Brief History

The Ryder Cup evolved from a series of informal matches between US and Great Britain competitors in the mid-1920’s.  Samuel Ryder, a wealthy British seed merchant, became intrigued with these matches and decided to sponsor a match at the Worcester Country Club in 1927.  During this period, there wasn’t a lot of support for British professionals so the idea for these matches would generate some publicity in their behalf.  Ryder sponsored a professional by the name of Abe Mitchell to lead the charge and Mitchell is the model on the Ryder Cup itself.  Mitchell actually never played in the inaugural match due to illness  and Ted Ray became the head of the British squad.  The Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts became the venue for the initial match as a venue that had hosted a US Open and was a convenient spot for the British players to travel to.  Walter Hagen was the Tiger Woods of this era and was the clear leader of the US team.  Samuel Ryder provided the funding for the initial gold Ryder Cup trophy estimated to cost 500 Pounds in 1927.

Early Days

The Matches were dominated by the US team for years as the Cup was played every other year.  The US won 18 of the first 21 matches rendering the matches almost insignificant.  At Jack Nicklaus’ suggestion, European players were added to the competition in 1979 and Europe won its first Cup in 1985.  All of a sudden, the US dominance of this event was clearly at risk despite a wonderful lineup of great players.  Fast forward to 1991–the following players had been shut out of a Ryder Cup victory since 1983–Azinger, Calcavecchia, Couples, O’Meara, Stewart had never been on a Cup winning team.  Europe boasted the firepower of Seve Ballesteros, Olazabal, Faldo, Langer and a dimmer cast of characters.

1991-The War by the Shore

Publicity for the 1991 event at Kiawah Island, South Carolina seemed to take on a new meaning for the US golf fan.  The Americans were losing consistently and the press was crying out for a reversal under the captaincy of Dave Stockton.  The US seemed to be the strongest team “on paper” but golf is played on green grass.  The mood of these matches seemed to take a jingoistic attitude with the US needing to win and the European side determined to prevail as well.  Fan behavior began to change a bit for the first time  turning more rowdy, raucous, with catcalls heading the European way for the first time.  I had attended the last American victory at the Belfry in 1983 and crowd behavior was absolutely respectful to both sides despite the US victory.  The 1991 matches ebbed and flowed with both sides making great shots and great mistakes as the matches ended up tied 8-8 going into the Sunday singles matches.

The play from the previous two days with all the ups and downs and pressures continued and was best displayed by the Calcavecchia/Montgomery match.  The US was in position to grab this cup with Calcaveechia grabbing a 4 up lead on Montgomery when one of the biggest collapses in match play history occurred.  Calcavecchia was imploding but still held a 2 up lead with 2 to play.  Montgomerie then dunked his tee shot in the lake at 17 and all Calcaveechia had to do would be to find dry land with his tee shot–he hit a worm burner 2 iron right into the lake causing Johnny Miller to cite this as “the worst shot in professional golf of all time.”  Calcaveechia would go on to halve his match with Montgomery with another bogey on 18.  The US still needed a 1/2 point to win the Cup, which would be decided by the Irwin/Langer match, which was tied going into the 18th hole.

The 18th Hole

The matches were hot and heavy with Mark Calcavecchia blowing his  match against Montgomery as the pressure mounted.  The matches were All Square coming into the 18th hole with Hale Irwin playing against Bernard Langer.  The match was all square coming into and you could cut the pressure with a knife.  What unfolded has been discussed as the biggest unsolved mystery in the history of golf.  Irwin hooked his tee shot way left and it looked like it was headed out of bounds into the weeds, when low and behold, it appears in the fairway.  It is there that the stories and conspiracy theories start to rear their ugly head.    One account claims that the ball hit a spectator and bounded back into play.  Another cites a few glorious kicks from death and the bowels of enternal wisp and rough bordering the 18th and alas it’s in the fairway.  It is the best kept secret perhaps in golfing history as the allegations continue to mount with zero collaboration as to the veracity of what the truth really is.  The Americans acknowledged their good fortune while the Europeans cried foul ball as one European fan cited that the ball was actually thrown back into the fairway.  After 25 years, the issue remains unresolved and all that is really known is that Langer missed his 4 foot putt giving the Cup back to the American side and a champagne ridden dive into the Atlantic by the USA squad.  It’s sort of interesting that this type of situation would occur in a Ryder Cup competition of this stature as there has never been such a controversy in any of the four majors spanning a century of competitions.

Post 1991

While you might think that might the worst of it, bad things kept happening.  The Europeans kept winning and dominating pulled together by their team concept and unifying dislike for the American squad.  The US had most of the best players in the world rankings but little affinity for the type of unity and humility displayed by the Europe team.  The fans and the media stoked the fires of these tendencies and division,  and soon the competition began to get ugly.  There was the US Team Country Club victory in Massachusetts as Justin Leonard sank a long putt in front of Jose Marie Olazabal.  Olazabal had to witness a frenetic dance program by the US team on the green before he could line up his improbable effort to tie.  It was a new height of American arrogance and a new low for ettiquette at the Ryder Cup.  It would set the stage for further deterioration in fan behavior and overall spirit of the match.  Things have gotten out of hand.  It’s now become normal for the fans of both sides to engage in bad behavior that deprecates the game of golf–we now have fans cheering for missed shots and putts, rowdy and boisterous cheering including despicable vocabulary towards the visiting team players whether in the United States or the European venue.  Team captains are setting up their home venues for their own benefit while the PGA of America and its European partner ignore the trends and head for the ATM machine.  In 2025, the US fans insulted the wives of the European players and some beer was splashed on Rory McIlroy’s wife.  Somewhere in all of this, the reputation of the game of golf is sullied by this set of behaviors and it needs to end.  It would be fitting to end it all at Adair Manor in 2027 and call it quits to a series of matches that is outlived its useful life.

In addition to all of these new tendencies, the introduction of sports betting through the prediction markets is complicating the matter further as fans now have vested interests in all types of potential outcomes including individual performance.

The competition needs a cleansing of all this nastiness.  I would dilute the event with the following changes, but irrespective of these views, the event, if it is to continue, needs a complete refresh.

1.  Make it a Match Play event only–singles matches for three days
2. Reduce the number of professionals to 5 and add 3 amateur players with the USGA Amateur Champion and the European Champion as auto qualifiers
3. Change the name of the Cup to perhaps The Nicklaus Cup if Jack would endorse it
4. Limit crowd size and ban the sale of alcohol
5. Ban sports betting on any aspect of the event from predictive market platforms.
6. Start to play these events on courses such as Cypress Point, Pine Valley, Muirfield, Old Course, Sand Valley etc.

I realize that these recommendations would never be addressed yet alone considered to be adopted.  Golf is falling prey to the almighty dollar at the professional level.   The divisiveness of the professional tours has already been demonstrated by the LIV movement and proven to be unsustainable.   The Ryder Cup has moved from etiquette and respect to jingoism and bad behavior to dangerous behavior.  The first reaction you get these days is how fans are going to disrupt and strum up more vitriol for either side.   The Cup needs to end until the governing bodies of golf can reel in this event in to the purity and saneness  of a golf competition.

The society continues to prioritize the concept of MONEY over the pure integrity of the game.  There are potential solutions but presently it is highly unlikely that any solutions will be addressed as the commercial interests will continue to dominate the event.  Playing for country and reputation is far beyond the reality of this competition.