Is the Ryder Cup Over-Hyped?

gormdubhgorm

Is the Ryder Cup over-hyped?

To me it seems to be getting more and more manufactured as a spectacle.
I am not sure it is as exciting as the media and participants portray it.

You now hear a lot words like "tradition" and "passion" bandied about.

Is it more then just a brand?

thewobbler

Yes it's overhyped.

The two biggest lies perpetuated in golf surround Ryder Cup golf:

1. That a captain has any influence on proceedings at all.

2. That a series of completely unrelated matches can somehow be affected by 'momentum'.



But at the same time it is terrific entertainment. Conjoined matchplay is by far the most entertaining form of golf to spectate upon, while watching our favourite pros do proper emotion is a rare and wonderful thing.

The single most important thing it has going for it is that the players buy 100% into the myths that surround it.

So yes it is overhyped. But it's still brilliant.

Ben1977

More then a brand, the hairs on the back off my neck stood up when Rose and Gmac pulled their games back. The last time that happened, O'Gara slotted a drop goal over to win the grand slam.
It's the only golf event that divides the crown 50:50, just like football. The fans are involved which is unlike any golf tournament.
Of course it brings in big money to the area

unattendedbag

Sky sports will over hype it to sell subscriptions. That's a given. Other than that I don't see any other benefit as they don't allow any commercial sponsorship. It's a tradition and should be treated as such. I get excited for it because it's such a unique format and always more interesting than watching a weekly strokeplay competition. I also get just as giddy when the masters come annually.

meath4sam

Sky sports over hype everything, the ryder cup, the lions tour , super Sunday super Monday, transfer deadline day and the ashs.

bilston

How big of a deal is it in the rest of Europe? It's a big deal in Ireland and Britain but is it a big deal anywhere else. I can imagine there being a bit of interest in Spain, Germany and Scandinavia if not to the same extent as here, but I just can't imagine it being that huge a deal outside of these islands.

Or am I wrong?

bilston

meath4sam wrote: »

Sky sports over hype everything, the ryder cup, the lions tour , super Sunday super Monday, transfer deadline day and the ashs.

Well they have to sell subscriptions. To be fair they do raise interest in those events, particularly the Ryder Cup and Lions tours. The Ashes and most football have always been a big deal long before Sky came into the picture.

dan_ep82

I don't think its over hyped for what it is, the Ryder Cup. But I think it makes the Masters etc look less important when they shouldn't be.

Dirty Dingus McGee

I enjoy watching Golf but to be honest I've never understood why the Ryder Cup gets so much hype as a television event.Its enjoyable to watch but nowhere near as good as a stroke play event in my opinion.There was far too much watching fellas approaching shots rather than taking shots this weekend.

The way Sky are going on you'd think it was bigger than one of the majors and I would say that for most pro's surely it would be miles down on their list of priorities.I nearly got sick when I heard Graham McDowell after the one in Wales saying the pressure he faced in the final singles match was much bigger than when he won the US Open.He can't have been serious can he.

Surely the pinnacle in an individual sport is winning events by yourself not with a thrown together team that doesn't really represent anything.At least the Americans are representing their country.

stylie

thewobbler wrote: »

Yes it's overhyped.

The two biggest lies perpetuated in golf surround Ryder Cup golf:

1. That a captain has any influence on proceedings at all.

2. That a series of completely unrelated matches can somehow be affected by 'momentum'.



But at the same time it is terrific entertainment. Conjoined matchplay is by far the most entertaining form of golf to spectate upon, while watching our favourite pros do proper emotion is a rare and wonderful thing.

The single most important thing it has going for it is that the players buy 100% into the myths that surround it.

So yes it is overhyped. But it's still brilliant.

Really, the captain makes no influence ? complete rubbish, remember Faldo, and Hal Sutton as captains?
And when one player is in the zone, starts putting wins on the board it lifts the pressure of guys in matches around him, you can call that momentum it lifts the players around him

Norfolk Enchants_

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Is the Ryder Cup over-hyped?

To me it seems to be getting more and more manufactured as a spectacle.
I am not sure it is as exciting as the media and participants portray it.

You now hear a lot words like "tradition" and "passion" bandied about.

Is it more then just a brand?

All commercially driven sport is overhyped, that's sorta how it works and that's been the case more or less for the last 10 years or so for all sports you see on TV.
Is this really news to you?
It doesn't have to mean it is isn't entertaining though.

cairny

Prize money- €0

thewobbler

stylie wrote: »

Really, the captain makes no influence ? complete rubbish, remember Faldo, and Hal Sutton as captains?
And when one player is in the zone, starts putting wins on the board it lifts the pressure of guys in matches around him, you can call that momentum it lifts the players around him

I'll flip your first comment on its head. People always talk about Faldo and Hutton. So in the 20 odd Ryder cups we've had since Europe came on board, only 2 captains are alleged to have made a difference, and both a negative one.

Honestly, take a step back and analyse what you've seen this weekend and tell me how and what happened as a result of McGinley'a guiding hand.

As for momentum. As a player, you're playing a match, not an event. Sergio holing from 30 feet on the next green has no bearing at all whatsoever on how Hunter Mahan plays his game against you. It's that simple. Momentum is imagined in these tournaments. If you were to to go the World match play and handpick half the players to be 'your team', you'd see similar swings in your 'momentum' throughout.

Norfolk Enchants_

cairny wrote: »

Prize money- €0

Endorsements and Subscriptions to Rupbert Murdoch=Bazillions
Merchandising etc. to Euro and US tours=Mega bazillions

Immediate prizemoney=no, but players know what side their bread is butter on.

cairny

Norfolk Enchants_ wrote: »

Endorsements and Subscriptions to Rupbert Murdoch=Bazillions
Merchandising etc. to Euro and US tours=Mega bazillions

Immediate prizemoney=no, but players know what side their bread is butter on.

Euro Tour is in dire straits overall, Ryder Cup bails it out, Tour makes a loss in non RC years. Of course it's a huge commercial event, what sports event isn't?

Players don't take a cent though (200k charity donation fee aside). Deserve credit for that. Easy to be cynical.

Norfolk Enchants_

cairny wrote: »

Euro Tour is in dire straits overall, Ryder Cup bails it out, Tour makes a loss in non RC years. Of course it's a huge commercial event, what sports event isn't?

Players don't take a cent though (200k charity donation fee aside). Deserve credit for that. Easy to be cynical.

That's not cynicism though, that's the reality of it, it is in their own interest to make a success of the RC, and to be fair that's what they have done by doing and saying all the right things.

Senna

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

nowhere near as good as a stroke play event in my opinion.

Aw come on, what were you watching, it wasn't the Ryder Cup. There's probably 100 stroke comps on every year between Europe, US and winter tours, how many of them were close to the RC, some of the majors even end up a boring one horse race. The RC format provides 3 days of entertainment and its the format and change from the usual stroke that makes it more appealing.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Senna wrote: »

Aw come on, what were you watching, it wasn't the Ryder Cup. There's probably 100 stroke comps on every year between Europe, US and winter tours, how many of them were close to the RC, some of the majors even end up a boring one horse race. The RC format provides 3 days of entertainment and its the format and change from the usual stroke that makes it more appealing.

I prefer watching stroke play (on TV) because it is almost un-interrupted watching of shots being taken.

There was far too much watching fellas looking at the ball over the last 3 days (nothing the TV companies can really do about it).

I wasn't criticizing it for being a match play event I was just saying that as TV spectacle I enjoy the big stroke play events more.

captbarnacles

It's ridiculously overhyped. I was waiting for Ewan Murray to describe it as a "famous win" and he didn't disappoint. Europe were heavily favoured by the bookies and had more of the top ten players and playing at home but it's still a famous win? C'mon.

Rikand

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I prefer watching stroke play (on TV) because it is almost un-interrupted watching of shots being taken.

There was far too much watching fellas looking at the ball over the last 3 days (nothing the TV companies can really do about it).

I wasn't criticizing it for being a match play event I was just saying that as TV spectacle I enjoy the big stroke play events more.

Ah now I know you're just trolling.

Nobody feed this one

Dirty Dingus McGee

Rikand wrote: »

Ah now I know you're just trolling.

Nobody feed this one

Trust me I'm not trolling.

My opinion is hardly that controversial.

cairny

Norfolk Enchants_ wrote: »

That's not cynicism though, that's the reality of it, it is in their own interest to make a success of the RC, and to be fair that's what they have done by doing and saying all the right things.

Huh? That's almost a dictionary definition of cynicism.

Tobyglen

thewobbler wrote: »

Yes it's overhyped.

The two biggest lies perpetuated in golf surround Ryder Cup golf:

1. That a captain has any influence on proceedings at all.

2. That a series of completely unrelated matches can somehow be affected by 'momentum'.



But at the same time it is terrific entertainment. Conjoined matchplay is by far the most entertaining form of golf to spectate upon, while watching our favourite pros do proper emotion is a rare and wonderful thing.

The single most important thing it has going for it is that the players buy 100% into the myths that surround it.

So yes it is overhyped. But it's still brilliant.

I think I'll go with the fact that every pro mentions how important momentum means for point 2. I very much doubt you have played team sports if you think momentum doesn't exist. In almost every sport at every level- If you're going for a league etc and your rival loses then it has a big affect on your game psychologically.

Regards point 1, Captains job is hugely important and you're badly missing the point if you think otherwise. See Mickelson's comments earlier as an example, see Faldo's disastrous captaincy in 2008 when he alienated many of the players with his embarrassing comments.

Senna

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I prefer watching stroke play (on TV) because it is almost un-interrupted watching of shots being taken.

There was far too much watching fellas looking at the ball over the last 3 days (nothing the TV companies can really do about it).

I wasn't criticizing it for being a match play event I was just saying that as TV spectacle I enjoy the big stroke play events more.

What's the term they use for the current generation needing constant gratification and short attention span?

Only joking:)

Hijpo

Do you think its hyped up beyond the levels of the players?

I got the impression the USA play it more like a friendly grudge match where as the TV make it out to be massively important war.

Looking at the USA players they seemed pretty flat, as if they were only there because they had to be.

osarusan

I prefer watching regular tournaments. It's a tension-filled event to watch, but lots of things I don't like about it.

In the last decade or more the media around the event seems to build it up as a war and grudge more than used to be the case. This brings out some unpleasant stuff from fans and players alike. I hate seeing fans cheering bad shots by members of the opposing team.

We've had Paul Casey going on about how he hates Americans. Complete disrespect like we saw at Medinah.

I noticed yesterday that some of the putts that weren't conceded were shorter than I've ever seen before.

There's something ugly about it now.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

i like it but it needs to be every 4 years, not 2. imagine the lions every 2 years, we'd be well sick of it.

thewobbler

Tobyglen wrote: »

I think I'll go with the fact that every pro mentions how important momentum means for point 2. I very much doubt you have played team sports if you think momentum doesn't exist. In almost every sport at every level- If you're going for a league etc and your rival loses then it has a big affect on your game psychologically.

Regards point 1, Captains job is hugely important and you're badly missing the point if you think otherwise. See Mickelson's comments earlier as an example, see Faldo's disastrous captaincy in 2008 when he alienated many of the players with his embarrassing comments.

Seeing as you positioned my comments as badly informed from a lack of experience, I suppose I should mention that I played Gaelic football and soccer competitively for over 20 years, and have managed teams in both sports.

I know what right well momentum is. It's a collective awareness on an almost spiritual level that sees teammates up their game and cut out mistakes.

It happens all the time in GAA.

But golf ? I'm sorry, you're mad if you buy into this nonsense. At Ryder Cup level every one of the 24 players is capable of going on a 6-hole birdie streak and ending the contest there and then. If that happens to you or your opponent, it really doesn't matter one iota what is happening in the other matches. If I'm playing Bubba and standing on the tee on a short par four and news filters through that Garcia has made a 30-footer or made a mess of his match, does that affect my strategy? No it doesn't, Bubba is going for that green either way. If I'm coming up 18 and need a half for the match, am I going to try something extravagant? No event anywhere else on the course is going to change the strategy there either. And so on.

GreeBo

thewobbler wrote: »

I'll flip your first comment on its head. People always talk about Faldo and Hutton. So in the 20 odd Ryder cups we've had since Europe came on board, only 2 captains are alleged to have made a difference, and both a negative one.

Honestly, take a step back and analyse what you've seen this weekend and tell me how and what happened as a result of McGinley'a guiding hand.

Far more than 2 captains have made a difference, you dont remember any positive comments about Ollie for example?
Well take a look at the comments by eveyone in blue, they all seemed to think that McGinley played a part.
The lads in red also seem to think that the captain played a part, comparing Watson to Azinger.
Though maybe you have a better insight than the players I guess...

thewobbler wrote: »

As for momentum. As a player, you're playing a match, not an event. Sergio holing from 30 feet on the next green has no bearing at all whatsoever on how Hunter Mahan plays his game against you. It's that simple. Momentum is imagined in these tournaments. If you were to to go the World match play and handpick half the players to be 'your team', you'd see similar swings in your 'momentum' throughout.

So these guys dont look at the leaderboard and see that their team is in trouble or their team is doing well?
Come off it. You cant seriously think that they dont look at the scoreboard and feel pressure/relief based on what it tells them?
Of course you see swings in momentum, how is that proving your point?
Sergio holing a 30foot putt sends up a European roar that you hear in your match, Mahan hears it too.
He also see's another bit of blue on the board, and see's GMac pull back a win and he starts to tighten up. Just look at the previous Ruder cup, you dont think momentum played a part there?

Boskowski

It is overhyped due to Sky. They do it with everything. They overdo it to a degree where it's beginning to take away from it rather than add to it.
I thought the same of the opening and closing ceremonies. Maybe not overhyped but overly formal. It was a chore rather than fun. As lovely as she is I thought Di was poor and very much script and it was all just a tad too grand and formal.
It's a golf tournament ffs not the meeting if our great leaders to sort out world peace or something.
It's still grand though wasn't terrible or anything. Just a bit cringe at times.

GreeBo

This years was the most informal by far.
However I think they need to remove the speeches from everyone bar the two Captains.
I really dont think we need to hear Di say how welcome everyone was and how great blah de blah, its like a wedding where the old man goes on and on, its expected to some degree but people really just want to get on with the boozing.

Henry Ford III

Di looks good though. Still not sure about Sarah.

FixdePitchmark

It is overhyped - Sky is a nightmare - But as lads who love golf , we loved some of the insights that we got - as they had to fill space. Inside the team rooms etc. It was great to get an insight into the effort McGinely had gone to.

A big mistake is smaller sports going onto Sky - nobody gets to see them. Football is impenetrable to damage - people or enough people will watch it anyway.

The Ryder cup - maybe the Masters, seem to transcend the golf viewing public. There was a great opportunity that the Ryder cup could get the general sport fan watching golf. But with it on Sky - friends of mine into sport , but not golf , wouldn't even bother.

Feck this - watching another re-run, going out to play this incredible game - a load of millionaires playing each other.

FixdePitchmark

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Di looks good though. Still not sure about Sarah.

Very mechanical.

Nick was in studio then - they must know somebody - Nick pontificating about the lads - sure has he a tour card ?

newport2

bilston wrote: »

How big of a deal is it in the rest of Europe? It's a big deal in Ireland and Britain but is it a big deal anywhere else. I can imagine there being a bit of interest in Spain, Germany and Scandinavia if not to the same extent as here, but I just can't imagine it being that huge a deal outside of these islands.

Or am I wrong?

I was in France for a previous Ryder Cup. Couldn't find anywhere showing it. Several golf clubs looked at me confused when I asked were they showing it. One of about four of the clubs knew what it was.

newport2

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I prefer watching stroke play (on TV) because it is almost un-interrupted watching of shots being taken.

There was far too much watching fellas looking at the ball over the last 3 days (nothing the TV companies can really do about it).

I wasn't criticizing it for being a match play event I was just saying that as TV spectacle I enjoy the big stroke play events more.

I find the stroke play events far more interrupted that the Ryder Cup was to be honest. A commercial break every 5 or 6 shots.

That said, I still watch both

newport2

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

It is overhyped - Sky is a nightmare - But as lads who love golf , we loved some of the insights that we got - as they had to fill space. Inside the team rooms etc. It was great to get an insight into the effort McGinely had gone to.

A big mistake is smaller sports going onto Sky - nobody gets to see them. Football is impenetrable to damage - people or enough people will watch it anyway.

The Ryder cup - maybe the Masters, seem to transcend the golf viewing public. There was a great opportunity that the Ryder cup could get the general sport fan watching golf. But with it on Sky - friends of mine into sport , but not golf , wouldn't even bother.

Feck this - watching another re-run, going out to play this incredible game - a load of millionaires playing each other.

+1

I love the Ryder Cup, but like most things, Sky just do it to death.

pnpweirdo

Do you hear the sh1te the rte muck savages go on about for the gaa matches. Give me sky sports anyday.

razorblunt

The only thing Sky didnt hype this weekend was West Brom vs Burnley (any wonder that was on tv?).
I was on the course on Friday and I felt underwhelmed with the "atmosphere", it was just loud noises after shots, nothing too mad at all. Obviously cheers got louder for big scores on the back 9.

Sky's coverage on Saturday and Sunday was poor though. Darren Clarke is a poor addition, it's clear he'll run for Captain so he won't say anything controversial about the players, it was all a bit bland. I literally can't take any more of Monty either.

rrpc

I think there are two aspects getting confused here. Sky over-hyping a sports event they cover is nothing new really, it's all about the money to them and that'll never change.

The importance of the Ryder Cup is a separate matter. Speaking from the standpoint of someone who's seen the USA spank us time after time until eventually the full European Tour got involved and started to make a match of it, I still carry enough emotional baggage to see me through to the day the record is balanced; incidentally something McGinley had highlighted to the players in their team room.

Hype is something you can take or leave, it's incidental to the main event and largely irrelevant. Once the game is under way, it fades away into the background.

pelevin

It's a lie to say captains have any influence whatsoever? I thought the captain picked wildcards. That would seem to definitively be an influence on events. He picks the pairings. So again, it is impossible to argue that he has influenced things.

"No, that's a lie!! He has no influence. Ok, maybe a little influence but none apart from those things."
"But doesn't he very much help set an atmosphere, & since humans aren't robots, then this in has to be an influence on proceedings?"
"That's a goddamn lie. They are professional automatons."

Myksyk

thewobbler wrote: »

But golf ? I'm sorry, you're mad if you buy into this nonsense. At Ryder Cup level every one of the 24 players is capable of going on a 6-hole birdie streak and ending the contest there and then. If that happens to you or your opponent, it really doesn't matter one iota what is happening in the other matches. If I'm playing Bubba and standing on the tee on a short par four and news filters through that Garcia has made a 30-footer or made a mess of his match, does that affect my strategy? No it doesn't, Bubba is going for that green either way. If I'm coming up 18 and need a half for the match, am I going to try something extravagant? No event anywhere else on the course is going to change the strategy there either. And so on.

The issue is not whether the events on the field of play affect your strategy, it's about whether they affect you psychologically and therefore impact on your performance ... your ability to implement your strategy effectively.

Golf is a sport where anxiety or stress can have an acute, almost exaggerated impact on motor performance. It relies heavily on fine motor movement ... and 'correctness' or effectiveness' of the swing is measured in millimetres with small deviations resulting in major differences in outcome. All the players playing yesterday are under significant stress. That stress is modulated by any number of factors you might care to mention ... like personality, mindset, previous experience, emotionality, disposition to anxiety, audience, perceived importance of a shot, subjective perception of the importance of the tournament or your own game, home advantage, observations about the overall state of play, worry, my last shot, etc etc etc. It most definitely in my mind is affected by how my fellow players are doing on the course and whether I can see a swing in how one team is playing relative to another. Unless I'm a robot it affects me emotionally and therefore it can have a direct impact on my performance. When a group of players are impacted positively by a shift in one direction, positive or negative, then I think that constitutes change in momentum.

rrpc

Just one final point on the hype. Whether it annoys you or you can ignore it, the upshot is that it raises the profile of golf all around the world and that can't be a bad thing really.

pickarooney

bilston wrote: »

How big of a deal is it in the rest of Europe? It's a big deal in Ireland and Britain but is it a big deal anywhere else. I can imagine there being a bit of interest in Spain, Germany and Scandinavia if not to the same extent as here, but I just can't imagine it being that huge a deal outside of these islands.

Or am I wrong?

I would be amazed if one person in my office recognised the name Victor Dubuisson.

razorblunt

pickarooney wrote: »

I would be amazed if one person in my office recognised the name Victor Dubuisson.

and their lives are all the more empty for this!!

BoardsMember

I have to say that being constantly told by the commentators, through all 5 sessions, things like "make no mistake folks, what we are seeing here is truly once in a lifetime golf" or something to that effect...it becomes a little tired after a while. I ended up rooting for USA yesterday, just so it was closer. GMac was being hailed as a hero, when in fact Spieth fell apart. I was so excited on Thursday night, couldn't wait for it, by Sunday I was not that bothered. I suppose the ease of victory has a lot to do with it. Also, I don't think USA care as much as EU team do, there is a bit of the inferiority complex firing the EU team up, whereas the Americans might like to win, but they'll move on pretty quickly.

Bandana boy

Re: Momentum
Of course players in a team are effected by how other players in that team are doing .In fact it not only effects them emotionally and changes the amount of pressure/stress they are under but also will change/inform shot selection, strategy.
To not see that you really would have had to have never played a team sport of any description in your life.

Would you accept that the difficulty in putting 1 put to half a hole and 2 puts to win a hole are completely different levels of difficulty on the exact same putt ?.
If so ,How can you not see that pressure on every shot changes when the team is doing well/poor.

rrpc

BoardsMember wrote: »

I have to say that being constantly told by the commentators, through all 5 sessions, things like "make no mistake folks, what we are seeing here is truly once in a lifetime golf" or something to that effect...it becomes a little tired after a while. I ended up rooting for USA yesterday, just so it was closer. GMac was being hailed as a hero, when in fact Spieth fell apart. I was so excited on Thursday night, couldn't wait for it, by Sunday I was not that bothered. I suppose the ease of victory has a lot to do with it. Also, I don't think USA care as much as EU team do, there is a bit of the inferiority complex firing the EU team up, whereas the Americans might like to win, but they'll move on pretty quickly.

You might be right in your last sentence, but possibly only where it concerns matches played in Europe. The USA absolutely hate to be beaten on home soil and every one of the players on the losing team in Medinah spoke of the horrible feeling they still had from that defeat.

But, if it meant so little, why was Mickelson so quick to tear into his captain? Wouldn't he have been just as happy to sit there and spout inanities until it was time to hop on his private jet and head back home again?

flugel

razorblunt wrote: »

Sky's coverage on Saturday and Sunday was poor though. Darren Clarke is a poor addition, it's clear he'll run for Captain so he won't say anything controversial about the players, it was all a bit bland. I literally can't take any more of Monty either.

Started to record the Golf Channel broadcasts in Setanta in the evenings. It's day old news by time it's aired here, but at least they provide some insight and back up what they say with stats, am sick to death of sky sports basing the whole performance on passion

stylie

thewobbler wrote: »

I'll flip your first comment on its head. People always talk about Faldo and Hutton. So in the 20 odd Ryder cups we've had since Europe came on board, only 2 captains are alleged to have made a difference, and both a negative one.

Honestly, take a step back and analyse what you've seen this weekend and tell me how and what happened as a result of McGinley'a guiding hand.

As for momentum. As a player, you're playing a match, not an event. Sergio holing from 30 feet on the next green has no bearing at all whatsoever on how Hunter Mahan plays his game against you. It's that simple. Momentum is imagined in these tournaments. If you were to to go the World match play and handpick half the players to be 'your team', you'd see similar swings in your 'momentum' throughout.

I picked two standout brutal captains to illustrate my point, I could add more but those two should be enough to show that captains influence proceedings. The players have even said what a great captain Paul was(are you saying the players are wrong), look at the effort he made with Victor at the start of the year, getting to know him, finding out what made him tick all in an effort to great a better team. Look at what Phil said last night about Watson and about Azinger.

As for momentum, let me explain. You are playing a US guy, its all square, a US player in a match ahead or behind puts red on the board, your under pressure now to get a point, you make a mistake, red goes on your board. Players around the course see that pressure comes on the Euro players off the US players, thats momentum.

And if you think what happens in each match is in isolation from the matches around you then you simply haven't a clue. You think Hunter duffing the chip 4yrs ago wasnt in response to what was happening in the matches around him? Choking again this year and Speith collapse would have happened anyway if the board was all red ? Seriously they are not machines, they are aware of whats happening in matches around them and if affects them positively and negatively.

BoardsMember

rrpc wrote: »

You might be right in your last sentence, but possibly only where it concerns matches played in Europe. The USA absolutely hate to be beaten on home soil and every one of the players on the losing team in Medinah spoke of the horrible feeling they still had from that defeat.

But, if it meant so little, why was Mickelson so quick to tear into his captain? Wouldn't he have been just as happy to sit there and spout inanities until it was time to hop on his private jet and head back home again?

Maybe it varies from player to player a little. Phil might be more invested in it. And you might have a point re when it is played in USA. I think the Ryder Cup needs a USA win at this stage, I'd worry if Europe continued to beat USA in the next 2 or 3, they might just lose interest. I really liked what Phil said afterwards, he was spot on, it does not sound like Tom Watson put a whole heap of effort in. Then again, would anyone have expected Tom Watson to put in as much effort as McGinley?