Full disclosure before we get started: My allegiance is to the United States, and 

I am on the record as predicting a United States victory by a margin of 16-12

. I’m not going back on that prediction now that Tiger’s won for the first time in five years. The Americans are a slight betting favorite, and by all accounts, they should be. This is perhaps the strongest team the United States has taken to a Ryder Cup since the expansion of the competition to include all of Europe in 1979.

Nonetheless, this is European Tour blog, so I’m going to take the Stars-and-Stripes-laden aviators off for a while and have some fun letting my imagination run wild about a Team Europe victory.

It me (prior to and immediately after writing this column).

Am I nuts for writing a few thousand words about a completely insane hypothetical? YES! But, if nothing else, this should be a fun exercise in giving the Euros something to hope for and the Yanks something to chew on for the next couple of days. We’ll see how close we are to any of these if Europe ends up holding the Ryder Cup on European soil, as it has done every time hosting since 1993. Let’s go to Crazytown!

The Americans came to play. Webb Simpson gets to hit the opening tee shot and atones for his 2014 sky-ball with a perfectly striped hybrid right down the Av. des Champs-Elysées. He and DJ team up for the opening session against the formidable Rose/Stenson duo. In a back-and-forth match, the Americans get an early 2 up lead. Rose and Stenson battle down the stretch to squeak out a 1 up victory, putting the first full point on the board for the Europeans and quelling any American dreams of setting up a big lead in the opening foursomes session (a la Hazeltine).

The second and third matches are played to half-point draws each, as the teams of Hatton/Fleetwood and Molinari/Noren draw with Mickelson/Fowler and Reed/Spieth, respectively.

In the fourth match, Poulter and McIlroy lose a surprising bout 3&2 to the team of Koepka and Watson, wherein Poulter’s putter never really gets going after Rory leaves him a bunch of 25+ footers due to ongoing struggles with distance control. On the other hand, Brooks comes out of his morning lift feeling “extra swole” and “super jacked,” and Bubba avoids the baguettes and brie–having instead some tasty grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast using flown-in Wonderbread and Kraft singles (shout out Team Chef Mike Ramsey – Jacksonville Golf and Country Club’s finest).

The Euros struggle in this session. Neither Rahm nor Garcia were pleased about sitting out the morning matches, but instead of channeling that frustration into a victory, they run into the high-fivin’, butt-slappin’, Mizzen & Main dancin’ duo of Mickelson and Finau. The Big Tabernacle has no nerves, and rattles off 7 birdies in the first 10 holes en route to a 5&4 victory over the “fiery” Spaniards. We are reminded that they are “fiery” on the broadcast at least twice per hour. Mickelson hits it all over the yard, but instead of looking intently for lost balls in the wispy grasses, he fires up his iPhone mid-round to (1) Periscope Finau’s fourth straight birdie on the 6th hole to take a 4 up lead, and (2) bet the Phil/Finau–Tiger/Bryson–JT/Spieth parlay.

When the parlay hits but you don’t gamble so you just gotta act excited for your partner.

It ends up being a solid bet, as Tiger and Bryson take Olesen and Casey to the woodshed, while #TeamGoodBuddies Spieth and Thomas eek out a close one against Stenson and Rose. Phil is always the smartest guy in the room, and he knew enough not to bet against team “Fleetwood Mac” who provide the loan bright spot in the afternoon by going their own way to win a point against the surprise team of Reed and Rickie, who don’t even want to pretend to like each other long enough to ever be competitive in the duel.

Second Session: EUR 1 – USA 3. Day 1 Overall: EUR 3 – USA 5.

Facing a 2 point deficit, the Europeans put some stallions out in the early morning fourball session. Team Fleetwood Mac continues their dominance, this time against the team of Phil and Rickie. Rory channels those visions from the 2014 PGA Championship of Mickelson and Fowler high-fiving in the group in front of him, which leads to him suddenly finding the center of the club face with a few wedges. Meanwhile, Garcia and Rahm get revenge facing off against Brock Cupcake and Justin Thomas. Team #JupLife skipped leg day, and as a result, the glutes just weren’t getting fully activated. With two blue flags on the board early, a new pairing of Tiger and Reed find a way to gut out a point against Poulter and Casey, but Stenson and Rose are too much for le Artisté and DJ, who prove that opposites do not always attract. The match ends on a sour note when Bryson yells at DJ to “read a fuckin’ book!” after the round so they might have something to talk about next time. DJ does not take that advice. The result is a big session for the Euros and the tide shifting back in their direction.

Third Session: EUR 3 – USA 1. Overall: EUR 6 – USA 6.

The Yanks have a problem. Captain Furyk knows he needs to get Bryson’s mind right–and Cat might be just the medicine. However, he doesn’t want to break up the newfound revelation of Tiger and Reed. What’s more, Tiger didn’t plan on playing two sessions on the same day anyway. This conundrum leads to a pretty heated argument among the vice captains, and it ends with Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar putting their balding heads together to come up with a BRILLIANT(!) solution: sit them both.

With Tiger and Bryson on the pine, the captains feuding, and the Euros with all the momentum, the Americans are reeling. The team of DJ and Webb gets another go of it, but they aren’t able to find the magic they had on Friday morning, and lose a close one 2&1 to Molinari and Noren. Poulter and Casey are back for another round, and this time, it clicks against Thomas and Fowler. Poults gets it going early, draining a long birdie putt on the first and another one on the third. After Casey stripes a drive on the fourth, Poulter steps up and calls in the precision air strike for an eagle from 190 yards out.

Close your eyes for a moment and picture what an eagle by Poulter from 190 in a Ryder Cup would look like. In reality, it is far, far worse than what you’re imagining. His eyes bulging, his chest pounding, his teeth gritting…Poulter lets out a wail that happens to be mic’d up and not caught by the five-second delay. Johnny Miller can only muster a “whoops…sorry ’bout that folks” as Poulter screams, “FUCK YOU, UNCLE SAM, YOU WANKER!” running down the fairway at full sprint speed. The match is over before it begins, and by a margin of 6&5, #TeamJupLife(PartDeux) get dealt an embarrassing defeat. Somewhere, Jose Maria Olazabal is smiling.

Thankfully for USA, the Mickelson and Finau pairing proves to have some juice. This time, it’s Phil doing the heavy lifting, as Rahm and Hatton can’t stand the fun-loving, west coast vibe coming from the Big Lefty and the Big Tabernacle. Hatton and Rahm both say a LOT of words out loud on the golf course, but all of them are directed inward or towards their respective golf balls. And while each of them tries their best to keep the other mentally on planet Earth, there’s too much lost in translation between the two, as both seem to always have both hands covering their mouths/faces after every single putt, preventing the words of encouragement from being fully understood.

What is #RahmThreat saying here? Your guess is as good as mine. Photo cred: AP News.

The USA trots out ol’ reliable Spieth and Reed in the final pairing, going up against Fleetwood Mac. In what turns out to be the tightest, most entertaining match of the team sessions, the Americans jump out to a quick 2 up lead. Fleetwood gets the bug and turns into Fleekwood the Flusher, dropping a couple of quick dimes in the middle holes leading to a pair of conceded birdies. Rory then finds his wedge game, getting the Euros a 1 up lead on 16, but Spieth and Reed dig deep. Coming down to the last hole, Spieth is faced with a 5 footer to win the hole and halve the match. Reed, feeling inspired, takes Spieth aside and tells him about that time when he got put in the line drive section, but decided to take matters into his own hands and upgrade his seats while tagging the TOUR not once, but TWICE in the same shady tweet. Spieth looks confused. “Take this match into your own hands…UPGRADE FROM THE LINE DRIVE SECTION!” Reed growls, spittle raining from his grimacing face. It’s the most inspirational speech Reed’s ever given…just ask him.

Something about it resonates, though. Spieth lines up the putt, gives it a tentative, beta-male tap, and it trundles end-over-end toward the cup. At the last second it dives right to the low side of the hole, but catches just enough to do a full 360 and find the bottom. We, the golfing public, get a highlight that will live forever, and Spieth for the first time in his life, gets to experience what it’s like to be the Alpha. The USA grinds out a half-point.

Fourth Session: EUR 2.5 – USA 1.5. Overall: EUR 8.5 – USA 7.5.

Everyone was hoping for another heavyweight Rory v. Reed bout, but this one turns out to be almost as much fun. Big J hits the ground running, lighting up the front nine with a blistering 31. But Rory keeps pace, and only finds himself 1 down at the turn. Rors rattles off two quick birdies on 10 and 11 to take a 1 up lead. Then, JT finds a groove, sparks fly, and he rallies with a birdie-birdie-birdie stretch to build a 2 up lead of his own with four to play. On 15, however, Thomas hits it in the water off the tee and ends up conceding the hole. Rory seizes the opening, and throws and absolute dart at the short sixteenth that almost finds the bottom of the hole. Another concession, and suddenly, the match is tied with 2 holes to go. Pars halve the seventeenth, but Rory takes an ultra-aggro line on eighteen and rips one of those *rocket emoji* drives into the stratosphere. JT follows suit and also sends one into space. Two generational drivers of the golf ball show us what it means to unload.

Thomas is away, and finds the middle of the green with his approach. Rory, again smelling blood, takes dead aim and finds the surface only 10 feet below the hole. A Thomas miss; a Rory make; a European point. Rory wins 1 up.

Hush little Big J. Don’t say a word. Rory’s gonna buy you a dozen birds.

A proxy war for “most in the ass of NLU,” Noren gets deep on Soly in the opening foray, hopping out to a 2 up lead through eight. Not to be outdone, the Ricktator finds himself knocking down two quick tweeters on fourteen and fifteen to take it back to all square. After the second putt drops, the camera cuts to Rickie and he winks playfully, directly into Big Randy’s soul. In the end, however, Noren cruises to a full point by parring sixteen and seventeen and getting a conceded eighteenth after Rickie’s second finds the drink. Soly relaxes because “it’s not like Noren 

.” Randy googles “how to say schadenfreude in French.”

In the #VisorWar, Poulter prevails. He makes a comment on the first tee about Bubba playing a putt-putt ball for all of 2017, and Bubba, without a good comeback, is thrown off his game immediately. Bubba starts getting pissed about “not having enough trees to aim at” or something. Bubba tries to drive the short par 4 tenth, but overcooks his “baby fade” into the drink, concedes the hole, and goes 4 down. After getting a gust and coming up short in the water on the par 3 eleventh, Bubba goes OFF on his caddie and #PrayforTedScott is trending on Twitter for the first time in a while. Poulter wins 7&6 and puts the first point on the board for Europe of the afternoon, as his match finishes a solid hour before Rory’s.

Nothing good happens for the Yanks when Poulter puts on the mean mug every other September. Photo cred: Sky Sports.

The most contentious moment of the matches in nearly twenty years happens early on the par 5 third. With the match all square early, Reed tries his helicopter-finish fade off the tee, but it drifts on a gnarly zephyr way out to the right and into the water. Reed takes a drop, but the location is…um…a little suspect. Initially, Rose didn’t see it, because his pull-draw ended up in the left rough, about 50 yards away from Reed. Reed plays his shot quickly, before Rose really knows what’s going on. After Rose plays, while walking up to the next shot, Paddy Harrington tells Fooch and Rose that he thinks the drop was unsporting. Once they get to the green, Fooch and Rose confront Patrick about the drop, Reed immediately gets in Fooch’s face, and Fooch is ready to throw hands. Just before a kerfuffle can break out on the green, Matt Kuchar comes over to act as peacekeeper and break it up. Reed ends up losing the hole, but it lights a fire under him for the rest of the match, and he goes on to torch Rose 4&3. After he barely shakes Rose’s hand, and doesn’t shake Fooch’s, the crowd boos while Reed gives them the classic “shush” finger. Word quickly spreads around to the rest of the course and Johnny Miller calls it “not his finest moment, folks.”

Match 5: Francesco Molinari v. Bryson DeChambeau

Feeling dejected from the previous day, DeChambeau gets off to a rough start. Molinari ballstrikes him into oblivion over the first six holes and jumps out to quick 4 up lead. DeChambeau hears it from the crowd, as they repeatedly jeer him for having a “french-sounding name” but not being able to speak at word of the mother tongue. Meanwhile, Molinari looks like he’s mostly just strolling in the park, and although Bryson fights and claws his way back into the match, he still loses 3&2.

There’s a lot of Blue on the board, and Webb Simpson might seem like an unlikely hero for the Americans. But the most startlingly handsome lad on the squad makes it a quietly productive week. Casey just looks somewhat tired and disinterested from the start, while Webb seems to be 100% dialed in. Casey misses a few key putts in the early going, while Webb is repeatedly wet from distance. Scrambling to find some momentum, Casey makes a little run in the middle holes, but ultimately, Webb keeps his composure and is able to close out the match and put a full point on the board for the United States, winning 3&2 with a drippy birdie on the 16th green.

Webb leading the field in SG: Stealin’ ya Girl. (Yes, I already made this joke on Twitter. Bite me.) Photo Cred: Golf Channel/Getty Images.

Match 7: Tyrrell Hatton v. Jordan Spieth

With no shortage of drama, who better to get the back half started with a quiet reprieve than two guys known for keeping completely to themselves and going about their business. Just kidding.

In what becomes a sadly hilarious spectacle of self-talk turned self-loathing turned self-immolation, the Hatton and Spieth match demonstrates why getting the players mic’d up makes all the difference. After Feherty runs out of pithy things to say about how neither golf ball seems to want to listen, the production truck actually puts a booth fatwa on any commentary during their match after the fourteenth hole, where they find themselves all square. That’s right…on the last four holes, Dan and Johnny completely let Tyrrell and Spieth do all the talking.

Spieth starts with a wild push slice right on the fifteenth tee, 20 yards into the water. As soon as he hits it, Spieth shrieks a mighty “GOODNESS, JORDAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? THERE’S 70 YARDS OF FAIRWAY OVER THERE!!!”

Hatton, not to be #outdun, doesn’t club down but instead hits driver, and ALSO finds the water right. Hatton, in fullblown surrender cobra, compliments himself thusly: “Awww bollocks, you bloody stewpid muppet!”

The two go on like this until the eighteenth green, where neither seems to want to win any battle other than who can tell themselves they suck more. The match plays to the most amusing halve in Ryder Cup history.

Great form on the surrender cobra. Photo cred: N.Y. Post.

Finau justifies his pick throughout the Matches, but perhaps nowhere moreso than in the singles. With a winning record already assured by his 2-0 start, Finau decides to put the icing on the pastry and decimates a flustered Rahm, who has had a first Ryder Cup he would probably like to forget up to this point. The matchup promised to be a bomb-n-gouge tour de force, but ended up being a rout. Rahm gets inside his own head early by missing several short putts, while Finau keeps pouring them in with reckless abandon. For a much lauded pick, Finau shows just what he is capable of with the pressure on and his team in desperate need of a point. Tony plants the Stars and Stripes firmly on the board, and notches a full point for the Yanks.

Match 9: Tommy Fleetwood v. Brooks Koepka

Another match that surely spells fireworks, Fleetwood is treated to the opportunity to exact revenge on Brooksie for the U.S. Open. One is pure power, the other so much finesse. The players trade blows early and often, with each player netting birdies left and right, but neither of them are able to gain any ground. Koepka finally breaks free with a timely eagle on the par 5 ninth. He follows that with the most spectacular, soaring tee shot on the driveable tenth, and rattles in a second consecutive eagle from 28 feet, while Fleetwood looks to his caddie, and utters, “Not sure I’ve got that one, Fino.” Fino responds, “Right, mighty [inaudible] good [unintelligible] cracking one, that.” Koepka puts the pedal down and finds another point for the United States to cap off one of the single most dominant seasons in modern golf. Brock the Jock is simply too good. The residents of Fleetwood Island weep uncontrollably.

Match 10: Thorbjorn Olesen v. Dustin Johnson

With only three matches left on the course, and the tide turning quickly back toward the Americans, Team Europe need two of their three captain’s picks to step up and claim full points in order to win the cup outright. One would expect Thorbjorn to perhaps cave under the pressure of facing the number one player in the world and the most explosive golfer on the planet. But something doesn’t quite seem right for DJ on this Sunday. Part of the problem is the course setup takes driver out of his hand. Another issue is that it just hits him 3 minutes before he tees off that he casually blew a putt for $10 million at East Lake a week ago to the day. A third problem is the text he woke up to from the Great One telling him he is banned from wearing the number 99 L.A. Kings sweater when he hits his opening tee shot. The hits keep coming.

Thorbjorn, meanwhile, digs deep for the locker-room material. He harkens back to the No Laying Up Podcast, Episode 166, when Soly said, “Olesen isn’t the caliber of player that plays in the Ryder Cup.” Thunderbear is having none of it. He lets fly from the opening tee shot and goes on an opening tear, popping four birds on the first four holes. If Deej wasn’t shook before, he’s very shook now.

Thomas Bjorn watches eagerly as Olesen dismantles Johnson. Hole after hole, Olesen puts on an a ball striking clinic. DJ eventually finds a little footing on the back half, but by then it’s too late. Thorbjorn is able to make a snaking putt on the sixteenth hole to seal the deal of a 3&2 victory over DJ, and an all-time Ryder Cup upset.

Match 11: Henrik Stenson v. Phil Mickelson

Who wouldn’t want a chance to see Henrik and Phil run it back one more time from the 2016 Open Championship? That magical Sunday, when the Swede was able to edge Phil’s electric 65 with a final round 63 of his own to claim his first Major, felt like it could never be topped. Although the pairing elicited tons of opportunities to re-live those highlights on Saturday night, the Sunday redux in Paris, understandably and predictably, doesn’t live up the the hype. In fact, it’s worse than that. Stenson’s elbow inflammation is persistent on the morning of the singles, and although he tries to give it a go, Henrik’s tentative to engage the turf. The result is a number of thinly bladed iron shots and a complete lack of distance control. Stenson, finding himself 6 down through 10 and the pain too much to bear, concedes the match. Phil acts respectfully to his opponent, and mutters a few kind words about “wishing he could have gotten another shot at him at his best” as they shake hands.

Phil then immediately cracks open his phone on the golf cart ride over the action with Tiger and Sergio.

“Hi, I’m Phil Mickelson, pro golfer. I used to have painful elbow inflammation caused by psoriatic arthritis. Then I talked to my doctor about Enbrel.”

Much has been written of the new affable, likable, fun-loving Tiger. “Tiger seems to get along with his peers.” “Tiger has humbly transformed into the elder statesman on Tour.”

What does Sergio think of all that? “Mierda,” that’s what.

Much as been written of whether Sergio deserved a Captain’s pick. “He’s looked completely out of sorts the past three months.” “He hasn’t made a cut in the U.S. since March.”

What does Tiger think of all that? “Bullshit,” that’s what.

See, the blood is bad between these two. Of all the people Tiger would want to thrash on Sunday afternoon with a Ryder Cup on the line, El Niño would be numbers 1-99. And of all the people Sergio would love to take down to show all the haters and losers how wrong they were, El Gato Grande would likewise be the guy. There is a palpable, sour, gritty taste in the air on the first tee. 10,000 strong here to see the Cat and the Kid. Tiger blisters his opening tee shot–a 2 iron stinger that never gets 20 feet off the ground, followed by a twirl so hard, you’d think he was about to go airborne. Sergio, not to be outdone, takes 3 wood and aims for the incredibly aggressive line up the far right side, carrying all the mounding and skirting the water to leave a mere flip wedge into the green. The two exchange brief looks walking off the first tee box and into the gauntlet.

By nipping a crispy little hold-off wedge into the green 8 feet below the hole, Tiger applies the early pressure. Sergio answers, stuffing his wedge into gimme range. Billy Baroo isn’t glowing hot yet, but you can’t birdie them all unless you birdie the first. Tiger rattles the back of the hole…with AUTHORITY. Birdies halve the hole.

The two trade pars on the second, and birdies on the par 5 third. Two more pars on the fourth and fifth. Then, on the sixth, Sergio draws first blood. Tiger tries to get cute with his tee shot, but squirts one low and off the toe way out to the right in the heavy stuff, where he’s only able to hack it back to the fairway, 15 yards short of the green. Sergio pitches his second into gimme range, and when Tiger fails to convert his own pitch shot, Garcia finds himself 1 up.

The pair trade pars on the seventh, but Cat is able to gobble up the difference on the eighth, when he stiffs his tee ball to 2 feet from a mere 213 yards away. Sergio has a 30 footer that never threatens, but comes up within tap in range. There is a tense moment when Tiger looks to Sergio, as if to say “This is good, right?” Sergio never drops eye contact, and never mutters a word. Tiger replaces his ball, and in a moment that seems to be a call back to all of the history between the two, Tiger one-hand putts his ball into the hole just to show Sergio that, “Yes, you asshole. This was fucking good.”

Tiger’s blood is boiling as he walks to the ninth. Joey is able to calm him down somewhat, but there is some redass to be taken out on the next Bridgestone he puts on the peg. Top Tracer shows that 190 ball speed ain’t just for the kids, but also for the Cat. Notah Begay says he hasn’t seen him swing at one that hard since Stanford. Johnny Miller timely adds, “For all you folks at home, this is why when you find yourself playing your next match play against Tiger Woods, you should really not make him mad.” We will all miss Johnny Miller. Sergio answers with two good shots of his own, but finds himself right of the green in two well below the hole in a collection area. Tiger’s second, on the other hand, is a beautiful, high-flying fade that lands perfectly at the front of the green and trundles up to 10 feet below the hole. Sergio hits a remarkable shot to get up and down for birdie, but Tiger’s eagle try rolls perfectly end over end into the dead middle. Tiger is 1 up after nine.

On the back nine, the two trade birdies on the short par 4 tenth, and pars on the par 3 eleventh and par 4 twelfth. Both find trouble on the short thirteenth, and bogey halves the hole. On 14, Sergio is able to take back some control of the match when Tiger’s wayward second finds the sand left and short of the green. Sergio finds the surface in two, and two-putts his way to a birdie 4 that squares the match headed to the difficult fifteenth.

With the honor, Sergio steps up and pummels an iron into the fat of the fairway. Tiger, on the other hand, feels the wind swirling and can’t decide on the play. After a long conversation with LaCava, Tiger decides to go with fairway metal and try to carry the ball over the hazard and up close to the green. A gust hits it, knocks it down, and Tiger finds the drink. Sergio manages to hit it to the middle of the green and two putts for a 1 up lead.

Feeling it, Sergio launches a high, soft one into the middle of the green on 16–pin high and about 15 feet from the hole. Tiger doesn’t flinch, however. He summons the Tiger of…last week(!) and absolutely flushes a baby 8 iron. The sound…crisp. The traj…glorious. The cut…buttery. His shot lands three feet from the hole and stops dead. It’s now patently obvious that we are watching something special. Sergio’s putt slides just outside the hole, and Tiger taps his in to square the match.

After trading pars on 17, unremarkable in their execution but for the tension in the air, Tiger and Sergio march to the eighteenth, all square. By this time, the stage is set. Europe leads 14-13. A full point for Tiger retains the cup. Sergio is in the driver’s seat as a half or a whole point wins the cup for Europe.

Two tee shots perfectly down the middle. Garcia and Woods exchange knowing glances as they briskly walk in lockstep down the fairway. For a second, the bad blood melts away, and all that’s left is the gravity of the moment.

Woods, first to play, punishes a cracking iron shot towards the flag, but the adrenaline was just a smidgen too much, and it lands just over the hole and hops off the back of the green, barely into the first cut.

Firmly in control, Sergio channels that Sunday at Augusta, all of those feelings, and remembers all of the great things that have happened in his life since. He regrets nothing about the last 10 months of mediocre golf; they didn’t exist. Only him, the flag, and cup. And the CUP. Garcia’s signature whip-cracking action perfectly clips the ball from the turf and it sails through the air. A cry of “¡VAMOS!” cuts into the sky, as Garcia’s ball falls from the heavens straight into the middle of the green, 20 feet from the hole. Barring a miracle, two putts will all but assure the Europeans a victory.

Both bask in the moment as they make their way to the final green. But for Tiger, it’s mostly just business. He stalks his chip for what seems like an hour, but no one is in a hurry for him to hit it. After committing to a line and speed, he nips it perfectly, and the ball lands on his spot in the fringe. As it trickles toward the hole, it settles agonizingly shy of the cup. Tiger falls to his knees as just one more revolution…half a revolution, even, might have been enough.

Sergio gives him a thumbs up–no consolation really, but a sporting gesture of respect. El Niño has two putts from twenty feet to clinch the Cup. He would need only one.

The European Team wins the Ryder Cup by a score of 15-13, in one of the greatest renditions of the event that will ever be played.

Your winning captains? Photo cred: Getty Images.

The Eurozone #11: Blue-Tinted Glasses

We’re a week away from U.S. Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk making the first three of four captain’s picks for the 2018 Ryder Cup, which kicks off September 28th at Le Golf National in France. Two of the picks are the safest bets on the planet, as Ryder Cup task force committee members Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are assured of being included in that first batch of picks made September 3rd.

There’s no debate about whether Tiger has earned it. Woods has performed better than anyone could have predicted this year. He’s recorded top-10’s in the last two majors and is also Tiger freaking Woods.

Some debate still remains about whether Phil deserves a pick. The conversation is entertaining, but let’s be very clear about one thing: Phil is getting picked. He’s gone 7-3-1 in the last three cups, and is almost single handedly responsible for the realignment of the entire U.S. Ryder Cup system. This is the first time he’s ever needed a captain’s pick, and although he carries an 18-20-7 record into the event, he would have had to have a truly terrible season to get bypassed. Despite having played better golf this past season, even the trolliest of trolls would have a hard time seriously arguing that Patrick Cantlay deserves a captain’s pick over FIGJAM.

Before I dive into the details, let me answer that question: Nothing matters. Your play leading into the Ryder Cup essentially means nothing. No style of golf can ever prepare you for the pressure of playing team golf for your country, and there’s no way to predict who is going to handle it well and who isn’t. You can play well in the event and go 0-3, or you can play poorly and go 3-0. You can have a great season and shit the bed when the lights are the brightest, or you can come in with poor form and set the world on fire (think Reed circa 2014). All the rankings, points, trends, etc. all get thrown out when the balls go in the air. It’s the captain’s job to try to predict who will play the best, and to put the team in a position to succeed.

When it comes to the captain’s picks, experience tends to be what the U.S. captains lean on the most. Of the 15 selections made in the past four events, only three have been rookies – Fowler in 2010, Snedeker in 2012, and Moore in 2016. Regardless of actual performance in previous Cups, experience in the Ryder Cup makes a guy astronomically more likely to get selected than the unknown quantity. Rarely do captains want to risk their most easily-critiqued decisions on guys that the public isn’t as familiar with. For better or for worse.

winning is overrated in terms of the points structure

 for selecting the first eight players. If you haven’t read that article, I suggest you pause and check that one out first. I choose to look much more closely at how players perform in relation to their peers, as I see that as being more relevant to success in match play.

And if you’re not going to click that, at least 

familiarize yourself with the Sagarin rankings

In my eyes, there are only four possible picks for two spots. Those four, in no order, are Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Matt Kuchar and Patrick Cantlay. We’re going to break down the numbers and make the case for each player. We’re also going to look, on a round-by-round basis, at how these players stacked up against each other this season. That is, for each event where the two players teed it up in the same event, who beat who more often on a daily basis? This is essentially what match play is, and is the closest analysis we can get to how they stack up against each other.

Round by round record against Kuchar: 23-22-4

Round by round record against Finau: 22-26-3

Round by round record against Cantlay: 22-24-10

Tiger has been campaigning for Bryson behind the scenes, and even publicly stated this past weekend that he wants him in France. He’s performed well all season long, has the endorsement from the most important guy in the room, and just won against a monster field in New York. His ticket is punched. I would wager that he is selected on Tuesday after the Dell Technologies along with Tiger and Phil.

Tiger was asked about Bryson as a Ryder Cup partner: "I think he would be a great Ryder Cup partner for anyone. The guy is fiery. He's competitive, and we want guys like that.” Welcome to the team Bryson.



— Rex Hoggard (@RexHoggardGC) 

Round by round record against Bryson: 26-22-3

Round by round record against Kuchar: 25-19-10

Round by round record against Cantlay: 24-19-7

I’m not sure what else Finau needs to do to get selected. He’s earned it. He’s consistently beaten the other three guys in contention for picks, consistently beaten great fields and showed out in major championships. He makes a ton of birdies, and is well liked. The golf course in France is not going to necessarily favor a bomber, but Finau is not just a bomb-and-gauge guy. He’s positive strokes gained in every category, and has proven he can compete on many different styles of golf courses.

If Captain Furyk passes on Finau, he is essentially saying that form is not important, and that he has an instinct for another player. And I’m ready to start a riot if the next guy on the list gets selected over him.

Round by round record against Bryson: 22-23-4

Round by round record against Finau: 19-25-10

Round by round record against Cantlay: 19-27-4

Honestly, there isn’t much of one. I don’t hear his name anywhere in any chatter, other than a source that mentioned a few weeks ago that he was a lock. The issue is, people just way, way, way over-use the word lock. In all sports.

But that’s the part that keeps me up at night. If Kuch really was a “lock” a few weeks ago, why was he a lock then if he wasn’t one now? And the way it was worded, it was as if he was as much of a lock as Phil is.

The trail on this info has gone cold, so let’s hope that things have changed in the last few weeks and that this is no longer the case. There’s enough guys that have beaten down the door to justify getting the call over Kuchar. He has a losing record against each of the other three guys listed here, and the strokes gained number is what really pops out at you. Kuchar is having his worst season since 2008.

Round by round record against Bryson: 24-33-10

Round by round record against Finau: 19-24-7

Round by round record against Kuchar: 27-19-4

Cantlay might be the ultimate forgotten man. You barely hear his name discussed, despite some incredibly consistent play all season. He’s top-10 in strokes gained on the season, and all the way up to 8th in the world in the Sagarin rankings. It’s quite clear that he’s drawn the ire of Twitter due to his pre-shot routine, but I almost think that could work in his benefit in a team event.

I don’t think he’s getting a call, barring back-to-back wins, but I do find it odd that you barely even hear his name in consideration.

The gift that keeps on giving. It was a mess in 2016, and due to the PGA of America’s inability to understand scheduling, it’s gonna be a mess again this year. But it also 

 work out in the U.S.’ favor. Furyk might have hands tied.

If they’re going to take Kuchar, they HAVE to take him after the Dell Technologies this weekend. Which means Bryson’s spot is still technically up for grabs, even though he’s essentially locked in. If you don’t take Kuchar in the first batch, what’s the point of waiting for the fourth spot? What if Finau racks up another top-5 at BMW? You can’t justify taking Kuchar there.

Which means you likely can’t justify taking Kuchar anywhere.

Who gets the last two captain's picks for Team USA?

NLU staff agronomist David Marcucilli is back with a round-up of the agronomy at Carnoustie this week:

Water Hazards: Barry Burn – 10th, 11th, 16th, 17th, 18th

Greens Firmness Rating: 120-140 gravities

Greens: Poa, fescue, bentgrass @ 4.5mm (weather dependent)

The best part of watching The Open Championship year after year is the ability to see the golf course conditions change with the weather throughout the week. The R&A allows the golf course and the weather conditions to dictate the outcome of the tournament by setting the course up to be fair under the worst weather conditions while still showing it’s teeth under optimal conditions. Each April when we go back to Augusta the golf course looks exactly the same as it did the year before regardless of weather conditions; the maintenance practices there are designed to do so. The USGA has historically tried to setup a golf course that plays to a particular score, only to be proven that Mother Nature is in control of the score. The R&A have learned that regardless of advances in technology and equipment, Mother Nature always wins and it is best to prepare the golf course for the worst and hope for the best.

This year, Scotland is experiencing a dramatic heatwave and lack of rainfall that is leaving golf courses baked out and giving new meaning to the term “firm and fast”. Rather than try to beat the drought conditions, the crewmembers at Carnoustie are embracing the weather-related challenges to provide the best golf course they can for the world’s best players. I had the chance to connect with Craig Boath, Head Greenkeeper at Carnoustie, to briefly discuss his approach to course management this week. For starters, Craig agrees that life would be too easy if the weather laid down and didn’t provide him and his tournament staff of 47 any challenges to handle. They will be monitoring the wind and other variables closely during the week and adjusting their practices as necessary. As of now, winds are expected to hover around 15-20mph throughout the week. Those wind speeds won’t be detrimental to the condition of the golf course because the crew can hand-water overnight to replace the lost soil moisture. The crew at Carnoustie does not expect to be rolling their greens throughout the week and they only plan to mow fairways twice. At a standard PGA Tour event, you might see fairways being mowed twice daily and greens being rolled at least once a day – just to showcase the different mentality in greenkeeping across the pond. We’re too connected to our irrigation controllers and clipping yield rates to go into tournament week prepared to only mow fairways twice. Ask your local superintendent how many times they mow greens and fairways throughout your three-day member/guest tournament; you’ll be shocked at the response.

The R&A works with the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) to prepare their golf courses for tournament conditions. STRI begins preparations for each venue years in advance collecting as much data as possible relating to greens speed, firmness, moisture, and overall performance. Their goal is to gather as much information as possible so they can provide and maintain turf health and uniformity on all greens as closely as possible under varying weather conditions. The R&A and STRI have determined that greens firmness ratings of 120-140 gravities will provide the test of golf they desire under expected environmental conditions this week. STRI has provided firmness guidelines stating that a rating of 100-150 gravities is ideal for links golf courses, while ratings of 85-110 gravities are more in line for parkland style golf courses. The higher the unit of measure indicates higher levels of firmness. The tool used to evaluate firmness is the 

. It is a vertical cylinder that drops a weighted hammer through the cylinder and onto the surface being tested. The indentation left on the surface is measured for depth and calibrated to be read in ‘gravities’.

Here in the States, golf course superintendents and tournament setup staff regularly use Stimpmeters, soil moisture meters, and firmness meters to have a better understanding of how the golf ball will react on the greens during tournament play. Speed readings, moisture percentages, and firmness ratings tell superintendents and agronomists how the golf course is reacting to current maintenance practices and environmental conditions, as well as provide insights into what can be done to achieve optimum playing conditions. On the other side of the Atlantic, R&A Greenkeepers and STRI agronomists add another tool into the mix to monitor their greens performance, the 

 The main objective of the STRI Trueness Meter is to understand how the golf ball will react in motion on the greens relating to vertical and horizontal deviation. A Stimpmeter tells half the story as it measures greens speeds only; the Trueness Meter gauges the smoothness and uniformity of the greens surfaces to determine how a ball will react once it is put in motion. This device really is the missing link in American agronomy as we live and die by Stimpmeter and soil moisture readings. Our members and customers tell us they want fast conditions and we push our turfgrass to the limits to provide that for them, pumping our greens with expensive soil and foliar applications to keep the turf alive and green. We might be able to get our greens stimping north of 13 feet, but how well is the golf ball staying on its intended line? Rolling fast or slow is an irrelevant concept when our greens surfaces might be inconsistent and untrue. We should be focused on providing consistent rollout and optimizing turf health before we start to get hung up on greens speed. Trueness Meters take 50,000 automated readings in a 10-meter run and provide an extraordinary amount of information to the tournament setup staff. The Trueness Meter detects imperfections in putting greens surfaces, large and small, from disease scars to patches of undesirable meadow grasses.

Trueness Meter collecting data for prior Open Championship.

While course setup and weather conditions are a hot topic this Major Tournament season, consider the “safety first” approach employed by the R&A. The crew at Carnoustie is currently mowing their greens at a safe 4.5mm and they have no intention to roll the greens. If we look back at Shinnecock, the greens were mowed at 0.100” or 1/10 of an inch and when temperatures rose and winds picked up a couple of hole locations were criticized by players and spectators alike because the greens became extremely fast and nearly unpinnable when they dried out. At Carnoustie, the current plan to mow greens at 4.5mm (0.177”) is almost double the height of cut we saw on the greens at Shinnecock. This will allow the crew to manage the performance of the greens even under the worst conditions, as the turf will be more resistant to injury and damage at a higher height of cut. In addition to higher greens height, the crew is irrigating the greens daily so they can maintain their desired moisture content of 15%-25%, prior Open Championships sought a moisture content of 10%-15% so we should see greens that are more receptive to incoming shots through the air.

As we enjoy another four-day journey to the dunes of Scotland, take notice of the culture behind the game over there compared to American golf culture. Carnoustie will never host an event larger than the tournament we will be watching this week and the fairways and surrounds look like they have all but been given back to nature. I couldn’t imagine a world where PGA Tour Agronomists allowed TPC Sawgrass to bake out everywhere only irrigating greens by hand following a drought and heatwave leading up to The Players. It’s a simplified game overseas, as a player and as a course manager, reevaluating the “business” of golf would go a long way for the long-term fitness of the game stateside.

Open Championship Agronomy Round-Up

Nine feet from immortality, Thomas Paul Fleetwood, first of his name, watched helplessly as his ball rolled perfectly end-over-end for eight of those feet and some change, before drifting deliriously to the right and narrowly catching a piece of the hole. The 62 that wasn’t, on the nation’s most stern test of championship golf (sorry, Oakmont), would also have been enough to likely force a playoff with Brooks Koepka and an opportunity to cap off his second majestic round–amid a brutal week–with a sterling sliver cherry on top. Two weeks later, I’m still thinking about that putt on Shinnecock’s 18th green. I can only imagine Tommy has sprung from his slumber on a night or two in a cold sweat about it.

This thing is dead-effing-center less than a foot from the hole. We all know what happened next.

Or maybe not. A native of dreary Southport, Merseyside, Tommy’s working-class upbringing crafted a young man 

as level-headed, humble, and appreciative as any professional golfer you will find

. And, among family, I’m near-certain Fleetwood has had a good upheaval (read: man cry) about coming up one shot shy of a chance to give Johnny Miller a proper ribbing til the end of time (and writing his name atop his own page the history books). But outwardly, he’s shown the same affinity for being likable, intuitive, and keeping it all in perspective. If you don’t believe me, all you need to read is his reaction to being presented with his second-place prize: 

“Well, there you go,” Fleetwood said. “My first medal. Thank you very much.”

 for Fleetwood since early 2017…you know…the 

 he won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship by one shot over Dustin Johnson and Pablo Larrazabal. Since that breakthrough, Tommy has been a human ATM on both tours, with a dozen top 10 finishes worldwide, including a victory at the 2017 HNA Open de France, runner-up finishes in Mexico and China, a solo fourth at Erin Hills, winning the 2017 Race to Dubai (with nearly $5 million in on-course earnings), successfully defending at Abu Dhabi, and then putting stacks on top of stacks and making it rain on Cat’s dinghy in The Hamptons. (Okay so I made that last part up, but wouldn’t you be willing to bet the $1,280,000 check he cashed was a tasty hair of the dog for his Monday morning hangover?)

“Fleetwood the Flusher,” as he was lovingly dubbed by Tron and Soly after personally witnessing his mystifying ballstriking, has every bit enough talent, intestinal fortitude, and staying power to eventually win multiple majors over his career. While my summer home on Fleetwood Island is sure to keep getting more crowded as he racks up one stellar finish after another, we have a very lax immigration policy:

“Give me your traj, your sauce, your huddled golf nerds yearning to card threes. The drunken refuse of your stuffy club. Send these, the hackers, tempest-tossed to me. On 

, we’ve cold pints in the pub.”



— Dustin (@ThisIsDFo) 

So I’ll pour one out for Tommy’s Sunday Shinny Sixty-Three, but I have a feeling we’ll be raising a glass to toast his maiden win in the United States before long. A star is being born right before our eyes, and I’m very thankful to be along for the ride. Crack on, Tommy Lad.

Fleetwood, nearing the end of a long and exasperating run of golf, is set to defend his title this week at the HNA Open de France. One of the longest-running tournaments in Europe, and part of the Rolex Series, the Open de France sports a $7,000,000 purse–enough coin to attract the European Tour’s best and brightest. Given the host venue of Le Golf National, it is also an opportunity for European Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjorn to see how individual members of his squad perform and react to the course set-up. For the 

, this week is a chance to show why LGN is the perfect course on which to plant a flag.

For these reasons, it is supremely disappointing to see exactly one (ONE!!!1!) United States Ryder Cupper in the field: Justin Thomas. Although, it is remarkably #OnBrand for us to send 

 to “open up diplomatic relations” as a false flag operation while surreptitiously gathering sensitive intelligence. While I’m sure he’s been instructed by Furyk to take copious notes on his scouting mission, one would think the U.S. Team would be chomping at the bit to get an early look at this shortish, quirky course (and a taste of what kind of crowd fervor to expect). Alas, I guess most of the Yank squad would rather take a week off or suck up to Tiger at The National…it just seems like a missed opportunity to prepare for what is sure to be a raucous event.

Le Golf National very much resembles the quintessential American “Stadium Style” courses, and was built in 1990 as such philosophy was just coming into vogue. Photo cred: Albrecht Golf Guide

Meanwhile, the stout field in France is sure to provide some fireworks this weekend. With a 1.5 points multiplier, and no other Ryder Cup qualification points available anywhere else in the world this week, there is a chance for hopefuls to make a big splash, either on the Points List or in one of Le Golf National’s numerous water hazards.

Since our last installment of The Eurozone, we’ve had several significant events start to thin the herd and crystallize the team picture. While a full blown Ryder Cup update makes sense likely after The Open Championship, for now, here are a few gentlemen to really start keeping an eye on as they move closer to a wild card selection:

 Molinari won the first Rolex Series tournament of the year, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He notched his fifth career European Tour victory by going bogey-free on the weekend, demonstrating incredible mettle with one clutch swing after another on Sunday afternoon. The victory netted Molinari $1,000,000 and vaulted him from “best of the rest” into the third position in the R2D and an automatic qualification spot under the European Points list in fourth position. Captain Bjorn was eating it up, too:

Somebody decided to join the party………
World class performance from 

making the team at this point, as his ballstriking will be a valuable foursomes asset and his experience will be sorely needed on a young team.

 Olesen won the following week at the Italian Open on a picturesque track called Gardagolf CC in Brescia. The lights out -22 performance for Thorbjorn in the second Rolex Series event launched him from afterthought to fifth on the European Points list, overtaking a number of stalwarts including Rory, Rahm, RCB, and Noren. Thunder Bear is a notoriously streaky player that has probably underachieved in his career if we’re being honest. As 

 potential rookie, I’m not sure Olesen is a prime candidate for a wild card selection absent a run of very convincing golf this summer, but he does share Danish citizenship with Captain Bjorn, so there’s that? Of course, another win or two and Thorbjorn could find himself knocking someone like Fitzpatrick, Levy, or Casey from their perch.

“I’m gonna do one.” “HE’S GONNA DO ONE!!!!!” Victory tastes pretty sweet. Photo cred: Stadium Astro

 Poulter and Casey both had their chances to hoist a trophy in the last two weeks, respectively. Though both came up short, each added cachet to their resumes and all-important World Points to their standings. Casey now finds himself as an automatic qualifier in the eighth position on the World Points list, and Poulter sits tenth.

 Moving in the other direction are Levy and Fisher. Neither showed particularly well at the US Open (MC at +17 for Levy; T48 for Fisher). Fisher still sits at ninth in the European Points standings, but Levy has slid to 16th, and neither fare better in the World Points. Of the two, Levy likely has a higher ceiling for reasons previously discussed in the last column, and has a massive chance this week to cap a second victory of the season in his home country, virtually locking up a spot on sentimentality as much as merit. Fisher needs to find some serious form, and fast, if he wants to capitalize on his points accumulation from early in the qualification cycle.

All four rounds of the HNA Open de France will be broadcast on Golf Channel.

Thursday and Friday 6/28 and 6/29: 4:00 AM EDT – 12:00 PM EDT

Saturday and Sunday 6/30 and 7/1: 7:30 AM EDT – 12:30 PM EDT

*Feature Image photo cred: The Independent (UK)

The Eurozone: #10

While I certainly intended to get this follow up to Part I of the Ryder Cup tracker out sooner than this, I’m glad, in some ways, that it’s taken a little while. Since we last got #deep on the European Tour, I’ve been traveling, working, sleeping, writing (a special feature that I’m really excited about), working some more, and even playing a little golf! After a little time off, I’ve gotta say–it feels good to get back into the Eurozone beat. Of course, with a strong international contingent at The Players this week, there’s a good chance that this installment may be moot by the time the sun sets over Ponte Vedra Beach on Sunday.

We’ve certainly seen the Team Europe standings tightening and shifting since 

 debuted on March 17, 2018. Over the past six weeks, starting with Noren’s performance at the WGC-Match Play and Casey’s Sunday flirtation with the course-record at Augusta, it feels like we might be able to lock-in eleven out of the twelve available Ryder Cup slots–in May! And there are conceivably eight or more players battling for the final slot.

My gut says that I’m a bit silly for writing this, just because it seems premature (read: absurd) to say that ten or eleven players are locks roughly five months before the matches begin–but what’s more, that up to a dozen possible contributors to this European squad are going to be left home. Let’s just say that I will not be shocked to see any of the following guys listed make the team, but it will be heartbreaking to see the others have to wait until 2020 for their next shot.

As a reminder, here are the eight gentlemen that I picked as “Locks” in Part I: Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrell Hatton, Jon Rahm, and Tommy Fleetwood. Of those eight, I am 100% sticking with seven of them, and still feel 85% good about Fitzpatrick.

At this point, I think it makes sense to set up the remaining players much like one would look at the NCAA Basketball Tournament bubble in late February, with a “Last Four In,” “First Four Out,” and “Next Four Out,” along with the “Best of the Rest” category. However, we’re actually going to make the first group a “Last FIVE In,” dropping Fitzpatrick down into that group. Fitz is slowly becoming the Forgotten Man, despite solidly sitting in fifth in the European Points and ninth in the World Points. Just keep in mind as you are reading this how 

 the margins are between some of these players. Given the number of guys we’re talking about, I’ll give some brief rationale for these projections.

I won’t rehash the case I made for Fitz in Part I. I stand by my selection, but I think it’s now fair to move him from a solid lock into the “Last Five In” basket. Simply put, his record at Hazeltine did little to help his chances (in fairness, he had few opportunities, but you still have to make the most of them), and there are now simply too many players with either substantial Ryder Cup experience or more recent form that are going to be gunning for the last spot. If Fitzpatrick doesn’t nail down an automatic qualification, as close as he is to one, it would mean his form is trending in the wrong direction and that would be plenty enough reason for Bjorn to look elsewhere.

: 3rd, 2018 WGC-Match Play; 2018 EURASIA Cup (w, 1-2)

Sweden continues to produce exceptional golf talent, and Norén is the heir-apparent to the Parnevik-Jacobson-Stenson progeny. Norén sits seventh in the World Points standings (automatic qualifier), 16th in the European Points standings (immediately behind countryman Alex Bjork, who won the Volvo China Open at the end of April).

The 2017 BMW PGA was a defining moment in Norén’s career surge. His eagle on the 72 hole will live in Euro Tour lore. Photo cred: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Norén has been building towards this Ryder Cup basically since the last putt dropped in Chaska in 2016. Starting in October of 2016, Norén has won three times on the European Tour, finished T-6 at the 2017 Open Championship, T-2 at the Farmers, T-16 at Riv, T-3 at the Honda, T-14 at the 2018 WGC-Mexico, and third at the 2018 WGC-Match Play. His MC at the Masters aside, I think you could make a great case that Norén should be a stronger lock than Casey (and probably Fitzpatrick) at this point. There’s no reason to think Norén is going to taper off in the next few months. Fair to call Norén a “virtual lock” as of now.

: 2nd, 2009 and 2010 WGC-Match Play; T-17 2018 WGC-Match Play; 2018 EURASIA Cup (w, 2-1); Ryder Cup 2004 (w), 2006 (w), 2008; overall record 3-2-4)

Many regular readers of this column were remarkably triggered by the fact that I did not include Casey in my “locks.” Given that he had won the week prior at Valspar, I choose to believe there was some recency bias on display. Since March, Casey has continued to help his case, with a strong run of form including a T-17 at the Match Play, T-15 at the Masters, and a T-5 at the Wells Fargo.

Definitely saucy to have a pin-up style photo of your smokeshow wife as a phone case, but…uh…Paul…you’re looking at the wrong side of the phone, my friend. Photo cred: Golf News Net

I planned on a long, drawn out diatribe about why I wasn’t ready to lock-in Casey in Part I of this column. I hear you about how the qualification rules were re-written “just for” Casey, blah blah. AND YET: If the matches started this week, Paul Casey would 

 need a Captain’s Pick from Bjorn to make the squad (he’s currently tenth in the World Points and an all-but-cooked 41st in European Points). See, winning is overrated in all facets of professional golf…except for making a European Ryder Cup team (and particularly, 

team). Although Casey has been consistently finding the first and second pages of leaderboards, he doesn’t play often in Europe and he has only won twice in his career on the PGA Tour.

In the end, I’m quite confident that Casey will be on Team Europe for the first time in a decade. But I’m not convinced he will be an automatic qualifier; we’ll call him a “virtual lock.” Another win this summer would seal the deal.

: 3rd, 2016 WGC-Match Play; 2018 EURASIA Cup (w, 1-1-1); 2016 Ryder Cup (2-0-1)

RCB gave us an all-time great albatross last year at The Players, 16th Hole, Final Round, and an even better reaction. Photo cred: Ten Golf/PGA Tour

The Notorious R-C-B: certifiable #menace, low-key gun show ticket purveyor, and all-around stud with a game that travels #allovertheworld! Rafa sits at twelfth in the European Points and thirteenth in the World Points. His prior experience as a Rookie at the 2016 Ryder Cup (record 2-0-1, paired with Garcia, won Friday Fourball 3 & 2 over Holmes/Moore; halved Saturday Foursomes against Reed/Spieth; beat Jimmy Walker 3 & 2 in Sunday Singles for 2.5 Points) makes him an alluring possible Captain’s pick on a team that will be fairly rookie-laden as it is. Rafa won the 2017 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open (the 275 yard fairway metal he stuffed to eight feet in the playoff to clinch the victory will resonate with me for a long time) and has posted nearly a dozen top 25s combined across both Tours since.

Cabrera-Bello can–and should–do himself some favors over the summer, including his title defense in Scotland. Rafa seems due for another win, which would all but assure him a spot on the team. Even though he needs to put in some work this summer, as long as Cabrera-Bello remains inside the top 15 of both points lists, it will be very difficult for Bjorn to pass on his steady ball-striking and experience when it comes time to make the picks.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Although this segment is the “Last Five In,” I had to draw a hard line of demarcation before getting to the twelfth and final player. As confident as I feel about the eleven gentlemen projected to make the team, I have an equal amount of trepidation about slotting the final pick at this point. If the past six weeks have proven anything, it might be that Captain Bjorn has even more defensible choices than I would have surmised when I published Part I, with Poulter, Dunne, Fisher, Pepperell, Bjork, Luiten, and Paisley all firmly in the conversation. If the Ryder Cup started today, however, I think there is one player that holds the proverbial trump card by virtue of his competitiveness, grit, and (maybe above all) nationality…

You probably saw this one coming by the title of the article. On the merits, Lévy is somewhat of a sleeper pick, despite having won three times in Europe since the 2016 Matches–most recently, last month in Morocco at the Trophee Hassan II. Along with his win, Lévy has two fourth-place finishes earlier this year in Dubai and Oman, and a T-14 in China (where he’s won twice in his career). Lévy has moved up to 46 in the OWGR and is currently eighth in the Race to Dubai standings. Unlike Fitzpatrick, Lévy is trending in a positive direction of late, and it is apparent from his recent interviews that his confidence is building. Lévy finds himself ninth in European Points and fifteenth in World Points.

Perhaps El Toro will win again this summer, once the points multiplier kicks in, and really home in on an automatic spot. The one thing that might push him over the edge in a Captain’s selection, though, is the virtue of playing on native soil at Le Golf National. I’m likely reading too much into this, but I have a really difficult time believing Bjorn is going to venture to Paris without at least one French player on his team, as long as that player is Alex Lévy and he is somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteenth or better in the European Points list, healthy, and has posted some solid results in the month of August. Beyond his solid golf credentials, the fervor of the French crowd rooting on Lévy is likely to elevate his play. He is already a fierce competitor, a steady ballstriker, and a little bit crazy (in a good way).

Quick biographical note: Lévy was born in the United States to French parents (dual citizen), lived in California for the first four years of his life before moving to Bandol, France, and has a Spanish nickname: El Toro (the bull). Identity crisis! Get it together, man! Photo cred: Sky Sports

The one thing that could give Bjorn pause is Lévy’s less-than-stellar match play record. He failed to advance out of the group stage at the WGC-Matchplay, posting a 1-2 record. His record in the Eurasia Cup earlier this year was also 1-2. Thus, if the final pick comes down to Lévy and, for example, a trending Ian Poulter, the French Connection might not be enough. In the meantime, Lévy is close enough to an auto-berth to basically control his own destiny, and for now, the final spot is his to lose.

: [SOUNDS OF SCREAMING BY EVERY AMERICAN GOLF FAN]

Speaking of Poulter: HE WON RECENTLY, GUYS. This is fucking TERRIFYING.

This is the face of death. Photo cred: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Poults’ win in Houston really vaulted him up the World Points standings, where he currently sits eighth (he’s 29th in European Points). There’s a very real chance that Poulter could establish himself as an automatic qualifer, and perhaps a guaranteed Captain’s pick if he remains in the top twelve of the World Points standings. In

, he talked as though he was already convinced Poulter would be on the team. Rahm may know something I don’t, or maybe he is just certain Bjorn will be dead-set on getting some additional experience on the team.

Simply put, Poulter is the O.G. Menace of the Ryder Cup (Monty’s record is amazing but he didn’t have the same fire, sorry). Americans should be very afraid if Poulter continues this streak of resurgent play. I can see Poulter being interchangeable with Fitzpatrick at this point; there’s probably a very solid chance he races up the World Points list this summer and bumps a vulnerable player like Fitz off the team.

: 4th, 2009 WGC-Match Play; Quarter-finals, 2017 WGC-Match Play; 2010 Ryder Cup (w, 2-2-0) 2018 EURASIA Cup (w, 1-2)

Why can’t I make myself believe in Ross Fisher? He currently stands fourth…FOURTH(!)…in the European Points standings–ahead of Fitz, Fleetwood, Rory, Sergio, Stenson, and many others–which makes him an automatic qualifier if the Matches started today (he’s 14th in World Points). His quiet, unassuming personality spills onto the golf course, where his game is remarkably solid in every respect, but never really 

 you. Fisher could fully make this team on points and make me look very silly for basically writing him off at this stage, but I just think there’s too much firepower lurking all around him. Prove me wrong, Ross! I want to believe!

Fisher is supremely under the radar, even though he ranks fourth in the European Points standings. Photo cred: Daily Express

: 2015 Walker Cup (w, 1-2-1); 2018 EURASIA Cup (w, 0-3)

Dunners is a truly intriguing possibility. The Irishman seems to be in contention every single time he tees it up, no matter the continent. Dunne has posted a T-5 and T-8 at the Puntacana Championship and Houston Open, respectively. Meanwhile, he’s also finished T-19 at Abu Dhabi, second alone at the Open De Espana, and T-7 at the Volvo China Open. His lone official professional win came October of last year at the British Masters where he defeated a stacked field, including runner-up Rory McIlroy by three shots), but he also won last week at the GolfSixes (an unofficial team event with Gavin Moynihan). At age 25, Dunne is starting to feel the flow and really take charge of his career. He sits seventh in European Points and twelfth in World Points. With a strong summer, he is another youngster that could very well play his way onto Team Europe and few would be surprised by it. The question looming is how will he deal with the pressure, given his limited and relatively uninspired match play experience.

Paul Dunne showing off some hardware at the British Masters. Photo cred: Getty Images/The Independent

: 2016 Ryder Cup (4-1-0); 2018 EURASIA Cup (w, 2-1-0)

How in the fresh hell is Pieters this far down the list, you might ask? Well, to put it frankly: he might stink! The smooth-swinging Belgian is ranked 42nd in both the European and World Points lists. Pieters has struggled mightily since Hazeltine, which everyone thought was truly his breakout moment. His 4-1-0 record as a rookie was nothing short of jaw-dropping, and he paired so flawlessly with Rory in three of those matches, it seemed as though the Americans had run into a potential buzzsaw for the next five Ryder Cups every time those two were sent out.

“I’ll take, ‘.gifs That Haven’t Aged Well’ for $2000, Alex.”

Euro Tour

Writing

The Eurozone #11: Blue-Tinted Glasses

Who gets the last two captain's picks for Team USA?

Open Championship Agronomy Round-Up

The Eurozone: #10

The Eurozone: #9 (Ryder Cup Watch: Part II & The French Connection)

The Eurozone: #8 (Tenemos la carne)

European Tour Value-Buys for Augusta

The Eurozone: #7 (Ryder Cup Watch: The Locks)

The Eurozone: #6 (A little naan-plussed, to be honest)

Ryder Cup: Sauce Forecast

The Eurozone: #5 (The Opposite Field of Dreams)

The Eurozone: #4 (Diplomatic Pearl Clutching)

The Eurozone: #3 (All give, but no scalding take)

The Eurozone: #2 (Number of the Beast)

The Eurozone: #1 (Malaysian Cobra Pit)

Rahm is on the Loose at the Irish Open

Notes from the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open

Five things Europe needs to do to retain the Ryder Cup