"When they say he didn’t play enough or isn’t committed enough, look at the numbers."
/The Irish press appears to be on the only sizable audience excited about Padraig Harrington's selection to the Ryder Cup team, with former U.S. Captain Paul Azinger openly mocking the choice on Twitter, as Lawrence Donegan reports. Even Padraig probably became a little less thrilled when his nemesis Sergio was named as an assistant Captain.
But as Steve Elling reports, the head-scratcher remains Paul Casey and his omission from the squad. But he's got Peter Kostis coming to his defense! But it is a strong defense:
"When they say he didn’t play enough or isn’t committed enough, look at the numbers," Kostis said.
Fair enough. Of the two PGA Tour members who were picked ahead of him Sunday, Padraig Harrington, who hasn’t won a tournament in two years and hasn’t won a match in the past two Ryder Cups, played in two European Tour events in 2010. Luke Donald, ranked No. 10 in the world last week, one slot below Casey, played in four European events this year. Casey has played in five.
Kostis predicts an overhaul coming to the European points system, though was it really necessary to take such a cheap shot by comparing it to the FedExCup farce?
"In my opinion, the real bad thing here is the system," Kostis said. "It sucks when you can’t manage to get a player with two big PGA Tour wins or a guy ranked No. 9 in the world on the team. Their system is even more convoluted than FedEx Cup points.
"The net result of this whole debacle is that their points system is going to change."