General

Ryder Cup and Finding The Eye of the Tiger

Sep 16, 2008, 9:00 PM UTC

â†µ
â†µComing so soon after the Summer Olympics, a quadrennial celebration in which America’s sporting fortitude routinely shines, this week brings us The Ryder Cup, a biennial catastrophe for the U.S. in which the Americans are routinely humiliated by their much more likable and down-to-earth European counterparts. â†µâ†µActually, it only seems that bad. Dating back to 1979, when the continental Europeans were added to the British side, the U.S. has a very respectable 6-7-1 record in the Ryder Cup. Almost .500 -- nothing to sniff at when you consider that our humble nation is going up against an entire continent.â†µ

â†µâ†µRecently, however, things have not been so evenly matched. The Euros have taken five out of the last six Cups, and in the last two competitions, the margin of victory has been positively demoralizing -- nine points at both the K Club in Ireland in 2006 and Oakland Hills in 2004.â†µ

â†µ

â†µWith drubbings like that in our recent memory banks, long gone are the days when we American golf fans anticipate the Ryder Cup with any sense of confidence. There was once was a feeling that with a roster of players of our decorated caliber, led by the perennial world’s number one and two players, Tiger and Phil, a veritable Dream Team if you will, losing to a bunch of no-names from the second-rate European Tour seemed unimaginable.â†µ

â†µâ†µOf course, we have since discovered that Tiger and Phil are just not themselves when it comes to team competition, while Paul Casey morphs into Bobby freakin’ Jones about this time every two years or so. Of the many criticisms that have been levied at the American side over the past decade -- too rich, too coddled, too arrogant -- there is one all-too-rarely mentioned that is the primary cause of their malaise: Too tight. â†µ

â†µâ†µPlayers like Tiger and Phil know they should be wiping the course with the Paul Caseys of the world, but the psychological implications of that knowledge has not helped the American cause. One only need summon to mind a mental image of Europe’s recent victory celebrations -- Darren Clarke chewing on a stogie, Lee Westwood draining a warm one -- to feel how “looseness” has been the secret weapon with which Europe has bludgeoned us at recent Ryder Cups. â†µ

â†µâ†µWhich makes me wonder if this is the year things turn around. As we all know, there will be no Tiger at this week’s competition in Valhalla . Phil is there in all his unpredictable glory, but after that, as far as notable names go, there is really no one who strikes fear into one’s golfing heart. Jim Furyk? Very steady player, yes, but one boasting a 4-9-1 Ryder Cup record. Justin Leonard? Well, we all remember The Putt at Brookline, but do we remember that it only allowed him to halve his match? Because in the Ryder Cup, Leonard has zero victories, with a career record of 0-3-5.â†µ

â†µâ†µAfter those three names, sheesh, just look at this team we are putting on the course. Anthony Kim? Hunter Mahan? Boo Weekley? This is the first time in I-can’t-remember-how-long that, on paper at least, Europe has a definitively better team than we do. In fact, on paper, this may be the worst American Ryder Cup team ever.â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd you know what I say to that? Good riddance. Empty the bloody bench already and let the scrappy subs have at it. We’ve gone into this thing again and again with the masters of the golf universe striding the top-ten colossus and it always ends up the same -- a bunch of Europeans with their arms around each other singing pub songs and hoisting pints of Guinness. I may not know who Anthony Kim is, but maybe, just maybe, Anthony Kim is our secret weapon. Maybe he’s got the eye of the tiger, and maybe that will make all the difference.â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

See More: