The American Ryder Cup team was finalized today and if inexperience is your favorite word, you're going to love the next nine paragraphs.
Captain Paul Azinger had four picks to add to the 12 man team and decided to go Steve Stricker (ok), J.B. Holmes (cool), Hunter Mahan (awesome) and Chad Campbell?!?
Nothing against the fellow Texan, but Campbell hasn't exactly been the model of consistency that one might be hoping for heading into these Ryder Cup games. He has played in three Ryder Cups, which adds a little history to an inexperienced team, but his 1-3-2 record isn't exactly polished. His inclusion has based on his play of late (7 of 8 cuts made) but before that Campbell was having an atrocious year by his standards.
Campbell is the perfect example of why Azinger wanted the rule changed to include more captain's picks for the American squad. Hotter players at the right time, more momentum heading in and the hope that this will resonate with the masses is what the change was made for.
After Campbell, it looks like he made some solid choices. Holmes, a Kentucky native, will be playing in his home state and, hopefully, alongside Kenny Perry, another Bluegrass state native. Before the selections were made, Perry was all giddy about the possibility of playing with the inexperienced (see) Holmes.
"If he picks J.B., I'd love to play with J.B.," said Perry, a feature player because of his Kentucky roots. "He's a rookie, young kid, he bombs it. Two Kentuckians out there, we'd be rock stars. We'd feel like Tiger Woods."The other two selections, Mahan and Stricker, seeemed pretty standard. If you are going to fight someone, you want to bring your strongest buddy, and Mahan fits that mold. He's young, he is confident and you could pair him with just about anyone and make that person happy. If the attitude of the team needs changing, sending Mahan and Anthony Kim out early could do just that.
Stricker will be playing in his first Ryder Cup but seems like a reasonable pick by all accounts. The 41-year-old hasn't missed a cut since the middle of May and if last year was any indication, can keep the momentum rolling for quite a while.
This will be a match against two completely different foes, a European team with with a ton of Cup veterans against an American team without a single player boosting a winning record.
I guess you could say that the Americans are heading into this thing inexperienced (!).
