The 39th Ryder Cup was so exciting that all golf enthusiasts these days feel like orphans, at least the European ones. To experience such an exciting challenge again, we will have to wait at least two years, when Europe and the USA will compete again on the green Scottish prairies of Gleneagles, where a sort of Ryder ante litteram was held in 21 (the official start dates back to 1927). Meanwhile, this week, after a fiery September, with the FedExCup marathon and the Ryder grand finale, the Americans are playing in Las Vegas (without many big names), while the European tour is in Scotland for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in which Matteo Manassero, Edoardo Molinari, Lorenzo Gagli, Andrea Pavan and Federico Colombo also participate.
Next week, however, eight golden men of world golf will compete in Turkey for the Turkish Airlines Golf Final, at the PGA Sultan Golf Club in Antalya, with $5,2 million up for grabs. The magnificent ones on the field will be Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose. Charl Schwartzel, Hunter Mahan, Matt Kuchar. A new opportunity of great interest, given that the confrontation will be match play and almost everyone was involved in the last Ryder. Beautiful, but not so beautiful, because the Ryder Cup is unique and has managed to transform golf, at least for a few days, even in Italy, into a bar subject, to which non-specialist newspapers and blogs have devoted unusual attention. A challenge without cash prizes, where glory and a golden cup are up for grabs, which temporarily passes from one continent to another. Sponsor aside, of course.
Golf fans envy football fans, who can suffer and rejoice with their team every week. So let's go back to talking about this Ryder and see some other "plus" that she has given us.
The most moving sentence: the one pronounced by Captain Josè Maria Olazabal, born in 1966, 29 tournaments won in his career, at the closing ceremony, at the Medinah in Chicago, under a splendid full moon. “All men die – said Ollie – but not all men live. And you guys made me feel alive again this week."
The most loved: Severiano Ballesteros, the great Spanish champion, handsome, intelligent, nice, who died in 2011 at the age of 54, from a brain tumour. Won five majors in his career, Ballesteros was one of the most charismatic players in the 80s and 90s. The Europeans on the field had his silhouette on the bag, on the shirts, in the heart. The figure was taken from a very famous photo of Seve, with his fist raised, after pocketing the winning putt at the 1984 British Open. The sentence of Ballesteros that Olazabal repeated to his parents was: "never give up in golf, because until the end you never know what could happen". A prophecy.
The nicest: Ian Poulter, 36 years old, English, number 26 in the world, hero of Ryder. “I would like to sleep for two years and wake up in Gleneagles”, he commented at the end of this adventure. Poulter won all 4 of the matches he played and gave grit to his teammates. As a child he wanted to be a footballer, perhaps for this reason he loves teamwork. His Palmares lacks a Major: "if this doesn't come – he said – the 2012 Ryder will remain the most important moment of my career".
The most absent-minded: Rory McIlory. The number one in the world was not yet at the Medinah a quarter of an hour before his departure. Panic was spreading among his companions when, finally, a police car practically unloaded him on the putting green, after having escorted him on the run. It is not very clear what had happened, the fact is that the sample's cell phone was set to New York time, an hour behind Chicago. Perhaps Rory is a sleeper, because at the end of the race his friends gave him a giant alarm clock, given that superMc is not new to these sorties. It seems he arrived late (only 25 minutes before departure) even at the Pga Championship, the Major he won a couple of months ago. In short, the XNUMX-year-old Northern Irishman doesn't need to train too much to be unbeatable on the pitch.
The most beautiful images: those flags of all nations that wrapped around the necks of the 12 team members. Francesco Molinari also waved the tricolor, embracing mum dad and his wife Valentina. The beauty is that the blue flag with the yellow stars of Europe mixed and superimposed on the others. A flash that says something about us in this transition phase and that bodes well.
The saddest: Tiger Woods. The champion attended the opening and closing ceremonies, but did not make the final catwalk. After the institutional phase he always left on the sly. Tiger looks unhappy, he's always very concentrated on the pitch, as if he's having a hard time. In this Ryder also has responsibilities. Not only because he lost 3 fights and one drew (with Francesco Molinari), but also because of the wild card that Davis Love III gave to Steve Stricker. Unfortunately Stricker, 45, was not up to the challenge, while players such as Hunter Mahan, winner of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February, and Nick Watney, winner of the first of 4 tournaments at the end of August of the Playoffs.
The most regal: Juan Carlos, who at the end of the tournament phoned Olazabal to congratulate him, as happy and excited as any fan.
