2014 European Ryder Captaincy Goes To McGinley!

Justice in the world!

Paul McGinley is the 2014 Captain as live Tweeted by many in one wacky election. Details to follow.

Knee-jerk reactions please.

Comments

[Kneeland Wright]

I can't wait to hear Monty's take...

[digsouth]

Who?

[chico]

good choice!
Monty can host the players barbeque!!

[nguyenvuminh]

Well, my initial kneejerk reaction was going to be "Good, then we won't have to see snide remarks about Monty or Olazabal for another 2 days" and then I see the 3 comments above. I recall Azinger offered his availability if asked couple of months ago and didn't catch the flak that Monty is getting now. And don't get me wrong, I'm not a Monty fan, I just don't like petty and repetitive potshots.

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

Well, here comes another one nguy ...

Monty did say the job should go to the best man!

[chico]

nguy-I was joking!!!
If you look at my posts I am basically a Monty fan-just think once was enough in this case.

[carnaptious and camsteerie]

Well, Monty did say the best man for the job should be appointed!

[chicago pt]

thank God anybody but Monty

[Average Golfer]

Why can't Monty's Aunt Clara use her real name here?

[digsouth]

nguy-

what?

[Boston Golfer]

Perfect choice, and he'll be terrific.

[sgolfer]

Expect Monty's rebuttal during his Hall of Fame induction speech in May.

[Rob]

Came down to two guys who have ZERO PGA Tour victories between them.

Eenei Meenie Meinie Moe.

[Easingwold]

Europe has made their choice. McGinley will be fine, so will Monty. Move on.

[Spiced Rum]

The Euros are starting to catch the American disease - selecting Ryder Cup "types" as captains. I can hardly remember anything about McGinley other than his participation in Ryder Cups. Only 4 Euro tour victories.

Here is the 3rd paragraph in his Wiki bio: "McGinley famously offered a handshake to J. J. Henry as Henry lined up a long putt to half their 2006 Ryder Cup match at the K Club, an action prompted by the incursion of a streaker on the final green."

Apart from that, I remember him jumping around like crazy after making a putt - which might have been the winning putt in the RC one year.

RC Ryder Cup requirements make the World Golf Hall of Fame requirements look like the Baseball Hall of Fame requirements.

The Euros should have gone off the reservation in order to match the Tom Watson selection. Maybe Sandy Lyle.

I am a fan of the Euros, but I think the Americans will win with Tom Watson.

[Hawkeye]

McGinley is a people person with excellent management skills. I'm sure he'll be the best Euro captain since Bernahrd Langer. Remember that Dave Marr also had very few wins, yet came off as the most popular US captain (in players' opinions, which is what matters) ever.

[fyg]

McGinley doesn't compare to Dave Marr.

Try Kermit Zarley, that would be more like it.

[DTF]

Congratulations Paul! Clearly Mr. McGinley was the choice of 3 key players who are seemingly a lock to be on the next team - Ror's, Poult's and Avis....probably a smart move to appoint him.

Hawk, what's the criteria for designating him "the best captain since Bernhard Langer"? What if his team loses?

[sgolfer]

Dave Marr won a PGA Championship.

Which major did McGinley win?

[Ghillie]

What -- on earth -- does winning a major have to do with captaining a match play Tournament? Precisely?

You Septics are always on about the Euros obsessing over the Ryder Cup. How about your obsessing over majors, to the exclusion of all other ways to build a distinguished career?

Just accept in this case that these two are different species and may require different gifts.

[fyg,]

Majors are the be all and end all, honey child.

[Stanley Thompson]

Unanimous vote........nice!!

[Hawkeye]

I mean that Dave Marr had 1 major and 4 other wins. Compare that to what other players in his generation won - Casper: 51 wins including 3 majors, Palmer: 62 wins including 7 majors, Nicklaus: 71 wins including 18 majors. That's quite comparable to McGinley's record versus Monty's and Clarke's, don't you think? Yet Marr is always mentioned as a far superior captain to the others I mentioned.

[fyg]

"I wouldn't take 25 regular tour wins for 1 major."

Gary Player

[Hawkeye]

Sorry, the numbers in my memory bank are remnants from the time when The British Open wasn't counted as an official win - Nicklaus has 73 wins nowadays. And one Ryder Cup loss as captain, which is one more than Monty.

[Ian c]

Paul Broadhurst must be gutted. If only he had been born in Ireland he could have been a Ryder Cup captain too.

[Ghillie]

Well, his job is just to captain the RC team, so as Torrance and Monty -- and probably others -- have shown, the lack of a major is not a detriment.

[Willie]

Did someone really come here to say they don't like petty and repetitive potshots? Might be the funniest thing I've ever seen here.

Also, is there anything more overrated than a Ryder Cup captaincy? Good Lord, it ain't like they're watching game films and breaking down the nickel coverage or zone blitz.

"Make some putts, fellas." There, I'm captain material.

Oh, and this: "Remember guys, liquor before beer, never fear. Beer before liquor, never sicker. Now, goodnight."

[titleist38]

Great news! - Rory has made the right choice! :)

[Brad]

Nice post Willie, you could be comedy writer material as well!

[Scotsman]

Thank goodness the press have failed with their preferred candidate campaign and common sense has prevailed! The past 3 captains of the Euros have hardly been a huge success with two very, very narrow victories and one loss!

Good luck to both Tom and Paul - hope your boys deliver and the best team win!

[Scotsman]

Thank goodness the press have failed with their preferred candidate campaign and common sense has prevailed! The past 3 captains of the Euros have hardly been a huge success with two very, very narrow victories and one loss!

Good luck to both Tom and Paul - hope your boys deliver and the best team win!

[jjshaka]

fyg-
That reminds of the recent GC interview where Lee, Arnie ,Jack And Gary were asked what their greatest achievement was and Gary said winning the all the Senior majors.
Jacks look of " WTF?" was the greatest thing ever.

[nguyenvuminh]

I think the European team will really play up their "underdog" image, and this time including their lowly captain against the world famous Tom Watson as opposed to just the players like the past. Not that they will ever publicize this but it would not be out of this realm for them to remind one another of Watson's autograph snub from way back when as a mean of motivation. Bottom line is that I hope the combination of a fresh new approach for the US team and the perennial underdog stigma for the Europeans will deliver another exciting Ryder Cup.

[digsouth]

You septics---funny guys, but clean.

[JJ]

Someone should research the statistics. What correlates best to winning the RC? The playing record of the captain or the success of the players making putts? I think I know the answer.

[RickABQ]

What Rors wants, Rors gets.

Won't make a bit of difference.

[No Longer Used to be Former Stack & Tilt Convert]

Role of captain is way overrated. Cannot blame DL3 for Poulter's birdie run. It not like he could have changed defenses when Ian got hot, made a substitution or even double teamed IP.

[Colin MacGillivray]

All of us who post on this site would be perfectly able to captain a Ryder Cup team, including picking the fashion, asking the players who they wanted to be paired with and reading a speech or two.
How many of us could win a major?

[Pasaplayer]

My goodness, picking the winning team 18 months out!? Pray tell, the next POTUS, please.