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It doesn't matter who the captains are. All that matters is who is in form over the matches, and who is not.

And since the Ryder Cup moved to Sky no one watches it anyway. The majors are far more interesting.

whilst i agree that le tiss is god
if one would have watched the last few ryder cups one would have seen the influence of good capts (woosie,azinger ) v bad capts (faldo,sutton)

Excellent blog, got it spot on. I can't believe the comments of le_tissier_is_god. Are you real? The Ryder cup is the most important and exciting event in golf. Although the americans may have lost their passion in the last few years after this years performance I for one can't wait till 2010! The Captain is the most important part of the team! Look at Faldo his decisions were wrong from the start!( captains picks) and look where it got him! Losing the ryder cup for us! It would be amazing if woosie got another shot at captain with the home crowd behind the team I can see another European thrashing! Because europe will have a few major winners in the side by then!!

I'm glad to see Pavin as captain. I always admired him as a player, and his wood to the green to win his major was something special. The Ryder cup needs good competition to ensure that it stays as the spectacle it has become, and I've no doubt Corey will do the business for the Americans. If the Euros go for either Woosie or Jose then then it will be game on. Can't wait.

When people say the Ryder Cup is un-important, boring, that the majors are better etc. - it makes me wonder then why people are even taking the time comment about it. Are they being controversial just for the sake of it perhaps?

If people didn't watch it, Sky wouldn't arrange the 30+ hours of live coverage it does. The Americans love it, the Europeans love it, it's a small minority of golf fans who don't really take the time to appreciate the history and allure of the Ryder Cup.

Picking up on what jakefearn wrote in blog 3 and while I agree that Faldo was the Marmite of Ryder Cup Captains (I personally love Marmite but cant say the same about Faldo), his captains picks were good. Poulter stepped up and out-performed all of 'stars' such as Padraig 'charisma' Harrington.

Captains on the American side are more important than European counterparts I feel. More is required to bring the US team together and Azinger did a fantastic job this year, I'm sure Pavin will do just as good. Being a Welshman I'd like to see Woosie take the captaincy again for the Celtic Manor, however, with Thomas Bjorn having a major influence on who is captain I'd put my hard-earned on Jose Maria.

And the Last American captain to win on European soil-the biggest gentleman golf has ever produced

Tom Watson

I just find the 2 years of build up tedious, especially to an event that normally ends in a one-sided contest.

Ask Harrington: would you swap one of your majors for a Ryder Cup win at Valhalla?

And as Tiger Woods says: does anyone actually know Jack Nicklaus' Ryder Cup record?

Like most golf fans, I love the Ryder Cup. I have seen it live and on TV, on both Sky & the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and it is still brilliant. It gives us the chance to take on the USA in a sport that they associate with, as opposed to a sport they invented and we dont really play or like football, where despite the World Cup being played on their home soil, half the country didnt even know it was going on.

As to Corey Pavin as the choice of captain? A good choice. A passionate American who believes in the Ryder Cup is the best type of opponent we can have. I am looking forward to a great event. As to the Desert Storm cap, I have no issue with that. I was there in 1991 and I, like a lot of UK troops, thought he wore it for us and our US counterparts, not to declare war on the European golf team. Corey is a good choice, nothing personal, but I hope he loses!

I have to pick up on Le Tiss Is God (he may have been once, but he's now just a rather plump minor deity).

Firstly, you claim that nobody watches the Ryder Cup since it moved to Sky and that the majors are more interesting - well 2 of the 4 majors are on Sky as well so by your own logic nobody must watch them either.

And as for Tiger's assertion that nobody knows Jack Nicklaus's Ryder Cup record, that is almost certainly because Big Jack played Ryder Cup in an era when it was not competitive and therefore not interesting. In the one year when it was competitive, everyone knows what he did - he conceded that putt to Tony Jacklin. By contrast, because Tiger is playing in competitive Ryder Cups, every golf fan on the planet knows his Ryder Cup record - and it's not brilliant. Believe you me, if Tiger's Ryder Cup record was as good as his record in majors, he wouldn't pooh-pooh the Ryder Cup anything like as much.

The Ryder Cup is clearly the biggest thing in golf, to say otherwise is like saying the FA Cup is bigger than the World Cup.

The Ryder Cup is most certainly not the 'biggest thing in golf', not even close, because the US doesn't take it seriously the ROW doesn't care (for obvious reasons). It may be the closest we come to seeing our countrymen win something in golf but so what? Mickelson was comparing it to the President's Cup not to slight it but as a statement of how it's regarded. Personally I find such enthusiasm for the Ryder Cup embarrassing (better than a major?).

Here's Viner on the importance of the Ryder Cup in the US -

I'm embarrassed for Matt Le Tissier.

You've got a weird-stalker fan out there somewhere Matt....

woodhatch:
I can assure you I've spent far more time in the US than Brian Viner, and he's right that TV coverage is less than stellar.
But that's not because the Ryder Cup is not big in the golf world over here.
It's because golf is not big in the sporting world.
Anything less than the NFL, a college basketball tournament in March/April and tape-delayed Olympics is minor league, relatively speaking.
MLB, NBA, NHL are all widely followed sports but not in the same league as"football".
And you'll notice Viner's piece was written before the Cup had been won/lost. Think the US awareness has been ratchetted up a notch.
Mickelson wasn't comparing the Ryder Cup to the Presidents Cup, he was comparing the US performance in an entertaining exhibition to the semi-warfare of the Ryder Cup.

and letissier is god . . . . but Harrington's performance in the Ryder Cup showed just how much HE cared about it - hopefully he'll stand down if he feels the same in 2010.

It doesn't matter who is captain, it's all about the players performing when they're out there.

Faldo wasn't the best choice as captain, but it wasn't his fault Europe lost the ryder cup.
I'd point my fingers straight at some of the so called high profile players who were rubbish.
Faldo and his troops just followed on the dodgy run of European ryder cup failures in America's backyard(our record is lousy).
It doesn't matter who was captain of this european side, the american's would still have won.

It's a different ball game over here though, the European's now have home advantage and have a great chance of winning.
But let's not fool ourselves that anyone other than Faldo would have led Europe to victory in America.

hey le_tiss_is_god and woodhatchboys....

have u got ur opinions from a knee jerk article in the back of The Sun?When we feel the hurt of losing we blame it on any crap.
The Ryder Cup is massive,record attendances,deafening roars,heated words,blanket tv coverage,this story about Corey Pavin bein named.....Tiger will play it down of course the same way that Monty talks up the European Order of Merit.....
Nobody would ask Harrington to swap a major for a Ryder Cup win,it`s a team and every cog in the team is important even if they play crap and the captain decides who plays...when,what position and with whom,so that is definitely important.
USA were brilliant on the final day,potential record breaking rounds and a massive support...i thought we were great but they were better.
Bring on 2010 and i hope ur not finding the build-up too tedious LE_TISS

Padraig was amazing this year aswell as Sergio, and not forgetting some other memorable performances by other european golfers in the Majors this year.

BUT. It has to be said there is something wrong with the European selection process for the Ryder Cup. Yes the players who have the highest points get themsleves into the top 10 to be automatically picked, but is this right. I think not.

The 12 best players who play as a team and thrive on each others shot play should be in the Ryder Cup team. Of course this will include some of the top 10 players, but it may also include players outside the top 10, dare I say it.

Ok some of you might say it should be the best of USA versus the best of Europe. But on the day (or 3 days), it is not always the case that the best players perform as we have seen.

Padraigs record for the last 2 Ryder Cups has been poor, but perhaps he can do something else for the team on the day. Perhaps Tiger Woods can do something different on the day. The Ryder Cup is a completley different ball game to a Major.

I saw some footage of Faldo after one of his Open wins, he sang 'I did it my way'. Enough said.

I take my hat off to the USA team at Valhalla, they were amazing. Hard luck to the Europeans, lets hope they have a great game at Celtic Park Manor.