The Golf Insiders 10-01-14

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Holly G and Rich Bianco are in the studio to wrap up the Ryder Cup won handily by Team Europe 16 1/2 to 11 1/2.  

Bob Harig, ESPN.com, calls in to talk to Holly and Rich about the Ryder Cup. Bob says that you just need to give it up for Europe, "They just get it done, no matter what!"  Bob pointed out that the Europeans didn't need their main players like Rory to get it done.

On the U.S. side, Bob goes over the results of the top U.S. players who didn't do that well in the entire Ryder Cup. Furyk has 20 losses in Ryder Cup play, the most in U.S. history.

Rich asks Bob about the make up of the team in 2016. Most of the top players made the team on points. Bob is rethinking his take on Ryder Cup and that youth might be the emphasis going forward. The other is to get the 4th captain's pick back and go for the youth and that are playing well at the end. Bob also talks about moving the Captain's picks to later in the year to get some of the hottest players to take to the Ryder Cup who may have not made the team on points. 

Bob also talks about Tom Watson's decisions including sitting Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed in the afternoon on Friday right after playing really well Friday morning. Holly asks Bob about Phil Mickelson not playing Saturday as well as other players and pairings and the press conference at the end.

Bob doesn't feel that Phil should have aired his differences with Watson and maybe do it somewhere else and not in front of the world. Bob feels that the captain gets too much credit and too much blame. It's more about the players playing well. Bob said that "Just because Phil was right doesn't make what he did right." Do you need the PODs that Paul Azinger used to be motivated? Isn't playing in the Ryder Cup and revenge for what happened in Medinah enough motivation?

Bob also mentioned that 7 of the European team members live in the United States and not overseas. He also said that 10 of them either play a lot on the PGA Tour or partially. 

Bob said that Patrick Reed is the USA team's MVP without a doubt.

Jeff Babineau, Golfweek, calls in to talk to Holly and Rich about his experiences at the Ryder Cup. Jeff feels that the players that are selected need to perform. Europe was so deep that they left Justin Rose at home. 

Holly asks Jeff who he thinks the next U.S. captain should be for the Ryder Cup? Jeff says maybe a psychiatrist or a team of them. He also thinks that Paul Azinger has a lot on the line if he takes the chance on being the captain again after what he pulled off in Valhalla. "What if he doesn't win?"

Vartan Kupelian, PGA Tour.com Champions Tour, calls in. Vartan has covered numerous Ryder Cups over the years. Vartan said that the bottom line is that the Europeans have better golfers right now. The U.S. players can hit the ball high, far and straight and the Europeans are all about playing the whole game. The Europeans know how to play the game and know how to score and are not hooked on the technical part of the game. They can get it up and down from anywhere. 

Vartan also pointed out that Jack Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins and the other players records of their time don't compare to the Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson's and the U.S. players records of today because the European players are way better now than in Jack's time. The European Tour is way better now than 40 years ago. 

Vartan feels that the U.S. is at a disadvantage because they aren't excited to be in the Ryder Cup because they like the President's Cup and it's almost the same players for both teams. Whereas the Europeans only play an event like the Ryder Cup every two years and are much more fresher.

Vartan also talks to Holly and Rich about the Champions Tour and John Cook's win. Vartan feels that this is John Cook's time and is ready for the Schwab Cup.