Shotgun Start: Paddy worthy of a captain’s pick? August 25th, 2010
Augusta Chronicle
Forget the discussion about Corey Pavin and Tiger Woods. If you were selecting the European team on Sunday night, would you take Padraig Harrington as a captains pick?
ELLING: Its darned-near impossible to envision a Ryder team without Monty, Paddy and Sergio on the active roster, isnt it? Monty running the show, Sergio went home to lick his wounds after a washed-out year and Harrington is about the fifth-best Irish player in the world at the moment. Harrington sealed his superstar status with a win at the PGA Championship 53 weeks ago for this third major in two years … and he hasnt won since. Harrington points out that he has a slew of top-10 performances in that time, which is fine if you are Jeff Overton or Matt Kuchar, and not one of the half-dozen most notable figures in the game. Only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have won more career majors among active tour players than Paddy, but at the moment, its hard to envision him being picked over equally worthy potential captains selections like Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Justin Rose or Edoardo Molinari, who have all won in the past two years. You could have won a bunch of beer nuts in January by offering odds that the victory total for Paddy, Tiger and Phil Mickelson would stand at one with four starts left before the Fall Series.
MICHAUX: The simple answer is no. Im as big a fan of Harrington as anyone, but this isnt much of a debate. Im trying to figure out what the big deal is. Its not like Harrington is some kind of vital cog to European success in this event. The last Ryder Cup match Harrington won was a 1-up victory against a 50-year-old Jay Haas in 2004. Yeah, thats right. The guy is 0-7-2 in the last two biennial installments, including a team-worst 0-4-1 in the friendly confines of The K Club in Ireland. His career winning percentage in five Ryder Cups (.400, 7-11-3) is actually worse than Tiger Woods (.440, 10-13-2), and everybody criticizes Woods for underachieving. So unless Harrington wins this week, he should sit this one out and work on his game. Montys toughest call will be leaving one of the following off his invite list: Rose, Donald or Molinari. If it were me, Id probably pass on Donald, who isnt the most inspiring player. With Molinari, you have the option of pairing him with his brother in a reprisal of their World Cup glory. Rose made a pretty formidable partnership with Ian Poulter last time.
No changes were made to the FedEx Cup format this year, which doesnt mean it cannot be improved. Seems like we do this every year, but each one of you gets to make one big FedEx fix. Have at it, fellas.
ELLING: Heres one I have not lamented before, but its worth noting. For some inexplicable reason, whenever those who qualify for the first-round FedEx event dont pl short FedEx fields get even shorter because player withdrawals are not replaced. Already, Corey Pavin, Sergio Garcia and Paul Goydos have skipped The Barclays for various reasons, which means the field stands at 122. No big deal? Well, last year, veteran Heath Slocum started the first-round FedEx event at No. 124 in points and beat Tiger, Ernie Els, Steve Stricker and Paddy in the most star-strewn Sunday leaderboard of the year. So clearly, players hovering around the last qualifying spot have the firepower to make upsets happen. Upsets make things interesting. The FedEx even NASCAR so lets not make them even smaller. At Nos. 126-28, Jeff Quinney, Chris Stroud and some guy named Mike Weir would have made the Barclays field if alternates were used to fill out the top 125. Instead, they are serving a forced, four-event break.
MICHAUX: We can talk about alternatives or the value of full fields until were blue in the face, but the PGA Tour isnt listening unless TV makes demands or FedEx questions whether it wants to re-up as the deep pockets behind this boondoggle. Its silly to claim that this is the crowning achievement for a full season of toil when a guy like Slocum can swoop in from nowhere in the last month and win the whole thing with a couple of timely victories. I like the idea of a season-long points race, but the whole playoff concept simply doesnt work in golf. The best thing about the series is that it brings together many of the top players for a cluster of events at a time of year when the fields used to be dead. It would be even better if three of the four major winners this year werent excluded. They should let any major winners automatically qualify for this thing and keep the fields full all the way until the Tour Championship. That would at least make each week more intriguing and keep everyone guessing until the end.
At the risk of sounding like we are picking on Tiger, when we arent, who is the No. 1 player in golf right now?
ELLING: We could have filled the entire Shotgun Start debate space with this query. Or perhaps, used no space at all. Right now, in the mens game, the world No. 1 spot sho pretty much vacated, abdicated, invalidated. Woods sits precariously atop the world rankings, as he has for the last five years, but hes nowhere near the best player in the game at the moment. So, who is? Its not No. 2 Phil Mickelson, who has blown nine straight chances to unseat Woods and hasnt gotten the job done, even with Woods moving backwards. World No. 3 Lee Westwood, who is the inarguable No. 1 in terms of consistency at big events and the reigning Euro Tour money leader, is home on the couch with a calf injury, hoping merely to return in time for the Ryder Cup. It would be a shame if Mickelson ascends to No. 1 mostly because Woods is losing points. Although in his eyes, having never been atop the world list, Lefty might take it however it comes. Somebody ought to take over the slot with a victory. At least in the LPGA, where a half-dozen players are slugging it out for the top spot, players like Japans New No. 1, Ai Miyazato, are winning and moving up. Yeah, I just made an LPGA reference. Sue me.
MICHAUX: Im inclined to believe that the world rankings are closer to correct than were giving them credit. If the criteria is which player stands the best chance to step up and contend to win a major event, your own calculations of the “Summative Slam” reve Phil edging Tiger only because Westwood withdrew from the contest. The two-year window of the ranking system isnt about what have you done lately. Despite its flaws, its still a fairly good measuring stick at the top end. Outside those top three, the guys I wouldnt want to have to beat right now are Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson. If Rory learns to putt, he will soon be the toughest force in golf. And if Johnson can iron out the wrinkles in his course management, hes the most powerful young American at the moment. How cool would it be to have a best-ball match at the Ryder Cup pitting McIlroy and Martin Kaymer against Johnson and Bubba Watson. It would be a version of the PGA playoff we lost out on when Dustin grounded his club and McIlroy missed his final birdie putt.