I don’t know of anyone who is surprised by the outcome of the Ryder Cup. Everyone I talked to thought the American team was up against the wall versus the Euro team. One of the biggest concerns was having too many rookies on the team where experience is thought to be so valuable. Guess what:

The Good: The play by the three rookies – Patrick Reed, Jordan Speith and Jimmy Walker.

The Bad: The play of  Bubba Watson (zero points), Zack Johnson and  Webb Simpson (1/2 point each)

The Ugly: Phil Michelson’s poor taste commentary, Tom Watson’s poor lineup choices and the United States’ uniform choices (Red pants? Come on man!!!)

Other musings:

> Colin Montgomerie was a much better color commentator than Johnny Miller.

> NBC had way too much talking and not enough live coverage.

> PGA Tour radio was far better in providing constant live action.

> Early season FedEx points weigh too much on the final standings and selections. The standings need to be skewed more towards performance nearing the final selection time. Having someone rack up points early in the season only to fade down the stretch isn’t the most production way of getting the hotter players on the team.

> Some good to great golfers don’t have the style of game for the type of play used during the Ryder Cup.

> Jim Furyk, while certainly a nice guy and a very good golfer, has 20 losses in Ryder Cup play and recent performance of not being able to close the deal.

Yes, there was other golf going on this past weekend – The Champions Tour was out at Pebble Beach for the First Tee Open. The event was won by John Cook with a tap in on 18 for a 1 stroke win over Tom Byrum. It was “Cookie’s” 10th Championship Tour victory.