The 37th Ryder Cup will be played for three days at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky from Friday to Sunday. The teams have 12 players each. A total of 28 matches will take place, finishing with 12 mano-a-mano singles matches on Sunday.
The first two days will feature a mix of foursomes and fourball matches, with the order of play agreed upon by U.S. captain Paul Azinger and European counterpart Nick Faldo. The last day features singles matches in match play where the winner is decided when he leads by more holes than there are left to play.
Long History
The Ryder Cup, a sporting event founded on prestige rather than prize money, has been held 34 times over 77 years.
It was interrupted for only the second time in history following the September 11, 2001, attack upon America. Following the tragedy, The 2001 matches were rescheduled, with all future competitions conducted in even-numbered years.
In the history of the Ryder Cup, the United States still leads with 24 victories, 10 losses and two ties, but in the most recent matches the Europeans have taken the cup five out of the last six contests and seven of the past 11, with one tie.
The last two matches were embarrassing losses for the United States, both ending with 18-½–9-½ scores, the biggest routs ever by Europe.
On paper, this year’s match-ups do not offer much hope of stopping the onslaught.
In general, players in Europe have continued to improve. Among the team players, Europe has a higher average world ranking than the U.S. side.
The combined record of the six U.S. Ryder Cup veterans is 19 wins–37 losses–16 ties—not a record that inspires a lot of confidence, with losses almost doubling their wins. In contrast, the eight European veterans have a combined record of 42 wins–29 losses–14 ties, more than twice the wins of the U.S. veterans. The record of domination speaks for itself.
The single biggest nemesis of the U.S. has been Spain’s Sergio Garcia who single-handedly garnered 14 wins in four appearances and who, like a chameleon, has been able to regularly change into a putting phenomenon just for this championship.
More than just pride is riding on this year’s contest of wills. The biennial Ryder Cup has grown in size over the years attracting greater media and viewer interest.
Despite Europe’s running the tables, Jack Nicklaus thinks the U.S. has a good chance of winning. “I’ve grown tired of hearing about how dominant Europe has become in recent times. If you ask me why I think America will win, it’s because I believe they have the better players, despite the evidence of the most recent Ryder Cups.”
“Tiger won’t be playing the matches this year, of course. If he were, I’d consider the Americans big favorites,” Nicklaus commented in Golf Digest.
Some things working for the U.S. team this weekend will be six rookies who don’t have skeletons in the closet like their fellow six veterans with losing records. Also on the plus side, figure in the two Kentucky natives, Kenny Perry and J.B. Holmes as points of inspiration for the boisterous crowds in race horse territory. And don’t forget Boo Weekley, known for his off the cuff comments and country humor to lighten things up. Throw in the youthful exuberance and confidence of 23-year-old Anthony Kim and the U.S. team may have the right mix of home town favorites, a dyed-in-the-wool country boy, and a go-for-broke Tiger challenger in Anthony Kim to make this a win for America.
2008 Ryder Cup U.S. Team
Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leornard, Ben Curtis, Boo Weekley, Chad Campbell, J.B. Holmes, Hunter Mahan, and Steve Stricker.
2008 Ryder Cup European Team
Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Søren Hansen, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Robert Karlsson, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, and Oliver Wilson.
