I just got an email from the PGA of America saying it will announce its selection for the 2012 Ryder Cup Captain on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 11 am.

It’s no secret is it? Everyone seems assured that the pick is Davis Love, III.

The European Pick, in case anyone missed it was Jose Maria Olazabal.

Rumors are all over the internet that Davis Love III will captain the next US Ryder Cup team. If experience counts for anything, he has plenty of it, with six Ryder Cups as well as six Presidents Cup. At any rate, he’s GOT to be more inspiring than Corey Pavin.

Pairings in team golf events are absolutely critical—and making them is by far the most important role of a coach or captain. As a high school coach, my team played in several Ryder Cup-style events, and I was able to discern several strategies.

Grouping players with dissimilar, yet complementary skills is one obvious approach. The obvious pairing is a long hitter and a short game wizard. In this scenario in foursomes, the idea is to take a look at the course layout, identify the hole that confers the biggest advantage to the long hitter and assign him to tee off on that hole. Then you work back to the first tee to determine who takes the initial swing (since tee shots are alternated between partners). Because distance holes are not usually back-to-back, with any luck this means that long hitter will tee off on several advantageous holes. Other complementary pairings also are possible and the coach must take a look at the course to see how advantage can be gained.

Teaming players with different skills also can help to minimize the damage on any one hole. If a short hitter tees off, then the longer hitter can hit a higher numbered iron into the green, where, presumably, the short game player can make a good putt. The problem with this, however, is that it takes a player out of his usual game. If the bomber is used to taking wedges into a green, he will be uncomfortable hitting a longer iron after a wedge-and-putter player’s tee shot. So, the other approach to foursomes is to combine players with similar styles. This ensures that players generally are hitting shots that are familiar.

The ability to play as a team in foursomes is critical.  Team mates must be constantly aware of the other’s abilities and sensitive to their emotional well-being. Each must ensure that his shot puts the other in a position that plays to their strengths. It’s not simply a matter of each player hitting the best shot that he can. For example, Phil Mickelson might be able to reach a par 5 in two. In doing so, however, the risk is that the ball ends up in a greenside bunker. If his partner is a sand wizard, that might be an acceptable risk; if not, he should lay up to his partner’s best distance.

Four Ball is a somewhat easier game on the coach. There, I usually combined players with different skill sets, on the theory that each hole would play to at least one of their strengths or weaknesses. Another way of pairing players is by style. It’s often advantageous to pair a gambler with a cautious player. One can go for birdies, while the other plays for par.

There are down sides to both of these, though. Players with different skill sets often are not aware of the trouble that another might be facing. The same is true of players with dissimilar styles. Lack of awareness weakens the team, turning a pairs event into a couple of guys playing golf. The team aspect of the four ball match means that players must keep an eye on how their partner is doing and adjust their game accordingly. For example, if player A has hit his ball to a safe spot, his partner might be able to attempt a riskier shot. If the risk fails to produce reward, the other player at least has a good chance. I like this format a lot.

In both foursomes and four ball, another strategy is to build teams around personalities. This is the approach taken by Paul Azinger in the 2008 Ryder Cup, and about which he described so well in Cracking The Code. Azinger built his team around “pods”—groups of players with similar personalities. He then allowed each pod to make one of his Captain’s picks so that they had ownership in the composition of the team. The results—a solid US win—were a validation of his ideas.

Among the worst pairings on the personality side (and perhaps in the skills mix, too) were made by Hal Sutton at Oakland Hills when he twice sent out Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as a team. If you believe the press, these two don’t get along in the best of times. Putting them together as a team was disastrous.

An article at PGATour.Com says that Pavin has hinted he will make the pairings based on skill sets, not friendships.

U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin hinted that form, not friendship, will be the key to his pairings this week at Celtic Manor.

It has been traditional for close friends to make winning partnerships in the biennial contest, with the likes of Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke, Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal and Fred Couples and Davis Love proving highly successful.

European players also have often been paired on the basis of a common nationality or languages spoken, but Pavin appeared to favor a more pragmatic approach as his players enjoyed their first practice round on the Twenty Ten Course on Tuesday.

Asked why Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker had been so successful in last year’s Presidents Cup—they won all four of their matches together—Pavin said: “They are both great players.

“Tiger has been No. 1 in the world for a long time and Steve was playing great last year at the time,” he explained. “Those were probably the top two, maybe two of the top three (at the time). It’s a pretty healthy combination.

“Steve is a great putter, gets the ball in the hole and makes important putts, and Tiger is pretty good at it too,” he added. “When any two players are playing well, they are going to be tough to beat, it doesn’t matter who they are.

“When you partner up with somebody and you win your matches, there’s some good chemistry there. But you do have to play. You have to perform,” he stressed. “Just because there is good chemistry doesn’t mean you’re going to win your match. You have to perform and make your putts and you have to hit good shots.”

The final key to the pairings is the order in which the groups are sent out. I think that there’s only one way to do this: send your best teams (or players, in the case of singles) out first. You want to get up on your opponents early and let that momentum carry the rest of your team. I think Hal Sutton made a strategic blunder on this at Oakland Hills by reversing the order of his players. By the time his best singles were out on Sunday, it already was over.

2010 Ryder Cup Logo Callaway Golf HX Hot Plus Golfballs - Sleeve of 3 balls

No one is quite sure who first suggested a competition between US and British golf professionals. It’s thought that the idea may have originated with Golf Illustrated writer James Harnett in 1920. Others credit Inverness’ Sylvanius Jermain, who brought it up in 1921. It’s likely that—given the incredible interest in sports that led to the era being called the Golden Age of Sports—quite a number of people share the credit.

At any rate, in 1921, a group of American golf professionals faced off against their British counterparts in a competition held at the famous Gleneagles. That first match went to the British, who won 9-3.

And, when a group of American golf professionals found themselves with spare time before the Open Championship in 1926, a second match was held at Wentworth. The British professionals won that, too, 13.5 to 1.5. Participating in the match were Walter Hagen, Tommy Armour, Jim Barnes, Emmett French and Al Watrous on the American side, and Abe Mitchell, George Duncan, Archie Compston, Ted Ray and Arthur Havers on the British.

One of those in attendance at that second set of matches was British millionaire Samuel Ryder.

Ryder is an interesting character. He made his fortune by selling paper packets of seeds. Prior to this, seeds were available only in bulk quantities that were not useful for small gardeners.  Ryder started buying the bulk seeds and repackaging them in penny paper packets. He and his family worked out of their home, delivering the seeds on Friday in time for the workmen to have for their Saturday day off. He soon grew quite wealthy, and had as many as 90 employees.

When he was in his fifties, Ryder’s failing health prompted his doctor to prescribe outdoor exercise and recommended golf. Skeptical at first, Ryder soon became hooked—even employing a full time professional named Abe Mitchell as his personal coach.

It was Abe Mitchell who beat American professional “Long” Jim Barnes in the 1926 matches to secure the victory. 

Following the matches, Ryder met with Mitchell, Duncan, French and Hagen for tea. There, the group planned a series of regular competitions, with a cup and prizes to be provided by Ryder. The cup cost 250 pounds, and bore the likeness of Ryder’s favorite, Abe Mitchell.

The first official Ryder Cup event was held in 1927 at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts. It almost was cancelled, however, due to a lack of funds for the British team. In the end, Ryder stepped up again and helped to pay their expenses.

The first British Ryder Cup team consisted of Ted Ray, George Duncan, CA Whitcombe, Fred Robson, George Gadd, Aubrey Boomer, Archie Compston, Arthur Havers and Herbert Jolly. Mitchell missed the event due to appendicitis. The American team was captained by Walter Hagen and included Johnny Farrell, Leo Diegel, Bill Mehlhorn, Johnny Golden, Gene Sarazen, Al Waltrous, Joe Turnesa. Mike Brady and Al Espinosa served as alternates.

The US won the event 9.5 to 2.5.

The event was held every year until 1937, after which it was interrupted for World War II.

Even after the war ended, however, it was not certain that the matches would resume. While the PGA of American and their British counterparts wanted to resume, the British simply couldn’t afford it. The war had hit them very hard and golf was a luxury in a country that would remain under rationing for years to come.

It looked like the 1947 match, which was slated for the Portland Golf Club would be scrapped. But then an Oregon fruit grower and golf lover named Robert Hudson stepped up to the plate. In a remarkable gesure, Hudson offered to pay the British team’s expenses.

Hudson was incredibly generous. He not only paid for their boat and train tickets, but also for their lodging, meals, caddies and anything else they needed.

Going the extra mile, Hudson also took a personal interest in the British team. He met the British at the dock in New York and threw a party for them when they arrived. Hudson then escorted them on their trip by train west to Oregon.

And for many years afterwards, Hudson sent each of the British team members a large fruit basket for Christmas—a gift that apparently was greatly appreciated, especially because Britain remained under food rationing. 

After the war, the US dominated the Cup, winning 18 of the next 20 events. That pattern began to change, however, thanks to changes made in 1973 and in 1979. In 1973, the British team was expanded to include Irish professionals. Then in 1979, at the suggestion of Jack Nicklaus, the British/Irish team was expanded to include professionals from the European mainland.

The infusion of talent after 1979 has had a major effect on the tournament. Since then, the Europeans have won eight of thirteen.

The Ryder Cup was interrupted once again, in 2001, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Both sides agreed to delay for a year, causing the biennial event to move from odd, to even numbered years.

The British team already had been expanded to include Ireland in 1973.

2010 Ryder Cup Journal

Lots of Ryder Cup up for auction right now on Ebay. I expect we’ll see more the closer we get.