:: September 10
28 September 2010
It’s Ryder Cup week and although I am not going to be in South Wales I shall be taking a huge interest as things start to unfold at Celtic Manor. How could I not?
I got my first taste of the Ryder Cup at Valhalla two years ago and, quite simply, I can hardly put into words how good it was to play in such a team environment. Ours is a very individual sport and careers are defined by the tournaments we win, but to put all that aside for one week and to play with, and for, a team is really special.
Even though we lost to a very good United States side in Kentucky, there were still enough highlights to make me determined to come back for more. Unfortunately, this time around, it was not to be. Things did not quite work out the way I had planned and in the end — as everybody knows — I missed out on a captain’s pick. Poults is going to have to do it without me this time!
Going into the Tour Championship that finished last night in Atlanta, my priorities had to lie with my attempt to win what is one of the most important tournaments on the PGA Tour. Starting the week, I was still in with a shout of winning the FedEx Cup series and finishing the season as Player of the Year in the States.
Some have suggested that such a scenario may have embarrassed Colin Montgomerie for not picking me — or, for that matter, Paul Casey, who was in exactly the same boat — but I don’t buy into that. In the end, Monty had a really difficult task and it came down to choosing three players from five. By the time I was teeing off in Atlanta last week there was nothing I could do to change the situation. What was done, was done.
If nothing else, it just goes to prove how hard it has been to get on to the team this year. People have asked me my feelings about not being picked, but the same questions would also have been directed towards Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald or Edoardo Molinari if they had been left out. Two of us were always going to be unfortunate.
Earlier in the season it seemed that I had only an outside chance of getting into the team. My year started slowly and I missed out on some big tournaments, especially the Masters and the US Open. These are the events where you can virtually seal your place in the team, as Graeme McDowell did with his fantastic win in the US Open at Pebble Beach. It meant, then, that I was always playing catch-up.
However, I really did turn things around by the middle of the summer. I felt that I needed two wins under my belt to secure a place in the team and when I won twice in the space of three tournaments in the US my stock climbed considerably. Just prior to the Open Championship my form was as good as anybody’s and I felt confident that I was on my way to Celtic Manor.
It was a shame that I didn’t get the job done, but other guys played well and deserved their spots. In terms of my playing schedule, in the end I couldn’t do anything about it.
Had I gone back and played in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles — brilliantly won, incidentally, by Edoardo — it might have been a huge show of faith and commitment to the cause. But by that time, I could not play my way on to the team and I thought it best to continue to play well and to stick to the schedule I had set myself.
When it was in my control two years ago, I amended my schedule and did everything I could to make the team. This year it was a different scenario. I was always relying on a captain’s pick. It didn’t pan out, but I’m very philosophical about it.
I was hugely disappointed at the time, but that is what can happen when you end up relying on a wild card — it doesn’t always go your way. In the end there were five good players chasing three spots.
A couple of weeks before the announcement, it looked as if it would be me, Paul Casey and Padraig Harrington, which would have been pretty easy for Monty. Then Martin Kaymer knocked Luke Donald off the World points list by winning the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and it got a little trickier. And then it got even messier for all of us when Edoardo put in such a huge run at the end.
Make no mistake, though, he fully deserves his place. I can’t wait to see how he and Francesco, his brother, play together. How exciting is that for the Ryder Cup?
If nothing else, my absence will make me even more determined to get into the team in 2012. In the meantime, I shall be at Celtic Manor in spirit, cheering on the boys. I predict a close win for Europe. The score? 15-13.
