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Saturday
Sep122015

Ryder Cup Task Force Members Put On High Alert As U.S.A. In Danger Of Losing The Walker Cup

We don’t know how the super secret Ryder Cup Task Force coordinated their first two meetings, but it’s not hard to imagine the signals going out to members for a Sunday night teleconference or all-out raid on Golf House should the U.S. lose the Walker Cup. I can easily see Phil, Tiger, Rickie and Derek Sprague being dropped onto the Golf House lawn and demanding to learn names of the Walker Cup committee with snipers trained on Mike Davis!

Something that seems so simple—sending twelve of America’s finest amateurs to play some foursomes and singles matches—has no one particularly impressed or happy with the USGA's recent handling. From the secretive selection process, to the two automatic mid-amateur selections, to Saturday’s Tom Watson-esque decision by Captain Spider Miller to sit the hottest amateur golfer on the planet Bryson DeChambeau, it’s little wonder the U.S. is down 7-5 heading into Sunday.

And this, while the Great Britain and Ireland team lost a top player to a college tournament, where Sam Horsfield is T-5.

The real shocker though is DeChambeau, who recently dominated the U.S. Amateur in remarkable fashion and yet sat presumably so that a pairing of two McCoys could be made (he halved his afternoon singles match). A headline writer’s dream no doubt (Real McCoys, etc...), assuming there might be headlines coming out of this event.

Alex Miceli with the lowdown on that match.

And Alistair Tait with the summary of day one, where he says home course advantage was crucial for GB&I.

A live scoring link to Sunday's matches.

For American viewers, you can try to watch the BBC on ESPN3 (app) or the highlight show at 2:30 pm ET. I explained those options in last week's Forward Press.

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Reader Comments (24)

To be honest some of the US play in the foursomes was pretty poor. One pair were appx 9 over when they lost. The golf in the singles was terrific though. Should be an exciting day today.
09.12.2015 | Unregistered CommenterChico
Geoff - 10 players per team
09.12.2015 | Unregistered CommenterPlay It Forward
I too was surprised that DeChambeau sat out the morning session. However, Alex Miceli just tweeted that he has been suffering with neck stiffness all week and is receiving treatment.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterPlay It Forward
"This is the place where members were spilling their drinks on Gary Player..."

Priceless!
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterGreg V
Didn't home course knowledge really play it's part in 2013 at NGL? Didn't the home team get preferential playing time and access on an uber-private course?
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterDavid Bedie
Where is this on tv in the US today?
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterCheeks
This is an event that cannot even be viewed live Sunday in the US. The team selection process is complete non-issue by comparison.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterRomeo Posar
" to Saturday’s Tom Watson-esque decision by Captain Spider Miller to sit the hottest amateur golfer on the planet Bryson DeChambeau,"

Can we expect a DeChambeau led sabotage of Captain Miller should the USA go on to lose? Something that Phil and the Task Force would no doubt be proud of. I also heard a rumor that Mickelson is an advisor to DeChambeau so perhaps he told him to ask Captain Miller to seat him in the afternoon so he woudn't be fatigued for today's play, a la PM at Medinah.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered Commenterol Harv
This is an issue to Geoff and 14 other people.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterBDF
Looks like Ol' One-Length Club is the only place where the sun is shining on the Americans at 16.11 GMT:
http://www.usga.org/championships/2015/walker-cup/scoring.html
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterKLG
Sunday singles currently on espn3.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterHomestead
Congrats to a GB&I team that utterly outplayed a very poor opposition today. Waiting for the inquisition to start into amateur-cough-college golf in 3-2-1...
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterDoozer Dog
This is an outrage. Please, USGA, form a Task Force as soon as the boys land on home soil. This loss cannot possibly because the boys got outplayed, it has to be that something is not being done correctly to prepare them so they "have the best opportunity to win." Americans have never even heard of these guys on the GB & I, they can't be good players. And Spider Miller, come on, we knew we couldn't win with him as Captain. Reminds me of Tom Watson.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered Commenterol Harv
Nonsense, Harv -- the returning flight must be diverted to Reykjavík so that the post-mortem can be done before the team returns to the U.S. American Exceptionalism cannot be put at risk of an infection by these losers.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterCarl Peterson
I don't even care to comment on this non-event.

Oops.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered Commentergolfinggods
GB&I's secret weapon? Wear green!
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterIvan Morris
Very surprised to see that Walker Cup was not part of the Fox megadeal to air matches in US....Was part of the package going back to ABC days; remember Mickelson's comments from Ireland??

Somebody dropped the ball on this one.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterMedia Driven
Never underestimate the power of the ping pong table for team bonding. Does anyone know if they had it with them in the team room?
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterAvalon Margate
Good to see my American friends aren't getting bent out of shape over a loss. Keep the boys in charge at bay, continue smiling and giggling at the absurdities and enjoy the game.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered Commentermeefer
Trying to watch a bit of the recap during commercial time outs at the local football game.

Seems like every time I change the channel, there is a commercial going on at ESPN, or they are just showing putting.

Not a fan.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterGreg V
Amazing final result and this is just the UK team no Spaniards or Swedes bolstering them as in the Ryder Cup. And the UK have won 6 out of the last 7 (or 5/6) times in the UK. Amazing
It was probably better that Great Britain won this one. Having lost 4 of the last 5 it was probably getting a bit disheartening for them... Well done.
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterDTF
**Great Britain & Ireland
09.13.2015 | Unregistered CommenterDTF
Don't you just love it when a side accept defeat gracefully

"It was probably better that Great Britain won this one. Having lost 4 of the last 5 it was probably getting a bit disheartening for them... Well done. "

Clearly its not GB&I that were worried but others "it was probably getting a bit disheartening for them... " The point is who won and was it a fair win and just who lost and why, expect the answers may be a bit disheartening to those that lost.

I admire your back handed complement - but please remind me who won! Gracious in victory or defeat is, it seems, a quality forgotten in this modern age perhaps the result of trying to kick to many asses.
09.16.2015 | Unregistered CommenterMelvyn Morrow

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