mean Tiger's Ryder Cup record [13-14-2] is not very good at all, but everyone expects him to carry the team. He can't get but five points. That ain't gonna win it. So everyone else has got to perform. One of the reasons I think Europe is better than we are is they know more of the game. They have all the shots instead of half the shots. We've been playing the game in the air constantly. It's easier to learn how to play the game in the air than it is on the ground, so it's easier for them to learn to adapt to our style than it is for us to adapt to their style.
Of course after last week's Open Championship where Phil Mickelson won and Tiger Woods finished T6, while Hunter Mahan also played well, the Euros should stay away from links courses in the Ryder Cup. Oh wait, silly me, they only select venues based on maximum profitability!
Friday, July 26, 2013 at 11:14 AM
Reader Comments (49)
"Well, hell, Hal, sit'em both, because it ain't gonna make a damn bit of difference."
Great quote
-- 12 wins by Americans.
-- 10 different American winners. (Tiger, Phil, B. Curtis, Duval, Cink, Daly, Lehman, Leonard, O'Meara, Hamilton)
-- 4 wins by players from the UK or Europe.
-- 3 different winners from that group. (Lawrie, Paddy, Darren)
-- 4 wins by RoW players.
-- 3 different winners from that group. (Ernie, Oosthuizen, N. Price)
So what does that tell us? Is singling out one event too small of a sample size? Is The Open Championship actually deficient in identifying the "best player"? (some fluke winners in there) Are American pro's pretty darn good ground ball players after all?
- ...paired the key player on the US team with the one guy he couldn't stand the first two matches?
- ...picked octogenarian Jackie Burke as vice captain, who played his last competetive round at Oakland Hills in 1961 and who, judging from his comments, despises the modern game and modern society in general?
- ...chose 51-year-old Jay Haas, eleven years removed from his last PGA Tour victory, ahead of the current British Open champion (who certainly knew a thing or two about the vice captain's beloved bump and run shots) as a wild card pick?
-...didn't understand how to laugh off Chris Riley's "I'm quite tired" comment and therefore didn't keep the first successful partnership in Tiger Woods' Ryder Cup career?
-...decided to wear a Stetson on the first tee Friday morning, making himself an object of ridicule and undermining his credibility to no end?
The US team lost in a landslide to a European team that had zero major winners on it, and it was in no small part due to its captain's lack of understanding of personal dynamics and the importance of momentum in team play. He apparently still doesn't understand anything about it, and comes across as a very bitter and ungracious person. Now I understand better how a guy with a wallet his size can be a four-time divorcee.
As for the wallet, one of "that size" would tend to lead toward more divorces vs. fewer ;) Sorry to hear Hal's run with #4 ended, didn't realize that had happened. They were closing in on 20 years...
As for Mr. Burke, Geoff sees them as "cart drivers" but you say "team leader"...hmm, wonder which is correct?
Out of curiosity, in your opinion what were the "player priorities" that Mr. Burke did not understand? Video games and ping pong? Something else?
As for Mickelson/Woods, they lost to The Greatest Ryder Cupper Ever + Paddy at the height of his powers, and Clarke/Westwood, not exactly pikers. I don't see how this reflects badly on Hal? I concur that he should have told Riley to get off his ass and get out there....just as Davis should have said the same to Phil.
anyway i read this interview on a plane a few weeks ago. he comes off as being aggressively dumb. and he makes some inconsistent statements. for example asserting that technology ruined the game while at the same time saying its all a fraud (stronger lofts not actual tech).
his proposal for having a player commissioner is also pretty funny. hey lets put a guy at the helm of a $2b sports league whos only experience is being really really good at knocking a white ball around because he can "feel" the game.
It's like saying I once heard, when you're 18, you worry about what everybody is thinking about you, and when you're 40, you don't give a damn about what anyone thinks about you, and when you're 60, you realize nobody's been thinking about you at all. I saw this pattern in Sutton's interview: he thought way too much what people were thinking when he was in his 20s (going so far as to change his ball flight because one scribe said he hit "too low" for Augusta); didn't give a damn what people thought when he was in his 40s (he didn't care what the players thought and put Tiger and Phil together in a Ryder Cup. Who puts Tiger and Phil together for anything?); and now that he's going on 60, he's getting to that place where he realizes no one has been thinking about him at all (stating the only reason he's playing now is to prove to himself he can do it).
I liked his observation that time passes you by; "your accomplishments just get so far back there; the latest and greatest is what's important." I think that's pretty much true for the majority of sports and show business/entertainment. Unless you're cemented in legendary status, which only a handful are, you'll be yesterday's news. In 1983 it was Hal Sutton, today it's Rickie Fowler, etc.
He didn't really make any Earth-shattering revelations in what's wrong with the game, however. We knew all of that already.
I did like his quote, "I'm competitive, and I don't want to do anything if I'm not good at it, so that means I've got to do it a lot." ...I can relate with that. That's why I don't play much golf anymore. It's too time consuming, and it's frustrating not to be able to play at the level I know I'm capable of if I were to be playing more frequently (like I once did). I think that's why a lot of golfers hang it up. And I don't see the sport growing anytime in the foreseeable future.
As for the vice captain's role, a good one is an inspirational figure and yes, a leader, while a so-so one is a cart driver. Burke was in his own words aghast at the activities in the teamroom, like you say, the video games and other "kiddie stuff". If you can't relate to your players in the team room, how are you going to be of any help and inspiration to them? I don't know if he even drove a cart.
Are you serious?
What does it signify when one of your guys shows up in a skirt?
...but then again you think "broomstick" putters are "banned" ;0)
"I've got a headset on and [assistant captains] Jackie Burke and Steve Jones are on the other end. I said to Jackie and Steve, "We've got to sit Tiger or Phil, because we need to make a statement. I've got my opinion on who needs to sit. I need your calls, too."
If that isn't "consulting" with them, I don't know what is. The fact that one of them (Burke) gave nonsensical advice when asked didn't help his cause.
Hawk, kudos for honesty ;) Back to Mr. Burke, what were the "player priorities" Mr. Burke "did not understand"?
"...read on a plane..." -- are you kidding?
Well, hell, Hal, sit'em both, because it ain't gonna make a damn bit of difference." I said, "Why'd you say that?" He said, "When you get in, I'll show you." And he did. He said, "Every American's got their shaft leaning back, every European's got their shaft leaning forward, and we ain't got enough time to teach'em the difference."
Was not particularly useful to the decision at hand, especially given the fact that they were not in fact playing on a links course, which would theoretically require them to "lean their shafts forward". The idea that "it doesn't make any difference", so go ahead and bench the 2 best players in the world is nonsense - Complete and utter. In fact, both Tiger and Phil were on winning teams in their next respective outing - Tiger Sat AM with Riley, and Phil Sat PM with Toms.
@Brian S: +1.
chip yips
and his own Ryder Cup captaincy mistakes
Not too interested to hear