Horschel Likely Would Have Skipped Ryder Cup Anyway

While Ryan Ballengee makes a sensible case for the PGA of America re-evaluating when the points list and captain's picks are decided for the Ryder Cup, he does neglect to address the PGA Tour's inevitable dissatisfaction with seeing the Ryder Cuppings overshadowing their uh, Super Bowl of golf that draws about 1/108th the audience.

Still, there is this about where we were a few weeks ago and now with Team USA:

Had Watson been given longer to evaluate his choices, would he still have picked the three he did? Just some of them? Watson won't say, but it's hard not to see the juxtaposition of players that were picked for the team against the ones staying home when the U.S. team heads to Gleneagles.

I would counter that if the playoffs are not going to move from the current August-September window--and it's hard to see Commissioner Goodell South admitting they aren't working--that at least the Ryder Cup decision every two years might add some extra spice to the playoffs that no algorithm can match.

As for Billy Horschel, who makes you want to see him on Team USA with his play and his charisma, Jason Sobel reports Horschel's wife is due during the Ryder Cup and he would have sat it out unless labor was induced early.

So while Team USA is grinding it out at Gleneagles, Horschel will be counting his money and supporting his wife as they celebrate a newborn. And maybe it's just better it worked out this way. Not that this is an excuse for revisiting the deadlines in the bizarro 2016 season.

Sobel also notes this bit of irony:

Back in 1979, Tom Watson was prepared to compete in the Ryder Cup before withdrawing from the competition to witness the birth of his first child.