US Ryder Cup Qualifications Misunderstood by PGA and Sports Illustrated

PGA President Roger Warren recently confirmed that he was involved in the idiotic thinking that developed the US Ryder Cup selection system in an article by SI’s Bob Casper. And Bob, God bless him, showed why his Dad – the great and underrated Billy Casper - must be exasperated with him.

Warren said “The reason we reward points in the top 10 is it becomes difficult to look at a player who finishes 24th and 25th. If there are a lot of European players in the field, those are the players they’re going to compete against at the Ryder Cup. “Play harder. Play better.”
Brilliant! What about 11th place … or 12th? Why have a point system that counts an 11th place finish the exact same as a missed cut? I’m sorry but finishing in the top 20 in any full field event, especially Majors, is playing very well indeed. The Europeans recognize this and base half of their criteria on the current year’s money list. That, in addition to taking the top 5 rated Europeans in the World Rankings. And one other thing, Roger - most of the top ten opportunities lost to Americans are not being taken by Europeans. They’re primarily being taken by South Africans and Australians, along with the occasional Canadian, South American or Asian grabbing one. Here’s a thought for the PGA: use the exact same selection process that the Euros do. At least then the teams would be on equal footing.

Bob Casper, in a stunning display of golfing IQ, agreed with Warren. Then to further underscore his lack of a grasp on the situation, he quoted his father as saying “The players that are playing the best the year leading into the Ryder Cup are the one’s that should be on the team.” But most intelligent observers would agree with Casper Sr., so why does the PGA give any consideration at all to the previous 2 years performance? Bob conveniently doesn’t address that. He also defends the disaster that allowed John Rollins to earn more Ryder Cup points for winning a second-tier event than Chris DiMarco got for beating every one of the best players in the world at the Open Championship except for Tiger Woods. Yes, Rollins should have gotten credit for a win. The problem is that any tournament opposite a Major or WGC event should NOT be considered a “regular event”. Fact is, it’s only a notch above a Nationwide Tour event. He should’ve gotten about half credit, as it was reflected in the purse for the event. One more good decision there, Roger.