WGC-American Express Championship
Not Michael Jordan. Not new pals and former Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush I. Not a sing along, not team dinners. Not a scouting mission to Ireland weeks ago. None of the above could help the U.S. win last week’s Ryder Cup at the K Club, much less help them avoid another embarrassing thrashing at the hands of the Europeans. Apparently Atlanticism does not apply to the Ryder Cup. Team USA just doesn’t get this exhibition. They have about as much understanding of teamwork as Manny Ramirez. Sometimes individuals can be compelled to understand the concept of team but, generally, if you have to make those individuals sing their college fight songs to encourage camaraderie, you’re starting from a baseline that needs more than a week or so of prep and three days of play. They should have had to chug a beer when they loused up the words, make it a drinking game, because then at least they could blame the whole sorry affair on a hangover. Jim Furyk, the No. 3 player in the world, said a while back that the Americans play the Ryder Cup like they’re constipated. Phil Mickelson, world No. 2, didn’t look constipated last week. His expression was pretty much the same one he always has when he’s doing Phil being Phil---the sheepish grin. Rather than take a small positive step in his mental recovery from the U.S. Open, which may never happen, Lefty was 0-4-1 in his matches. Tiger Woods looked pretty much like normal---focused---despite the reported embarrassment and attendant laughs (camaraderie, presto!) after singing the Stanford fight song in front of the team a couple days before the tournament. Woods was the top American scorer, with three points. Scott Verplank was dependable, as expected, and rookie J.J. Henry was competitive. Otherwise, they stunk. And the Europeans played lights out. Result: more pathetic replies from the likes of captain Tom Lehman and Mickelson, who were proud of the way the Americans played. As coaches go, which is effectively what the captain role means in Ryder Cup, Lehman wasn’t exactly Vince Lombardi. Bill Parcells might call him a girl. At least there was a feel good story on the European side in Darren Clarke, whose wife died a month ago, and who was playing his first competitive golf since. Early Sunday afternoon, with the sun shining on the Emerald Isle, Clarke chugged a victory Guinness. He and his teammates played with that esprit de corps for two and a half days. The Americans played like accountants. Last week: I lost a unit and a half on the bums, ending a six-week streak of plus weeks. It brings my season total to -20 units. At this week’s WGC-American Express Championship in England, Take Tiger Woods (5-2), 1/6 unit, to win: He’s going for his sixth in a row on the PGA Tour. It’s stroke play, not match. He dominates WGC tournaments. Take David Howell (33-1), 1/6 unit: He’s got two top-10s overseas and one here. Incentive may be that Paul Casey’s overtaken him in the European Order of Merit. Weird putting stance, kind of like Harrington’s, looks like he’s taking a nature shit. Take Stephen Ames (100-1), 1/6 unit: Ames won The Players with ease. He followed up with a T11 at Augusta. He’s notched one top-10 since, and missed only three cuts out of 11 (though he’s not missed a cut in his last five tournaments) since. In the head-to-head, take Woods to finish higher than Sergio Garcia (4-9), 1 unit: Interesting matchup on the heels of the Ryder Cup. Don’t be fooled, though. This is pretty much a no brainer on any soil. Garcia can compile the best winning percentage in the history of the Ryder Cup and it won’t equal a major. Aside from Valhalla when he was 19 and didn’t know any better, Garcia’s never done anything measured against Tiger, and you can certainly bet that Tiger’s not going to let Garcia get in the way of a winning streak.
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