The biennial Ryder Cup Matches featuring teams from the United States and Europe return to American soil later this month at the historic Medinah Country Club in suburban Chicago. A team of 12 American professionals will take on a team of 12 European linksters during the course of three days from Sept. 28-30. Friday”s and Saturday”s format will entail foursomes (alternate shot) and fourball (better ball) matches while Sunday”s concluding play will feature all 24 golfers competing in individual matches. Davis Love III is the captain for Team USA and Jose Maria Olazabal is the captain of the Euros.
Two years ago the Ryder Cup was tightly contested at Celtic Manor in Wales with the European team reclaiming the Cup by outlasting the American team by a 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 margin. The concluding match of the day featured reigning U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell clinching the Cup for the Europeans on the 17th hole by defeating Hunter Mahan 2-and-1 (two holes up with one left to play). Mahan was behind the eight-ball on that hole that day as he needed to chip in for birdie to keep his match going. Instead he muffed the chip and it was all over.
This time around the American team is looking to recapture Samuel Ryder”s trophy by playing at a traditional U.S. Open/PGA Championship venue that is familiar to the vast majority of the field. A power player”s course that was designed by Tom Bendelow (Lake Shore, Royal Ottawa, Griffith Park as well as 400 others) in 1928, Medinah is a 54-hole complex that has undergone a $1.5 million revision to its greens by Rees Jones. A small piece of golfing trivia is that Medinah”s first pro shop staff featured two-time major winner Tommy Armour and his first assistant, Charley Penna.
In 1949 Medinah was on golf”s center stage for the first time as Cary Middlecoff won the first of his three major titles by beating Clayton Heafner and Sam Snead in the U.S. Open. Lou Graham defeated John Mahaffey in overtime to win the Open at Medinah in 1975. Gary Player captured the 1988 U.S. Senior Open at Medinah. In 1990 Hale Irwin made a bomb putt on the final green, ran around the putting surface high-fiving the gallery, and beat Mike Donald in a playoff the following day.
Medinah crossed over and became a PGA Championship site, hosting the event in 1999 and 2006. Tiger Woods won both times, eking out a one-stroke victory in the ”99 PGA over teenager Sergio Garcia. He won going away some seven years later.
This time around, Medinah has been lengthened to a hefty 7,657 yards and will play to a par of 72. The par-3s are the most noticeable aspect of the course, ranging in distance from 193 yards to 245 yards. Two of the par-5s play to more than 600 yards. There”s a lot of water at Medinah with most of it seemingly greenside. There are lots of trees that frame the fairways. Although one must be a bomber to play well at Medinah, a faulty driver will lead to disaster. If both golfers are not clicking on all cylinders, then the alternate shot format will be nothing short of disastrous for those professionals who fail to keep the ball in play.
The European and American teams offer some interesting dichotomy when looking at team strengths. Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium is the only Euro rookie while a foursome of newbies play for American, including Jason Duffner, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker. There is lots of overall strength as the Euros are ranked from 1-36 in the World Rankings while Team USA is ranked from 3-30. Four Euros have won major titles, namely Martin Kaymer, Paul Lawrie, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy, whereas seven Americans, including Bradley, Woods, Simpson, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson, have combined to win 23 Grand Slam titles.
Putting is always a major factor in match play. If you had to have someone to make a curling, downhill 6-footer to win the Cup, then Love and Olazabal do have some pretty talented bladesmen to rely upon. Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell and a vastly improved Rory McIlroy are strong putters. The Americans are in great shape with Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar as putting heroes.
In the end though, it still comes down to who can handle the pressure. It”s not like the pressure of winning a career-defining major championship, but then again, when you are representing your team, your tour and your country, it”s a lot more intense than final-round action at the Quad Cities Open.
Three-time Ryder Cupper Johnny Pott recently relayed an interesting story to me about Ryder Cup pressure. Pott, a five-time winner on tour including the 1968 Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, stated “everyone will be a little nervous at some time, especially that fellow who hits the first ball. Captain Arnold Palmer had me hit that first ball at East Lake (1963 Ryder Cup) and let me tell you, it wasn”t easy. With the U.S. Marine Band on the first tee playing God Save the Queen and then The Star Spangled Banner, I was looking for a Penn tennis ball just to make contact.” As an aside, Pott and his American teammates won the Ryder Cup that year over Great Britain and Ireland by a 23-9 margin.
Next week we will preview the players and the potential pairings for the upcoming Ryder Cup Matches at Medinah as well as prognosticate the final results. Johnny Pott, who played for Palmer, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan as a member of three victorious Ryder Cup teams in 1963, 1965 and 1967, will be back on these pages to impart his knowledge and wisdom regarding the proceedings.
For pure golf drama, for the uniqueness of match play contested at foursome and fourball, and for the chance to watch 24 of the world”s top 36 golfers player under the pressure of partaking and making history, it”s a good thing to know that the next version of the Ryder Cup Matches is a mere 13 days away.
