Thursday, September 28, 2006 Chiongbian: The no thrill, predictable Ryder Cup By Edgar R. Chiongbian Tee time
THE 2006 Ryder Cup has come and gone; no big surprises, no extraordinary thrills—just an old fashion entertainment. In the US, they would say that this is like a TV movie too mean without a real bang. The European team was highly favored and was predicted to win decisively and they did. It was a very easy prediction for anyone to make, just by merely looking at the lineup.
Tiger Woods said it was painful to watch the team lose that badly and offered two reasons why the US team lost. He believes that, “Curing America’s Ryder Cup ills requires an infusion of good young players, getting off to better starts in the matches...” Tiger added the US has no players under 30, while the Europeans have three players in their 20’s who have won numerous tournaments around the world; Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey.
On the surface, it appears that Tiger hit the nail on the head with his comments but, in my view, he avoided to mention the major reason why the US team lost. And it is in the selection process for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He probably sidestepped this issue to protect the guys who were very excited and thrilled of making the team. And of course, it wasn’t the players’ fault that they ended up on the hot seat but the system that placed them there.
The US system of choosing the players for the Ryder cup team is a little confusing. The PGA tour give points to the golfers who win and are in the top 10 of a given tournament, which includes the Europeans, South Africans, Asians, etc. So the points are given across the board and is not fair to US players who are robbed of the precious points that are taken by a European or Asian player. On the other hand, in the European’s Order of Merit, they only give points to the Europeans for ranking.
Wouldn’t it be very interesting to see who would have made the US team if they go back and reevaluate the points by reassigning the points taken by other players? I believe that unless the US corrects this, it will be a very long time before they win another Ryder Cup and it might as well be called the European Ryder Cup with the US as guest players for an exhibition match; just like the Harlem Globetrotters.
The 36-hole Mactan Open at MIGC was a complete success. Fernando Mondares scored a two-day total of gross 144 strokes (even par 72 average) to run away with championship and take home the top prize of P25, 000 worth of merchandize. Hubert Calan, with 149 strokes, came in second and Mark Dy, grossed 150 to take third place. Masayuki Matsumoto scored 152 and Oscar Cornelio hit 155 to take fourth and fifth places, respectively.
I had always advocated that Cebu have an Open golf tournament for the top amateurs to compete in and finally Mactan Island GC has made the first move. I hope the Cebu Country Club, Alta Vista and Club Filipino will recognize the value of this tournament and join the bandwagon and have a rotational hosting of the Cebu Open golf tournament. And maybe to make this into a bigger field, a secondary level for the 10-and-above category can be included.
There are more tournaments at MIGC with the Marina/ Maritime golf tournament being played today and next Saturday, the Tactical Operations Command golf tournament to honor Major General & MIGC chairman, Jaime Viernes.
This Saturday is the CCC monthly medal tournament. Most tee slots are already taken but there are still some single spots available so go check it out.
Rene Sarmiento is calling all blue eagles to cheer for the Ateneo basketball teams playing today against FEU and UST in a championship double-header at 2pm and 4pm. The CCC tavern is expecting a huge crowd and an SRO, so come early.
GOLF TIP. Most directional problems can be traced back to your swing. If your shaft or clubhead is pointing to the right of your target at the top of the backswing that usually means you’ve lifted your arms too much and the ball will slice.
And if your shaft or clubhead is pointing to the left of your target at the top of the swing, that means you rotated your forearm too much on the backswing and you will hit grounders, pull hooks and maybe a shank.
To avoid these faults, use the angle of the shaft during your address as the swing plane. Keep the club on this plane throughout your backswing. Swing the club back in the same line until your left arm is parallel to the ground by making a mental note that the clubhead stay along the target line on the ground and the butt of the grip pointing slightly below the target line on the way up.
