Ryder Cup Diary

It may be over five hours since the first ball was hit at the Ryder Cup this morning but all four matches are still in progress. The top match is on the 18th with Tiger & Furyk 1-up. Matches 2 & 4 are all square, with everything to play for but it looks like a certain point for the Europeans with the Spanish pair 3-up with just three holes to play.

The pairings for this afternoon’s foursomes have been announced. Ian Woosnam has elected play all twelve of his team on the opening day and the Europeans will lead off with an Irish pairing of McGinley & Harrington. Henrik Stenson and David Howell should both be rearing to go and will be expected to win. Tom Lehman has put his two heavyweight combinations out on the last two matches and it promises to be an exciting afternoon (and evening, at the current rate of progress!).

Afternoon Foursomes

Harrington/McGinley v Campbell/Johnson
Howell/Stenson v Cink/Toms
Westwood/Montgomerie v Mickelson/DiMarco
Donald/Garcia v Woods/Furyk

Technorati tags ryder cup, golf

All four matches are now on in the inward nine and all of a sudden, it looks like it could be a much better morning for the US team. The inability of Monty and Harrington to make any kind of putt has allowed Furyk & Woods to take a 3-hole lead after 13. It must be hugely frustrating to Ian Woosnam, and indeed all European supporters, that despite Tiger being completely out of sorts, the Europeans have not been able to land any significant blow.

It looked for a while that the two middle matches were going to be easy wins for Europe with Garcia, Olazabal, Casey & Karlsson all playing superbly. But the US pairings have fought back with recent hole wins and both those games are still in the mix; Casey & Karlsson 1-up after 12, Garcia & Olazabal 1-up after 10.

In the final match, Mickelson looks like he’s warming to the task but Westwood has just made a key birdie on the 10th to go 1-up.

Technorati tags ryder cup, golf

 

Many people get very excited about the uniforms worn by the teams in the Ryder Cup so here’s a quick review of how well, or otherwise, the two teams have looked on this beautiful September morning.

The Americans are clad by Ralph Lauren and are sporting grey and white diamonds on their sweaters, both sleveless and long-sleeved. Stewart Cink was the only player not to go with the sweater, opting instead for one of those warm inner long-sleeved shirts, not unlike what rugby players like to wear. Maybe he was anticipating some ‘contact ‘ situations?

Interestingly, all of the Europeans (more…)

Remarkably, after two hours of golf, none of the four matches has yet gone more than 1-up in any direction. This keeps the possibility of a sweep for either team still alive although the early evidence suggests the Europeans are the likely winners of this day and the tournament.

Tiger Woods has had something of a nightmare so far but has just hit a sweet approach to the 8th and can get his match back to all square. The US team cannot afford to have both their heavyweight teams fail to win.

The golf has been nothing short of spectacular so far and not always for the right reasons! We’ve seen many balls go in the water and there’s been quite a lot of hacking out from behind trees. All of this is wonderfully entertaining for the spectators.

The pace of the golf has been quite slow. The top game is on the 8th green, two hours and fifteen minutes after the first shot. Apparently, they have been warned but it’s not clear how they can be sanctioned. Not that the fans are complaining, this is golf heaven.

As things stand at 10.15am: top and bottom games are tied, Europe are 1-up in each of the middle games.

Technorati tags ryder cup, golf

Despite all the fears of disruption and delay, the 36th Ryder Cup has started in glorious sunshine at the K-Club. The golf has been nothing short of spectacular so far, some highlights:

• Tiger Woods hooking his first tee shot right into the River Liffey to much ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the gallery. But, showing the magic of the fourball format, his pal Jim Furyk made a confident birdie to win the first hole for the US.
• The legendary starter, Ivor Robson, making something of a faux pas, or in local lingo, a mishtake, by declaring the morning’s matches to be foursomes, not fourballs. The look of surprise on Padraig Harrington’s face was comical.
• Rookie JJ Henry starting as if he’s been playing in this competition all his life and taking an early lead for the US by making a birdie at the 2nd hole.
• The Spanish duo taking turns to birdie the first two to take an early lead.
• Paul Casey hitting an unbelievable 3-wood shot to get within eagle distance on the 4th.

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The Ryder Cup is one of the most prestigious events in the sporting calendar. The glamour associated with the Ryder Cup is a pretty heady combination of the gravitas of the history of the event, the superstar status of the players, the fervour of the teams to win for their “country” and the huge amounts of money floating around the periphery of the event. The Ryder Cup is a unique event in the golf calendar as it is a Team event with no cash incentive for the players, which appears to lend a huge sense of occasion to the matches.
Because of the dominance of golf as a corporate sport the race to associate brands with the Ryder Cup has sponsors and golfing venues tripping over themselves to throw money at the event. (more…)

When Samuel Ryder first sponsored the competition that bears his name in 1927, it’s unlikely that he would have predicted the emergence of WAGs, Park & Ride, blogs, airport-style security and triple-decker corporate boxes. But it’s certain he would have welcomed the heavyweight battle that starts the 36th tournament tomorrow at 8am.

Colin Montgomerie’s performances in recent Ryder Cups have been so impressive that his impact on the US team will be no less than Tiger’s influence on the Europeans. There may be golfers in better form on the European side but Montgomerie was the logical choice to lead his team’s defence of the old trophy. He has partnered local favourite Padraig Harrington successfully in the past and that pairing (more…)