Paige MacKenzie on Golf Channel’s Live From The Ryder Cup was mystified that the U.S. team lost Ryder Cups in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the ones in more recent years. She said she didn’t understand.
When it comes to the Ryder Cup, there’s a lot of history to unpack, and that may affect how American golfers—I’m guessing here—felt about past editions. Today, they don’t feel the same as they did. Today, guys like Rory McIlroy cry when they lose.
Today, Scottie Scheffler says things like, “I think our team as a whole, we're very proud to be Americans. I think the flag means a lot to us.”
In earlier days, the Ryder Cup was more of an afterthought after a long season of golfers beating up on each other trying to make a living. There just wasn’t as much money in golf. There was less than there is on the Korn Ferry Tour now. Players of the 1980s and even into the 1990s—Jack Nicklaus will tell you—had to have other sideline businesses and off-course sponsors to make ends meet.
To explain the Ryder Cup situation to Paige and anyone else who wonders how the U.S. could get on a losing streak, I would cite the awarding of the 1991 Ryder Cup, which was to be played at PGA West’s Stadium Course. Stay with me. Yes, I know it was held at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course. (Maybe you’ll win a trivia contest with this one day.)
The announcement was made at the PGA Championship held at Cherry Hills Country Club in suburban Denver. The event was so slightly regarded at that time that there were only 12 people in attendance. I know because I counted.
Four or five of those present were officers of the PGA of America. One was a Senior VP of Landmark Land Company, Joe Walser, who headed up the PGA West project, representing the course developer. There was the AP writer at the time, Bob Green, now long gone. There were a couple photographers. And the rest were staffers from the PGA. And me. That was it. Nobody really cared about the Ryder Cup.
At the time, I worked for Landmark Land doing golf PR, which was why I was there, and from that moment forward, I knew I had an uphill battle to get people to care about PGA West and, by extension, the Ryder Cup.
Later that year, 1985, nobody in the U.S. really paid attention when Europe won for the first time since 1959. When Europe won again in 1987, it should have been clear that this wasn’t a fluke.
In 1991, as most know, the Ryder Cup was not played at PGA West. It was moved east. That’s a longer story for another time.
At the beginning of the week in 1991, the U.S. may not have cared a lot, but they certainly didn’t want to be embarrassed at home by losing again. Yet, by Sunday, Mark Calcavecchia was on the other side of the sand dunes crying because he lost his match with Colin Montgomerie when he had been ahead.
Since then, the Ryder Cup has become a battle royale between European and U.S. golf fans and players. In 1991, it was so over the top that it’s hard to explain to anyone who wasn’t there. The air was electric. Sizzling even.
The U.S. captain was a two-time PGA champion, Dave Stockton. His assistants were his two sons. That’s how much it has changed. Now there are nearly more assistants than there are players.
It’s not that the players weren’t patriotic then, but they are more so now.
In addition to his aforementioned comments about the flag during his pre-tourney presser, Scottie Scheffler added, "My passion for the game of golf runs so deep, my passion for my country runs so deep that when it comes to these team events, it's just another way to continue to be motivated to work hard.”
Patrick Cantlay, who is known for being low-key and not very excitable, can’t wait.
“I think it's going to be great this week playing in front of the New York fans. They have a reputation for being fantastic, so I think everyone is really excited about playing their best golf in front of them,” he said.
Current U.S. captain Keegan Bradley is known for bleeding red, white and blue.
“I think the only two things in the golf world that you are when you retire is either a major winner or a Ryder Cupper,” he said. “No matter what happens, you look at that guy; I remember watching events as a kid and my dad saying, he's a Ryder Cupper or he's a major champion. That never goes away. That's with you forever.”
He added that being at the 1999 matches in Brookline changed his life.
Justin Thomas, who can be pretty excitable, is in his fourth Ryder Cup. He talked about the fans.
“The chants, I don't know how the Europeans do it,” he said. “It's really impressive, to be honest. I don't know if there's like a group text of 10,000 people that they just come up with these things, but they're pretty awesome and impressive.”
“When it comes to getting the juices flowing of the Ryder Cup, you need fans to be there. You need them to do their thing,” Xander Schauffele noted. “Whether it's everyone singing their songs, they're sort of like pub drinking songs in Europe, or the sort of heavy USA chants we get here, I love all of it, to be completely honest.”
That’s part of the difference now versus then.
In 1987, there were almost no fans, and TV was just showing a few final holes. Because it was match play, the audience didn’t know how to react or respond to it. And worse, at least here in the States, the U.S. lost.
And, of course, the big difference between then and now was the decision that made it competitive. That was because continental Europe was added to the Ryder Cup at a time when Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer were just starting their careers.
Ballesteros may have been the soul of the team for more than a decade, and Langer was just plain determined to win. With Montgomerie, Sir Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, and later Jose Maria Olazabal, they became the difference makers for Europe for a decade-plus, setting up a tradition that still remains.