The U.S. is dominating golf again, as it always did until the rise of great European players in the 1980s and '90s such as Ballesteros, Faldo, Langer, Lyle and Woosnam. Except for the Ryder Cup that is. The Euros broke through in 1985 with a win on U.S. soil and have mostly dominated ever since. In recent years though the "home" team has been winning, with winning on the road not achieved since the Europeans accomplished it in 2012. And trying to win on the road is what the Europeans are facing this week as the event will be held on Bethpage Black outside of NYC.
If you like golf but find it boring on television, watch Friday, Saturday and Sunday and you'll see a supercharged atmosphere of fans yelling themselves hoarse and players celebrating good shots and individual and team wins. The Ryder Cup has become a whole different beast from the usual golf tournament and is one of the great sports events in the world. When the U.S. Open was held at Bethpage Black in 2002 the fans were loud as hell, so it should be deafening this weekend (with lots of taunting and heckling of the Euros).
The teams:
U.S.
- Keegan Bradley, Captain (he's actually played well enough this year that he could have named himself to the team but chose not to)
- Scottie Scheffler (number one in the world by a large margin; currently on a several year run that is as good as Tiger Woods was at his peak but with about one percent of the acclaim Woods received)
- Xander Schauffele
- Bryson DeChambeau (I'm glad the LIV players weren't excluded)
- Justin Thomas
- Patrick Cantlay
- Sam Burns
- Russell Henley
- Collin Morikawa
- Cameron Young
- J. J. Spaun
- Harris English
- Ben Griffin
- Co-Captains: Jim Furyk, Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Gary Woodland
Europeans
- Luke Donald, Captain (returns after leading the Europeans to victory two years ago)
- Rory McIlroy
- Jon Rahm
- Viktor Hovland
- Justin Rose
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Ludvig Aberg
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Shane Lowry
- Robert MacIntyre
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Sepp Straka
- Rasmus Hosgaard
- Co-Captains: Jose Maria Olazabal, Thomas Bjorn, Edoardo Molinari, Francesco Molinari, Alex Noren
Both teams are very impressive. I'll be rooting for the Americans but it won't surprise me in the least if the Europeans continue their ability to rise to the occasion for this great event. They have superb comaraderie while being able to motivate themselves as being the "underdogs" even though since 1985 the Europeans are 12-6-1 in the Ryder Cup.
If you like golf but find it boring on television, watch Friday, Saturday and Sunday and you'll see a supercharged atmosphere of fans yelling themselves hoarse and players celebrating good shots and individual and team wins. The Ryder Cup has become a whole different beast from the usual golf tournament and is one of the great sports events in the world. When the U.S. Open was held at Bethpage Black in 2002 the fans were loud as hell, so it should be deafening this weekend (with lots of taunting and heckling of the Euros).
The teams:
U.S.
- Keegan Bradley, Captain (he's actually played well enough this year that he could have named himself to the team but chose not to)
- Scottie Scheffler (number one in the world by a large margin; currently on a several year run that is as good as Tiger Woods was at his peak but with about one percent of the acclaim Woods received)
- Xander Schauffele
- Bryson DeChambeau (I'm glad the LIV players weren't excluded)
- Justin Thomas
- Patrick Cantlay
- Sam Burns
- Russell Henley
- Collin Morikawa
- Cameron Young
- J. J. Spaun
- Harris English
- Ben Griffin
- Co-Captains: Jim Furyk, Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Gary Woodland
Europeans
- Luke Donald, Captain (returns after leading the Europeans to victory two years ago)
- Rory McIlroy
- Jon Rahm
- Viktor Hovland
- Justin Rose
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Ludvig Aberg
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Shane Lowry
- Robert MacIntyre
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Sepp Straka
- Rasmus Hosgaard
- Co-Captains: Jose Maria Olazabal, Thomas Bjorn, Edoardo Molinari, Francesco Molinari, Alex Noren
Both teams are very impressive. I'll be rooting for the Americans but it won't surprise me in the least if the Europeans continue their ability to rise to the occasion for this great event. They have superb comaraderie while being able to motivate themselves as being the "underdogs" even though since 1985 the Europeans are 12-6-1 in the Ryder Cup.
