Golf

Why the Ryder Cup is the only week in professional golf when the veil slips

After the crazy events of Saturday night, Rory McIlroy spoke about ‘fire in the belly’ – you don’t hear that kind of talk at regular golf tournaments

Shane Lowry and Jon Rahm of Europe celebrate after their victory on the final day of play in the 44th Ryder Cup in Rome on Sunday. Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images
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Denis Walsh
Sun Oct 01 2023 - 19:37

There were hugs and handshakes at the end. The griping will continue on other frequencies. More stuff will come out. Just wait. The Ryder Cup is the only week in professional golf when the veil slips. There is no prize money on offer, or world ranking points at stake: everything is stripped back to the primitive desire to win; for a pop-up group of players that lasts for a week; for pride, for ego, for vanity; for the sheer hell of it.

It is the best-dressed mud wrestle in the world of sport. If you have no feelings for golf, if you detest its smugness and its airs, this might be the only week when it feels normal. Emotions run hot, the crowd runs its mouth, players fly and players crash.

It was a crazy weekend. The scenes around the 18th green on Saturday night, and later in the car park, were like something you’d see outside a chipper after the pubs close: shaping and pointing and mouthing.

At the root of it was that people were behaving differently on the golf course than they would on any other week of the year. At every level of the game, players are given space to play their shots. Nobody stands in a spot where they might be a distraction. It is a common courtesy, in the literal meaning of the phrase.

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Team Europe's Rory McIlroy celebrates his shot on the 17th during day three of the Ryder Cup at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA Wire.

Patrick Cantlay’s veteran caddie, Joe LaCava, knew what he was doing by celebrating so close to the line of Rory McIlroy’s putt. In a non-contact sport, he was giving McIlroy a jab in the ribs with the butt of a hurley. Nobody stands for that.

According to NBC, LaCava apologised on Sunday morning. In his post-round interview, after he won his singles match, McIlroy didn’t mention the apology, but said he used the events of Saturday night for “fuel” and “focus”, and that it put more “fire in the bellies” of his team-mates. You don’t hear that language at a regular golf tournament, where everybody is trying to perform in a hermetically sealed bubble.

[ Rory McIlroy admits cap waving incident motivated Europe to victory at Ryder Cup ]

The other part of it is the behaviour of the crowd. At every Ryder Cup now there are stories of players being baited and abused by a loud minority. It has become embedded in the spectacle.

On Saturday Sky Sports reported on its website that Cantlay was refusing to wear a hat in protest at the players not being paid. The story was later denied by Cantlay, but the crowd weren’t suspending judgment until Cantlay had his say; instead, they tormented him.

Team Europe's José María Olazábal and Tommy Fleetwood celebrate after Europe regained the Ryder Cup following victory over the USA. Photograph: David Davies/PA Wire

This issue has raised its head before in the US. Before the 1999 matches at Brookline, David Duval, one of the best players in the world at the time, suggested that a player “boycott” was “imminent”. It didn’t happen that year, and in 2000 the PGA Tour announced that US Ryder Cup players would be given $200,000 for charitable causes; on top of that, a percentage of the TV money would be invested in the PGA Tour’s players’ pension fund.

Cantlay didn’t wear his cap in the Sunday singles either, and in an “I am Spartacus” gesture, three of his team-mates went capless in solidarity: Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, and Xander Schauffele.

While this storm was slopping out of the teacup, Cantlay played outstanding golf. On Saturday, he birdied the last three holes to claim a life-giving point for his team; on Sunday, he shot five under par to beat Justin Rose on the 17th.

[ Europe’s golfing gladiators hold off brave US fightback to seal Ryder Cup in Rome ]

And that is one of the things that makes the Ryder Cup so compelling: what can these players produce when the pressure is ramped up and their heads are fit to explode? McIlroy shot five under to win his singles point; Lowry shot seven under, to sweat out a half against Jordan Spieth.

Viktor Hovland racked up seven birdies in his first 12 holes. Tyrrell Hatton was six under against Brian Harman, the British Open champion and Ryder Cup rookie, who had been feisty and unflappable all week. In order to win, Hatton needed to play better than he had ever done in the Ryder Cup.

The next Ryder Cup is in New York. The atmosphere will be mental. Can’t wait.

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