Ryder Cup 2021

[Matthew Rose]

I won't be convinced until the US wins in Europe again.

[archie_struthers]

 


Great show , plenty of winners in the red,white and blue outfits and some champs on both sides. Rory certainly touched us all in his post match interview and Shane Lowry and Rahm played their heart out.


Kudo's to both sides well done!

[Ben Hollerbach]

I won't be convinced until the US wins in Europe again.

7 of the last 8 Ryder Cup's have been won by the home team. The lone road win in the past 15 years required the greatest Singles session comeback by a road team ever. Not only that, but only once in the last 8 Ryder Cups has the home team won with less than 16 1/2 points.


Home team course setup has truly become the 13th man for these matches and until that changes it's hard to expect a road team to win again.

[Mike_Trenham]

The European Tour is financially stressed and is a concern towards creating a pipeline of future competitors.  Not player from Europe and their families are suited to thrive living in America.

Mike,

I was hoping you could elaborate more on that comment.  One could argue that playing the majority of their golf in the US has enabled Rahm, Sergio, Rory, and Rose to become what they did!

If the Euro tour in its current state more closely resembles the Korn Ferry tour, then so be it...

What I am saying is there have been players like Victor Dubison (sp) and Westwood’s families whose way of life did not jive with being in the US most of the year.  It’s can be difficult when all your life is except golf (parents, siblings, food you love, your sports teams) are thousands miles away from the center of competition on the other side of the globe. 


Yes it has helped Rham and others but this is the first moment in decades that the Euro tour has been so diminished and to win the Ryder Cup each team can’t lose out on potential players who fail to develop.


Seve never played in the US up to the level he did in Europe and it likely had a lot to do with him not loving being in the states.

[Kalen Braley]

Mike,

While I certainly agree with that sentiment, if you look at which Euros turned into beasts, in the last 20 years almost all of them developed by playing mostly in the states as pros.

So if Europe really does want to win...aka produce better players, like it or not, state-side seems to be the best path to get there...

[Mike_Trenham]

Mike,

While I certainly agree with that sentiment, if you look at which Euros turned into beasts, in the last 20 years almost all of them developed by playing mostly in the states as pros.

So if Europe really does want to win...aka produce better players, like it or not, state-side seems to be the best path to get there...

Yes exactly unless you want to learn to speak English and live in the United States there is no place for you in professional golf today to perfect your game.  The golf world needs big time local tours and not a 51 week wrap around season on the PGA Tour.

[James Reader]

Great show , plenty of winners in the red,white and blue outfits and some champs on both sides. Rory certainly touched us all in his post match interview and Shane Lowry and Rahm played their heart out.


Kudo's to both sides well done!

Shane Lowry “ I won The Open by six shots in my home country and this week is by far the best week of my golfing career.”.  Wow!

[Kalen Braley]

Mike,

While I certainly agree with that sentiment, if you look at which Euros turned into beasts, in the last 20 years almost all of them developed by playing mostly in the states as pros.

So if Europe really does want to win...aka produce better players, like it or not, state-side seems to be the best path to get there...

Yes exactly unless you want to learn to speak English and live in the United States there is no place for you in professional golf today to perfect your game.  The golf world needs big time local tours and not a 51 week wrap around season on the PGA Tour.

Not sure I'm understanding what you're advocating.

But it seems like if you want the best players to stay and play in Europe and get good experience, the Euro tour needs to dangle some much larger purses to attract them and more competitive fields.  Outside of that, I'm not sure what would work.

The PGATour offers a lot to it members, if the Euro Tour wants to compete...then they need to compete. 

[Rob Marshall]

I think it’s funny the doom and gloom everyone is throwing on the Euros. They have one 7 of the last 10 right? Something like that any way and it was only three years ago when they beat the crap out of us.


I’ve always been a Sergio fan even though he a bad habit of making an ass of himself. Sergio gets the sportsman ship award this year and the biggest ass was Koepka. He even acted like an ass just sitting behind DJ in the interview session imo. I get the impression and it may not be true, that he has no professional respect for anyone on either team.


Lastly, is it possible that the players told Stricker they didn’t want Reed on the team? He picked a guy with no professional wins ahead of him. He looks  like a genius but it was a ballsy pick. Birdied 5 of the first 6 yesterday and taking down world number 1!

[Kalen Braley]

Rob,

Its not like its based solely on this year's outcome  Look at the core group of Euros who have been USA slayers:

Sergio - 41
Casey - 44
Poulter - 45
Westwood - 48
Rose - 41 (didn't make it this year, but normally right there)
Donald - 43 (ditto)

These guys are the meat and potatoes of those killer teams and age has caught up to them, (and in 2 years just that much older).  Meanwhile they have a beast going forward in Rahm, and maybe Lowry... but this ain't Basketball where one or two guys can take over a game.

P.S.  I didn't mention Rory, but he's 11-9-4 in RC which is good but damn he sure seems to have a ton more grey's.

[Rob Marshall]

I understand and you are probably right but don't forget almost every year the American team is better on paper than the Euro's.


The young Americans can disappear as fast as Thomas Peters. He was a stud in Paris. Golf is a goofy game. I wouldn't count Rory and Sergio as done yet but I do think that Sergio will play his last cup in two years.


Some new players will come along for both sides. I just hope the Ryder Cup doesn't end up like the Presidents cup. That's depressing to watch.

[Brian_Ewen]

The young Americans can disappear as fast as Thomas Peters.

 

[Rob Marshall]

The young Americans can disappear as fast as Thomas Peters.

 

It’s a fickle game. Nick Watney, Taylor Vaughn, Hunter Mahan, Chamblee wrote off Jordan at the start of this year. Basically said he was done. He had a very good year. Some guys just disappear.

[JESII]

I think Brian was suggesting Thomas Pieters hasn't disappeared.


Considering the level he achieved 3 - 4 years ago, he's certainly taken a large step back...but maybe not fully vanished.

[jeffwarne]

After years or Euro dominance, we play well, Europe doesn't, and we win one...in a row.........on home soil.
We were huge favorites on paper, and for once, it panned out-who knows why.
It could be as simple as we were due, or it could be a avalanche of many factors.


There is SO much extrapolation going on everywhere about the RC, which is mostly pointless.
In two years, we'll play it again, and we'll see how that goes.
There are great players everywhere.Some weeks they play better than other weeks.
I wouldn't count out a 50 year old Westwood or a 40 something Sergio-especially in Europe.
And no doubt some fresh Euro faces will evolve.

[Rob Marshall]

I think Brian was suggesting Thomas Pieters hasn't disappeared.


Considering the level he achieved 3 - 4 years ago, he's certainly taken a large step back...but maybe not fully vanished.

He's 64th in the Race to Dubai and 110 in the world rankings.

[Tim Martin]

Whenever I see a reference to Ryder Cup players not getting paid and the sacrifice they make to play I have to wonder about the current state of the game and where things veered off course. If playing for your country is a sacrifice then you might not be the right pick.

[JESII]

Watney is 660

[Rob Marshall]

Whenever I see a reference to Ryder Cup players not getting paid and the sacrifice they make to play I have to wonder about the current state of the game and where things veered off course. If playing for your country is a sacrifice then you might not be the right pick.

Tim, I would agree with that if the event wasn't generating millions of dollars in profits for the PGA of America. If you were a lawyer would you work on a case pro-bono for the bar association that you knew was going to generate a million dollar profit that they were going to keep for themselves? Oh and my the way if you lost the case you were going to get the crap kicked out of you by the media? They don't need the money and I don't have a problem with them not getting paid but I think they should be getting more than $100,000 for their charity. $500K? I guess you would need to know how much money is made by the cup. I know back in the day it lost money but that was long ago.


"Though the Ryder Cup participants don’t receive appearance money, the PGA of America reportedly gives Team USA’s players $200,000 each to donate to charity. Half of that amount goes to youth-golf development programs selected by the PGA, while the other half is up to the player." Golf.com

Euro's get a gift from the captain. No money for charity.

[Tim Martin]

Whenever I see a reference to Ryder Cup players not getting paid and the sacrifice they make to play I have to wonder about the current state of the game and where things veered off course. If playing for your country is a sacrifice then you might not be the right pick.

Tim, I would agree with that if the event wasn't generating millions of dollars in profits for the PGA of America. If you were a lawyer would you work on a case pro-bono for the bar association that you knew was going to generate a million dollar profit that they were going to keep for themselves? Oh and my the way if you lost the case you were going to get the crap kicked out of you by the media? They don't need the money and I don't have a problem with them not getting paid but I think they should be getting more than $100,000 for their charity. $500K? I guess you would need to know how much money is made by the cup. I know back in the day it lost money but that was long ago.


"Though the Ryder Cup participants don’t receive appearance money, the PGA of America reportedly gives Team USA’s players $200,000 each to donate to charity. Half of that amount goes to youth-golf development programs selected by the PGA, while the other half is up to the player." Golf.com

Euro's get a gift from the captain. No money for charity.

Rob-I don’t see the lawyer analogy as apples to apples. Playing for your country is the ultimate honor that shouldn’t need strings attached. Ben Crenshaw was quoted as saying “People are sick of issues like this in the sports world. When you can’t just show up and play for your country, I don’t know. If that’s not reward enough, then my heart bleeds for the game of golf.” Call me naive but I’m in Ben’s camp.

[Rob Marshall]

I don’t think you can discount the fact that someone is making a fortune off your work and time. That was Mark O’Meara’s point and why he will never be a Ryder Cup captain.  I don’t think it’s fair that they get crucified when they lose like they did 3 years ago when your just playing for your country. It’s not like they aren’t  trying….


BTW,  I would like to see the guy who yelled out “Jon, Jon, Jon” when Rahm  finally looked up at the guy he says. “You Suck”, say that to his face. Should you have to take that representing your country? I would love to know if that happens on the other side of the pond.

[Bill Seitz]

While the players aren't earning a paycheck from the PGA of America, I've gotta think there are some tangible endorsement bonuses from their sponsors that they get for making the Ryder Cup team.  That's a lot of exposure for an sponsor.  Even a clothing sponsor who's logo isn't flashed all over the screen is getting some intangible benefit from the increase in visibility and recognition for its athletes. 


And when it comes time to renew that hat logo contract, walking into negotiations as a Ryder Cupper has to count for something.  I'm guessing Scottie Scheffler will be pulling down a little more endorsement coin than most other non-winners on the Tour.


Also, the Ryder Cup creates interest in the PGA Tour, which, from what I'm told, creates a lot of income for these guys.  From my quick calc, 23 of the 24 players out there last weekend earned pretty darn close to $110,000,000 combined in 2021 official money (Wiesberger did not earn any official PGA Tour money).  Maybe it's not a huge sacrifice? But I understand the apprehension behind working for free so that a bunch of other interest can cash in.  Not so much the PGA of America, but the networks and such.

[Thomas Dai]

I don’t think you can discount the fact that someone is making a fortune off your work and time. That was Mark O’Meara’s point and why he will never be a Ryder Cup captain.

Money is certainly an interesting angle on this. Who’s getting it and who’s doing the participating?
Ok there are bonus’s in contracts etc and WR points but if there were to be a big money limited hassle event in say Saudi the same week as the Razzamatazz Ryder Cup which will the players make themselves available for?
Just speculating.
Atb

[Kalen Braley]

As soon as the top players unite and say we aren't going to play, that's when they'll start getting a real paycheck...

But when you look at those guys now .. its like they're 12 on thier first Boy Scout trip.

[Bruce Katona]

I enjoyed watching the matches, seeing the course play in the breeze. 


Rahm & Sergio just weren't enough to carry it this time - maybe in 2 years.