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We’re up for the cup

September 21 - 27, 2016
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Gulf Weekly We’re up for the cup


A good walk spoiled? The best place to go to watch grown men dressed outrageously? Boring? Anyone attaching those labels to golf has likely never watched the Ryder Cup.

The biennial tournament between the US and Europe is a riveting spectacle that pits 12 of the best golfers from each continent in a variety of matchplay formats.

Players used to concentrating on their own game are suddenly thrust into teams with national responsibilities rendering those even at the top of their game jittery.

Crowds stacked 20-30 deep, normally disciplined, erupt into football-style chants and dress as if attending a cricket test match. The atmosphere is intense.

For a few days every two years the golfers are not playing for themselves. They feed off the energy of the crowd and live and breathe every shot. Once they have completed their match, rather than retire to the clubhouse they drape a flag over their shoulders and head back out onto the course to support their team.

Of course, the matchplay format helps. One bad shot does not lose the match. On the next tee you start afresh. This encourages players to be aggressive leading to some spectacular golf. Ironically, it is frequently the highest-ranked players that suffer the most. Tiger Woods has lost more times in the Ryder Cup than anyone.

From inception in 1927 and over the next 50 years the US easily defeated Great Britain and Ireland yet the addition of Europe in 1979 shifted the balance across the Atlantic leading to eight defeats in the last ten outings.

This has led to some withering criticism, the most severe coming from within, leading to the development of a ‘taskforce’ and management set-up designed to replicate the European approach. This has generated high levels of optimism and a belief that the European dynasty is facing its toughest challenge for many years. Captain, Darren Clarke, will be aiming to replicate the excellence of Paul McGinley’s five-point victory at Gleneagles in 2014.

The US-edition will be hosted by Hazeltine National although the course will be unfamiliar to many. Last re-configured in the 1970s by the original architect, the holes have been moved for the Ryder Cup.

The first four holes of this 7,628-yard behemoth are the same although players then skip to the back nine to complete their front nine. The last four holes will be 6-9 from the original layout.

Should the matches last that long there are plenty of ponds surrounding greens that are reachable for the bigger hitters offering birdie opportunities and a potential grandstand finished.

The Stars and Stripes will be under the captaincy of Davis Love III who becomes just the eighth man in history to captain a team more than once. A veteran of six outings as a player, he last captained in 2012 at Medinah.

The US boasts the higher-ranked players and will hope that Jordan Speith is able to repeat his form from Gleneagles when he was one of the few bright spots. Since his victorious debut he has impressed on the world stage winning two majors in 2015 and won the Tournament of Champions in 2016.

He will be joined again by a fellow 2014 rookie, Patrick Reed, who was the US’s best player in Scotland. Appearing to thrive on the pressure he is someone willing to interact with the crowds, adding to the entertainment.

The most experienced player is Phil Mickelson who will be participating in his 11th straight biennial, although he has only been able to lift the trophy on two occasions. However, even at the age of 46 he is still a strong competitor.

Much has been made of the inexperience in Europe’s team with six rookies yet, in Lee Westwood, they have a player hoping to make history. With 20 victories and six ‘halves’ to his name in nine appearances the Englishman needs 2.5 points to surpass Nick Faldo’s Ryder Cup record of 25, although he also has Colin Montgomerie (23.5) and Bernhard Langer (24) in between.

Europe also boasts an Olympic gold medallist in Justin Rose who remained undefeated two years ago and Sergio Garcia, a veteran of seven Ryder Cups who in 2006 at the K-Club became only the second player in history to secure a perfect record from four matches over the first two days.

Despite not having the best record in this competition Team Europe will hope that Rory McIlroy is back to his matchplay best and that his new ‘flatstick’ putter is as successful as it was during the FedEx Cup.

There is one additional legacy that the Ryder Cup has provided social golfers playing day in, day out – the ‘concession’ or ‘gimme’. In 1969 at Royal Birkdale Jack Nicklaus sank a par putt leaving Tony Jacklin to make a 2-foot putt of his own to halve the match. Yet the 29-year-old reached down to throw his marker back to him in a move that has become much more commonplace since.

However, the wildcard to it all is the intangible – pressure. How will the players cope and the fans react?

Abu’s prediction: Hazeltine has a reputation for hosting comebacks and there would be none bigger than for the US to reclaim the trophy at home. With their historic strength being in the singles I expect the US to be victorious.







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