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32 ESPN The Magazine 10/01/2012 Sam Greenwood/Getty ImaGeS

RYDER CUP PREVIEW

EASY RYDER

MAY THE BETTER TEAM WIN? THAT WOULD BE EUROPE

If past is prologue in this Ryder Cup, which begins Sept. 27 at Medinah Country Club in Chicago, then the career records of both current rosters deliver a clear verdict. Americans have an edge in experience (115 career Ryder Cup matches, versus 110 for the Euros), but what they’ve experienced is best forgotten. Not one U.S. player has a winning Ryder Cup record, while only two European players have a losing one (see charts, right). In all, Euro team players have a career win percentage 20 points higher (55% vs. 35%) than their U.S. rivals. European union, indeed.

SERGIO GARCIA2008 Ryder Cup

EvERy two yEARS, U.S. ANd EURo golfERS gAthER IN thE NAME of pEttINESS, jINgoISM ANd woUNdEd pRIdE. BEhold! oUR CoUCh-CAddIE gUIdE to THE RYDER CUP. By Scott T. Miller

CAREER RYDER CUPWIN/LOSS DIFFERENTIAL

poSItIvE NEgAtIvE dEBUt/EvEN

0 0de

but

debu

t

KEEGAN BRADLEY

BRANDT SNEDEKER

WEBB SIMPSON

JASON DUFNERde

but

debu

t

PHIL MICKELSON

11-17

-6

MATT KUCHAR

1-1-2

3-3-

1

STEVE STRICKER

12-1

4-2

TIGER WOODS

BUBBA WATSON

1-3-

0

3-3-

1

ZACH JOHNSON

DUSTIN JOHNSON

1-3-

0

JIM FURYK

8-15

-4

+3

-3

+6

-6

+9

-9

TEAM USA

0 0

debu

t

8-2-

1

NICOLAS COLSAERTS

MARTIN KAYMER

SERGIO GARCIA

GRAEME McD

OWELL

JUSTIN ROSE

LUKE DONALD

PAUL LAWRIE

IAN POULTER

LEE WESTWOOD

14-6

-4

4-2-

2

3-1-

1

2-1-

1

8-3-

0

3-1-

0

16-1

1-6

0-2-

1

RORY McIL

ROY

PETER HANSON

FRANCESCO MOLIN

ARI

1-1-2

1-2-0

+3

-3

+6

-6

+9

-9

TEAM EUROPE

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34 ESPN The Magazine 10/01/2012 i l lustrat ions by BEN KIRCHNER; hole i l lustrat ion by REMIE GEOFFROI photo reference from left: harry how/Getty ImaGeS; ron chenoy/US preSSwIre

In 2004, U.S. captain hal Sutton stubbornly (and famously) paired tiger woods and phil mickelson, his top two players, in team play on day 1. the alpha-male couple proceeded to lose both matches, demoralizing the U.S. squad and sparking the underdog euros to an 18.5-9.5 victory. In fact, pairing the two highest-ranked players on a team has resulted in victory only three times in 14 matches.

ALPHA+ALPHA AWFUL

PAY NO HEED TO THE EARLY LEAD

Remember the 1999 Ryder Cup? when the Euros lost just one match on day 1 and were up four points? when the margin remained four after day 2? And when the U.S. came back on the final day, snatching a 14.5-13.5 victory after justin leonard rolled in a 45-foot putt? Not ringing a bell? Maybe it’s because you didn’t watch the weekend? don’t be that guy. the team trailing after day 1 has ended up winning seven of the past 15 Ryder Cups. A big reason: 12 points are up for grabs in the Sunday singles matches, compared with eight in each of the first two days—and since everyone plays Sunday, captains can’t hide their weak-est links. volatility reigns! Indeed, as this graph shows, first-day leads in the Ryder Cup are almost as meaningless as wednesday pro-ams.

In the past 15 Ryder Cups, Europe has amassed 21.2% more points in team events, while the U.S. leads by 13% in individual matches. Cultural anthropologists could have a field day analyzing the divide: Europe’s cooperative socialists and America’s individualist capitalists holding form. But 2008 Ryder Cup captain paul Azinger narrowed that theory:

“Europe was bonded by national-ity. the Spaniards always played together—they were so invested in each other and their country, as were the Irish and the English and the Swedes.” Since no such bonds existed for the Americans, Azinger created them, forming his 2008 team into three four-man “pods” who played all their team matches together—an approach this year’s captain, davis love III, has reportedly adopted. oh, and that year, the U.S. outscored Europe in team matches for the first time since 1995.

21.2%AMERICANS DO NOT PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS

OVER, NOT EASY “here’s why they’ll go for it,” jones says. “they have no fear of going long. But that chip shot, off closely mowed turf, isn’t easy. from the back left, they’re going against the slope, which pitches to the water.”

GREEN IS GOOD “It’s the depth that matters. we made the green deep so they could hold the shot. It’s a little narrow in the front—about 60 feet—but wider in the back.”

when are golfers like gladia-tors? Not often. But the closest they come is on a drivable par 4 during match play. then, it’s all about guts, glory—and, in this case, who’s good at hitting a golf ball 300 yards when there’s a big watery thing on the right. that’s why Rees jones redesigned the previously mundane 15th at Medinah, building a two-acre pond and adding new tees that allow the par 4 to play as short as 280 yards. jones says the changes were made to offer golfers “more choices, more options; a lot of the matches are going to swing on the 15th.”

KEEP ONE EYE ON THE 15TH HOLE

HIT THE BEACH“the bunker’s not bad. If they miss the green, they’ll actually prefer the bunker.”

RIGHT IS WRONG“In championship play, architects are trying to get into the players’ heads. And the water’s going to do that.”

+9

+8

+7

+6

+5

+4

+3

+2

+1

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

-6

-7

-8

-9

KEY

fIRSt-dAy lEAd fINAl RESUlt tEAM EURopE tEAM USA

MAR

gIN

of

lEAd

/ d

EfIC

It

’81 ’83 ’85 ’87 ’89

TIE

’91 ’93 ’95 ’97 ’99 ’02 ’04 ’06 ’08 ’10

map i l lustrat ion by REMIE GEOFFROI photoS from left: davId davIeS/ap ImaGeS; andy lyonS/Getty ImaGeS; photo reference: GreIG cowIe/BpI/corBIS

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not many golfers call chicago home; the infamous weather and equally infamous taxes aren’t nearly as golfer-friendly as, say, florida. But luke donald is a chicagoan in every sense of the word. he played his college golf at northwestern, cheers for the cubs and lives in suburban northfield, Ill. at medinah, though, the Brit will be just another euro—sort of like teammates Justin rose, Graeme mcdowell, peter hanson and Ian poulter, who all own homes in orlando and, with the exclusion of hanson, all play more in the States than in europe.

THERE WILL BE EINOS (EUROS IN NAME ONLY)

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME … UNLESS HOME IS THE U.S.

for years, europe has made no secret of targeting woods. “If tiger was losing,” azinger says, “it was a huge boost to europe because of how much better he was.” according to azinger, the U.S. hasn’t bothered gunning for a euro since Seve Ballesteros 20 years ago. “we didn’t give a s— about nick faldo,” azinger says. “he didn’t inspire anybody. Seve was the guy you had to get.” But azinger says the U.S. team will go after rory mcIlroy. “I believe he’ll be partnered with Graeme mcdowell as their marquee pair,” azinger says. “davis is going to look for rory.”

AS TIGER IS TO TEAM USA, McILROY IS TO TEAM EURO

golfers are used to camera clicks and obnoxious dudes command-ing every shot to “get in the hole!” they’re less used to a partisan crowd celebrating pulled tee shots and a course set up to maximize opponents’ strengths. But that’s what happens to away teams at every Ryder Cup. hardly surprising, then, that seven of the past 10 Ryder Cups were won by the home team. But home-course advan-tage is about more than wins or losses; it’s about outperforming expectations. when we examined the past 12 Ryder Cups, control-ling for strength of squad, a pattern emerged. the home course has almost solely benefited Europe—underdog in all but one of the recent Cups. “over there, the crowd is biased as hell; it fires up their play-ers and irritates some of ours,” 2002 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange says. “the Europeans are motivated. It’s as simple as that.”

ESTIMATED DISTANCE 25.6 MILESESTIMATED DRIVE TIME 43 MINUTES

MEdINAh CoUNtRy ClUB

northfIeld, Ill.

LUKE DONALD’SHOME

CHICAGO

*HOME PLAYERS’ AVERAGE WORLD RANK COMPARED WITH OPPONENTS

WEAKER TEAM* STRONGER TEAM

LOSI

NG

MAR

GIN

WIN

NIN

G M

ARGI

N

10

8

6

4

2

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

-5 5 -10 10 -15 15 -20 20 -25 25

HOME-COURSE EFFECTFRIENDLY SHORES DON’T ALWAYS MEAN LOWER SCORES

’87

’91

’95

’99

’04

’08

’89’93

’97

’02

’06

’10

outperforming

expectations underperforming

expectations

KEY

TEAM EUROPE At hoME TEAM USA At hoME