The K Club. Photo coutresy of Ryder Cup

I'm sure I'm not the only golf fan who is concerned about the chances of the U.S. team in the Ryder Cup next month, but I've seen almost nothing about it in the sports media. Writers and commentators are probably hesitant to step on any toes, or they hope the composition of the team will change.

The latter is not going to happen. The points system that determines 10 of the 12 players who make the team is in its last weeks. The Ryder Cup this year is to be held at the K Club in Ireland on September 22 through 24. This is the first time the every-other-year event is being held in Ireland, and to put it bluntly, the Americans are going to need the luck of the Irish to defeat the European squad.

Phil Michelson Photo PGA

Because players can earn point only through the PGA Championship, which concludes on August 20, the current top-10 list is not going to change very much. As of today, the top points earners are Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Jim Furyk. Okay, so far, so good. Mickelson and Furyk as a team was one of the few bright spots in the 2004 Ryder Cup, when the Americans were smoked. Woods, of course, is the best player in the world, but he does have a tepid Ryder Cup record.

Chad Campbell Photo by PGA

Here is where the problems begin. Number 4 on the list is Chad Campbell, an uninspiring player who will be thrust into a very emotional sporting event. Next is David Toms. Ordinarily, this would be an excellent team member. However, Toms has not been the player he was since facing a heart ailment last year, and recently he has been on the shelf because of a bad back. If he is not recovered by mid-September, I hope he steps down and allows a healthy veteran player to replace him.

Chris DiMarco Photo PGA

Okay, number 6 is Chris DiMarco, and I think he'll be a real asset. He battled an injury earlier this year, the death of his mother a month ago, and Tiger Woods down to the wire in the British Open. He is an emotional player who refuses to be intimidated. A different story at number 7 is J.J. Henry. He did win a tournament a few weeks ago, but I can't for the life of me understand how over the past two years he earned enough points to be on the Ryder Cup list. He has no major international competition experience, which is a liability.

Zach Johnson Photo PGA

Zach Johnson, at number 8, is a good player, but after a few years of promise he has not elevated his game to very good player status. His experience on the international scene, too, is limited. Numbers 9 and 10 are Brett Wetterich and John Rollins. Who? These guys are going to strike fear into the hearts of the European players? Number 11 on the list is Vaughn Taylor, so help is not on the way. The next big gun on the list is David Love III, at number 14.

Jim Furyk Photo PGA

So, essentially, we're going to send a half a squad of qualified players to Ireland to take on the likes of Sergio Garcia, Colin Montgomery, Jose Maria Olazabal, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, and others who have been through the wars before. This year's Ryder Cup can be more of a disaster than the 2004 edition.

It was a thrashing of historic proportions, 18 ½ to 9 ½, in the U.S., arguably the most embarrassing loss suffered by the Americans since our first loss on home soil, in 1987. Poor Hal Sutton, for two decades one of the top players on the PGA Tour, has been in hiding since being the captain of the '04 squad. And he had better players than today's team. The 2006 captain, Tom Lehman, will be pulling out the few hairs he has left next month.

Tiger Woods Photo by PGA

It's pretty to think that a team 50 percent composed of players who would be Ryder Cup rejects any other year might work some reverse psychology on Ian Woosnam and his boys at the K Club. They're expected to lose, so they can play more relaxed than the uptight Americans usually do. The Europeans can shrug off the competition until it's too late on Sunday to reverse course. Right, and Tiger Woods won't win another major.

I didn't set out to just bash the U.S. Ryder Cup team. See, the problem is the points system. Originally, the American team consisted of Walter Hagen and other guys he picked to play with him. That system worked from 1927 into World War II. Then the PGA of America devised a variety of systems, which all seemed to work well enough because pound for pound the U.S. players were much better than their British counterparts.

Brett Wetterich Photo PGA

Well, just like the title of that great Til Tuesday album, everything's different now. All of Europe is represented in the Ryder Cup, and in the last quarter-century the caliber of European players is much improved.

Without getting too convoluted: Ryder Cup points are earned by a player's finish in a tournament and in a major tournament, and whether or not it is a Ryder Cup year. This past week, Cory Pavin won a tournament. Say that's worth 300 points. In 2005, not a Ryder Cup year, the victory would have been worth half that, 150 points. A player wins more points by winning a major tournament, with the points doubled in a Ryder Cup year.

John Rollins Photo PGA

A problem is that the tourneys aren't "weighted" based on the quality of the field. The best American players don't compete week after week like Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino, and others did when first-place checks were a fraction of what they are now. This year, Woods and Mickelson may end up participating in less than half of the 44 or so events on the PGA Tour, and many of the top players lose interest after the PGA Championship and stay home until the season-ending Tour Championship.

As a result, against weaker fields guys like Campbell, Wetterich, Lucas Glover and other second-rate players are finishing in the top 10 in routine tourneys more often and earning Ryder Cup points that are equivalent to Ryder Cup points Love or Couples earn at, say, the Players Championship in March when the field is loaded. So when Ryder Cup time comes around, some players who are simply better and have more experience fall into the numbers 11 through 30 trough and they will be watching Zach Johnson and John Rollins in Ireland.

Yes, the American system allows for two captain's picks. They won't be enough to really help Woods, Mickelson, Furyk, and DiMarco.

The bottom line is that the American Ryder Cup team and the PGA should warm up the computers for a 21st-century system. I'm afraid that is going to be glaringly obvious next month in Ireland.