Just like a lot of other folks who are big fans of the game of golf, I love the biennial Ryder Cup Matches that are being contested this weekend at the Valhalla Country Club in Louisville. Having grown up in the team concept world of baseball, football, basketball and hockey, I have a great appreciation for the dynamics of team sports, a concept somewhat foreign in the individualized world of golf. I also enjoy the varied types of play at the Ryder Cup, namely foursomes (alternate shot) and fourball (best ball). Match play is an intriguing feast or famine format.
When all is said and done, the Ryder Cup is a great diversion from the usual cookie-cutter 72-hole stroke play golf tournament contested on another TPC-looking course.
The Ryder Cup is also a great walk down memory lane. You have a teary-eyed Ben Crenshaw recounting the USA”s unbelievable comeback in 1999 at the Country Club just outside Boston. You have Ireland”s Christy O”Conner Jr. stiffing a 2-iron at the Belfry in 1989 to upset Freddie Couples and retain the Cup for the Euros. You have Jack Nicklaus conceding Tony Jacklin”s final putt in the 1969 matches, a move hailed for its sportsmanship even while American captain Sam Snead was thoroughly disgusted with the gesture. And you also have negative Ryder Cup moments such as Mark Calcavecchia”s shank on the 17th at Kiawah Island in 1991, Curtis Strange”s meltdown versus Nick Faldo at Oak Hill in Rochester in 1995, and the awful chemistry pairing of the world”s No. 1 and No. 2 golfers, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, at Oakland Hills outside Detroit in 2004. Yes, the Ryder Cup is a big-time competition, a truly unique golfing drama, and a great walk down memory lane.
However, I do have one gripe with the way the Ryder Cup is presented and it is with regard to my concept of a great walk down memory lane. The PGA of America runs the Ryder Cup and hosts it every four years on American soil. I think they”re truly missing the mark when it comes to the history and the tradition of the Cup matches. To contrast, I want to take a page out of the Boston Celtics” history book.
The Boston Celtics are the most storied franchise in the history of the National Basketball Association. A dominant team in the 1960s that had successes in the 1970s and 1980s, the Celtics suffered through a two decade championship drought until last June. The Celtics won the NBA Championship, and while it was a glorious moment for the likes of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, it was also a great turn-back-the-pages moment for the greats of the Celtic past.
At the Finals awards ceremony, Celtic Hall of Famers such as Bill Russell, Sam Jones and John Havlicek were in attendance to bask in the glory of the moment. The cover of Sports Illustrated featured Garnett and Russell with the Larry O”Brien trophy. The Celtics” management tied in the highlight of winning the 2008 NBA Championship with the historic tradition of the game”s most successful franchise.
On a similar note, Hall of Fame inductions for sports such as baseball and football always include a gathering of the legends of the game and the alumni members of the Hall of Fame. A Niner or Raider gets inducted into the Hall of Fame and their teammates from their era are there in attendance to welcome a player into a very small club of distinguished athletes.
On the negative side, I never see any real effort by the PGA of America to give the fan a chance to take a similar walk down memory lane. The USA teams from the past had a history of excellence and success. I would like to see Ryder Cup alumni in attendance at Cup matches, at least the ones contested on American soil. For a squad that has won just once since 1995, it seems to me that the Cup alums might be added motivation to the American players of today.
I think the Ryder Cup would have an added touch of class if veterans from past matches would be invited to the matches to take a bow, bask in the glory of it all, attend a banquet in their honor, and allow all of us to take that walk down memory lane. Wouldn”t it be great to see Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson at Valhalla to take a bow? Wouldn”t it be neat to see Gene Littler, Al Geiberger, Billy Casper and Larry Nelson at a rah-rah banquet, and on the course during matches?
And certainly those of us in the fairway, remote Lake County would get a charge out of seeing three-time Ryder Cup winner Johnny Pott of Langtry Farms at the Ryder Cup matches. Sure, it didn”t happen this time, but how about at Medinah in Chicago in 2012?
Just like Russell and Havlicek knew something about winning NBA titles, all of the aforementioned golfers know an awful lot about winning Ryder Cups. I”m not so sure the PGA Tour professionals of today would be all that enamored with Ryder Cup alumni such as Mark Calcavecchia or Wayne Levi, but I know they would find the living members of those great teams of the 1960s and 1970s as role models of golfing excellence. People such as Palmer, Geiberger and Pott are also a link to the great captains of the past, namely Byron Nelson (1965), Ben Hogan (1967) and Sam Snead (1969).
Lastly, this is not a terribly original thought on my part. After all, the Europeans did something similar at the Belfry some six years ago, tipping their golfing caps to past Ryder Cuppers such as Peter Alliss, Christy O”Connor Sr. and Clive Clark. It was a nice gesture by the British PGA and I think a similar move by the PGA of America would go a long way with the USA team, Cup alumni and fans.
The Ryder Cup matches will be decided one way or the other this Sunday evening at Valhalla. There will be no sudden-death playoff, no Monday morning playoff and no stroke play winner. It will be team against team, the American squad against the European squad. It is golf”s most different, most unique and most storied format. Now if only the PGA of America would bring an added touch of class to the event and include the alumni from golf”s golden era of the 1960s and 1970s.
