Ryder Cup: For honour and glory at Oakland Hills

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2004 The 35th Ryder Cup | Preview | 16 Sep 2004

For the tenth time since 1979 when the European side became just that, the European side, United States and Europe will again do battle on the fairways of yet another great golf course when the 35th Ryder Cup Match gets underway at Oakland Hills.

Oakland Hills is one of the classics of American golf, designed just under 100 years ago by the great Donald Ross. It has undergone several changes in recent times under the watchful eye and design of Arthur Hills, but it remains as one of the truly fine traditional course in American golf. It last staged a major championship, when Steve Jones won the 1996 US Open and before that, in 1985, when Andy North won the second of his two US Opens. Australia has a connection to this layout also as David Graham won his 1979 PGA Championship here. It had first staged a US Open in 1924 so has quite a history as could be expected for the venue staging such a significant event.

The Ryder Cup was first played as an exhibition match at the Wentworth Golf Club in England in 1926 and a year later the wealthy British seed merchant Samuel Ryder donated a gold trophy that would eventually come to signal the relative merits of British and American golf. Until 1979 that is, when the British team became the European team, and the event took on a whole new meaning and purpose.

Until 1979, the British team had won only three of the 22 encounters with the US, along with one tie, but in the twelve events since, Europe has won five and tied one and even in the events where they have been beaten, the margin has often been very close. In fact in each of the last nine encounters the teams have been separated by only two or three points and over the course of those matches, Europe have a five to three lead with one halved.

Certainly the involvement of Continental Europeans such as Ballesteros, Olazabal, Langer, Pinero, Canizares and more recently Garcia, Parnevik, Jimenez added a whole new dimension to the event and gave strength to the European team. With Faldo, Lyle, Montgomerie, Westwood and co, gaining self belief as a result of the growing success, the Europeans then provided formidable opposition for the Americans. And so the Ryder Cup grew legs and meaning from 1979 onwards.

The greater contest that Europe was able to offer prompted a reaction by the Americans that now sees them, if not yet with the same passion as the Europeans, then certainly a greater level of intensity and desire by them than was the case previously.

Again the Europeans have arrived in Detroit well behind on paper, whatever that means. They have only four of their team inside the top twenty in the world ranking, verses eight that the Americans can boast. Such a discrepancy however has meant little in recent contests.

Unlike two years ago at the Belfry when the sides arrived at the event having been picked over twelve months earlier, this year both teams are, in the main, in very good form. The 2002 version was a carry over from 2001 when that year’s staging was postponed due to September 11th and the teams picked twelve months earlier were kept in place. This year the teams are here based on their most recent form.

Perhaps the intangible that plays such a key part in the end result is the strategy of the captain’s, with help from their assistants, in getting the team combinations right. Maybe that role plays too big a part and there is a growing argument for all twelve players to play all four of the matches on the opening two days. There are of course logistical arguments against that in terms of the time involved in having two extra matches on the course. It would, however, take out some of the impact that the captain’s strategy has on the result and provide an outcome that is a greater reflection on the relative strengths of the teams. It might be that it would work against the Europeans who seem to have a greater capacity to gel as a team on days one and two. Effective combinations would still be important however but the role of the captain would be lessened where everyone was forced to play.

While the Americans are a long way ahead on paper, the Europeans are in great form having been picked at the latest time possible. That allowed Bernhard Langer to have his best team on the plane to Detroit with the likes of Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Luke Donald all having won in recent times.

While just five of the Americans have won this year, most have been in good enough form to justify their hot favourite tag, even putting aside their world ranking superiority. Perhaps only Chris Riley and Chad Campbell are not in good immediate form but they have not exactly disgraced themselves of late.

The weak links in the European side, if players at this level can ever be described as that, may well be the likes of the relatively inexperienced David Howell, Ian Poulter and Thomas Levet.

Five rookies in each side with the most experienced players being Davis Love III for the Americans and Colin Montgomerie for the Europeans. Love has played in five previous Ryder Cups and, in 21 matches has had eight wins, nine losses and four halves. Montgomerie also has played the event five times for sixteen wins, seven losses and five halves. Montgomerie has the most impressive record of any player in the event this week and was no doubt the catalyst for his wild card selection.

It is difficult to see this being anything other than a closely fought contest, but the edge must go to the Americans especially at a time when patriotism is running so high in that country. The support that the home team receive will provide a great wave of adrenalin to sweep the Americans along, but as we saw last week in Canada that can at times, work in an anti productive way.

Both captains face the dilemma of not only who to include in the early stages of the matches but who to leave out. They know they must blood the rookies early in order that they are not thrown to the lions on Sunday as was the case with Andrew Coltart, Jarmo Sandelin and Jean Van de Velde at Brookline. It is a fine line the captains walk in order that they blood their rookies without compromising the team’s chances.

They must also select the right combinations of personalities in their match ups in the Fourball and Foursomes. Personalities come into it along with the effective combination of skills and equipment. The equipment becomes an issue in the Foursomes of course, as the ball used by either player may not be all that familiar to his potential partner.

For mine as much as I would like to see a European victory yet again, it feels like a win to the Americans. It will not be by a wide margin but there is too much going in the favour of the Americans this year for them not to be the logical favourites.

This is, however, the Ryder Cup and logic does not always come into the equation come Sunday.