Faster Pussy Cat, Kill Kill - Ryder Cup Agida

Is it just me, or are golf 'Cup' competitions like the Ryder and Solheim becoming more aggressive. I haven't been to recent competitions, but to read the mainstream media you'd think golf was a full contact sport.

For tour events, you rarely ever get the sense that one player is out to beat the bejeesus out of another. Everyone wants to win, but the players that don't always talk about 'beating themselves'. You'll hear comments like 'so and so played great down the stretch, and I just couldn't make key putts'.

I've never felt like someone beat me in the men's league I used to play in. I beat myself. I didn't have my A game. I couldn't make a lousy 3 footer. I shanked that last chip. I was hitting it fat. That's why I lost. I've rarely seen animosity between two players on the course, the way you see it in a basketball game for instance.

Why then, has aggression been injected into the Cup matches? And I don't hear it from the international side. It seems to be an American thing. 'We're going to kick their butts'. Maybe it's the result of 'what an honor it is to play for my country' thinking. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a great honor, but is that thinking what puts so much pressure on the American players. If they loose, are they forced into thinking they've let their team and country down. Because of that, do they figure aggression will help them play better? If the recent Ryder Cup competitions are any indication, then this attitude doesn't help you win.

Because the Europeans are from many different countries, does that take some of the pressure off them? It's not 'their' country against another country. So if they lose, the local press isn't clamoring what a dark day it is for Spain or Ireland. Because their side is a collection of countries, maybe that spreads the blame around so no one really takes it personally.

Or maybe we Americans are just more aggressive. If there's a war going on somewhere in the world, it's a good chance the Americans will be there. We were all raised on cowboy shoot-em-up movies. Hey, if you've been done wrong you do the manly thing - strap on a six shooter and take it out in the street. And when we take it to the links for team competition it's us against them, a fight to the death - no quarter to the enemy.

Golf isn't an aggressive sport and it never seems to be you against the other guy. It always you against yourself. So what's with this 'we're going to kick the stuffing out of those guys' attitude? It surely doesn't help American teams win in golf. Yes, the US ladies did win the recent Solheim Cup, but I think it was in spite of the tough talk, not because of it. Golf is great at showing ones true character. Wait until you see your friend miss an important 3 foot putt to find out what they're made of.

I've got some advice for the President's Cup team. Go out and enjoy yourselves. Feel good that you've played well enough to make the team. Be glad you're alive with most of your body parts working. And look at the 'office' you report for to work. Don't go obscuring all that because a few media folks are calling for blood. Wear some more 'fun' clothes, joke with the crowd and somewhere during the match do something nice for the guy you're playing against. It certainly didn't hurt the Europeans to do this in last year's Ryder Cup and I'd say most fans really appreciated it.