# Do European golf fans really care about the Ryder Cup?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-european-golf-fans-really-care-about-the-ryder-cup/618399>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [April 10, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-european-golf-fans-really-care-about-the-ryder-cup/618399 "2012-04-10T19:23:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-european-golf-fans-really-care-about-the-ryder-cup/618399/21 "2012-10-02T07:10:24Z")

</div>

> [@amarone](#):
>
> He was actually 0-3-1. He halved with Molinari after generously conceding a 3 foot putt on 18 to allow Molinari to win the hole and halve the match.

Of course he did, silly mistake on my part. I agree it was a generous concession, but with the trophy already lost I guess it would have looked petty to make Molinari putt out. Probably a clever bit of PR on his part to try and salvage something from the weekend. There is also the fact that no doubt he didn’t really care about the result of their match once Kaymer holed out. Halving the match from that position against Molinari (who has never won a Ryder Cup match) must have felt like a loss - clearly it did to me!

> [@](#):
>
> You may already know this, but note that Woods was not a wildcard pick this year (he was in 2010).

I had forgotten that, thanks. I stand by what I said though - the only way he should ever get in the team again is if he qualifies automatically.

> [@](#):
>
> You nailed it. [Love had the course set up easier than a major](http://www.golf.com/ap-news/davis-love-says-ryder-cup-course-medinah-will-be-easier-major), saying that it made it more exciting (which is true). However, I am sure he would not have done it had he not also felt that it favored his team.

Interesting, thanks. But Lee Westwood’s quote in that article was spot on as well - USA holed more putts the first two days, Europe holed more on day 3 and with a bit of good fortune this was just enough.

> [@Zakalwe](#):
>
> Relevant to the above, there’s also the fact that the US setup lately seems to result in a well-meaning, relatively-popular FUCKING IDIOT ending up as Captain.

Can you elaborate? Do you mean in terms of captain’s picks (which I agree is hugely significant), choice of pairings (a bit less so), or team order (much less relevant IMHO)?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-european-golf-fans-really-care-about-the-ryder-cup/618399/22 "2012-10-02T11:28:24Z")

</div>

> [@Dead\_Cat](#):
>
> Can you elaborate? Do you mean in terms of captain’s picks (which I agree is hugely significant), choice of pairings (a bit less so), or team order (much less relevant IMHO)?

Yes, I mean all of those (I would argue that team order is more important than that though - especially on a day when all you have to do is hold serve).

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-european-golf-fans-really-care-about-the-ryder-cup/618399.md?page=1)