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The odds are that Samuel Ryder, the man who helped inspire the competition that bears his name, would have a hard time recognizing the modern match that will be played for the 42nd time this week at Golf National. Even if you accept the premise that the English seed merchant was a man of vision, to think that he once knew that this test between professional golfers on both sides of the Atlantic would evolve into a multi-million dollar show that attracts an international audience? Barely! The simple fact that the Ryder Cup gathers golfers from continental Europe and that it will be played everywhere in France would have been a little overwhelming.
Still, Ryder Cup was hoping the Ryder Cup would take place. Beyond a celebration of the game and its kind traits, Ryder was keenly interested in the competition. That he becomes so fierce, with both parties spending the entire two years between matches preparing for the next, would not have been something he had predicted, but that would probably be something that he would have appreciated.
How exactly did the Ryder Cup come to this place? We went back in time, going through the history of the match and trying to identify the different moments that helped the competition to regain its current state: a confrontation of proud golfers, playing not for themselves but for them and for their country. These are not the greatest moments in the history of the Ryder Cup, nor even the most memorable ones. But these are individual moments that shaped what we will see more than three days outside of Paris and, shortly after the final shot on Sunday, we will want to Whistling Straits and 2020.
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The first victorious team of the 1927 American Ryder Cup (from left to right): Al Waltrous, Bill Melhorn, Diegel Leo, F. Golden, Walter Hagen, Joe Pennoza, Gene Sarazen, Johnny Farrell and Joe Turnesa.
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The first victorious team of the 1927 American Ryder Cup (from left to right): Al Waltrous, Bill Melhorn, Diegel Leo, F. Golden, Walter Hagen, Joe Pennoza, Gene Sarazen, Johnny Farrell and Joe Turnesa.
1927: starts at the beginning
To arrive at the Ryder Cup today, the event had to begin. The inaugural match was held at Worcester (Mass.) Country Club in 1927 and was the culmination of six years of discussions regarding the viability of a competition between US professionals and their British counterparts. Twice before an unofficial version of the match took place, first in 1921 in Gleneagles Scotland, then again in 1926 at the Wentworth Golf Club in England. (Whenever the British rout the Americans) In Wentworth, Englishman Samuel Ryder and American Walter Hagen presented their plans for a regular competition, the match taking place on the other side of the Atlantic. Ryder ordered a trophy for £ 250 and a tradition was born.
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The Whitcombe brothers, Reg, Ernest and Charles, all participated in the Ryder Cup team in 1935 for Great Britain, but they were not up to the Americans.
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The Whitcombe brothers, Reg, Ernest and Charles, all participated in the Ryder Cup team in 1935 for Great Britain, but they were not up to the Americans.
1935: the United States begins their domination
Lost in history is the fact that the first years of the Ryder Cup were very competitive, with the two teams sharing the first four games, each winning at home. But that would change from 1935 to the Ridgewood Country Club of New Jersey. The British captain Charles Whitcombe, who played with his brothers Ernest and Reg, was not big enough against a team consisting of Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Horton Smith and Craig Wood, among others. The Americans have won 9-3 and will start a series of seven games in a row in which they will get the best of the British.
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Sir Henry Cotton participates in the 1947 Ryder Cup at the Portland Golf Club.
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Sir Henry Cotton participates in the 1947 Ryder Cup at the Portland Golf Club.
1947: Surviving the war
The matches having been postponed four times during the Second World War (1939, 1941, 1943 and 1945), their recovery was far from being achieved. And much of the credit for doing so was owned by Robert Hudson, an Oregon fruit grower and a member of the PGA Advisory Committee. Hudson helped secure the Portland Golf Club as a meeting place and then paid the British team, led by Sir Henry Cotton, to travel by boat (Queen Mary) to the United States and then by train in Oregon. The hospitality ended there, while the Americans won 11-1.
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In 1957, Dai Rees was captain of the British Ryder Cup team for the first time since 1933.
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In 1957, Dai Rees was captain of the British Ryder Cup team for the first time since 1933.
1957: finally a British victory
Dai Rees was only 44 when he was named captain of the British Ryder Cup team for the second time in his record five times. Rees set the example by winning his matches and challenging his teammates Lindrick Golf Club to do the impossible, beating the Americans 7½-4½, Britain's only Ryder Cup victory between 1933 and 1985 .
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Eight amateur golfers driving their mini-moke at Royal Birkdale in Southport. They will tour the golf course at the next Ryder Cup, announcing the state of play.
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Eight amateur golfers driving their mini-moke at Royal Birkdale in Southport. They will tour the golf course at the next Ryder Cup, announcing the state of play.
1965: modern equipment
The commercial aspects of the modern Ryder Cup are inescapable nowadays, but much of their origins can be linked to the 1965 game at Royal Birkdale. It's here that Brian Park, a member of Birkdale, donated £ 11,000 to promote the game. The money was used to expand the services to the spectators, including the creation of a reception pavilion. A tent village was built and souvenir programs were sold. The goalkeepers have achieved individual match results by standards. The facilities did not change the outcome of the event – the United States won 19½-12½ – but that changed people's ideas about what the event might become off the beaten path.
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Nicklaus and Jacklin leave the 18th green at Birkdale after a gesture of good will.
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Nicklaus and Jacklin leave the 18th green at Birkdale after a gesture of good will.
1969: the concession
The first match in the history of the Ryder Cup took place when Jack Nicklaus, then rookie of the Ryder Cup, awarded Tony Jacklin a short wager on the 18th hole of his singles match, halving the number of his matches. "I did not think it was in the spirit of the game that Jacklin had a chance to miss a two-footer to lose the game in front of his fans," Nicklaus said of his move. History as one of the best sport displays of golf. But it was not necessarily obvious for everyone, demonstrating the competitiveness that began to emerge from the match. "When that happened, all the boys found it ridiculous to give him that putt. We went there to win, not to be good boys, "said US captain Sam Snead.
RELATED: The 9 things to know about this year's Ryder Cup
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In 1979, the GB & I Ryder Cup side was expanded throughout Europe.
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In 1979, the GB & I Ryder Cup side was expanded throughout Europe.
1979: Europe joins the mix
To cope with the unbalanced nature of the matches, Ireland was allowed to join the Great Britain team in 1973, but that did little to make things more competitive. So, before the 1979 Greenbrier match, it was agreed that the GB & I side would be extended to the whole of Europe. In the short term, he did not do much; Americans easily won 17-11. But with Spain's Seve Ballesteros debuting at 22, the fate of the Ryder Cup has not changed. Another footnote to this event: It was the first time that "The Envelope" was used, where captains from each team put the name of a player in a sealed envelope in case the One of the teams would have a player injured. 11 players for Sunday singles. The result would be half a point for each team in the match that did not take place.
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A crying Sam Torrance becomes a Ryder Cup legend with a memorable birdie putt.
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A crying Sam Torrance becomes a Ryder Cup legend with a memorable birdie putt.
1985: a European first (among so many others)
Scotsman Sam Torrance defeated Andy North, 1, in the first Ryder Cup win and the first American loss in 28 years. Two years later, at Muirfield Village, the victory of the Euro was very important. But the psychological impact of this first victory can not be emphasized. The decision to open the team to all of Europe has paid off, as it will be several times in the future.
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The 18th lost hole of Langer gave the victory to the Americans in 1991.
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The 18th lost hole of Langer gave the victory to the Americans in 1991.
1991: the war by the coast
Revisionist history likes to say that the Ryder Cup had been the business of the Gentiles of "The Concession" until the 1980s, despite many cases of litigation who scored the match throughout his history. But the 1991 edition on Kiawah Island did indeed have a different effect, attracted by the fact that the Americans were in the middle of their longest time without winning the Cup. A noisy, partisan crowd amplified the atmosphere at the Ocean Course. Combined with the proximity of the competition, it created the most memory-laden atmosphere. The famous match between Mark Calcavecchia and Bernhard Langer was then marked by a putt of Langer at the 18th hole. Make and win the Euros again. Miss and the Americans take it away. You do not need to look to find out what happened. The sound of the roof coming out of the oceanic course left him.
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Leonard's look after making the birdie on the 17th at Brookline was invaluable.
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Leonard's look after making the birdie on the 17th at Brookline was invaluable.
1999: the return
The Country Club offered another very partisan crowd in support of the US team, although it appeared Sunday would be a match for the Euros as they took an insurmountable 10-6 lead in singles. But an unseen rally at this point in the history of the Ryder Cup, scheduled the day before by Captain Ben Crenshaw, has changed everything. The United States would win 8½ of the 12 individual points available, while Justin Leonard's birdie putt earned the 17th point for the half-point needed for the United States to dominate the unlikely. By the time the Ryder Cup seemed unable to become an even more dramatic event than it already was, Brookline set a new standard in drama and excitement.
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The return in Euros in 2012 to Medinah was triggered by the perfect game of Poulter.
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The return in Euros in 2012 to Medinah was triggered by the perfect game of Poulter.
2012: The return, more
The proverbial shoe was on the other side in Medinah, with the Americans taking a 10-6 lead on Sunday's singles and Europeans needing the miracle. But Ian Poulter's impressive rally with Rory McIlroy on Saturday afternoon helped reduce the deficit to four points and inspired his teammates for the most impressive return in Ryder Cup history. In short, Europeans once again converted to Europeans, winning 8½ of the 12 individual points available. More memorable than Brookline? Maybe It's hard not to think, however, since the Euros do it on the road, that it was not more unlikely. And again, the Ryder Cup has become a bigger show than we imagined before.
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Watson and Mickelson tried to work together, but their differences would go up in flames.
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Watson and Mickelson tried to work together, but their differences would go up in flames.
2014: the press conference
It was a lousy week for the US Ryder Cup team, beaten at Gleneagles, 16½-11½, for another defeat in the match. And the Sunday evening press conference was all the worse. With all the American team present, Phil Mickelson has openly questioned the direction of the American captain Tom Watson, sitting not far from him on the podium. There was a surreal sensation to this act of honesty and challenge. And yet, it has triggered a series of events that you believe have put the United States in the best position they've had to win the Ryder Cup for decades. Mickelson decried the commitment and organization of the Ryder Cup efforts in the United States, which led to the infamous Task Force charge to help Americans find a way to achieve long-term success .
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A happy American team wins for the first time in eight years in Hazeltine.
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A happy American team wins for the first time in eight years in Hazeltine.
2016: The beginning of another American race?
If the 17-11 victory of the Americans at Hazeltine National was the result of all the follies that followed Gleneagles, then maybe the pain was worth it. The American team seemed more organized and committed. And the timing could not have been better since the emergence of the next generation of the best American players (Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, etc.) was intended for a collective group determined to change the direction of the competition. Of course, the biggest test of the long-term sustainability of the new blueprint will take place this week in Paris, where the United States is trying to win on the road for the first time since 1993. The fact that they are the favorites suggest they might be on something.
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