Cape Town - Team USA go in search of a first Ryder Cup on foreign soil since 1993 when the competition tees off on Friday.
Evidence of the seriousness surrounding this week’s
Ryder Cup in Scotland is the suggestion from some circles that perhaps the
Scots could have scheduled their ground-breaking Independence Referendum a bit
further away from the date for the Gleneagles showpiece.
After all, this is a
life-and-death golf tournament we’re talking about here.
The biennial Ryder Cup between the cream of golfers from Europe and the United States is considered one of the greatest events in team sport, not just golf.
It is one of those rare occasions when professional golfers compete as a team, and stirs up passions greater than some of the Majors, all of which will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Paul McGinley’s European team are the favourites this year as they host Tom Watson’s Americans at Gleneagles.
The Europeans have Rory McIlroy, and the Americans are without Tiger Woods, for what it’s worth.
The European team is loaded with more of the world’s highly ranked players, while the Americans are drawing heavily on their status as underdogs. If this was purely a captaincy battle, Watson wins every single time. But there is far more to a Ryder Cup than the men leading the teams.
There has already been talk of “breaking Rory McIlroy” and “hunting down” Ian Poulter. There is the European intrigue surrounding the courtroom battle between McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, complete with allegations of secret financial documents and mobile phones with evidence on them being destroyed.
And there is the very real fact of the Europeans having won the last two Ryder Cups, and five of the last six.
TV Broadcast times:
Friday, Fourballs and foursomes (SS6, 11:00)
Saturday, Fourballs and foursomes (SS6, 11:00)
Sunday, Singles (SS1, 12:30)