Steve Stricker has Tough Choices in Groupings
Steve Stricker has a lot of tough decisions as Ryder Cup Captain. Part one was finished a few weeks ago. Now he has to walk the tight rope of trying to find the right combinations of players to try to win the cup in his home state of Wisconsin.
I’m going to start off by getting the nonsense out of the way here. The whole Brooks and Bryson thing is one of the most over played, over hyped narratives still playing. There isn’t much of a story there, it won’t play a factor in how either of them performs, even if Stricker was to pair them together.
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What Stricker does have to do is strike a balance, having six veterans and six rookies. His hands may be a bit tied on what to do because of personnel.
Grouping rookies together could have some adverse effects. Even if it’s say, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa, neither of them have played in this kind of environment. Yes, they’re both ranked top 10 in the world, but they’ve never faced this kind of pressure before.
I would want a rookie paired with a veteran, someone who has been through the battles of the Ryder Cup. Having a teammate that has experience in team play will be very valuable currency, and unfortunately for Stricker, a currency that is a bit scarce in supply.
The suggestion of a Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler pairing has been tossed around as a potential team this week. That’s a pair that would make sense. DeChambeau is playing in his second Ryder Cup, and even though he went 0-3 in France three years ago, he can still help Scheffler as he plays in the Ryder Cup for the first time.
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This is the one disadvantage of having so many freshman on a team. There’s a lot of guys that will be green as they tee off on the first tee Friday morning. Either way, they’ll have to learn quickly.
Steve Stricker has a tall task in front of him. Trying to regain a trophy after the US was dominated by the Europeans at Le Golf National in 2018. It’ll be a challenge to weave his way through the cloud of uncertainty that comes with an inexperienced team.