Oct Exchange

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THE EXCHANGE

As a spectacle, the Ryder Cup trumps the Presidents Cup There is a rumour going around that a guy seen in Hyde Park wearing a sandwich board reading, “Hannibal Lecter was framed”, was actually Australian Golf Digest’s senior writer. If it turns out to be true, no one will be surprised. For him, defending the indefensible has become an obsession. But even allowing for this masochistic tendency, it is hard to believe that he doesn’t have a less problematic cause noir to champion at present. If he were in the room, I’d ask him just a single question. Off the top of his head, is there one memorable moment that he can immediately recall from a decade-and-a-half of Presidents Cup battles? Struggling with that one? Don’t rush, take your time. Maybe it will come to you. Then again, maybe it won’t. Then I’d ask him the same question in relation to the Ryder Cup. If he’s truthful, he’ll admit that it’s hard to know where to start when confronted with a kaleidoscopic montage of some of golf’s greatest moments. Perhaps he’d recall Jack Nicklaus conceding Tony Jacklin ‘that’ putt in 1969? Or Bernhard Langer’s missed five-footer to lose the Cup in ’91? Or possibly his mind will flash back to the foursome and fourball heroics of the symbiotic Spaniards, Jose Maria Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros, over more than a decade of competition? Shall I go on? What about the cacophonous, spine-tingling, emotionally charged roar that reverberated through the grounds of the K Club in 2006 as local lad Darren Clarke was introduced to the tee, only five weeks after losing his wife to cancer? The outpouring of emotion was part empathy, part distorted chauvinism, but the evolving sense of tribalism that now defines the modern era of the Ryder Cup was also an important contributor. Significantly, this has become the influential factor that separates it from the Presidents Cup. Both continents involved have embraced the Ryder Cup. Europe has united against a common ‘enemy’. The US has responded in kind, its bellicose home crowds rising to the challenge. For both teams, the pain and fear of losing is tangible. This self-evident passion lends their biennial event its legitimacy. On the other hand, the Presidents Cup has the feel and energy of an exhibition. It is a concept still trying to find its raison d’être, which it almost certainly will in time. At the moment, though, it’s an event rather than a true spectacle. – Grant Dodd Grant Dodd attended the 2006 Ryder Cup in Ireland.

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Ugly scenes marred golf a decade ago at the Ryder Cup.

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Australian Golf Digest

octobeR 2009

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The big problem with the Ryder Cup is simple: there are no Australians. It also lacks Asians, Africans and South Americans – more than 70 per cent of the world’s population. But that won’t bother my flippant colleague, who has a penchant for supporting events of minor importance. With a superior format that builds to a crescendo over four days, the Presidents Cup features a greater number of the game’s best players (according to the official world golf ranking). The Internationals have access to a burgeoning talent pool across Asia. The recent success of South Korean Y.E. Yang at the US PGA Championship illustrates this growth, an indication the Internationals no longer rely upon Australians, South Africans and Kiwis. In contrast, the Ryder Cup is predominantly an Anglo-Saxon affair, enlisting Continental Europeans to curb the one-sided contest that it was for much of last century. The Ryder Cup may be big for Americans and Europeans, but unfortunately its popularity brings out the worst in human nature. Frenzied media coverage likens the event to war. Player behaviour stoops to unsavoury lows, some displaying complete antipathy toward the rules and etiquette. Unruly fans spoil the occasion as nationalistic sentiment rears its ugly head. They greet good shots from the home team with unbridled joy, while there is overt cheering for the mistakes of the enemy. It’s a sad reflection of the generosity offered by Samuel Ryder. The Presidents Cup epitomises good sportsmanship. Take the 2003 encounter in South Africa where fading light jeopardised an immediate conclusion to a Cup-deciding playoff between Ernie Els and Tiger Woods. With an inordinate weight of expectation upon both men, rival captains Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus declared the match a draw. A fitting result. The Ryder Cup is squandering golf’s values and traditions. Thankfully, the Presidents Cup is upholding them. – Rohan Clarke Rohan Clarke is the senior writer for Australian Golf Digest.

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