I don't know if this has been stated before but NBC was clueless for about an hour saying that Mahon needed to win when the arithmetic was that a draw by him and one by Fowler would have worked. I thank the many gca threads on competitions for my picking that up. Finally, they got it and ,what do you know, Fowler gets the half.
I thought that McDowell was getable. His swing is suspect and he started leaking oil on the back.
Certainly this proved that we can't judge the contest until it is over. I began to watch it at 7 Eastern this morning and said I would turn it off when it was decided. That wasn't until McDowell's last putt.
OK, perhaps the title of this thread should be moved to "Worst Ryder Cup Telecast Ever?" and I would be able to concur with Mr. Lyon wholeheartedly. I went to the club to play yesterday, took a swing on the opening hole with my driver, felt a pain like a grenade went off in my right shoulder and promptly retired to the men's grill to watch the telecast. Was it me or did anyone else notice that NBC would show exactly 2 shots and then cut to a commercial. They did this upwards of 10 times in a row. Finally, I said to hell with it and went to take a shower. I came back and asked our Asst. Pro what I missed. His honest response? 2 approach shots and 4 putts.
How about "Best Ryder Cup to have had TIVO for?" It wouldn't surprise me if the split between content and commercials was 50/50 -- even if you include the background stories as part of the content.
I agree with you; NBC's coverage was at times poor and at others just atrocious; how can you miss Fowler and Molinari's tee shots on 18; how is that possible?
I thought the Ryder Cup was great overall; would have liked to have seen it on a better golf course and will never understand why it wasn't.
Someone said earlier that they thought McDowell would beat Mahan 7 or 8 times out of 10 in this situation or on this course, what basis do you have for that other than your "feeling". McDowell was 3 under for the day and if made to putt out would have been 2; he was very beatable today, Mahan just didn't have it.
Pressure and how it affects one in golf is very tough to determine; how do you know if the pressure of a shot got to someone or they are just playing poorly. I could only determine that Mahan was playing poorly minus the chip on 17, which really didn't make a difference as he had to hole it anyway.
Who cares about Lift, Clean, and Place, everyone does it and in my opinion it should be in the rules that if your ball is in the fairway you get to place it how you want; if you are in the fairway you deserve a perfect lie.
Also this slow play is nonsense; I have played with several GCAers and never gotten around in less than 4 hrs while walking and I don't think anyone would ever accuse me of slow play. Those rounds were by no means serious and we weren't grinding over every putt. Walking and playing golf with more than 2 people takes longer than 4 hrs unless you are rushing; if you are grinding it takes closer to 5.