Corey Pavin Named Ryder Cup Captain for 2010

The PGA named Corey Pavin as Ryder Cup Captain for the 2010 event in Wales. Pavin has had a long career on tour, with a notable victory in the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, where he held off Greg Norman with his incredible 4-wood shot into the 18th hole in the final round. Overall, he has had 15 wins on tour.

I have no problem with this choice, as he was probably next in line for the job after Paul Azinger. What I am noticing, however, is a trend over the past decade of shorter and shorter resume for our Ryder Cup captains. The fact is, besides Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, professional golfers on both major tours just don't win much anymore. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is due to the huge amount of money these guys make on tour now. Maybe they just are not as hungry, or maybe the fields are just deeper, I don't know.

I will say this though, and I have said it many times before...there are fewer players on tour that really know how to win, and win consistently. I think the 1960's through the early 1980's was probably the Golden Era of golf. Look at how many truly outstanding players there were, and how often they won. Not only tour events, but majors. Let's specifically look at major winners. Obviously you start with Nicklaus and his 18 professional majors, then you have Gary Player (9), Tom Watson (8), Arnold Palmer (7), and Lee Trevino (6). Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo came on at the end of this period and had 5 and 6 majors respectively.

Back during that period, the list of winners is littered with players that won more than one major. From 1960 to 1983, the list of major championship winners is dominated by repeat major championship winners. Since 1990, besides Tiger Woods, there have only been a handful of winners who have gone on to win another major. Among today's players, Tiger has 13 major victories, and his nearest contemporary competitors all have just 3 (Mickelson, Singh, Els and now Harrington).

What I have noticed in recent years is that the only player who goes out and really wins a major without backing into it, is Tiger Woods. In all 3 of his majors, Ernie Els essentially survived while is competitors fell apart. Mickelson did well to win his three, and so have Harrington and Singh. Otherwise, we have not seen any major brilliant displays such as Nicklaus' 65 at Augusta in 1986, Player's 64 at Augusta in 1978, or the splendid battle between Nicklaus and Watson at Turnberry in 1977. And to top the list, Johnny Miller's 63 at Oakmont in 1973.

The point is, going forward, unless either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson is the captain of the Ryder Cup team, the resume of the captain of the U.S. side will be pretty thin in the foreseeable future. Most of the great players from the 1990's just have one major victory (Love and Couples). Payne Stewart should be mentioned here, he had 3. And, in the last five years, only four Americans have won majors (Woods, Mickelson, Todd Hamilton and Zach Johnson).

Somehow, our players need to learn how to win!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net