The 42nd edition of the biennial Ryder Cup Matches tees it up in just six days at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club just outside Rome. It was 91 years ago that the inaugural matches were contested and at the moment Team USA has a 27-14 lead over the European Team. Of course the history of the game has exactly zero impact upon today’s professionals, some of whom are Ryder Cup stalwarts while others are rookies.
Although the matches are not played on paper, there is a tale of the tape between the two squads that leads one to believe that the Ryder Cup will be closely contested. The average age of the members of both teams is 30. The average world ranking of the Euros is 30 while the Americans come in at a better 13th ranked. The experienced members of Team Europe have played in 21 Ryder Cups while the Americans have played in 17. Yes there will be a lot of rookies involved this time around. Both teams have four. The European team has accumulated nine major championship wins while the Americans have 15 grand slam titles. The four major titlists from 2023, John Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Wyndham Clark, and Brian Harmon, will be teeing it up in Rome this coming Friday.
Each team had six automatic qualifiers based on the last 18 months of play. The squads were rounded out as both captains, Luke Donald of England and Zach Johnson of Iowa, added another six captain’s choices to their rosters. The European qualifiers included Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Robert McIntyre, Tyrell Hatton, and Matt Fitzpatrick. Donald added Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry, Nicolai Hojgaard, and the ultimate rookie, Ludwig Alberg. A most controversial choice, Alberg has been a professional for slightly less of 90 days. The 23-year-old from Sweden had a stellar amateur career, ranked number one in the world while winning the Ben Hogan Award in 2022 and 2023 while playing college golf at Texas Tech. Although he has never played in one of golf’s four majors, Ludwig has already notched a big win in Europe, capturing the Omega European Masters this summer. Ludwig’s controversial choice meant that Adrian Meronk was on the outside looking in.
The six American qualifiers this time around include Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark, and Brian Harmon. Zach Johnson rounded out the team with Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Sam Burns, Collin Morikawa, and LIV golfer Brooks Koepka. Thomas has been suffering through a subpar summer of 2023 and was Team USA’s controversial pick. However he did just register a top five finish at Napa, has been a natural partner with Jordan Spieth, and has a great Ryder Cup record. Those Americans who didn’t make the team included Keegan Bradley, Lucas Glover, and Tony Finau.
Regardless of past records and major championship trophies on the mantle, the key to next weekend at Marco Simone will be based upon recent form, the ability to find the extremely narrow fairways, and the knack for making long putts, especially during the team formats.
Obviously course familiarity is a major advantage to Team Europe. The DP World Tour has used Marco Simone over the past few years as the site of the Italian Open. However it should be noted that Adrian Meronk won the Italian Open this past summer yet he is not among the Euros on the Ryder Cup team. American captain Zach Johnson was aware of his team’s lack of course knowledge and organized a field trip to Rome two weeks ago for his golfers to familiarize themselves with Marco Simone. Nine of the 12 members of Team USA partook in the excursion to Italy.
The DP World Tour held its flagstick event last weekend in Wentworth at the BMW Championship. Although the BMW was won by Ryan Fox of New Zealand, all 12 of the members of Team Europe played well with everyone making the cup and with 11 Euros finishing among the top 18. Tyrell Hatton finished in a tie for second place while Jon Rahm notched a fourth place finish, just ahead of Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood at sixth and seventh. When it comes to recent form, the Europeans have been playing well of late.
While the DP World Tour was holding the BMW, the American PGA Tour was down the road from us last weekend at the Fortinet Championship at Napa’s Siverado Resort North Course. Up and coming American linkster, Sahith Theegala, won for the first time and may be a future consideration for Ryder Cup teams. As earlier mentioned, Justin Thomas had a top five finish while two time defending Fortinet champion Max Homa finished 10th. The remainder of the American team took a pass on Napa following an intense summer of major championships and the Fed Ex Cup playoffs that concluded the week prior to Labor Day.
The first two days of Ryder Cup competition include foursome (alternate shot) matches and fourball (better ball) contests. Friday and Saturday will include eight matches daily with one point going to the winning team while one-half point will go towards each team with a tie after 18 holes. At any given time, four golfers from each team will sit out the morning and afternoon sessions. Marco Simone is described as an extremely tough walk, so Donald and Johnson will have to juggle their lineups so that no one is exhausted prior to Sunday’s individual matches. Early reports contend it’s hard to imagine that any golfer will be up to the challenge of playing 36 holes each day in Italy. On Sunday all 12 members of Team Euro and the American squad will play individual matches. That’s another 12 points that will be added to the team tallies. With 28 total points available, the Europeans will need 14 ½ points to regain the Cup. Team USA will just need 14 points because in the event of a tie, the previous winning squad will retain the Cup.
Outside of golf’s four major championships, the game’s greatest show on turf is the biennial Ryder Cup matches. It’s all about honor, glory, and pride as there is no prize money involved in the matches. While Team USA looks marginally better on paper and is coming off a stunning 19-9 Ryder Cup win two years ago at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, the Americans have shown a stunning inability to win the Cup on foreign soil. The last time our side won the Cup was way back in 1993 when Team USA featured Payne Stewart, Davis Love III, Tom Kite, Freddie Couples, Raymond Floyd, and Paul Azinger. Yes, that was a very long 30 years ago. Nonetheless it’s time for fans of the game to get ready for a dynamic weekend, namely the 2023 Ryder Cup matches.
