The European team has a history of producing these relatively unknown and unheralded players who can catch the American side off-guard. In 2012 at Medinah, it was Nicolas Colsaerts, a Belgian bomber who opened the matches with an absurd birdie streak to carry veteran Lee Westwood to a win over the superstar pairing of Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker. This year, the one Euro who has a chance of crushing American dreams over multiple sessions this year is rookie Victor Dubuisson.
Meet Frenchman Victor Dubuisson, likely destroyer of USA Ryder Cup dreams
People still may not know who he is, but on a European team full of experienced Ryder Cup vets with winning records, Victor Dubuisson is the secret weapon.
The Frenchman shouldn’t catch any American players off-guard, however, as he’s a well-known commodity at this point even if the USA audience might know little about him. Dubuisson was perhaps the hottest player in the world at end of 2013 and the start of 2014, winning November’s Turkish Airlines Open over a field that included Woods, finishing third the next week in Dubai, and then rolling to a top five at the Volvo Golf Champions. His sustained success on the Euro Tour made him a likely Ryder Cup candidate, but he didn’t truly lock it up until the WGC-Match Play event in February.
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It was at the Match Play that the American media, audience, and general PGA Tour watchers fell for the quiet and mercurial Dubuisson. No one knew anything about him, but he had to be good just to get in the bracket of the top 64 players in the world. Then as a No. 7 seed, he advanced all the way to the finals, where he was on the mat several times before finally falling to Jason Day on the 23rd hole. The extra holes included two of the most ridiculous recovery shots in the history of the PGA Tour. Dubuisson hit out of the desert and through a cactus TWO TIMES to recover and stay even with Day. On the first, it appeared the match was over but he’d just punch out as a formality, hitting a TV cable and ending up with cactus chunks stuck to his pants and socks.
The next shot from some rocky desert terrain left Day laughing and grinning, as again Dubuisson put it to just a few feet to stay in the match.
The performance prompted many PGA Tour pros and former pros, such as Gary Player, to tweet their incredulous applause throughout the match. It was only February, but this work in the match play format had Graeme McDowell, a likely Ryder Cupper, tweeting this anticipation for the Frenchman’s candidacy in September’s matches.
Those may be the two best escape shots I've ever seen. Allez Victor. #rydercup2014
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) February 23, 2014 Even the USA captain was so impressed that he felt the need to tweet about it.
Two of the greatest up-and/downs I have ever seen Victor!!!
— Tom Watson (@TomWatsonPGA) February 24, 2014 Almost seven months later, Dubuisson arrives in Scotland ready to pull off some more miracles and really, really piss off his American counterparts. They won’t be laughing like Day if he’s able to turn should-be wins into sudden halves or losses.
Dubuisson didn’t keep up the pace from the end of last year and the start of this year, but he did post top 10 results at the British Open and last month’s PGA Championship. Those two recovery shots were the highlights, but he’s settled in at age 24 as one of the world’s best players. So he’s still in form and should be a force for the Euro side, even if people still don’t really know who he is.
Age: 24
World ranking: 23
Ryder Cup record (Win-Loss-Halve): 0-0-0
Past Ryder Cup appearance: None
How he qualified: Automatic spot -- 3rd (of 4) in European Points List (would have also made it on World Points)
