10 things I really want to see at this Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup kicks off on Friday, the final touches on a golf season that has been extremely interesting and rather unpredictable. All first-time major winners? Didn’t see that coming.
European fans want to see another victory, which would be seven of the last eight and nine of the last 11, and American fans want to see this recent run of disappointments ended right now, at Hazeltine.
Davis Love III has his hopes, Darren Clarke his, and so we figured it was worth tossing in the 10 things we hope to see over the always entertaining three days of this Ryder Cup.
Good Phil Mickelson
Nobody gets a crowd going like Phil. Not Tiger, not Jordan, not Patrick, nobody.
When Phil is engaged, and his game is in Good Phil form, his can command thousands of fans, pull off golf shots that only Phil can pull off, and bring drama that was made for the Ryder Cup.
Phil is 46, hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 2013, and has had some very off weeks sprinkled in to his good play; the hope is this isn’t one of them, and he can be out there competing all three days.
Phil Mickelson stirs the pot during his pre-Ryder Cup press conference
OK, this one is checked. Moving on …
Jordan Spieth and Danny Willett, head to head, in singles
It just seems right. As right as anything that could happen this week. Spieth, the Next Big American Thing, was cruising to a second green jacket at Augusta National this year when disaster hit on the 12th. Who was there to pick up the green jacket pieces? Willett, who raised a few eyebrows with some of his social media moves following the win, including this one where he liked a very interesting tweet that included a photo of a blank-faced Spieth staring directly at Willett as he was awarded his green jacket.
Spieth isn’t one to forget, especially in big moments like that, and I’m sure that whole Sunday at the Masters is still something that haunts him. I think Spieth wants this as much as anyone involved in this Ryder Cup, and if Willett’s name somehow lands next to his come Sunday, I bet we will see an extremely motivated and excited Jordan Spieth.
Speaking of Willett …
Fans don’t take their Pete Willett frustration out on Danny
To all the American fans headed to Hazeltine this weekend: Danny didn’t do any wrong here.
Pete, his brother, wrote a scathing article about Americans in general (it reads tongue in cheek, but plenty of golf fans, after a few beers, will forget that), and I’m sure fans can’t wait to take it out on Danny.
But that’s the thing. It isn’t Danny’s fault that his brother thinks Americans are “pudgy, basement-dwelling, irritants, stuffed on cookie dough and pissy beer,” and he shouldn’t be the target for ridicule on the golf course during this team event.
A reminder: Fans are there to enhance the experience, not ruin it. Remember all of this when you’re standing near the first tee and have the sudden urge to scream, “DANNY BOY!” at the top of your lungs.
Rory McIlroy versus Dustin Johnson
They have combined to win the last three events on the PGA Tour. They both hit the golf ball with such power that an old balata would have seriously considered just falling off the tee and surrendering before impact. They’ve been the two best players in the world the last month, and they seem to be peaking at the perfect time.
Rory versus DJ will be a must watch, so much that I hope NBC pulls whatever programming is scheduled for Sunday on one of their other channels and puts this match on specifically (like the NCAA tournament on truTV but for golf).
Do you know who was second on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee this season? Dustin Johnson. Rory was first.
Do you know who was third in strokes gained tee to green on the PGA Tour this season? Dustin. Rory was second.
And Dustin landed second on Tour in strokes gained total, just edging Rory, who landed fourth.
This is what golf fans want. Hopefully the captains can figure out a way to get them in the same spot on Sunday.
Sammy the Squirrel makes an appearance
Remember Sammy from the 2013 Presidents Cup? He brought Davis Love III and some others much luck. I want a Sammy return. At this point, won’t Team USA do anything for a win?
Patrick Reed reminds us he’s the best match play golfer on the planet
A national treasure among the golf writing contingent, Reed is the guy that, as Curtis Strange put it on my Clubhouse podcast this week, won’t spit the bit.
He had a flawless match play record in college, has continued to impress in the professional ranks and boasts a 3-0-1 record in the Ryder Cup.
Reed will eventually run into a red-hot player who takes a match or a full point from him, but I’d sure hate to see it happen at Hazeltine. The Americans need Reed to be as tough as he was two years ago. If that happens, all Reed will need is a little help from the others.
We get the team of Rory and Sergio again
They played together three times in the 2014 Ryder Cup, losing a match, halving a match and winning a match.
I’m sure Garcia is expected to play a lot of matches with Rafa Cabrera-Bello, but I’d love to see him paired once again with Rory for at least one match throughout the week.
That late Sunday matters
This is the biggest one, of course. Nothing in golf is worse than when a Ryder Cup is over on Saturday. Golf fans are basically a hungry teenager just trying to clean the last few specs of marinara sauce off their plates with the Ryder Cup, knowing that it is a long and cold winter between Sunday and the Masters.
These three days are the final few hours before golf becomes an “oh, did you see” sport for the rest of the year. When Ryder Cups end before Sunday, it’s awful. Players aren’t that into it. Fans head to the course knowing the only reason they’re there is because they shelled over a good amount of dough for the seats. The broadcasters have to remind you every 12 minutes about the biggest comebacks in the history of the Cup (that would be 10-6, by the way).
It’s not fun for anyone outside of the 12 players and captains of the team dominating. We just want it to be exciting. That’s all. You know what I call the 2012 Ryder Cup? An awesome, awesome event, regardless of how it ended up for the American team. It would have been great to see them hold on and win it, but it was also great watching that European comeback.
Just make Sunday matter. That’s what we want.
OK, one more thing …
The Americans win
This isn’t because I’m an American. It isn’t because of the love for country or the fact that I smile at every Patrick Reed GIF that lands on my iPhone screen (although those do make me very happy). It isn’t for anything more than the need to keep the Ryder Cup as relevant as it is. You know what makes a rivalry fun? When teams meet up every year and you aren’t sure of the outcome. It’s why we love Alabama-LSU, Yankees-Red Sox, and Golden State-Cleveland.
We need to know that both teams have a chance, and while it’s apparent the Americans have a great shot at winning this on paper, it has been a rough run for Team USA in this event.
You know how the Presidents Cup is extremely predictable? I would hate for the Ryder Cup to become that. We want the Americans to win, we want the Europeans to win, and we want the matchup to happen every two years with the unknown being a large part of the buildup.
I want Team USA to win more for the morale of American golf in this competition than a good feeling in my heart. I root for good golf. I just hope that this week, it’s from the Americans.
If this thing ends in a tie, have an assistant captain from each team play off. Europe rolls out Ian Poulter. Team USA rolls out Tiger Woods. Can someone make this happen?!
