131st Edition
Reflections on the Ryder Cup
Wow. A Ryder Cup for the ages. We live in an era when major sporting events receive so much pre-competition hype that in most cases the actual event often seems anti-climactic. Not so with the 45th Ryder Cup recently played at Bethpage Black in New York.
A brief summary… The 12 best golfers from Europe against the 12 best Americans. Three days of competition. The first two days were team matches, alternate shot and best ball formats. One match in the morning, another in the afternoon. The final day was singles competition. Mano a mano. Europe played brilliantly to surge to a seemingly insurmountable lead after the first two days, 11 ½ to 4 ½. Fans, players, and pundits were stunned by the one-sided play and domination of the European team after the first two days. It looked utterly hopeless for the Americans.
Then something quite remarkable happened midway through the singles matches on Sunday. The American players suddenly came alive, started sinking clutch putt after clutch putt. They won four matches by the narrowest of margins, 1-up after 18 holes. The battle for the Cup, which seemed to be over on Saturday, was suddenly in doubt.
And then came Shane Lowry, perhaps the gutsiest player on the European team. His birdie on the final hole clinched the retention of the Ryder Cup for the European team. Ties, by two of the final players, Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre secured final victory for the Europeans, 15 – 13.
What can we take away from this historic event?… Golf is a game of honor and sportsmanship, and players demonstrated both throughout the competition. It was amazing to watch all of them play their hearts out. Individual strength of character was commonplace, despite the immense pressure to win and despite repeated unsportsmanlike behavior by the fans.
Based on their behavior, it was clear to me that these 24 incredibly talented golfers know a couple things that some of us might not. First, how you compete matters. No player on either side quit or blamed others for losing their matches. Win or lose, they owned their performance. Man up, no excuses.
Second, they understood that the team is more important than any individual. They had each other’s back no matter how they were playing or how they were faring in their own individual matches. There is nothing as exhilarating as competing for a prize much bigger than yourself.
None of these 24 amazing men are perfect, but all should be commended for their effort and their unwavering poise and dignity in the most challenging of circumstances. Well done to all.
I’d like that to be the end of the discussion, but we all know it won’t. The American captain, Keegan Bradley, will be second-guessed to death. The fans and even some of the commentators were an embarrassment, but nothing is likely to change. Fan behavior in our country has been deplorable for as long as I can remember. In the era when top athletes earn hundreds of millions, fan behavior seems to have gotten worse. Is there a correlation? Does being wealthy and successful make you a justifiable target of disrespectful behavior?
We might ponder these other questions – Have we placed too much emphasis on winning? Have we forgotten that how you compete is more important than winning? Why? Because young, impressionable kids are watching. Maybe your own granddaughter or grandson. Maybe the next leader of our country. Might we always be mindful that the next generation is always learning from us.
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Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization.