3 Reasons Tiger Woods is on 2018 Ryder Cup Team USA

The final PGA Tour golfers are being selected for the 2018 Ryder Cup team;  Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Bryson DeChambeau have already made the cut. Do you agree with Jim Furyk's choices?

On this year's Ryder Cup Team U.S.A. are a few standouts who need no explanation as to why they were selected: Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson (both with three 2018 PGA Tour wins), Brooks Koepka (2 major wins), and young guns like Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth have proven themselves to be ready for the challenge.

LISTEN: Jim Furyk Interview about getting ready for Ryder Cup

So, why have Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods been added to the Ryder Cup roster?

Mickelson has had a pretty good year with a win at the WGC Mexico Championship and several top-10's; I think fans just require more from him in spite of his bouts with RA.

So honored to be a part of Team USA!
PHEELING PATRIOTIC
PHEELING PHIERCE! 🇺🇸🕺#RyderCup @RyderCupUSA pic.twitter.com/6NGa6ESXxU

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) September 4, 2018

Tiger Woods has also made a comeback that is worthy of a Ryder Cup pick. Again, golf aficionados remember the Woods of old and, should instead not make comparisons but review his current season before issuing negative comments.

1. Although Woods has no wins under his belt in 2018, he has several top-10's including placing second at the PGA Championship; this is still an accomplishment for any PGA Tour golfer but, because it is Tiger Woods we are discussing, our expectations are higher. In spite of many back surgeries, Woods is still in the 2018 tournament mix.

2. According to Jim Furyk, Tiger is a solid vice-captain who helps his teammates, which not only helps as far as strategy and boosts morale for the team.

3. The obvious reason, not stated by Furyk, is that both Woods and Mickelson will bring millions of viewers to the Ryder Cup. Woods has a huge impact on TV ratings. According to thebiglead.com, because Woods was playing:

"Quicken Loans National’s final round ratings was a 92 percent increase over last year and a 28 percent increase over 2016. Not only that, but the third round also saw a huge increase and was up 143 percent."

The 2018 Ryder Cup will surely prove to be an exciting team experience! The TV Schedule for the US is:

Do you agree with the 2018 Ryder Cup picks? Voice your opinion on Golf for Beginners blog and tag us on Twitter with your answer @Golf4Beginners.

Ryder Cup anchors Woods, Stricker, Furyk sink ship for Team USA

Team USA fell to pieces on Ryder Cup Sunday as its three anchors, Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, lost their putting skills on the final two holes at Medinah, handing over the cup to a jubilant Team Europe.

 

 

Jim Furyk, devastated by his loss to Sergio Garcia was in obvious denial commenting, “I’m pretty sure Sergio would tell you that I outplayed him today”.  

 

My thoughts?  Jim Furyk, although a great golfer, probably should never have been chosen by Captain Davis Love III in the first place, with Furyk known this season by the way he fizzles down the stretch in the finale.

 

Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods were placed in the clean-up position by Love, in spite of the fact that they lost every team match. Captain Love made mention that he wanted experienced talent just in case it was needed to win the cup but did Love take into consideration both Woods’ and Stricker’s season strokes gained putting average before making his final decision?Did Love forget the beating Stricker and Woods took by Adam Scott and KJ Choi at the Presidents Cup?

 

Poor putting under pressure ultimately lost the Ryder Cup for Team USA.

 

With all of the pressure falling squarely on Stricker, who is 65^th in strokes gained putting average on the PGA Tour this season,  the eighteenth hole was hardly the time for a “mis-read”.  And, Tiger Woods should never have missed a 3 1/2 foot putt…never.

 

To further show that Tiger has lost pride in his performance, here is Woods quote after his Ryder Cup tie with Molinari, “You come here as a team and you win or lose as a team, and it's pointless to even finish. So 18 was just, hey, get this over with."  Pointless? Tiger Woods, for certain, has gone soft.

 

I think Tiger should have sat out on Sunday and contemplated Furyk’s Ryder Cup statement, “It’s the lowest point of my year.”

 

Congratulations to Team Europe. They deserve the accolades!

 

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photo credit

Posted via email from stacysolomon's posterous

Did PGA Tour Championship or Fed Ex Cup mean more to Jim Furyk?

A dejected Luke Donald concluded that the double bogey on the 15th hole on Saturday was why he lost out on a $10 million Fed Ex Cup prize to Jim Furyk. Furyk, on the other hand, was busy trying to lift both the PGA Tour Championship and Fed Ex Cup trophies, while trying to decide which meant more to him.

Pointing to the Fed Ex Cup Furyk said,

"They both mean a lot, to be honest with you, but this one is a season. ... I focused all week on trying to win this one (pointing to THE TOUR Championship trophy) and hoped this one (the FedExCup) could come true."

Perhaps Furyk now has another trophy in his sights, namely the Jack Nicklaus Trophy as the PGA Tour's Player of the Year.

Jim Furyk is now moving on to the 2010 Ryder Cup and, if 2008 Ryder Cup action is any indication of how he'll perform, I suspect Team USA will be taking home the trophy once again!

Here is last year's picture of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods with their respective Tour Championship and Fed Ex Cup trophies. Doesn't this take you back to a time before all of the Tiger Woods drama?

Furyk Clinches Ryder Cup for USA, Mickelson disappoints and Wie advances. Golf Magazine's "How to Hit Every Shot"

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It was hard not to notice the dejected expression in the eyes of Anthony Kim on Saturday after his teammate, Phil Mickelson, blew his putt on the seventeenth hole to lose to Stenson and Wilson. Kim's outstretched hand failed to find Mickelson's even though earlier pairings found the team of Kim/Mickelson to be a solid one.

Kim's victory against Garcia on Sunday proved that it was Mickelson who was the taildragger for Team USA. I understand that Phil is interested in obtaining his European Tour card. I say, let's trade Lefty to Team Europe in 2010 for Justin Rose!

By the way, since July, Mickelson's estate has been up for sale. A sign of things to come? Golf has been very, very good to me!

Jim Furyk impressed the crowd although, if I was Jimenez, I don't think I would have given him that final three-footer for the win.

In addition to our Ryder Cup wrap-up, Golf for Beginners also discusses the new book from Golf Magazine entitled, "How to Hit Every Shot." This glossy is a follow-up to their top-selling title, GOLF: The Best Instruction Book Ever!, and offers assistance for difficult shots with the aid of the Top 100 Instructors. The "restricted backswing" tip, for example, is one you probably have never even heard of and is worth a try!

Finally, we talk about current and future stars of the LPGA Tour, Anna Rawson and Michelle Wie. Where Wie didn't stand out from the crowd of female golfers this week she certainly did what was necessary to get the job done and move on to Q-School finals.

Move over Natalie Gulbis! With her rookie year on the LPGA Tour less eventful than her status of being one of the "Sexiest Women Golfers","Anna Rawson should probably be more interested in stardom than golf. Instead of relying on her golf swing, and with only $50k made from the Tour, Rawson has been setting herself up in the world of fashion, as a golf writer and now has made it possible to hear from all of those swooning fans who pant when they see her in a bikini!

We reveal her cell phone number on this week's show and let you know which other stars want to hear what is on your mind!





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Photo Credit: © Fred Vuich/SI.

Jim Furyk may not sweat the Ryder Cup thanks to his new fashion line

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I met up with Jim Furyk at a photo shoot for the launch of the golf clothing collection from New York clothier Hawke and Co., and received an education on the differences between cotton and moisture-wicking polyester. I also learned how this upscale company's products distinguish themselves from typical "off the rack" golf apparel right down to the subleties of the hawk symbolically stitched into every shirt and the recurrent colors of brown and orange which help golfers distinguish this clothing from the average lineup.

Furyk, who recently signed a long term sponsorship deal with the contemporary outerwear and sportswear maker, gave me his preferences on the performance-oriented collection.

Heat exhaustion before Hawke and Co.?

We also had a chance to talk about the upcoming Ryder Cup as well as whom Furyk would choose as his compadres if he was captain instead of Azinger. Tiger Woods came up in conversation as Azinger mentioned early on that Team USA were considered "underdogs" without the world's number-one in the mix. Considering the Americans have lost the past three Ryder Cup competitions, Tiger Woods' absence just might spur on a sense of unity among the beleaguered Americans.

Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia's names were also tossed around because of their stellar performance at the 2004 Ryder Cup where between the two of them, they scored an amazing 8.5 points!

Furyk's practice schedule was also discussed, where he's tuning up and golf tips were offered up for all of the amateurs out there.

For golf tips from one of the best golf instructors in the world, check out our recent interview with Tiger Woods coach, Hank Haney!


Send your golf questions and comments to golfforbeginners@aol.com.

Subscribe to our weekly podcast through this RSS feed:http://feeds.feedburner.com/golfforbeginners or through iTunes.

Click Here to receive our archived podcasts and 100's of easy golf tips free!

Get to know us on MySpace!

"Shiny Tech" courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"

This podcast is supported by St. Andrews Golf Tours, 800-348-4902.

Photo Credit: © BBC Sport.