Paul Azinger: Ryder Cup NFL pick ‘terrible’

• Former Ryder Cup captains rip into USA last pick strategy
• Paul Azinger calls the 12th man reveal at NFL game ‘terrible’
• “Is it showbiz or are you trying to manage players,” said McGinley

Former Ryder Cup captains Paul Azinger and Paul McGinley have heavily criticised the decision of the Americans to leave their final wildcard pick so late.

On Sunday evening, upon the conclusion of the Tour Championship and at half-time of the Chicago Bears v Dallas Cowboys NFL game, the final member of the US team will be announced – with Bubba Watson, Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger said to be the three main contenders.

“Is it showbiz or are you trying to manage 12 players here?” – Paul McGinley

The ‘Horschel Rule’ was set-up by the US Ryder Cup task force after Billy Horschel missed out on Gleneagles in 2014 despite winning two of the four season-ending events to win the FedEx Cup.

Read more -> Paul McGinley backs Darren Clarke to succeed

CONTINUES BELOW…

But with just five days to prepare for Hazeltine, both captains – winners in 2008 and 2014 – clearly are not fans of the decision.

“Is it showbiz or are you trying to manage 12 players here?” McGinley told Golf Channel. “I think the task force has done a lot of good things and the team is in a very good place – there’s no doubt – but I’m really surprised and can’t get my head around leaving this until the 11th hour.

“Psychologically, I think it’s a difficult place to recover from” – Paul McGinley

“Identifying publically one player, who’s the last man in the door. Psychologically, I think it’s a difficult place to recover from.

“For 48 hours, he’s going to have a lot of things going around in his head such as his family and pairings – who he’s going to be playing with. There are too many variables for me leaving it until the 11th hour and it’ll be interesting to see post-Ryder Cup where they go from here.”

Read more -> Ryder Cup ‘not about winning’ – Nicklaus

CONTINUES BELOW…

Paul Azinger, meanwhile, chose to focus on the decision to announce the final pick during Sunday night’s NFL game.

“It’s a terrible idea” – Paul Azinger

“I think it’s a terrible idea,” Paul Azinger told the Irish Independent. “We’re going to announce the final player, arguably the worst player on the team, on the biggest stage. I just don’t understand it.

“I think they should do it five minutes, or ten minutes after the press conference with whoever wins the Tour Championship, and let’s get ready to rock and roll. But they’re not going to do that and I don’t like it.”

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Paul Azinger :: Your thoughts

Do you agree with Paul McGinley and Paul Azinger that it’s daft to leave the last Ryder Cup pick so late? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.