Dave Edwards and It’s Just my Take, 10-6-23
Just a final thought or two on the Ryder Cup.
Zack Johnson failed as captain of this losing team that traveled to Europe, got way behind after day one and could not recover on Singles day. But the failure didn’t just happen during the competition. Zach failed with dubious captain’s pick choices, including Justin Thomas. Johnson’s constant teaming of Thomas with Jordan Spieth was highly flawed. Just because they are good friends does not make them an effective team, especially considering the lack of quality golf played of late, most notably Thomas’s struggles. Cameron Young, Tony Finau and others have played much better golf than Thomas during the recent cycle.
Also, the team played little competitive golf in the month leading up to the Ryder Cup, likely losing their edge heading into the matches. And, for what it’s worth, the leaking of contract squabbles, hat-gate and whining about not getting paid don’t help, regardless if they are true or not. We barely heard a peep of discord from the European camp….
Final thought: let’s ask Steve Stricker to captain the return to the U.S. in 2025 at Bethpage Black, and then…it’s time for Tiger to take the helm in 2027 as we try to win on European soil in Ireland. There will be no discord.
