Ryder Cup Preview: Foursomes
Ryder Cup 2012 Preview: Foursomes
The 2012 Ryder Cup sees nine players who have played in only one Ryder Cup and a further five who have never played in this event before. For the United States, Mickelson, Furyk and Woods are the stand out players in experience terms whilst Garcia and Westwood hold the same position for Europe. Donald and Poulter with three Ryder Cups have to be included in this conversation given their past records.
Today we look at foursomes and who will hold the sway given their past experience. Completely ignoring the debutants and those who have only played once we are left with a pretty small number of players. Just five for Europe and five for USA.
Garcia 8-0-1
Westwood 7-2-4
Donald 6-0-0
Poulter 2-1-0
McDowell: 1-1-1
Mickelson: 2-5-4
Furyk: 3-5-2
Woods: 4-7-1
Z Johnson: 1-2-1
Stricker: 1-1-0
Donald and Garcia stand out for Europe with neither having ever suffered defeat in the foursomes. Playing together they are also undefeated so expect to see Olazabal wheel these two out in the foursomes either together (4 from 4) or potentially, Garcia with Westwood (4 ½ from 6 points) and Donald with any other player. Westwood’s record is again outstanding and he will definitely feature despite his poor showing at the Tour Championship this weekend. McDowell’s record is nothing to write home about but in a likely partnership with McIlroy they will be a stiff test for anyone.
For the US team it is not exactly pleasant reading with none of their top three having positive records in the foursomes. It is clear that this is the weakest format for Woods so will Davis Love III have the courage to leave him out? Mickelson’s record is surprisingly poor given his short game so it is hard to see a place for him in the foursomes this time around despite playing in 13 of the 16 foursomes matches he has been available for. Zach Johnson has played in two Ryder Cups and as a straight hitter with a consistent game it is no surprise to see he has played in 3 out of the four possible foursome matches with a 1-2-0 record.
Foursomes is one area where we can expect Europe to have a major advantage with experienced winners in this format. It would be a real surprise to see the US take more than 3 points from the 8 matches.
Likely outcome: USA: 2½ vs. Europe 6½
To see the full stats check out our Ryder Cup 2012 Preview or the image at the top of this page (the one that says Click here).
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