The Euros Close In

Filed in archive Golf News on September 21, 2008

Courtesy: Andy Lyons, Getty Images

Have you ever witnessed grinding golf like we saw yesterday during Day Two action at the Ryder Cup?

I certainly haven't. I wondered about the ability of guys like Boo Weekley and J.D. Holmes to withstand the pressure when they blew their strategy on the tricky 18th on Friday afternoon and let a full point slip away.

Two tee balls in the water were unforgivable.

But Saturday saw no such mistakes in strategy. There were, however, plenty of mistakes that I put down to shear tension: Mickelson pushing tee shot after tee shot and leaving Anthony Kim to scramble unsuccessfully from deep rough and side hill lies in their morning alternate shot competition; Robert Karlsson unable to hit a par 3 green all day, it seemed, yet making some unbelievable putts to halve holes.

Heck, how about Kenny Perry? Here's a guy who was skewered by the world golf media - rightly so, I think - for skipping the British Open after being invited, in order to play some minor PGA weekly to rack up FedEx Cup points and pad his bank account.

He seemed to show no emotional affinity for the history of the game by blowing off a venerable major like The Open to play against a talent-decimated field in a forgettable tournament. A tournament he won easily, by the way.

But there he was yesterday, making some superb putts and awesome approach shots in support of his partner, Jim Furyk.

There were stubbed chip shots, chip shots that scrabbled clear across greens, pitch shots chili-dipped into bunkers or deep rough; it looked like day one at a Dave Pelz Short Game School. Such is the importance of this competition. It gets to players.

It was grinding golf of the highest order. How is it, then, that players who are, to put it bluntly, mundane much of the time can suddenly play beyond themselves in competition like the Ryder Cup?

The reason is simple: team play. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. A common cause, a common struggle rallies talents, elevates skill levels and creates shot making rarely seen in individual competition.

And I do not include the unimportant team competitions like Tiger Woods' made for TV time waster involving PGA players from two exclusive, private golf clubs in Florida going "head to head" in team play.

That is pure rubbish compared to the guts-and-glory golf that Ryder Cups produce. Ryder Cups are about far more than that.

Ryder Cups are about much more than King and Country, too. They're sold by the media to the general public as being about flags, nations, cultures, what have you.

They're really about something that binds us all. It may sound silly to say but I would argue that Ryder Cups reflect the best of human behavior. There is ample evidence of caring for your fellow man, helping him when he's down, getting his back, lifting him up, supporting him.

That's what existed in the earliest beginnings of human society. That's when humankind functions at its best.

And when that happens, we are privileged to witness some damn fine golf.