Thrills and Spills Guaranteed at Ryder Cup With USA Favored to Win

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Drama incoming at Bethpage State Park

It happens every two years and, to many, it’s the greatest sporting contest on the planet. I refer, of course, to the mighty Ryder Cup, when the USA goes toe-to-toe – or maybe tee-to-tee – with Europe in golf’s greatest team rivalry.

It’s a matchup that dates back to 1927, when, at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts, a gentleman by the name of Samuel Ryder – a British seed merchant – donated a trophy to be contested between teams from the USA and Great Britain.   

tees off on Friday, September 26, at the Black Course of Bethpage State Park

It was the start of a rivalry that has endured, with European players now added to the mix to make it a contest of continents rather than countries. This year’s event, the 45th in the series, tees off on Friday, September 26, at the Black Course of Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York. Europe looks to defend the trophy they won two years ago at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Rome, thanks to a comfortable 16.5–11.5 win.

USA starts Ryder Cup as odds-on favorite

But the USA begins this year’s contest as the -138 favorite, with Europe listed at a more generous +180, and the draw at a bookie-busting +1300. With 28 points to play for, a draw is always a possibility, in which case Europe, as holders, would retain the trophy.

Notably, in the 44 matches, there have only ever been two ties.

What is guaranteed, though, is drama and excitement on a level rarely experienced in a sporting arena and, Ryder Cups aside, rarely in a golfing one. It produces an atmosphere like no other, and with this year’s contest being played out in front of a notoriously feisty New York crowd, the European team knows they face challenges beyond the fairways and greens.

Keegan Bradley takes charge of the US team

With the USA on home soil and favorites to win and regain the trophy, this merely ramps up the jeopardy to the next level. Bethpage State Park won’t be for the faint-hearted. For the record, the European team is again captained by Luke Donald, the victorious captain in Rome, while Keegan Bradley takes charge of the US team for the first time.

And, of course, there is the history. Rarely does a Ryder Cup not produce a story, or stories, but some have stood the test of time and have gone down in golfing legend.

Here are a few:

Nicklaus vs. Jacklin (1969)

This is widely regarded as one of the highest-quality and closest Ryder Cups of all time, with 18 of the 32 matches decided on the final green. It was also billed as Nicklaus vs. Jacklin – then regarded as the two best golfers on their respective continents.

The match, which was hosted at Royal Birkdale in the north of England, was decided on the final green of the final round, and, of course, it was Jacklin and Nicklaus going head-to-head in the end.

As the pair entered the 17th hole, the teams were tied at 15.5 each, but Nicklaus led Jacklin by a single shot. The Englishman held his nerve to make a 35-foot eagle putt, so when Nicklaus missed his eagle attempt from 12 feet, the match was tied with one to play.

At the par-5 18th, both players made the green in two, and then the American shot his eagle putt five feet past the hole, while Jacklin ended up two feet short. In front of a crowd of around 8,000 at that green, Nicklaus sank his birdie putt and, incredibly, picked up Jacklin’s marker and conceded his putt.

As the then-holders, the USA retained the trophy, but it was a remarkable act of sportsmanship on the part of Nicklaus. He said to Jacklin afterwards: “I don’t think you would have missed that putt, but in these circumstances, I would never give you the opportunity.”

USA Captain Sam Snead later described the event as “the greatest golf match you have ever seen in England,” but was critical of Nicklaus. “All the boys thought it was ridiculous to give him that putt. We went over there to win, not to be good ol’ boys.”

Azinger vs. Ballesteros (1989)

Europe was the holder of the trophy heading into the contest at The Belfry in England, after sensationally winning in Ohio two years earlier. Europe had also won in 1985. It was the first time they had started to compete for the trophy regularly after decades of US dominance, so tensions were already running high.

a comment that was not well received by the Europeans

The US team was captained by Raymond Floyd, who, realizing the importance of a victory for his country, described his team as “the 12 greatest players in the world” in his pre-tournament press conference. As expected and planned, it was a comment that was not well received by the Europeans. The opening salvos had been fired.

Partly fueled by this intense rivalry, this match also saw the start of a career-long feud between Seve Ballesteros and Paul Azinger. The pair were drawn together in their third-day singles match, but it all kicked off when the Spaniard requested to change a scuffed ball under a new rule.  

Unusually, the American contested whether the ball was unfit for play, and, after the intervention of a referee, it was decided that the ball was still fit for play. Ballesteros is reported to have said to Azinger, “Is this the way you want to play today?”

The ill-feeling continued through the match and, on the 18th, Ballesteros challenged whether the American had taken a legitimate drop after hitting the ball into the water. Tensions threatened to boil over, and their mood wasn’t helped by the match ending in a tie, allowing Europe to retain the trophy.       

The War on the Shore (1991)

The tension created by the Ballesteros/Azinger feud escalated further in the 1991 tournament at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort, and it started before the action even began.

At the ceremonial opening dinner, the American PGA played two videos to those present that the European team viewed as deliberately inflammatory. This set the tone for the three days that were to follow. Ironically, or maybe it was fate, Azinger, with his partner Chip Beck, was paired against Ballesteros and his partner, José María Olazábal, in a foursomes match on the first morning.

the bad feeling simmered as the game progressed

The bad feeling that had built up from 1989 and the pre-tournament dinner didn’t take long to spill over, once Ballesteros had concluded that Azinger and Beck had switched their ball in contravention of the “one ball rule.” While it was later confirmed that the Americans had made the switch, the Spaniard’s protest came too late for the match referee to do anything about it, so the bad feeling simmered as the game progressed.

But what it also did was raise the level of golf. Out of that bad feeling and increased intensity came some of the best golf the Ryder Cup has seen, with some citing that particular rubber as one of the best pairs matches in golfing history.

In the end, the Spaniards won 2 & 1, but Ballesteros wasn’t content to leave it there. His parting shot was a stinger. “The American team has 11 nice guys. And Paul Azinger.”

This match was also notable for a very rowdy home crowd, which had been whipped up by their national media in support of the US “Desert Storm” military operation in Iraq, so much so that it became known as the “War on the Shore.”

The other notable feature of this tournament was its conclusion, one of the most dramatic in golf history. It all came down to the final singles match between Hale Irwin of the US and Germany’s Bernhard Langer. To win the Ryder Cup, the US team needed Irwin to win or tie the match by winning or halving the hole, while Europe could retain the trophy with a Langer win.

crumbled under the pressure and missed

On the final green, Langer was left with a tricky six-foot putt, while Irwin had an uphill 18-inch putt for a bogey, but to everyone’s surprise, the German conceded Irwin’s putt. This left him with a must-make putt to retain the Ryder Cup, but he crumbled under the pressure and missed. It was sporting drama and heartbreak at its most intense.

Battle of Brookline (1999)

The tournament, held at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, was one of the most controversial ever. It ended in a remarkable victory for the USA team, who were trailing 10-6 at the start of the final day.

Thanks to an amazing afternoon of singles golf, the USA defeated Europe 8.5-3.5 on that final afternoon to make the final score 14.5-13.5. It sealed their first victory since 1993. But it was the premature celebrating of victory that further soured the mood in the game between America’s Justin Leonard and Spain’s Olazábal.

With the match all square on the 17th, Leonard needed at least a half to clinch a US victory. Olazábal’s second shot had left him with a 22-foot putt for par, while Leonard’s shot went within 10 feet of the hole before rolling 45 feet away.

Incredibly, Leonard holed the putt, which sparked wild celebrations on the green from teammates, wives, and even spectators, before it was pointed out that Olazábal could still take the game to the final hole by holding his 22-footer.

the culmination of three days of bad blood

Unsurprisingly, amid all the commotion, the Spaniard missed his putt, and the celebrations were re-ignited. But this was merely the culmination of three days of bad blood, with the European team talking of hostile galleries and insults being hurled in the direction of their players.

In the days following the tournament, some members of the USA team apologized for their poor behavior.

The Miracle at Medinah (2012)

The 39th iteration of the Ryder Cup was hosted by the Medinah Country Club in Illinois, and this time it was Europe’s turn to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Under their captain, Olazábal, Europe found themselves down 10-4 after 14 matches, with two four-ball matches still out on the course on the Saturday afternoon and the 12 singles matches ahead on the Sunday.

Luckily for Europe, Ryder Cup specialist Ian Poulter managed five birdies over the final five holes on Saturday to give him and Rory McIlroy a win over Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson, and Europe picked up another vital point, so they began the singles down 10-6.

this one matched the Americans’ comeback in 1999

Unbelievably, even against the backdrop of a vociferous US crowd, Europe won 8.5 of the 12 points available on that Sunday, leaving them with a winning 14.5-13.5 margin. In terms of a points deficit faced, this one matched the Americans’ comeback in 1999 at Brookline.

It was Martin Kaymer, a German, who struck the winning putt, ironically from an almost identical position to the one famously missed by Langer in 1991. In Europe, this amazing victory is still described as the “Miracle of Medinah,” but in the US it’s now known as the “Meltdown at Medinah.”

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