Tag Archives: Jeff Overton

Day of Judgement: Pavin Announces Picks for Ryder Cup Team

by Scott

Not sure that I’ve ever witnessed such a building prelude to an upcoming Ryder Cup event. Questions about whether or not Tiger Woods would be on the team basically surfaced no sooner than he missed that first cut of the season back in May at Quail Hollow, and reached a fevered pitch last month when a Golf Channel reporter (Jim Gray) essentially threatened 2010 Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin in a BEHIND-THE-SCENES DUSTUP on the matter. Gray accused Pavin of lying, reporting that Pavin confided to him that Woods would be on the team. Pavin addressed the media afterwards, stating that he said no such thing, and that it would be a huge disservice to the rest of the guys who were in the process of trying to play their way onto the team. Jim Gray approached Corey Pavin afterward and a shouting match ensued, with Gray pointing a finger in Pavin’s face and telling him, “You’re going down!”

Aside from the Tiger Woods dilemma that Pavin had to address seemingly every day of his life, his primary task was selecting four players who he felt had earned the right to represent his team in the upcoming event. Today that process finally ended, as Corey Pavin announced his four captain’s picks for next month’s Ryder Cup in Wales.

2009 British Open Champion Stewart Cink learned that he would be making his fifth appearance on a US Ryder Cup team next month. Cink has a 4-7-4 career record in the Ryder Cup, and brings a ton of experience with him next month to Celtic Manor.

Zach Johnson will be teeing it up in his second Ryder Cup appearance. Zach was on the team back in 2006, played in four matches, with a 1-2-1 record. Johnson won the Colonial back in May, and finished one shot back of a playoff at the PGA Championship earlier last month. Johnson has found some spring in his step inside the ropes as of late, and it was enough to win Pavin’s approval.

His sixth Ryder Cup appearance marks the first time that he’s ever found himself having to compete for a captain’s selection – naturally we’re talking about Tiger Woods. But he’s in. Pavin announced on Tuesday that he was impressed with Tiger’s desire to play on the team, as well as his commitment to get his game in shape over the past few months. Tiger wasn’t a part of the successful 2008 US Ryder Cup team captained by Paul Azinger, as he was out due to injury. Woods’ career record in the event is 10-13-2.

Corey’s final pick, he admits, wasn’t easy. He called it a “gut feeling.” That final selection was given to an upcoming star on the PGA Tour, a player who is embarking on what will most likely be several more future Ryder Cup appearances – tour rookie Rickie Fowler. Although this is Fowler’s first experience representing his country as a professional, it’s not his first rodeo as a competitive golfer. Last year Fowler went 4-0 in the Walker Cup at Merion, and has a 7-1 career record in two appearances in the Walker Cup overall.

So here’s the official 2010 US Ryder Cup team, followed by career Ryder Cup performances:

Tiger Woods, 10-13-2
Bubba Watson, Ryder Cup Rookie
Steve Stricker, 0-2-1
Jeff Overton, Ryder Cup Rookie
Phil Mickelson, 10-14-6
Hunter Mahan, 2-0-3
Matt Kuchar, Ryder Cup Rookie
Zach Johnson, 1-2-1
Dustin Johnson, Ryder Cup Rookie
Jim Furyk, 8-13-3
Rickie Fowler, Ryder Cup Rookie
Stewart Cink, 4-7-4

Scouting the Deutsche Bank Championship

by Scott

The second round of the PGA Tour Playoffs gets underway on Friday, as the top 100 players in the FedEx Cup points standings prepare to do battle at TPC Boston in the Deutsche Bank Championship. In what should promise to be a great holiday weekend of golf, with a Monday finish no less, lots of interesting story lines abound heading into the action this week.

Notable Contenders

It’s difficult to not include Tiger Woods in the conversation this week. Coming off of a solid ball striking performance last week at the Barclays Tournament, where Woods led the field in driving accuracy for the event, he could finally be a factor heading into Monday. But for Tiger to breakthrough this week and get his first win of the season, he has to once again become the “boss of the moss” and at least get on speaking terms again with his putter. I’ll go out on a limb and say that if Woods can get off to a solid start on Friday, he gets that first post-Elin win this week at TPC Boston.

A Rose is not a Rose by any other name, especially if his name is Justin and was snubbed by Colin Montgomerie for the Ryder Cup team despite having two wins this season. I think Justin Rose has an opportunity this week to prove just how badly Montgomerie goofed in leaving him off the team, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Englishman hold the grudge well enough to factor into the picture on Monday. He’s got a great pairing for the first two rounds – playing with Ernie Els and Dustin Johnson. The winner this week could very well come from this pairing. If Rose were to win, he would be the first player this year on the PGA Tour to win three events, and Colin Montgomerie becomes the most hated man in all of Europe.

Phil Mickelson doesn’t seem into it this fall. Maybe his arthritic condition is worse than he’s let on, or maybe he’s still distracted with the health of both his wife and mother. But Lefty’s game is nowhere to be found, and he’s not emitting a lot of positive vibes in his interviews recently. I think Phil manages the cut this week, but his dream of becoming number one in the world officially ends.

Steve Stricker has a history in September…. a good one. He’s the only player on tour who has played in each round of every event in the fall playoff series since its’ inception three years ago. If there’s a player in the field who could win this week and then win again next week at the BMW, Strick’s the guy. I like his chances this week at TPC Boston.

Jim Furyk was not upset about the change in the pro-am policy that led to his DQ last week. “I think people are wondering whether I’m going to be upset that they changed it. That couldn’t be farther than the case. I think there were enough players who were not in favor of the rule. I think the commissioner himself said he didn’t like the rule in hindsight. Therefore, I think the best option, the best scenario, was to go ahead and change it as quick as possible.” (courtesy of THIS article at PGATOUR.COM) Looking ahead to this week, Furyk comes into TPC Boston on a mission. And it helps that it’s a course that suits his eye, as Jim has finished inside the top-10 the last two times he’s played here. This very well could be “Sleeping Beauty’s” tournament to lose this week.

Rory McIlroy might be last on my list of notables, but he’s my overall pick this week to win. He’ll have to play better than he played last week at the Barclays, but I don’t see two consecutive letdowns coming. Of all the players in the field, I think this kid is the one player who could go on an absolute tear in golf, and I think he gets it done this week at TPC Boston.

Underdog Picks

With a field this strong, it’s really hard to list a lot of players as potential underdogs. But I’m gonna throw a couple of names out there who might make some noise this week. Jeff Overton – the guy is a streaky player. He’s got 6 top-10′s this season and has finished runner-up on three different occasions. If he can manage his emotions, he’s certainly got the game to contend this week. Sean O’Hair is the other underdog pick. Sean’s struggled with his consistency this season, but his game is finally starting to come around. He finished 5th at the WGC Bridgestone three weeks ago, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him become a factor as Monday approaches.

Tournament News

The biggest news item this week will be Hurricane Earl as it is predicted to move closely to the Boston area sometime Friday afternoon. The tour has moved the tee times up in the morning to get as many holes in as they can, but very few are confident that the weather will hold out for completion of play for the first round. And depending on what weather comes with the storm, it could make the course play totally different than what they players have experienced in their practice rounds earlier this week. By the looks of things, it could be another lift, clean, and place situation again this week.

Kenny Perry withdrew from this week’s event, officially ending his FedEx Cup run this season. Perry was 93rd in the FedEx Cup point standings heading into the week and needed a solid showing to advance to next week’s tournament at Cog Hill, but the 50-yr-old has decided that he needs some time to rest and recharge his batteries.

Click HERE for the Friday pairings and starting times for this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship.