Ryder Cup 2023

[csirl]

Europeans usually have a good atmosphere in the team. The players are relaxed and having fun. They really want to be there and like the team feeling. I get the impression that the USA players turn up as a bunch of individuals. Dont seem to be enjoying the event as much. You see this in the fourballs/foursomes - Europe always plays better in these than the singles - as the team cohesion is better.

 

[Miller]

Europeans usually have a good atmosphere in the team. The players are relaxed and having fun. They really want to be there and like the team feeling. I get the impression that the USA players turn up as a bunch of individuals. Dont seem to be enjoying the event as much. You see this in the fourballs/foursomes - Europe always plays better in these than the singles - as the team cohesion is better.

True in a lot of ways. MacIntyre said he had tears in his eyes walking to the first tee and realized "this is what golf is all about." That is their philosophy. They want to win a Ryder Cup above all else. Our guys want to win the Masters and a lot of money. It comes across as very corporate or country club vs playing for a team.

 

[Plankton]

True in a lot of ways. MacIntyre said he had tears in his eyes walking to the first tee and realized "this is what golf is all about." That is their philosophy. They want to win a Ryder Cup above all else. Our guys want to win the Masters and a lot of money. It comes across as very corporate or country club vs playing for a team.

I heard something very interesting from Paul McGinley on the Golf Channel post show on Saturday night. If you don't know, McGinley played on the European PGA Tour (now the DP World Tour), and played for and was a winning Ryder Cup captain for Europe. This was in and around the whole conversation about player compensation for the Ryder Cup and the Cantlay "protest". Each player is given $200K to donate to a charity of their choice (this is both the US and Europe), and all of their travel, lodging, meals, etc. are paid by the host side. The US team all get money in the PGA pension fund (via contribution from the PGA of America) as a result of being on the team. The DP World Tour has no pension fund, so the European players do not get anything.

Back in 1999, this issue first came to light, with Mark O'Meara, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and David Duval leading the charge in complaining about this. The compromise was the charitable money being made available to players. You notice that you never hear anything about money from the European side, but there always seems to be something from the US side.

It shows where the motivation truly lies, and perhaps why the European side consistently has had the mental edge since 1987 in this event.

 

[Scottishcowboy]

I heard something very interesting from Paul McGinley on the Golf Channel post show on Saturday night. If you don't know, McGinley played on the European PGA Tour (now the DP World Tour), and played for and was a winning Ryder Cup captain for Europe. This was in and around the whole conversation about player compensation for the Ryder Cup and the Cantlay "protest". Each player is given $200K to donate to a charity of their choice (this is both the US and Europe), and all of their travel, lodging, meals, etc. are paid by the host side. The US team all get money in the PGA pension fund (via contribution from the PGA of America) as a result of being on the team. The DP World Tour has no pension fund, so the European players do not get anything.

Back in 1999, this issue first came to light, with Mark O'Meara, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and David Duval leading the charge in complaining about this. The compromise was the charitable money being made available to players. You notice that you never hear anything about money from the European side, but there always seems to be something from the US side.

It shows where the motivation truly lies, and perhaps why the European side consistently has had the mental edge since 1987 in this event.

It has come up over the the years as noted.

Did you watch the press conferences each team held after the singles? Some of the Americans looked like they didn't care. Can you imagine Seve after a heavy loss! Also the Europeans joked and took the piss. Justin Rose also made a great point about playing as a team but that doesn't mean playing with your mate.......looking at you JT and JS who were awful.

There's also an underlying arrogance in that outside the "big" European names, they don't respect the 12. Even the US commentators mentioned top 6 but then lesser names. I think they go in expecting to win.

 

[Plankton]

It has come up over the the years as noted.

Did you watch the press conferences each team held after the singles? Some of the Americans looked like they didn't care. Can you imagine Seve after a heavy loss! Also the Europeans joked and took the piss. Justin Rose also made a great point about playing as a team but that doesn't mean playing with your mate.......looking at you JT and JS who were awful.

There's also an underlying arrogance in that outside the "big" European names, they don't respect the 12. Even the US commentators mentioned top 6 but then lesser names. I think they go in expecting to win

Absolutely. After the Whistling Straits beatdown, there was a huge groundswell through the media insisting that Europe was going to be beaten for a decade after that loss, and that there weren't any players in the pipeline to carry the mantle forward. I shook my head, thinking that this view was so stupid and so short sighted. Funny that you don't hear the mea culpas from these people who missed this one so badly.

Total arrogance all the way around. These guys care more about their wallets than winning.

 

[Scottishcowboy]

It's easy to look at the US tour and think this is the only tour that counts but its simply not true. I would even guess some Americans barely know the names of European players who play this side of the pond. Easy to be wise after the event but 12 v 12 Europe were stronger and not carrying ANY out of form "names". I also think outside SS, Europe have the next 4 best players in RM, JR, VH (rankings) but Fleetwood too.

 

[Miller]

It's easy to look at the US tour and think this is the only tour that counts but its simply not true. I would even guess some Americans barely know the names of European players who play this side of the pond. Easy to be wise after the event but 12 v 12 Europe were stronger and not carrying ANY out of form "names". I also think outside SS, Europe have the next 4 best players in RM, JR, VH (rankings) but Fleetwood too.

Heck it could be stated that the European team could have been stronger with Meronk. They have stuff with Aberg too. So of the US picks just aren’t inspiring. Rickie is a great guy and had a nice year but no fire. Same with Spieth and Xander this year. Reminds me of when we used to always trot out Furyk and a bunch of middle aged blah guys expecting to win.

 

[Scottishcowboy]

Heck it could be stated that the European team could have been stronger with Meronk. They have stuff with Aberg too. So of the US picks just aren’t inspiring. Rickie is a great guy and had a nice year but no fire. Same with Spieth and Xander this year. Reminds me of when we used to always trot out Furyk and a bunch of middle aged blah guys expecting to win.

Funny you say Meronk......my mate is best mates with Meronk's caddie from childhood (beckers he gets called) so he gets a load of info on what's happening. He was gutted at not being selected as his form was great AND he won the Italian Open on that course. I think he's switching to the PGA tour in 2024 so will be interesting to see how he gets on.

 

[Miller]

Funny you say Meronk......my mate is best mates with Meronk's caddie from childhood (beckers he gets called) so he gets a load of info on what's happening. He was gutted at not being selected as his form was great AND he won the Italian Open on that course. I think he's switching to the PGA tour in 2024 so will be interesting to see how he gets on.

That’s awesome! Cool he knows the caddie. I would be gutted too as he had a great year!!

My nephew is actually friends with Scottie Scheffler. They went to Highland Park High School together in Dallas. My nephew actually was on the golf team with him as Freshman and beat him but then he played basketball instead. Scottie, from what he tells me, is super competitive but also really nice. He has a horrible cup so I’m sure he’s gutted. Looked like it after they 9 & 7.