Hindsight is 20-20 but U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson made some questionable decisions Friday at the Ryder Cup and some seemed obviously dubious as soon as they were made.
It may all still work out in the end for the Americans, who came into this Ryder Cup the underdogs but played inspired in the morning session to grab a 2 1/2 – 1 1/2 lead, but if it doesn’t, Friday may well be seen as where it all went wrong for the U.S.
The players play, and if the U.S. had not faltered so badly down the stretch in the afternoon foursomes Watson may have escaped some scrutiny. But things didn’t go well and a one-point lead became a two-point deficit as the Europeans rallied to take a 5-3 lead after the first day of action at Gleneagles.
Much of the second-guessing centers around the decision not to send Ryder Cup rookies Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed out for the afternoon session after they played the best golf of any U.S. morning pairing by a mile.
Spieth and Reed routed Stephen Gallacher and Ian Poulter 5 and 4 in the morning fourball. The young duo lobbied Watson to send them back out in the afternoon, but the captain decided to sit them. This despite the fact that they handed Poulter his worst Ryder Cup defeat ever. The same Poulter who ignited Europe to its improbable comeback at Medinah in 2012 and had won seven straight Ryder Cup matches. Watson sat them despite recording the largest margin by a U.S. pairing in their initial match since 1959.
The lobbying and impressive performance weren’t enough to get Spieth and Reed back on the course. Watson had his reasons but kept them to himself.
“I know the question is going to be asked about Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed, whether I should have played them in the afternoon, and I thought at the time it was the best decision not to play them,” Watson said. “There were a variety of reasons, but I won’t go into those. It was a decision that my vice captains and I made. That was a decision that we felt very strongly for.”
Reed felt strongly the other way as Watson relayed the conversation the two had when the captain told Reed he was sitting out the afternoon session.
“It was comical at the time, not so comical now,” Watson explained “I said, ‘How does that make you feel?’ He said, ‘Well, I’m all right with it.’ Then he said, ‘Well, really, Captain, I’m not all right with it.’ I said, ‘That’s the way I want you to be.’” You can’t play everybody. You’re going to be second guessed, and obviously you’re going to second guess me on that decision right there.”
That’s not the only decision that is being second guessed after the afternoon implosion.
It was cold, it was windy and it was not a day to send an arthritic 44-year-old in the midst of a forgettable season out to play 36 holes, but that’s exactly what Watson did in selecting the tandem of Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley to play in both sessions Friday.
“I really question playing Phil this afternoon,” Mickelson’s swing coach Butch Harmon said. “He looks a little out of gas to me.”
In fact both players seemed low on energy and they never led in a 3 and 2 loss to Graeme McDowell and Victor Dubuisson, who came off the bench and earned a crucial point for the Europeans. Mickleson and Bradley were 4-0 as a team in the Ryder Cup after a morning victory over Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy, but they were fortunate tow in that match and never rallied in the afternoon.
“Phil and Keegan, they struggled this afternoon. They missed a lot of putts. Had a lot of short putts today and they kind of blew themselves out of it with not staying in it with the putts they had to make,” Watson said. “That’s the game. There are ebbs and flows. We had an early ebb, we had a better flow in the morning and it all kind of ebbed in the afternoon.”
Mickelson, who will sit out Satutrday’s morning session, did not make any excuses for his play in the afternoon session.
“I haven’t felt the effects of that at all. I had the two gloves on because it was cold. I just like keeping my hands warm. I didn’t feel those effects,” Mickelson said. “I haven’t had any symptoms or anything. I just didn’t play well this afternoon. I’ll sit in the morning and use that time to get my game sharp for the afternoon foursomes.”
The pairings for Saturday morning include Spieth and Reed as well as Jimmy Walker, who played well for the U.S. on Friday. Both Bradley and Mickelson will sit it out along with Webb Simpson, a captain’s pick who had a rough Friday morning and Zach Johnson, who lost 2 and 1 with Hunter Mahan in afternoon foursomes to Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.
Rose and Stenson lead off for Europe on Saturday against Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar. Match two is Jamie Donaldson and Lee Westwood versus Jim Furyk and Mahan. Match three, Thomas Björn and Martin Kaymer against Reed and Spieth. Match four, Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter versus Walker and Rickie Fowler.
Watson was told of the pairings in his press conference at the end of play and was pleased with the match ups while being noncommittal about playing all 12 players on the team on Saturday.
“Well, my initial thoughts is I like what I see. I really like what I see,” Watson said. “I don’t know yet. Just depends on how they play tomorrow morning. Just like what I did today. There were some things that happened during the course of the match with players who may start to struggle a little bit, and you never know. You never know.”
