Is it time for golf’s governing bodies to get together and create non-exclusive international team events?
The more I observe team events like the Ryder Cup, President's Cup, and Solheim Cup, the more I miss outstanding players who are not included. Golf has finally become so very international in scope and excellence and there are outstanding players from many different countries. In fact, that is one reason the President’s Cup was created (yes, and to make money from TV).
To have these team events be narrow in their definition of teams (for example, the Solheim Cup not designed to include the best 20 or 30 Sims/Kims/Ohs from S. Korea) can leave some of the best players out in the cold just watching.
The USA no longer has world dominance, and the USA should no longer be the centerpiece of the team events: USA vs. Europe, USA vs. “the rest of the world”, etc. are not as relevant as they used to be. For example, wouldn’t the Europeans like to play the “Rest of World” team? Aside, the “Rest of World” team will definitely need a new team name – that one is a mouthful…..
What about a men’s event involving the three teams from the Ryder/President’s Cups (North America, Europe, “Rest of World”) in a round robin format? And then the same for the ladies, too.
Yes, there would be problems designing and implementing the format, but isn’t it time to start addressing these problems?