Fairway Rollin' - Reacting to the U.S. Ryder Cup Team Picks

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

House and Hubbard react to captain Zach Johnson’s selections for the U.S. Ryder Cup team and discuss the finalized team, players who were snubbed, and the players they think will be chosen on the European team. Hosts: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Producer: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's your boy Johnny Bananas, and I'm going to be covering a brand new season of the Challenge USA on CBS that, of course, I will be completely dominating on my podcast, death taxes and bananas on the Ringer reality TV podcast. Head over that feed and follow us on Spotify so you never miss an episode. Hello, friends, and welcome to this golf podcast unlike you. any other. Oh yes, my friends.

How about a very special Rider Cup edition of Fairway Rollin. The podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network. My birdie buddies, I am your starter, Joe House, joined by my incomparable

accomplice hour PGA tour correspondent boots on the ground, Nathan Hubbard. look my eagle enthusiast any time we have the announcement of captain's picks rounding out the United States rider cup team in advance of the competition in Europe we must have a reaction podcast this is that show a two ball on a Tuesday for the Nate dog and I the pegs are in the ground and we are off Nate dog

did Captain Zach get it right? Let's get going. He listened to Fairway Rowland and he was highly convinced by the Sam Burns argument and as I sit here and look at this roster

this is what we said and I think he made the right call house. I enjoyed certain aspects of Captain Zach's all business performance today. No nonsense. no hoopla, no fireworks going off, cut straight to the point.

And he emphasized the combination of relationships and skill sets. And as we were sizing this up over the last five weeks, Nate Dogg, that is what we thought was the rights kind of approach. The task force, the captain's committee has been shepherding this. The only misstep out of the committee, the task force, the entire year is poor Freddie couple's put in his foot in his mouth, right? By saying Cam Young was going to be on the team?

Seems like a mistake. Yeah. Look, things change, baby. And the truth is there are six spots where the captain doesn't get to pick. And if you want to represent your country, go play well enough to make it immovable. I mean, Wyndham Clark,

Ryan Harmon went out and grabbed tournaments from some other pretenders, and they're on this team as a result. I mean, look, the most controversial picks here, there really are three potentially. And if you're going to quibble, you're going to say, Ricky, Justin Thomas, and Sam Burns

could have been replaced by any number of Keegan Bradley, Tony Fienow, Lucas Glover, right? That's the argument. Yeah, so look, I get it. And let me tell you something that our friend, Justin Ray, a frequent guest on this podcast, wrote today for the PGA Tour's website. I mean, he pointed out that Scotty Sheffler is going to finish the season with an adjusted scoring average that is the seventh lowest. in the history of the PGA tour and the best by anyone not named Tiger Woods.

He made bogey or worse on 10.73% of his holes all season long. That is the first time a player has been below 11% since Tiger in 2002. Now, House. Scotty Sheffler had two seconds and two wins this year amongst a entirely massive slate of top tens. And you say, okay, well, it was the putting? Well, was it the putting? Because his approach putt performance,

he was second on tour in approach putt performance. But he was 177th inside of 10 feet. He was 160th from 10 to 15 feet. We saw this 130th from 20 to 25 feet. He was dead last in most of these playoff events. Our best guy has a glaring weakness, and he needs to be picked up. And you made that case on Sunday that this,

that he needed a birdie buddy. And that is Sam Burns. And so I just think that case in and of itself makes a hell of a lot of sense, especially when you compare them to somebody like Cam Young. Those guys, they had a qualifier. It's called the Dell Match Play Championship. They went head to head in the final.

And Sam Burns won. It was really, really, down to Cam Young and Sam Burns. That's where we landed. I'd like the argument put forth by a guy we've been tracking all season. His Twitter feed has been terrific. Ron Close. Twitter feed is at PGA splits 101. I guess we call it the X feed. He argued for Cam Young on the basis that Cam Young is an elite driver of the golf ball and would be able to take advantage of carrying dog legs and and bunkers. And Ron pointed out, you know, strokes gained off the tea that over the last 18 rounds, he's gained an average of 1.29 strokes and that, you know,

his career singles record in match play is good. The other thing that Ron emphasized is that the bent grass greens at Marco Simone in Rome or something that Cam Young performs well on, I just can't get over. And I, look, I respect quite a bit, Ron's opinion on these matters. I can't get over the difference between the two of them putting. I mean, Sam Burns finished the year 11th and Cam Young finished the year 145th. and we need putters. I sat down and did the work of,

you know, comparing our sort of top seven or eight against their top seven or eight. Now, the best putter by strokes gain measurement on both teams is Xander who finished the year fourth. And Max Homa finished the year seven. And Sam Burns finished the year 11. That's pretty good. We like having that kind of firepower on the putting surfaces.

but by contra distinction, Kalamorakawa finished 111. And Justin Thomas finished 137th. Scottie Shepler finished 150th. Yikes. Those guys got to get paired up. And by the way, Jordan Speeth finished 80th.

So that's not good. No, but so then... It's not just a punting competition. It's not just a punting competition. It isn't. And listen, so we got to shift the conversation to JT because that's the one that a lot of people are angry about. And you know, you're on line and seeing some people saying, oh, it's a boys club. First of all, these are all boys. It's a country club sport. But Justin Thomas, the last time that we played in Europe, the guy who won four out of five possible points and our top point score was Justin Thomas. And as Zach Johnson said in the press conference, conference, in a lot of ways, this guy is the heart and soul of the team and you just can't leave him home. That was the calculation. If you're going to say somebody else should have replaced him, well, first of all, somebody said to me today, well, you know, he could have done that

from the, from a golf card in a captain's position, which is maybe true until you go look at the, I love me some me. You look at the way that he fired up speed. You got to be on the course in the moment to make that happen. And Thomas sort of tipped his hand a little bit and said, these guys are all tired. They don't want to look at a golf course. I mean, John Rahm is at the U.S. Open right now in a proud boy's Hawaiian shirt, like talking on TV. Justin Thomas has been grinding and working on his game. And I suspect, as we're going to potentially find out in Napa, getting a bit better. I agree with the pick. This is not who's the hottest golfer right now. There is chemistry. It has driven.

the Europeans for years to win with guys like Ian Poulter and Luke Donald, guys who've never won Lee Westwood, guys who've never won majors, but have outpointed our guys. And what every single captain of that squad on the European side has spoken to is chemistry, chemistry, chemistry, and that is what Justin Thomas is. So I totally support and agree with the pick. We needed it in light of some of the auto qualifiers who deserve to be there. But I'm just not sure, Harmon and Wyndham Clark, Wyndham Clark's first time in any of these competitions. And Scotty Sheffler, who, you know, is dealing with some putting demons and is not the

most outspoken guy. I'm not sure those are the guys who are just going to pick up and wave the flag. And in an event like this, you've got to have a flag waiver. Yeah. And there are also, you know, the principle of continuity here where you're leveraging the experience in these team competitions year after year after year, after year. and you want to grab this core group and have them, you know, we're not mixing and matching. We have a principled basis for, you know, trying to trot out a core eight if the play will

permit it. And that's the basis for JT. I have absolutely no issue with it whatsoever. I haven't had any issue with it. And you must have JT if you have Jordan. So that's really to me what it comes down to. We only have three rookies on the team, and two of those rookies have experience to draw upon. So Brian Harmon hasn't played in team competition recently, but he won the U.S. Junior, which, you know, that's one of those things where there's match play.

You know, you have to win a whole slew of match play. so you understand that he's in that I think his singles match play record is is is pretty stellar and then uh the homie homa played in the president's cup last year so he has things to draw up on the only true rookie really is windham clark but his um short game is is has been so uh stellar and what he showed us at at the u.s open it looks like he could be paired with you know a lot of different folks and his uh he he He to me is like the classy Cam Young, right? He has that same attribute of being good off the T, strokes gained off the T. And, you know, with his driving statistics, it's going to make him be kind of malleable.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him paired up with like Colin Warcawa perhaps. You know, Wyndham's putting numbers are good. He's 37th, you know, strokes game putting. so, you know, maybe that balances out a little bit. But we have, you know, a natural set of pairing sort of right off the jump, right? I mean, J.T. and Jordan, obviously, Xander and Patrick, obviously, Scotty and Sam Burns, obviously. You know, and then whatever you want to do. What do you do with Max?

It could be Max and Colin. They have a great relationship. Cal connection. Yeah, yeah. And they like each other. You see them like, you know, on the putting range. They were next to each other. Not the putting range, the driving range.

They're next to each other. And they've been doing some like, you know, appearance stuff. I feel like there's some good chemistry there and their ability to kind of rally each other. Brooks at this stage of his game, I'd feel comfortable putting him with anybody. If you want to put Brooks with Wyndham Clark, that's fine by me. Real possibility. Yep. Some big bombers.

Not worried. Ricky's a glue guy. Ricky's the ultimate glue guy. feels like Ricky could play with anybody. Maybe Ricky and Brian Harmon is going to go out there and bulldog it. So I like the flexibility. It's clear that there are no chemistry issues, right? We're not wondering about personalities and get-alongs and, you know, all that stuff. It didn't ultimately matter at Whistling Straits, right? Whistling Straits, everybody got along just fine. We wondered about personality dynamics, Brooks and Bryson and, you know, and, you know, you know, DJ, but a DJ gets along with everybody. So, but just basic sort of chemistry questions. It was such an ass whipping that it sort of put all that drama aside. But listen, I still think if you inject truth serum into Brooks, he's not that fired up about

hanging out with Bryson DeShambo and he's not too disappointed that he's not on this team. But this is the right pick. I understand it's a little weird to me. I mean, Tony Fienow, Tony Fienow is sitting at home right now. I think he understands the rationale, but I mean, the guy had two wins this season, five top tens, 13 top 25s. You know, he was, he was not, and listen, I get his wins, Houston Open, and Mexico weren't the biggest. And he wasn't great in the majors this year. It wasn't great in the playoffs.

So that's why he's sitting at home. He's a big bomber. I just do think he sort of plays the role on the team. that a Wyndham Clark might play. I think the only guy, and he did put out, you know, a statement that that's truly disappointed. No, I mean, I'm not

suggesting that the other guys that didn't make it are not truly disappointed. Keegan, yes. And I feel for Keegan. The Keegan point is, to me, the following. If Brian Harmon had not won the Open Championship,

I think Keegan, that Keegan might have had that spot. Now, Brian Harmon over the course of the year would have performed well enough and had, you know, I think like would have been for sure in the in the top 12, even if he hadn't won the Open Championship, but, you know, Keegan would have been able to distinguish himself in his arguments. He tried with with the experience that he brings to the table and being that sort of wise head and maybe a calming influence. The problem for Keegan is he had one top 10 after March. And that, top 10 was the win that he had at the travelers.

And you cannot, cannot, cannot. Well, Tour championship doesn't count, but he was deigned. No, no, right, up to the Tour Championship. And the lingering impression of the Tour Championship was the Sunday 73. That's the issue, right? That's the thing. If you're going to make a form argument and, you know, he could have played better at Olympia Fields

and he got close at East Lake. He did catch our attention enough to have us 63 on Thursday. Eyebrows were up. We were musing, okay, well look if Kegan's in then who's out, right? Who's Kegan bumping? The answer would have been Sam Burns, but ultimately, you know,

the thing that we just sort of discovered over the last handful of days was the powerful connection between San Burns and Scotty. And because of how low Scotty clearly ended up season-wise by virtue of that the putter just abandoning him, we needed, it's exactly what you said. We need a birdie-buddy for Scotty Sheffler to give us our best chance, right?

Yeah, yeah. And so I don't have any problems with this team. I think it's the right team to take. And, you know, Secretly House, there's a hell of a lot more drama on the European side around who they're going to take because I think, I mean, you tell me, I think these guys are locks. Rom, Rory, Victor, Fleetwood, Terrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, and then I think Justin Rose and Seb Straca are locks. I think you got to take them based on their performance this year. They each got one. So that's eight.

Eight. Eight guys who I think are probably locks. But then you got this whole list of people. If it's really about chemistry and if you can take a live guy who didn't qualify for points, is there any chance at all that Luke Donald thinks about Sergio Garcia or Thomas Peters or Lee Westwood? Probably not because in front of those guys, you've got just this cornucopia. of could-bees. You got Bobby Mac, who is third on qualifying points, almost one that's got a show-upin. He got Shane Lowry. Didn't make the playoffs a lot like Justin Thomas, right? Heart and soul of a team. Lots of passion and fire. Okay. Shane Lowry's in. I'm telling you he's in. Okay. Because Yannick Paul is sitting there fourth in points. Adrian Morunk won at Marco Simone earlier this year. Ludwig Aberg is playing this week with the assistant captains, including Eduardo Molinari, in the DP World Tour event, the last chance to show off before you get picked on Monday. There's a Victor Perez, like there is this group, the Hogard brothers.

Like there's this sort of panoply of dudes. I just don't know. Let me tell you this. Not one of those guys except Ludwig Aberg scares me the way if I was, if I was, Luke Donald, I'd been terrified of Justin Thomas. I think of the names that you've discussed thus far. If Shane Lowry is ninth, then I have both Moranck and Aberg making it. So there's 11.

And then you get to choose, you know, what you want to do with Robert McIntyre, Matt Wallace, whatever down the line there. You don't have to mess around with the live guys. But you have to take the guy that wanted Marco Simone. I think you do. You kind of think you have to. And he also, I think Adrian Moran quietly had a pretty great record over the course of the season in majors. And, you know.

And no doubt. I mean, listen. Distinguished itself pretty well. He absolutely did. I mean, he, in terms of the qualifying points, he's fifth. But let me ask you this. Will they consider a live guy? Who would be, whose resume over this, this past year?

is good enough to warrant the consideration. Thomas Peters, maybe. Is he a needle mover for that team? Is he a chemistry guy with these guys? He did lead the point scoring for Europe at Hazeltine in 2016. So Rory will remember that. John Rom will remember that. Tommy Fleetwood will remember that Tirol Hatton

will remember that. And it's a question of like, you know, would Luke Donald deploy the same kind of sensibility, which is you're looking for relationships, you're looking for connections, you're looking for, you know, potential combinations. Who's Thomas Peters playing with on this list? I think that's the question. If you're, maybe you go Nikolai Hogard and pair him with Ludwig Gaeberg and you just, but you are throwing out if you don't draft one of those live guys, you are really turning over a new page in Rider Cup history. I mean, Rom was vocal a few months ago about, you know, his disappointment at not having Sergio participate. Pretty clear that the guys who auto qualified had something to say, what, speed didn't auto qualify, but the guys who were

locks had something to say about who filled out the rest of the roster on the U.S. side. you wonder if these guys will do the same. It will be interesting. And I think probably wise to turn the page, given that Thomas Peters, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, are not Brooks Keppka. That's right. They're not, they're not,

they don't have potentially six more majors in front of them the way that Brooks Keppka does right now if you believe the eye test from the last six months. Well, I do have a confession to make as we wrap up our immediate reaction here to these teams. And we'll be paying close attention as the Euro team gets finalized. We'll have a chance to discuss that here on the fairway rolling. But we'll also get a lot more information about how

Marco Simone, you know, is it comes into shape. I mean, from you, you were there. Well, I played on August the 15th. And I think like every week, the maturation of that whole thing plus whatever weather is going on there like we'll have more information but the confession I have to make to you Nate Dogg is is I bet on the Euros and I got them at plus 145

they're available on the Fanduil Sportsbook right now at plus 140 I'm probably going to bet them a couple more times over the course of this as as the information kind of sharpens and dovetails. I just think ultimately it's going to fit the ball striking. I really

just what we saw out of Hobland and watching poor Colin Warcawa and poor Scotty Sheffler put. This is an ultimate recency bias kind of wager except for I did it before the tour. I understand it. Before the tour championship, I put it in. I just wanted to have a little action.

because the thing that this golf course is not like anything that these guys play ever. It's just not that kind of golf course that you find on PGA tour or in the majors. I guess it's kind of akin to what you might find in a U.S. Open kind of setup, but not really. It is a thick thatchette of lost ball, gnarly Taylor Swift hair, immediately. off the fairway. I'm rubbing off on you, buddy. You're paying attention. You're learning. Yeah.

You know, cultural phenomenon. How could I not? Come on, bro. Clauseit swiftly over here. But, yeah, we'll see as it goes along. I might have some regrets. I just wanted to get it out there, which way I'm kind of leaning based on what we're seeing so far.

I'm terrified. I'm terrified. The fact that it's, Scotty Sheffler played this well over the course of the season. And again, Justin Ray helps to contextualize it and didn't get the wins. It's just we don't have Tiger Woods with his hands around the throat of a tournament in this. Again, I think the biggest killers, you'd feel the best right now about Brooks Kepka and I guess maybe Xander and maybe Max because of the way that he played at the President's Cup. Other than that, you go, hey, Brian Harmon, Wyndham Clark, two really

impressive wins, you know, and win them won twice this year. But you're not like, that guy, that guy will go win a golf tournament for me when he's in position. Yeah, that's right. Well, it will be fun to consider to keep talking about.

The Euro team will come out. We'll have a conversation around that. Taking a little bit of a break here on the Fairway roll and just the same way that the PGA tour itself is giving its members all of what, a week and a half, two weeks before the first event. of the fall.

Back to the Cabernet, the Cabernet and the Chardonnay and Napa. There's no, no finer way to kick off a PGA tour season, then with some of, I'll be there. Napa's best, yes,

and I'm looking forward to the pictures. It's an annual Hubbard tradition, the Hubbard dinner. Everybody looks forward to it. My Eagle enthusiast, my par saving pals, a little break here on the fair way rolling, but we will be back coincident with the arrival of the fortinet

and the new season. and a little more information around how these Rider Cup prospects are playing out for both teams. I hope, everybody, you have a great long weekend coming up, the Labor Day weekend, lots of opportunity all over this great land of ours, or if you're abroad, to throw a peg in the ground. If you're able to do so, please, let's hit them straight up.