Ryder Cup 2014: Europe’s Dominance Runs Deeper Than US Captaincy Problems

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: October 1, 2014

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The first five decades of the Ryder Cup were, in the nicest possible terms, a farce. From the event's inception in 1927 until 1977, the United States won 19 of 22 Ryder Cups—and that's probably underselling the dominance. The U.S. and Great Britain traded off home-and-home wins for the first four events; the only British win thereafter came in 1957.

It was if the Ryder Cup had become a biennial excuse for the United States to again punish the old country for the tea tax. The United States were so dominant that event organizers began allowing golfers from continental Europe in 1979 to balance out the scales. While that decision did little to alter outcomes in the short term—the United States would win its first three Ryder Cups against the newly crowned Europe, bringing its win streak to an unprecedented 13—it ultimately led to the widespread panic currently engulfing the USGA.

Over the last 48 hours, attention has been directly focused on United States captain Tom Watson. The golf legend presided over the latest embarrassment for his country, a 16.5-11.5 walloping that was over by Saturday afternoon and gave Europe its third straight Ryder Cup.

After Zach Johnson putted in on No. 18 to halve his match and mercifully end the match before nightfall at Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, the United States team participated in the tensest postmortem I can remember seeing. Led by pointed quotes from Phil Mickelson with his captain sitting nearby, the U.S. team seemed to lay the blame at their captain's feet—Lefty with his words and his teammates with their awkward silence.



Mickelson, whose motivations were in no way, shape or form clouded by Watson sitting him Saturday for the first time in his Ryder Cup career (sarcasm font), juxtaposed Watson's leadership with 2008 captain Paul Azinger. Unlike Watson, who made the pairings himself, Azinger put players in "pods" during pre-tournament training...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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