Cure For The Ryder Cup
Most of us watched at least some of the Ryder Cup matches. If you didn't get caught up in the hype or nationalism you saw some pretty good golf along the way. There were lots of chip-ins, tough shots made under intense pressure and even two holes-in-one. Despite all that, the Ryder Cup is on the verge of becoming ho-hum. The outcome has become as predictable as sunrise. If history teaches us something, viewer interest will begin to wane big time once we realize we know who's always going to win. I think we've reached that point.
Forget all the ideas about 'fixing' what's wrong with the US Team. It isn't going to happen. We breed a certain kind of player here. When you reward players one way for 99% of the matches they're in, it's silly to think you can counter all that for one competition that happens every two years that doesn't really do anything for their pocketbook. The way the Ryder Cup is now played, it favors Europeans and the kind of golf they play on the European tour. The Majors favor the kind of golf that is played on the American tour. The facts seem to prove that.
So instead of trying to do the impossible, the powers that be should change the Ryder Cup if they want to save it from the 'who cares' scrap pile. They don't even have to change the format of the matches. After all, team play is what makes the Cup worthwhile watching in the first place. Otherwise, it would never rank up there in popularity with the Majors.
Just add a third team, thereby letting the rest of the world play. It would mean more great golf in a team format. We'd get to see everyone we get now, plus Singh, Els, Goosen, Ogilvy et al. Ryder Cup golf stands out because almost every shot counts. In regular tournament play it's only the top few players that matter on Sunday. On the PGA Tour, if Jim Furyk hits a shot into the water on 18, it's not even worth a mention if he's not in the top 6 or 7. In Ryder Cup it's major. All this adds up to more golf shots that matter than your normal tournament, even a major.
EXCEPT, that is, if one of the teams is out of the competition almost from the start. Maybe the Asia/Africa/Australia team could pick up the slack from the Americans. The announcers and odds-makers could all go crazy trying to figure out the expanded number of hypothetical outcomes generated by a third team, the pundits would have 50% more to write about, and the excitement might go back into the game for the viewers. Looks like a Win Win Win to me!
1 comment:
Almost a month has gone by now to think about the Ryder Cup and I have yet decided what is needed to make the Ryder Cup worth watching anymore. You thought on a third team would only cause more misery to the Home Team since I feel very strongly the problem with the Ryder Cup for the Americans is that the Americans are to individualist.
The Europeans play together and then drink together…they travel with each other along with their families and see each other frequently. This is due to most of them live close to each other.
Here in the USA these players spend more time keeping their sponsors happy that keeps them all over the country. They are gone more than with their families and when they do get to spend time with their family they are not really interested in spending it with their competition’s families. Yes, competitors…that is how most PGA Tour Professionals seem to look at each other…OH when the camera flips on there is this professionalism that these guys can switch on and off quickly, but most of the time they are trying to beat the other guy mentally and well as on the golf course. What is at stake is top sponsorships and, yes, MONEY. So letting down their guard could show their competitor a weakness they don’t want let out.
No, I think what will have to change is the mentality of the USA tour professionals… I can’t put my finger on one thing that would help, but if there were more opportunity for these guys to tee it up in a team format I thing it would better prepare them for the Ryder Cup…But when you have 225 players all vying for the 12 spots on that team, apathy really plays a part in the young players attitude on why even try…so playing in a team event for them would be less of an opportunity to win on their own to make a name for themselves that draws in those top sponsors….
Let’s keep thinking of ways to improve the Ryder Cup; It needs to change to keep the viewers who buy the sponsors goods who pay the bills for the PGA and the purses for the tour players to play for…so they also have a huge stake in Ryder Cup change. To what is the question that is hard to answer.
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