Ryder Cup US team press conference

[jvincent]

To anyone who actually bothered to sit through the coverage of the press conferences on The Golf Channel, you really have to be impressed with the way the US team stood up for Mahan.

Mickelson deserves the most credit. He took charge of the conference as well as singling himself out for not winning enough points. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of guys change their FIGJAM opinion of him as a result.

[spackler]

That was real leadership, impressive stuff.

[sensfan63]

To anyone who actually bothered to sit through the coverage of the press conferences on The Golf Channel, you really have to be impressed with the way the US team stood up for Mahan.

Mickelson deserves the most credit. He took charge of the conference as well as singling himself out for not winning enough points. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of guys change their FIGJAM opinion of him as a result.

There aren't too many top players who don't have a lot of respect for Mickelson. That nickname has been overblown by the fringe players who have an axe to grind.

As for the press conference, didn't see it, but have read multiple reports about how Mickelson took charge and kept the blame away from Mahan.

[EDSGOLF]

Yeah, Mahan was taking it pretty hard.

[quinner]

If anyone is to blame it should be Fowler for that knuckle head move in the alternate shot match. If they won that match, Mahan's wouldn't have mattered....

[goochy]

It's a team event...you win together you lose together. McDowell said it best when he said "the man who holes the last putt gets too much credit..." and he's right.

The same goes for Mahan, the pressure he was under must have been near unbearable...every player I heard said the pressure and nerves in the Ryder Cup is worse than a major because yo are not playing for yourself. Mahan didn't lose the Ryder cup, the whole US team did...or more accurately Europe won it.

And as for Mickelson, yes I thought his performance with the press was excellent

[mjf]

Just watched it here: http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-v...560/?ref=26000

Agreed that the U.S team were pretty classy in defeat.

It'll be interesting to see how Mahan comes back from this. Although he hit a poor shot under the most pressure-packed circumstance you can imagine in the game of golf... I hardly think he's the "goat" in this case.

[quinner]

Were Kuchar and Cink drinking Heinekens?!

[cleek]

Mickelson is now the official leader of the U.S team , was great to see how he stepped in for Mahan. The pat on the back and pulling the mic away was true leadership instinct. Good dry sense of humor in defeat too , something that should rub off on the younger guys. I have never been a huge Mickelson fan but he has started to grow on me as a person in the past couple of years , I used to think he was a talented goof, not anymore.

[cleek]

and Cink's response at the end was awesome

[Hacker]

Good on Phil and Cink for really stepping up!!

On a side note.......can anyone tell me the last time Tiger Woods sat in front of a mic for over 16 minutes without anyone asking a "personal" question....

[wboudrea]

And what balls starting with Hunter. Hung the poor guy out to dry. Good on the team.

[Slicer&Dicer]

Well done Europe, well done.

Well you can expect the press to start with Hunter because that seemed to be the biggest story within a story at that moment.

Phil also stepped in when the press later tried to get at Hunter with another question, Phil just said let's skip that one.

Sure these pros care about this cup, but obviously Europe cares for it a lot also since it is the home of golf, just like we canucks care for hockey. The scene with the fans swarmed around McDowell after he won his match with Hunter was just nuts, lol ..The US likes to think they have the best golfers. They will get over it but for Hunter it might sting a little deeper when really it is a TEAM effort regardless of the outcome. As we all know a bad shot in golf can come at anytime and for Hunter it was at the worst possible time. Has the Ryder cup ever came down to the last hole of the last match before? Remember apparently Hunter wanted this last match.

There could have been more points achieved on both sides, a shot here or there. Cink missed a lot of short putts on Monday when previous days he was sinking 15 to 20 ft putts.

I didn't see all the press conference on this but it seemed that Phil, Furyk and Cink came to the defence of Hunter, never heard a peep from Tiger but I could be wrong?

[davevandyk]

The Ryder Cup is completely different than it was 15+ years ago. It used to be that the US just had to be within sniffing distance for singles because they have the better individual players... no longer the case. Not only are the Euros the better team players, but they are showing that they are possibly the better individual players as well.

[goochy]

Has the Ryder cup ever came down to the last hole of the last match before? Remember apparently Hunter wanted this last match.

Yes...1991, it was ever better, the last hole of the last match. Langer had a putt to win which would have made it 14-14 and Europe would have retained the cup. Unfortunately he missed, the match was halved and USA won.

I was at university in England then and as I said somewhere before, back then I didn't play golf, had never picked up a club but we all still watched the Ryder Cup. It is a massive sporting event even for non-golfers. It really is a huge deal in Europe.

[LobWedge]

My favourite tournament by far. All apologies to the guys from the rest of the world, but the President's Cup doesn't even come close.

Hunter Mahan is in the rare position of having experienced the highest of highs in 2008, and the lowest of lows this year. I hope it makes him an even better player for it.

It was a ballsy performance by all the players from both sides. Some guys hit bad shots, every guy hit some great shots. To have it come down to the final match in singles is everyone's dream scenario. I'm already looking forward to 2012.

[brucestats]

ryder cup was really really entertaining

I think the US was outcaptained. Why Furyk or Stricker were not in the last match is beyond me. It was so close, and I think Montgomerie was the difference