Nicklaus was 51 in 1991 and had not won on Tour since the 1986 Masters. I wouldn’t exactly call it crazy that Dave Stockton left him off the team.
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I don’t think they were openly mean to each other because no one called Hal Sutton Halimony to his face. 100% understand the nickname though after keeping score for his pro am group as a freshmen in high school and him being a straight up asshole for 5 hours. On an unrelated note also saw Jim Thorpe that day and he had 7 putters with him. He had so many that he kept two of them in the basket of the golf cart. Gave off great vibes for a dude that would be in prison 6 months later
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I going to admit i am 31 years old, at that time Jack would have been about 51 and based on my research was well outside the top 100 of the OWGR.
Personality aside. How could a captain take him?
I personally don’t think Raymond Floyd was a better pick than Nicklaus, but considering on the pod the general consensus was the other guys were scared to play with Jack. Plus if you’re comparing wins the last time Floyd won before the cup was the Oldsmobile at Disney in 1986, and he was 49 years old as well.
Floyd was around 48th in OWGR and Jack was around 123ish 
EDIT- maybe Floyd was a more “friendly” and comforting presence compared to Jack? I don’t know at all.
Again, all of this is well before my time/Understanding of golf. But maybe picking teams like this brings more flavor too?
Maybe they didn’t want Jack to concede Langers putt and then go on to build a golf course with him in FL called Concession ii
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He’d have to change them names to A Concession if he built two
Sounds like a great mixtape though
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I’m sure Mr. Nicklaus handled the ‘89 loss at his home ATM errrr course with total grace and humility.
This is my concession
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Too damn good as always
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It was 1987 at Muirfield Village. The 1989 Ryder Cup was at The Belfrey in England.
Mea culpa, regret the error etc
He also hadn’t played in a Ryder Cup since '81. I’m kind of with you. I don’t really get why he even would have been considered for the team, let alone surprised he was left off.
Was it because he won 3 Senior Majors?
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Floyd had two top 10’s in majors in 1991, and finished 2nd in The Masters in 1990 and 1992. He was still in form, and was pretty intimidating back then for a golfer.
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Good call, I stand corrected
Gotta remember - Dave Stockton made no mention of Nicklaus. But Gallacher did in his book, which also included a number of outrageous claims.
Nothing I found indicated Jack was close to being considered.
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Fucking this.
I really don’t like Reed, but my god is he fun to watch play.
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Thanks for clearing this up, gave it a re-listen this morning. After hearing again what Stockton said regarding his captain’s picks makes a lot more sense.
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