Miscellaneous Golf Thoughts and the Ryder Cup

I was chatting with my buddy Bitner earlier this morning and we were getting to talking about the Ryder Cup before we were both rudely interrupted with actual responsibilities to attend to, it being the middle of a work day and all. I hadn't hit on golf yet, so I thought I'd take a moment to give my thoughts on the Ryder Cup and on golf generally. For some good preview reads on the tournament, check out ESPN Rick Reilly's article (here) and Jeff Bradley's comparison of the two teams' approaches to the tourney (here).

Patriotic-type events are always fun. It's probably the biggest reason we like the Olympics, even when we have no interest in gymnastics any other time of year. (Thank goodness for reality TV's ability to provide subjectively-judged inane competitions--otherwise what would we do?) American athletes generally with American golfers as no exception typically are among the top in the world. Nonetheless, in the Ryder Cup, the American team is winless since 1999 in this biennial event against the European team. (As a note, if you believe in karma, the 1999 American team provided a pretty poor display of sportsmanship after that victory.)

U.S. Ryder Cup Team courtesy ESPN.com

The big story is that Tiger's not going to be participating, though his record in the Ryder Cup is surprisingly dismal. It's definitely not what you'd think from THE Tiger Woods. So, with the American team as quite an underdog, the consensus is that even if Tiger were there, the European team trumps the Americans in chemistry year after year after year, and that translates to a far superior performance in this team-oriented tournament.

Bradley's article spends a good time dealing with that, and he points out that while the Europeans grow up playing team-oriented golf, the Americans grow up as favored sons trained in a more individual mindset. On the Euro tour, it's apparently not uncommon for all the players to end up at the same hotels, eating at the same restaurants, and drinking at the same bars, it's more common on the American tour for players to charter private jets and travel with their own family entourage of family, nannies, etc. and stay at any number of hotels.

I think that's just sad.

Not that I'm expressing any pity for the uber-wealthy PGA tour golfers, but I think it's a shame that the professional golf experience is so disconnected from the average-joe golf experience. I think that in pickup basketball or beer league softball, there is some relationship between what the professionals enjoy about their sport and the amateurs enjoy about their sport, regardless of the disparity in talent and compensation.

Now, one of the things I enjoy most about golf is that it's the ultimate competition of self against self. Few of us are good enough to provide real competition against each other, and while golf is easily the greatest sport around for reconciling divergent skill levels to provide genuine competition via the handicap system, most of us concede that the occasional friendly bet is about all the competition we really can handle. For the most part, you play against yourself. You play against your last round or your best round, or even your last best shot.

That being said, the reason that most of us stick with golf despite how poorly we play is the camaraderie. Most of our rounds look a lot more like this...

3 European Team Players courtesy ESPN.com

...than like this:

2 American Team players courtesy ESPN.com

In the end, the poor American team performance is embarrassingly bad any way you look at it. It'd be bad enough if they just lost. It's worse that they lose and have that loss explained by a selfish, spoiled, "I'll-find-a-way-to-put-an-I-in-team" mentality that reflects the worst of American stereotypes. Some American players lately have even complained that, since it's not a paid event, they feel like "slaves" for a week. Never mind that they're wined and dined for the whole week, get the opportunity to be ambassadors for and representatives of our country, and play some of the most competitive golf available. That sure sounds like slavery!

I hope that this year's different. There are some good young players on the American team this go-around. The tournament's at a great course, the weather's supposed to be good, and the whole setup should favor the American strength of driving distance and putting. Best of luck, boys! Try not to embarrass us too badly.