If you're looking for golf claps and handicaps in the Ryder Cup, you've opened the wrong door.
I'll come right out and say it: the Ryder Cup is one of (if not the best) sporting event in all of athletics, in any corner of the globe.
Every two years, we get to witness 24 of the world's best golfers gut out a three-day competition that continues to define pressure. There is no greater pressure than performing for your country ' that isn't arguable.
Shame on those of you that didn't take in this past weekend's most recent addition to the ever-changing dynamic of golf. Maybe there was a thrilling Troy University football game to watch? I must have missed it.
Oh, yeah. Last weekend's Ohio State game was a lot more entertaining.
Back on topic.
United States captain Paul Azinger set out in 2006 to redefine the Ryder Cup'after two consecutive spankings (for lack of a better term) at the hands of the Europeans, our hometown boys were still looking for answers, and really, a newfound excitement and energy was all it took.
The media in America didn't take it easy on the Ryder Cuppers in 2004 and 2006 (and prior to that). The last time the United States held the Ryder Cup in victory was 1999, the classic comeback at Brookline. Still gives me the chills.
Azinger must have known a little about the nature of golf fans in the South. If you've watched SEC football recently, one can easily see how passionate they are about their sports. He wisely drummed up the event for 24 months and rallied interest in the matches, to the point where people questioned his sanity.
But Louisville, Ky., embraced the Ryder Cup, and it all paid off in the end.
For almost two decades, the United States Ryder Cup captain has had the luxury of 10 players qualifying for the matches via a points system'the 10 most successful players in the two-year window between Ryder Cups automatically made the team. This made for a lot of inconsistency ' many players tailed off once they had figured to be on the team, and many just weren't made for the intensity of the Ryder Cup, more or less contending in the Valero Texas Open.
Azinger looked at his hand and went all in with the PGA of America.
He changed the points system and only allowed eight players to automatically qualify based on points earned during the Ryder Cup year only. What you did last year meant nothing 'he wanted the hottest players on two feet entering the matches.
The man they affectionately call Zinger opted to hand-pick four players instead of two, allowing him to select the men who were playing the best going into the Ryder Cup. European captain Nick Faldo chose to keep the selection process the same for the visitors (and three-time defending champions)
Azinger's captain's picks (J.B. Holmes, Steve Stricker, Chad Campbell and Hunter Mahan) were the spark plugs for the American team at Valhalla Golf Club. The grounds sounded more like an NFL football stadium than a golf course, and the electricity never stopped.
Sure, it's a little difficult for a casual golf fan to latch on to a biennial event that the Americans really haven't shown up for in our generation. But one glance at NBC's coverage this weekend should have been plenty.
Phil Mickelson admirably stepped up in the absence of world No. 1 Tiger Woods, and rookies Anthony Kim and Boo Weekley provided an energy American golf fans haven't seen since the late Payne Stewart won the U.S. Open in 1999.
Kim's thrashing of Ryder Cup stalwart Sergio Garcia (5&4) in the Sunday singles set the tone for a much-needed American victory.
The main reason behind Azinger's choice to alter the selection process was to get new blood into the Ryder Cup and start a new winning tradition.
After all, the old group of United States Ryder Cuppers couldn't bring the hardware back to our coastline, so why keep the same sinking ship on life support?
Mahan, Weekley, Holmes and Kim signaled a new beginning for golf in our country, and many of us took notice. Native Kentuckian Kenny Perry,-
I don't know what will'in reference to a boom in golf interest in the United States after the spirited victory.
I will agree with Kenny. If such an emotional and high-powered contest of patriotism, guts and skill doesn't garner the interest of more than a few casual golf fans and their buddies, we might need to check our collective pulse.
And, finally, a note to European whiner G 17
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Rob Mixer
