Just as a rare giant moon makes us leave the house to become, at least for one evening, romantic astronomers, so the Ryder Cup, a biennial Europe-USA challenge (teams of 12 players), is a comet that should lead us all to Roma. The Ryder Cup, the most important golf event in the world, is taking place in its 44th edition in Italy, for the first time in almost a hundred years of existence and it will not happen again soon, perhaps never. It is played every other edition in the Usa and Europe (in 2020 it was postponed to 2021 due to Covid) and when it's the Old Continent's turn again it will be in the British Isles and who knows when it will leave again.
The chosen venue for the race is Marco Simone Golf & Country Club di Guidonia Montecelio, a 27-hole course spread over 150 hectares of land. The gigantic grandstand on hole one has a capacity of 4800 people.
To enjoy the event live though i Tickets unfortunately they are out of stock (we are talking about 50 thousand accesses per day), even if you can still find something from the touts. In any case we can turn on our telescopes, or rather our TV for the many live broadcasts on Sky Golf and Sky Uno, Rai2 and Rai sport HD. We won't feel alone, because we will do it together with around 620 thousand families who will follow the event in 170 countries around the planet. For Italy it's like having the Super Bowl on your doorstep, or Wimbledon in Guidonia, or a World Cup final at the Olimpico, you can't ignore it, even if you don't care.
Being there in any way is important, because the Ryder crowd is the 13th player of every team and those on the field want to feel the typhus passionate. The Europeans are the blue stars and for once the English and Italians, the Spanish and the Swedes, the French and the Germans, the Danes and the Austrians and the Irish and the Poles will speak with one voice. The motto could be "all for one and one for all", with no exit strategy around the corner.
The highlight is Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a competition between golf Scrooges who play only for glory
Today there is the opening ceremony, yesterday there was a competition between VIPs and champions of other sports such as Novak Djokovic, as well as the gala dinner at the Baths of Caracalla, but the highlight will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when the most heartfelt competition in international golf will pit the 12 professional players who make up the European team against as many champions from the US team. The members are the Scrooges of the greens, the Cristiano Ronaldos of clubs and putters, the Michael Jordans of the fairways, they are the ones who only move when there are mountains of dollars at stake. Yet, on this occasion, they play for free, just for the glory (a lot of it) and for the team. The Yankees defend the title won in 2021 in Wisconsin, but have not won away from home for thirty years. There is hope.
The teams on the field: are the USA really favourites?
On paper, the Americans start as favourites, even if they haven't won in Europe for three decades. They have the world number one in their team scottie schefflernumber 5 Patrick cantley, 6 Xander Scheatele, 7 Max HomaMore, 9 Brian Harman, 10 Wyndham Clarke. These six players qualified by right thanks to their numerous and rich victories over the course of the year. Then there are the captain's wild cards Zach Johnson, which favored experienced players, some of whom boast several majors in their palmares. I am Sam burns, Rickie fowler, Collin morikawa, Jordan Spieth Justin Thomas. Let's save it for last Brooks Koepka, because it deserves a separate discussion. The great player from Florida is someone who gives his best in the most difficult occasions and who won a major (the PGA Championship) also in 2023. However, he is one of those who was enchanted by Saudi Arabia's petrodollars. The Arab princes are trying to grab the best of world sport and even golf has ended up in their sights. In fact, with millions they are trying to dethrone the American circuit by taking away the best players and they have almost succeeded. Today the two tours have reached an agreement (still not very clear), but until a few months ago they looked at each other askance and there are those who said no to Arab money, since Tiger Woods who apparently turned down a salary close to a billion dollars, a Rory McIlroy who had another mind-boggling offer. Even among the Americans on the pitch, however, there were many refusals and we therefore have to wonder how much Koepka's "betrayal" will weigh in the locker room. We will only find out by following the race.
European team, led by captain Luke Donald and deputies Edoardo and Francesco Molinari
Let's go on to list the components of the European team, called by the English captain Luke Donald, assisted, among others, by two vice-captains of the same breed as the brothers Francesco ed Edward Molinari. The Molinari brothers are the Italian flag planted in the heart of the Ryder Cup and boast various experiences as a team, especially Francesco who in 2018 in Paris was the hero who led his teammates to victory together with his friend Tommy fleetwood, a couple so solid and unbeatable that they were renamed Molliwood, as an inseparable whole.
Six players are also qualified by right for the European team: in the foreground is the number two in the world, the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, the most spectacular swing in the world, the natural heir of Tiger Woods. Following number three, the Spaniard Jon Rahm, proof that the great Iberian tradition of thoroughbred golfers continues; the number 4 Victor Hovland, a young wolf who mauled his rivals at the end of the annual American championship, winning the last two tournaments and taking home, between prizes and annual bonus, over 20 million dollars in two weeks; the number 8, the English Matt Fitzpatrick, together with his compatriot Tyrrel Hatton (number 11 in WR) and to the Scotsman Robert MacIntyre (number 55).
The captain's free choices then fell on: Tommy fleetwood (WR number 13), Sepp Straka (Austria, number 22), Justin Rose (England, number 36), Shane Lowry (Republic of Ireland), Nicolai Højgaard (Denmark), Ludvig Åberg (Sweden). It is useless to add the position in the ranking of the latter, who only turned professional in June. In these few months, however, he has already won a tournament in Switzerland and before that he was number one in the world amateur rankings. A young team, with many Ryder debutants, but also with experienced and world-renowned players.
The formula
The formula is designed to entertain the public. In fact, they are all direct challenges hole after hole, easy to follow. On the first two days, i.e. Friday and Saturday, 16 pairs matches will be played, on the third day there will be 12 individual matches. The pairs competitions are foursome and four-ball. In foursomes, each team of two players plays one ball per hole, in turns, until each hole has been completed. The players alternate at the teeing grounds (the tees), one going first to the tee of the even-numbered holes and the other first to the tee of the odd-numbered holes. The team with the lowest score wins the hole. If the score is tied, the hole ends in a draw.
in this fourball, each member of the two-player teams plays his own ball, so that four balls will be played on each hole. Each team considers the lowest of the scores on each hole and the team whose player has the lowest score wins the hole. If the two lowest scores are tied, the hole ends in a tie.
Especially in races foursome the pairings are difficult, because everyone has their favorite type of ball (there are many different ones) and the captains with their deputies will also have to weigh this variable. Then there are character affinities or incompatibilities and playing characteristics: those who are more or less regular from the tee, those who are more suited to long distances on the greens (where the hole is) and those who fear very short distances, which they put the players' nerves to the test.
There are 28 points up for grabs and the team that first reaches 14,5 points wins the tournament. In the event of a tie, however, the cup remains with the winner of the previous edition; therefore, the Europeans cannot afford a draw.
Then there's the question of who will play against whom. The pairings I'm al dark, because the captain only presents the exit order of his teams and players and the rival will do the same. It is therefore necessary to try to understand the opponent's strategy, especially on the last day, when it is necessary to choose whether to send the fittest players out first or last.
In short, there is a lot to understand and enjoy
The benefits of the Ryder Cup
Ryder has many strings in its bow. These days the Italian golf clubs, which are located on the route that leads from Northern Europe to Rome, are experiencing a new youth, with many foreigners ready to pay the green fee (the entrance ticket) to play on new fields in the march towards their destination.
Ansa also wrote that there is a boom in hotels in Rome and the surrounding area, for an impact that could be around one billion euros. Of course, there will be inconveniences for those traveling for work along the roads leading to Marco Simone, but among the advantages there is also the doubling of the Tiburtina, awaited in the capital for almost twenty years.
Over seven thousand people work on the event, of which 1600 volunteers, while the number of broadcasters involved has reached 39. In the Media Center there are around 450 journalists but, if we consider the broadcasters, the total number of media operators is around 900 people. The Ryder Cup will certainly leave a legacy in Rome with the doubling of the Tiburtina, a long-awaited infrastructure project which was inaugurated just yesterday. Even Laura Biagiotti's club (now owned by daughter Lavinia) will benefit greatly: the value of the course, after the profound restoration wanted by Ryder, has certainly increased and who knows, potential buyers will emerge after the event.
