2014 American Ryder Cup Team Falls a Little Short
September 26-28th marked a very big weekend in golf as it was the biennial Ryder Cup. As this tournament only occurs every other year, it is a big deal for both America and Europe. Many refer to it as the 5th ultimate weekend in golf following the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship. This weekend is a beloved time for golfers and non-golfers alike.
The Ryder Cup was established in 1921 when James D. Harnett, a writer for Golf Illustrated, wrote a letter to the Professional Golfers’ Association of America with the idea of a team of anywhere between 10 and 20 professional American golfers play in the 1921 British Open. The PGA of America took this idea well and set up a practice tournament that was held 2 weeks before the British Open in Gleneagles, Scotland. Even though 11 members formed the first team for America, only 10 played that first year. Great Britain won the tournament, but Jock Hutchinson became the first American to win the British Open that same year. However, it was not until 1927 in Worcester, MA that this tournament became a formal event that would occur every other year. Samuel Ryder, an Englishman and the namesake for the cup, donated the trophy and 400 euros towards the funding. Golf Illustrated raised the rest of the money and a tradition was born.
The setup of the Ryder Cup includes two teams, one made up of professional male golfers from America and the other is professional male golfers from Europe. Each team includes a captain that heads up and leads the team. Selection for the Ryder Cup team is based off of a point system in which points are distributed based on prize money awarded in major 2013 and 2014 tournaments. This determines the top nine players for each team. The captain of the team will then be able to make the final three choices to finalize the team. Those twelve golfers will then play one weekend in either the United States or in Europe as the location changes every other tournament. On the first and second day, there are two sessions daily where two-man teams from each side play the other in either “foursomes” or “four-ball” matches against a team from the other side. “Foursomes” is when the two-man teams alternate shots until the hole is completed, and “four-ball” is when the members of the two-man teams both complete the hole with the better score counting for the team. Not all of the team members will play in the teams of two matches. On Sunday, every team member will play a single round match against a member of the other side. There are 28 matches in all over the course of the weekend. These matches are scored by giving the winner of each match one point and giving the tied matches ½ a point. In order to win, the team that won the cup the year before must score 14 points and the other team (the challenger) must win 14.5 points in order to take the cup away from the reigning champions.
This year, the Ryder Cup was held again in Gleneagles, Scotland. Tom Watson served as the American captain along with 3 other vice captains and lead a team which included the following: Keegan Bradley; Rickie Fowler; Jim Furyk; Zach Johnson; Matt Kuchar; Hunter Mahan; Phil Mickelson; Patrick Reed; Webb Simpson; Jordan Spieth; Jimmy Walker; and, Bubba Watson. In the “four-ball” matches, the United States won four matches, halved two, and lost two. In “foursomes”, the United States lost six matches and halved only two. In Sunday’s single matches, the United States won four matches, halved three, and lost five. Ultimately, the United States lost the 2014 Ryder Cup to the Europeans with an ending score of 11.5 points to 16.5 points. This marked the 3rd consecutive win for the European team. No matter what the score was the American team did their best and hopefully they can bring home a win in two years when they play again against the Europeans at the Hazeltine Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.
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