Man are you saying you'd leave Mick off the team??
Number 2 in the world...birdies like crazy...experience...likeable/team player (I have to presume anyway)...
No.
I'm saying he's historically played like crap over in Europe. Nothing wrong with that, just the way it is.
He's historically a mediocre Ryder Cup player (10-14-6) and he's a difficult guy to play alternate shot with because he's such a bomb-n-gouger.
Sooooo...I would keep a very careful eye on Phil and not make and not just play him in every team match just because he's the #2 ranked player in the world because frankly....that don't mean jack in the Ryder Cup. If that was the case, Tiger and Phil would've never lost as a team.
Here's the guys that statistically fit into a good partner for Phil (AS = Alternate Shot, BB = Best Ball)
Stricker (AS), Kuchar (AS), Watson (AS), Mahan (BB or AS), Furyk (BB)
This doesn't include the captain choices. But it figures in several statistical factors from this year like birdie percentage from fairway, birdie % from rough, scoring avg from 175-200 yards, scoring avg. from 200-225 yds, par-3, par-4 and par-5 scoring average, etc.
I think if I was the captain, I'd try to get ahold of the MIT statistician guys to do even more in depth analysis in what type of players statistically work well together, what type of players are good captain picks, etc.
I will say that Cink is on fire. I wasn't high on him at all, but he's proven me wrong. Although Azinger agreed with one sentiment I had...a lot of this talk about 'experience' often means that the players have 'bad experience' and aren't worth it.
3JACK