Sports Then and Now

It is still unclear whether Tiger Woods will be part of the U.S. team at the 2010 Ryder Cup.

Twelve months ago, anyone suggesting that golf’s world number one and the sport’s most high-profile player wouldn’t be taking part in the 2010 Ryder Cup would have been greeted with a reply of “Is he injured?” or “Are you mad?” However, with golf’s most famous event rapidly approaching, has the time come for the mighty Tiger to be denied a wildcard pick and be left to watch the competition on television alongside millions of fans?

Despite having shown earlier promise when he returned to the clubhouse after taking time off to sort out his personal problems, Woods has failed to reach the heights that had seen him become possibly golf’s greatest ever player.

Having openly admitted he is struggling with his game, and suffering the ignominy of requiring a wildcard pick just to make the team, it is now time to leave the Tiger at home and instead look to the form guide when choosing who captain Corey Pavin should be taking with him to Celtic Manor. Read the rest of this entry →

Dustin Johnson will look to bounce back from his PGA ending at the upcoming Ryder Cup.

With golf’s most high-profile event, the Ryder Cup, rapidly approaching and his top player (and world number one) Tiger Woods drastically out of form, the last thing the US team captain Corey Pavin needed was to see one of his stars make a schoolboy error… yet that is exactly what Dustin Johnson did in the recent PGA Championship.

With his high-profile mistake creating yet more negativity for the US team, those who like to place a Ryder Cup Bet may be forgiven for ignoring placing bets on whether the Europeans can regain the trophy and instead turn towards looking at the margin of victory that they will regain the famous trophy by.

In spite of this, Pavin believes that Johnson will recover his spirits in time for the confident European fans to eat their words, suggesting that with so many key players needing captain’s picks to make the European side, the Americans can pull off an unlikely victory. Read the rest of this entry →

At the time of this shot, no one foresaw the controversy that would follow.

With every shot viewed by millions across the world, there is no place for professional golfers to hide when things go wrong during major golf championships. It is a lesson than Dustin Johnson learned for the first time at the U.S. Open in June and then painfully revisited during the 2010 PGA Championship.

For the first three rounds of the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the 26-year-old from Columbia, South Carolina looked like the greatest player in the world. Having twice won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Johnson acted as if a victory in the Open was inevitable. He entered the final round six under par and with a three stroke lead.

However, in front of a worldwide audience, he imploded with an ugly 82 to finish tied for eighth place.

For many golfers, such a disappointing finish in a major championship could have been the catalyst to a free-fall.

However, that didn’t prove to be the case for Johnson. Just weeks later, he finished tied for 14th at the British Open.

Then, in the final major of the year, Johnson stayed in contention throughout the first three days and entered the final round playing in the final group. Read the rest of this entry →

Both Corey Pavin and Colin Montgomerie will have some tough choices when finalizing their 2010 Ryder Cup teams.

If Golf Betting punters are looking for Ryder Cup pointers, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational was the event that suggests a European win is not as probable as has looked likely for much of this season. Home advantage and a glut of in-from players made Colin Montgomerie’s men early favourites, but events in Ohio have redressed the balance.

Montgomerie has seen a handful of players make notable breakthroughs this year but these young guns were not in the hunt at the Firestone Country Club. Tiger Woods and Anthony Kim might have been near rock bottom on the final leaderboard, but the top of it was dominated by home players.

Hunter Mahan led a virtual clean sweep after 72 holes, with six of the top seven being Americans. Each is in the top 20 on Corey Pavin’s Ryder Cup list, with the consistent Bo Van Pelt – five top-five finishes in his last 11 tournaments – and in-form Jeff Overton certain starters at Celtic Manor. Read the rest of this entry →

Could Justin Rose be left off the European Ryder Cup team?

Regardless of the fact that he is a two-time US Tour winner, Justin Rose is a serious doubt for the European Ryder Cup team having chosen to defy team captain Colin Montgomerie’s request that all players take part in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles next month.

Having endured a highly disappointing Irish Open, where he finished 44th, Rose has left himself with a lot of ground to make up if he wants to be included in the team, something that has been questioned after a recent lack of enthusiasm when asked about his intentions.

These reports have intensified since Rose’s statement that “the Ryder Cup is important to me, but I’m third in the FedEx Cup standings and that’s where my focus is going to be.”

With competition for places in the European team intense, especially given Ross Fisher’s victory in the Irish Open, Monty will be looking to pick players truly dedicated to the cause as Europe look to regain the trophy lost back in 2008. Read the rest of this entry →

Current Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin thinks there should also be a similar competition among the top senior golfers in the world.

American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin believes that a similar competition for the senior players would be a fantastic idea that would go down well with golf fans across the world.

The idea has been muted in the build up to current Ryder Cup later this year and Pavin believes that although there will only ever be “one Ryder Cup” when it comes to serious Ryder Cup betting, but it would be a lot of fun for the seniors to have a similar event.

“A lot of people would be interested in watching and a lot of players would be interested in playing.

“It would probably have a different feel but it would be very competitive – players would want to win just as bad.” Read the rest of this entry →