42nd Ryder Cup

[Davis Love III]

It has been a quarter of a century since the United States won the Ryder Cup on European soil, but Jim Furyk leads a formidable and confident team to Paris and the spectacular Le Golf National for the 42nd edition of the biennial contest that has transcended golf and become one of the most hotly anticipated events in sport. Including nine major champions among the assembled 12, it's a strikingly impressive American team, who are looking to build on that crushing triumph at Hazeltine two years ago and reassert their supremacy following decades of relative European dominance.

Gleneagles in 2014 was something of a watershed moment for the PGA of America and its Ryder Cup operation. The captaincy of Tom Watson - a legendary figure greatly removed from the players - failed to engage and inspire, resulting in a comfortable success for Paul McGinley's side in the heart of Scotland. Controversially, Phil Mickelson criticised the leadership and direction of the American team, a move that ushered in a period of change within their setup. More or less emulating the model that Europe had long adopted, players were engaged throughout the process, there was continuity throughout the selection of captains and vice captains. It was inclusive and appeared more organised. The first step to validation was that victory in Minnesota. But a win on the continent would be a greatly significant achievement and underline a new era for the Ryder Cup.

Delving into their 12 for a moment, Dustin Johnson is the world number one, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Ryder Cup talisman Patrick Reed have accounted for four of the last five major titles. Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson bring considerable experience, as does Rickie Fowler in his fourth appearance. Jordan Spieth will be attempting to rebound from a season without victory and to rediscover his best form, while the unique Bryson DeChambeau, and Tony Finau inject a sense of freshness. On the other end of the spectrum, Phil Mickelson has played in each Ryder Cup since 1995 and Tiger Woods is back in the fold after his successful comeback in 2018. Just 12 months ago, it would have been unthinkable that the 14-time major champion - then named a vice-captain - would be competing in France, but such has been the incredible progression of his return, culminating in that triumph in the Tour Championship last Sunday. 

Wresting the Cup back is an ominous task for Thomas Bjorn and his team, which the Dane has balanced with a mix of energetic youth and experience. Indeed, only four players from Hazeltine are back this time, such has been the changing face of European golf. Open champion Francesco Molinari - a three-time runner-up at Le Golf National - will be a force on this course, as will FedEx Cup winner Justin Rose, who briefly enjoyed a recent stint at the summit of the world rankings. Rory McIlroy will be relishing the leadership role that he embraced two years ago,  but encouragement for the home crowd should be generated by the "rookies" who qualified this time. Tommy Fleetwood was runner-up at the US Open and won the Open de France on this layout last season, while the prolific Alex Noren claimed that title back in the summer. 

Jon Rahm has all the tools to be one of the stars of the game, and his fiery temperament - often perceived to be a weakness - may prove to be an asset within the context of a Ryder Cup. Many expect him to be a success this week. Likewise with Tyrrell Hatton, another emotional and expressive player, who could find those traits channeled into the match play and adversarial element of this format. Thorbjorn Olesen is capable of fireworks, and if paired up effectively, might be a name to watch under the radar as the weekend progresses.

With such freshness automatically in the side, there wasn't great surprise that Bjorn favoured more seasoned campaigners with his wild cards, despite the impressive results of Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matt Wallace and Matthew Fitzpatrick. Paul Casey - after a decade away - is back with Europe, while Henrik Stenson is a natural fit for several partners. Sergio Garcia has one of the greatest Ryder Cup records in history and was described as being the team's "on course captain", a billing that he will be hoping to meet after what has been a disappointing season. Ian Poulter - who roared back to form this year - has returned for perhaps one last hurrah. Few will forget his heroics at Medinah six years ago, and he will be attempting to tap into that once inspirational streak to his personality in this event.

This is an intriguing contest. Individually, the Americans look deep, but collectively as a unit, the European side pairs up well, and that variety of experience and youth has served them well in the past. Successful partnerships have been formed. Home advantage clearly matters, too. Since Great Britain & Ireland welcomed the continental players into the side in 1979, the United States has only won twice away, in 1981 and 1993. That remains an obstacle to be overcome for Furyk and his squad.

Building up to Friday, it's the longest week in golf, but once it kicks off, the Ryder Cup is relentless. The Americans are fancied by many, but once you delve into the nature of this format and identify the the likely pairings, Europe has a reason to feel quietly optimistic about their chances.

Whatever happens, let's hope for a close contest, reminiscent of what we saw in 2010 and 2012, as few events in sport can match that intensity and excitement. 

[The new Kia Ceed]

Brexit's causing too much destabilisation, imo.    

Yanks 16-12

[D Angelo Barksdale]

Europe for me by a couple of points.

At our best when we're the underdogs and while we're not being written off entirely, there's already plenty who think this is the strongest ever Yank team with one hand on the trophy.

Home crowd advantage and a course set up that clearly favours our players, all of whom have good course form. Only Hatton has failed to record a top 10 finish here, Fleetwood and Noren are the last two winners at this venue.

[Donathan]

Game 1: Koepka/Finau v Rose/Rahm

Game 2: Johnson/Fowler v McIlroy/Olesen

Game 3: Spieth/Thomas v Casey/Hatton

Game 4: Reed/Woods v Molinari/Fleetwood

[lichtie23]

Game 1- Europe
Game 2- USA
Game 3- USA
Game 4- USA

Surprised to see no Poulter

[Flybhoy]

That singer at the opening ceremony was horrendously fucking shite,  lassie died a slow death on the stage. 

[pandarilla]

That singer at the opening ceremony was horrendously fucking shite,  lassie died a slow death on the stage. 

Agreed. Same for the French female who gave a speech after.

Her jokes were terrible and she seemed to be trying to make a political point about a powerful Europe. Jeezo

[Im_Rodger]

USA are going to win. 

[Mark Connolly]

A maximum of 2 points between them at the end.

Europe just for me

[Fuctifano]

As the week's gone on I've become more  confident of a European victory but I still think America, closely, something like 15-13.  Annoying won't see much until Sunday but it's (apart from Sky missing about 85% of the shots live) genuinely great entertainment on a close Sunday.

[Ro Sham Bo]

Looks quite a tight set of matches to start with. No more than 1 point in it after the first session I would guess.

[ArabGaz]

Europe to sneak it 14.5 to 13.5.

Tommy Fleetwood top European point scorer.

Patrick Reed to have me seething by about 8:05 tomorrow morning.

[pandarilla]

Anyone know roughly when each day's play will finish?

I'm trying to plan my weekend.

[The Golden God]

Rahm/Rose

Spieth/Thomas

McIlroy/Olesen

Reed/Woods.

 

[lichtie23]

A few bets placed.

Stenson (top Scandinavian) & Fleetwood (top English) double. £5 returns £40

Fleetwood (top Eur) & Spieth (top USA) double. £3 returns £157.50

Rose/Rahm
Spieth/Thomas
Molinari/Fleetwood
Johnson/Fowler
Lucky 15

[IrishBhoy]

Funny reading again about the disastrous Tom Watson captaincy at Gleneagles. Some of the stories that came out after that painted Watson in a very bad light. In the media he is spoken about as one of the nicest people in the game but I think that is quite far from the truth. 

A few years ago when the Open was at Turnberry my Uncle was a member at the time and we had got access to certain parts of the club house, spoke to loads of the players who were all brand new. I was asking the players to sign a flag for me that I was going to get framed and give to my golf club. Every golfer I asked signed it apart from Tom Watson, who said he didn’t sign anything as he believed we were trying to make money off it. He walked away and we thought that was that, until a security guard came over saying that Tom Watson wanted us punted out the clubhouse as we had been pestering him. We explained what happened and the security guy told us just to stay where we were, and that Watson had been being a p***k to anyone he encountered all week. 

[IrishBhoy]

6 hours ago, pandarilla said:

Anyone know roughly when each day's play will finish?

I'm trying to plan my weekend.

The last match in the Foursomes starts at 1.35 pm UK time so would imagine everything will be done for around 4.30 pm given they are only playing one ball and some matches will finish early. 

[Fuctifano]

What's going to the best text based site for following along at work? I normally default to BBC. 

[Alert Mongoose]

Do the BBC have highlights on later? 

[IrishBhoy]

2 minutes ago, Alert Mongoose said:

Do the BBC have highlights on later? 

Half 8 tonight BBC 2.