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.

Anyway, great to see Hal letting his feelings be known!

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!

Comments

[johnnnycz]

Wow. Folks sure get opinionated when a former great player states HIS opinion(s).

Hal pooped the bed in that RC...as well as in other areas of his life (the name Halimony is very true)..but haven't we ALL made professional mistakes that ultimately defined us and our legacy.

He was born with more than one silver spoon in his mouth, rode champion horses for fun, drove Porches in college, etc and considering all that, he turned out pretty good in the end.

The Stetson thing was a "not too bad" idea that turned awful. He should given everyone on the team a 10 gallon! Or handed them out to the gallery. By being the only one wearing it...he basically put a target on his back. Dumb move politically.

His second was pairing Phil and Tiger a second time. Reminds of Homer Simpson eating Apu's "Warm-bucket-of-prawns" Qwik-E-Mart special and then getting ambulanced to the emergency room....Twice! LOL that was funny! Anyways...never, ever, ever, ever, pair two guys who hate each other in ALTERNATE shot. Fourballs...maybe. But that was many moons ago and Capt Lehman duplicated Hal's historic achievement!

[DTF]

OK I get it....we have a number of nincompoops who prioritize video games and ping pong, but Mr. Burke is the problem. LOL.

[Hawkeye]

DTF, "problem" is your wording, I just say it was a bad match. Maybe I should humor you by reminding you that the deciding putt was stroked with a belly putter? ;)

[DTF]

"bad match"...? That's laughable. Who would have been a good match?

What do you think of Tom Watson's appointment?

[Hawkeye]

Who would have been a good match? Oh, let's see, like, anyone who knows the players, can relate to them and give good pep talks and say the right things if they are feeling negative pressure, perhaps? And not someone who thinks the entire match is lost after one day because the American players' shafts are leaning the wrong way (speaking of laughable comments), but doesn't see any reason to tell them that? If Andy North fits the bill better, I do not know.

[DTF]

So somebody that would deceive them as opposed to someone that speaks the truth?

[Hawkeye]

Of course!

[DTF]

LOL ;)

2004 was on the players, period. If a player is participating in the Ryder Cup, and simultaneously needs a "pep talk", well they don't belong. Chris Riley seems like a nice enough guy but apparently he didn't belong....

[Hammerwielder]

Nonsense. The Europeans have outperformed as a team at Ryder Cups and the Internationals have under-performed as a team at President's Cups. End of story.

A player can play crap and win a match against an opponent who's even worse, and a player can have 6 or more birdies and lose. Team match play is a crap shoot. Americans have won 9 of the 15 World Match Play Championships and Europeans only 4. The Ryder Cup is just another competition, albeit an important one, not a measuring stick for the state of golf in the U.S. and Europe. Golf is not a team sport anyway. The world rankings are a better indicator of individual merit and who the elite players are, although the rankings are biased in favour of European players with heavier weightings to most tournaments than warranted by strength of field.