The Ryder Cup is a curious concept. Golf, the most individual of sports. Morphed into a team event. Most likely out of a sense of tribalism. Americans think they’re the greatest in the world at everything. Naturally, when someone adopts that stance, instinct is to challenge it.
Hence the inception of the biennial team-based event where a team of 12 Americans take on a dozen of the top Europeans over three days of competition in alternating venues for each staging.
Then, over the three days, the golf is played over three different formats. Foursomes, where the players hit alternate shots with one ball, fourballs, where each player hits their own ball and finally singles, which is, what you might call ‘normal’ golf. Every player for themselves.
However, seeing as it is a team event, by my reckoning, it absolutely calls for a horses for courses policy when it comes to team selection. But it appears Luke Donald has abandonned such notions. To some degree at least.
Quite simply because the omission of Sergio Garcia is a glaring one. The Spaniard has been the standout Ryder Cup player of my lifetime. Where his compatriot, the incomparable Seve, was for a previous generation.
Well, whilst not in any detracting in my admiration for Garcia, it must be acknowledged that his most memorabe contributions in blue and gold have been conjuction with Ian Poulter over the years.
Granted, Poults obviously wouldn’t have been even considered this time around – wrong in my view given his decorated history in and passion for the joust against the Yanks – because whatever golf he’s playing, if any, appears to be on the big, bad wolf that is the LIV Golf tour. But to leave out both Poulter and Garcia out represents a potentially gigantic gaffe by the dour and inscrutable Donald.
That said, his US counterpart, Keegan Bradley has also taken what I believe to be a gargantuan gamble which, in my view, won’t do the chances of the stars and stripes any good in New York. Not that one has any issue with such being the case in a patriotic sense. However, any serious and/or objective observer of the tee to green fare would readily acknowledge that Bradley has been one of the most impressive performers on the PGA Tour throughout the season just concluded. Thus, few if anybody could have had any qualms if the son of the great Pat had included himself on the playing roster.
It certainly won’t have done European prospects of victory any harm that he hasn’t. The two teams in full for the action from September 26th to 28th in New York are as follows:
TEAM EUROPE
R. McIlroy, S. Lowry, R. MacIntyre, T. Fleetwood, T. Hatton, J. Rose, R. Hojgaard, J. Rahm, S. Straka, L. Aberg, V. Hovland, M. Fitzpatrick.
TEAM USA
S. Scheffler, X. Schauffle, P. Cantlay, C. Morikawa, C. Young, JJ Spaun, S. Burns, H. English, J. Thomas, B. DeChambeau
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