For pure golfing drama, the game has the Masters, the United States Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. While they are prestigious as well as financially worthwhile, the Players Championship, the so-called fifth major, and the Fed Ex Cup playoffs are a level below the game”s four majors. Yet every other year, a fifth weekend of true golfing drama comes along with the playing of the Ryder Cup. Matches between America and Europe have been contested biennially since 1927. Next Friday, the Ryder Cup commences in the Scottish Highlands at the Gleneagles Resort. The last great golf show of the 2014 season is six days away.
This time around, the 12-man teams seem close to equally balanced. Team USA is led by veterans Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk. Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Jimmy Walker are the three team rookies. Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson bring added experience to the team while Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson have one Ryder Cup under their belt. Hunter Mahan also has experience although he just may have made the team based on one great week in September. Six American team members have won major titles led by Mickelson with five. For those of you who truly follow golf, the two hottest American linksters at this moment, Billy Horschel and Chris Kirk, will be following the matches from their homes.
The European team also has two old-timers, namely Lee Westwood and Thomas Bjorn. They have been doing this Ryder Cup thing since the mid-1990s. Westwood, Bjorn, Furyk and Mickelson all played at Valhalla in 1997. Yet the leadership of Team Euro is in the hands of the two dynamic Northern Irishmen, world No. 1 Rory McIlory and Graeme McDowell along with the always emotional duo of Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia. Europe also has three rookies, namely Stephen Gallacher, Jamie Donaldson and Victor Dubuisson. Martin Kaymer, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose bring multiple Ryder Cup experiences to the team. Only four of the Euros have won majors and McIlroy has a quartet of them on his mantle. McIlroy and Kaymer won three of this year”s four majors with Bubba Watson winning the Masters.
While the Ryder Cup is being contested on Scottish soil, the Gleneagles course is a parkland-style course that is very American in design. I played there a few years ago and the game must be played in the air at Gleneagles. It”s nowhere near the sea, it isn”t a links course, you don”t need to hit bump-and-run shots, and it just might remind the American team of Valhalla or Hazeltine. The American captain is Tom Watson, a five-time winner of the British Open, a winning Ryder Cup captain in 1993 and perhaps the most beloved American golfer in Scotland not named Arnie or Jack. His counterpart is Paul McGinley, a European Tour and Ryder Cup veteran. Most observers presume that Watson will be the stronger captain although it doesn”t much matter if your team is missing those crucial birdie putts on the greens.
With all this balance on both sides and with all this doubt in my mind about who is the better team, I decided to seek out the advice of three-time Ryder Cup team member Johnny Pott. Pott, who currently lives in Middletown, continues to closely follow the game. My thought is that any guy who played in three Cups and was captained by three men who are easily identified without the use of a surname, namely Arnie, Byron and Ben, must have some valid ideas about next week”s Ryder Cup Matches at Gleneagles.
A five-time winner on the PGA Tour including the Bing Crosby at Pebble Beach, Johnny started off by stating “on paper it appears the European team is the favorite going into the matches. In all categories, money, winnings and World Rankings, they are ahead of the USA team. However, I am not sure their 12 are playing as well as our 12 over the past few weeks and that momentum could carry over to the matches.”
When discussing the Tom Watson factor, he stated that “Tom Watson”s experience over there will be an asset for the young players and team members who have not competed in the Ryder Cup in Europe. It will be a pairings challenge for Captain Watson. Mr. Hogan told us to relax in ”67. He would pair the straight shooters together and those who sprayed the ball together so no one would have to play from a place in which they were not familiar. We have some guys who are really playing well and I believe the young ones can deal with the Ryder Cup experience. I know what pairings I would make. I think the young players should be paired together such as Fowler and Spieth.”
Speaking of team unity, Pott colorfully added, “I only see one loose cannon on the team, Patrick Reed. However, he probably thinks he can take on any two of the Euros.” Reed is young and inexperienced, but he doesn”t lack for confidence.
We discussed the team for a second time earlier this week following the Tour Championship. That”s when Pott brought up the Billy Horschel factor. Pott stated that “Horschel showed the real stuff the last few weeks. Also, Kirk has played well. Some players have cooled a bit, such as Walker and Mickelson. I”m sure there will be several of the golf experts questioning Captain Tom and his wild-card selections this week (Mahan, Bradley and Webb Simpson).”
Johnny Pott concluded his Ryder Cup assessment by stating that “Our guys are playing well and with the Fed Ex Cup drama over, they should be in top form after a little rest before their next drama begins. I think our team is competitive and with a little luck from the golfing gods, they could bring the cup back to the USA.”
This time around, I think I concur with Mr. Pott. There is a new generation taking over the American PGA Tour and while the star attraction is Rory McIlory, there are a number of outstanding young players such as Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed who are looking to elbow their way to the top of the game. They are talented, gifted, fearless and all younger than 30 years of age. They are just as good as Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Sergio Garcia. This year”s Ryder Cup could very well be that break-out experience that leads to major victories next year. Finally, I doubt if Ian Poulter can ever be as good as he was in Wales in 2010 and at Medinah in 2012. He was the difference maker last time around but I think his game has diminished and he is no longer that Ryder Cup stud. I think it will be very close, but I think Team USA will prevail. The Ryder Cup, starting this coming Friday, will be the last great dramatic golfing theater of 2014.
