Legal Commentary

The "Rookies and Rednecks" come through

By Tom Kirkendall

What with a hurricane hitting the upper Texas coast and a financial hurricane hammering Wall Street, the U.S. team's improbably stirring victory over the European team in last weekend's Ryder Cup matches has been somewhat overlooked.

As usual, Geoff Shackelford has chronicled all the reviews of the U.S. team's victory, including this interesting Mike Adamson article in which he notes the esprit de corps of the "Tigerless" U.S. team:

Woods's below-par record for the US team - combining the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, he has lost more of his 50 matches than he has won - remains something of a mystery. He has won the WGC Match Play on three occasions, including this year, his competitive streak thriving in mano-a-mano combat. But pair him with another and he cannot stop losing.

Woods has had a remarkable 11 partners in the Ryder Cup, three of whom were in this US team. All three, Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard and particularly Phil Mickelson, have played with spirit, unburdened by the great man's presence. Likewise it is hard, albeit not impossible, to imagine the debutants Anthony Kim and Boo Weekley playing with such uninhibited personality were they in Woods's shadow. Although Azinger lost the world's best player, it is not too much of a stretch to suggest that his uplifting captaincy has also benefited from the absence of such an intimidating figure in the team room.

Also, don't miss this fine Doug Ferguson article on the tense third day match between the cocky U.S. rookie, Anthony Kim, and Euro Ryder Cup stalwart, Sergio Garcia. Kim stared Garcia down on the first green and then proceeded to whip him, 5 and 4.

The Ryder Cup is finally competitive again!

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on September 23, 2008 (boomark / email).