The A-Z of the Ryder Cup

A

Animosity. The Ryder Cup needs it to thrive. Never mind the stuffy exhortations towards gentlemanliness. The '99 Ryder Cup was miles better than the 2002 Ryder Cup.

B

Bethpage Black. A ferocious and much beloved public golf course which has held three major championships in the 21st century.

Best known for its warning sign at the first tee box telling mediocre golfers, in not so many words, that they might want to consider one of the other less testing golf courses on offer at the resort.

As befitting a two-time US Open venue, it is renowned as a beast of a course. Alas, well-placed observers have informed us that it has been defanged for the week that's in it, owing to the American team's longstanding preference for a birdie-fest.

The rough has been cut, the fairways slightly widened and some of the holes shortened. With towering grandstands now surrounding the first tee and the 18th green, the opening tee-box has been moved forward and the hole is now drivable for the bigger hitters.

C

Captains obviously.

Typically, a Ryder Cup captain is a once competitive professional on the verge of the Seniors Tour who spends the weekend making speeches, riding around in a golf buggy and talking urgently into his walkie-talkie.

More usefully, they set the pairings and decide the order in which the players head out on singles Sunday.

The Yanks have made something of a boo-boo this year by installing a captain who was easily good enough to play himself.

Apparently swayed by the famous episode of 'Full Swing' where Keegan Bradley was overlooked for the team in Rome in favour of boys' club regular Justin Thomas, the PGA of America rashly appointed the 2011 PGA champion as captain this time. Amid much speculation, Keegan refrained from picking himself despite his fine form in 2025.

On the European side, Luke Donald becomes the first returning captain since Bernard Gallacher in the early 1990s. The fact that many of the erstwhile viable candidates are taking the Saudi lucre has contributed heavily to this.

D

Dormy. Time for a public information message for those unfamiliar with the matchplay format. You'll be hearing it a lot. Not a slang term for a boarding school bedroom but the word used to describe the situation when a player's lead is the same number as the amount of holes remaining. They can't lose but worst case scenario they might not win.

The worst dormy-related horror story belongs to America's Mark Calcavecchia who almost suffered a breakdown after throwing away a 'Dormy Four' lead against Colin Montgomerie to halve his match with the Scot at Kiawah Island in 1991.

This, despite the fact that Monty, with the honour, found the water at the fiendishly hard par-3 17th.

Calcavecchia, his head gone, followed him, his tee shot barely going 10ft above the ground.

E

EU. A source of inspiration in Hazeltine in 2016. On singles Sunday, the five players from countries intent on remaining in the European Union beyond March 2019 amassed a highly creditable tally of four and a half points.

The tally from the seven players from the country determined to leave the EU - 0 points.

The decision of the Ryder Cup to expand to include the continentals has since been described as a 'reverse Brexit'.

Though Nigel Farage is a keen golf fan and did a - presumably well remunerated - ad with Paddy Power ahead of the 2014 event, giving his blessing to his followers to get behind Team Europe.

F

Financial cost. Tickets are on the steep side, going at $750 per day. A pint will set you back $15 though in parts of Temple Bar that would probably be classed as a bargain.

G

GUR. Meaning 'Ground under Repair'. There'll be none of that at this Ryder Cup venue nor any future Ryder Cup venue.

But when you arrive at your local course two days after the Ryder Cup - like a man inspired to pitch up at a tennis court during Wimbledon fortnight - there'll be plenty of it around.

H

Hojgaard.

A common refrain from those fancying Europe's chances is that their line-up is the same as two years ago.

Eleven of the team are the exact same and the only change sees one identical twin replace another.

Nicolai makes way for Rasmus, winner of the Irish Open at Royal County Down last year. The two brothers are so alike they can access the other's phone through facial recognition software.

I

Irish players. Safe to say, their involvement is central to maintaining a healthy interest in the competition on this island.

The 1993 Ryder Cup is the last match that contained no Irish representative. We might note for the record it's also the last time Europe lost at home.

According to lore, the Irish players have often been in the right place at the right time to seal the crucial point.

Back in 1957, a rare success for dear old GB (they wouldn't concede to the '& Ireland' suffix until the early 70s), Christy O'Connor beat Dow Finsterwald in the singles and Harry Bradshaw secured the halved point which got them over the line.

For the first away win in '87, Eamonn Darcy eventually saw off Ben Crenshaw, helped by the fact his opponent had broken his putter and spent the rest of the round putting with a 3-iron.

Two years later, Christy O'Connor Jr and his glorious 2-iron buried Fred Couples on the 18th green. Phillip Walton sealed the 1995 victory at Oak Hill with a crucial win over Jay Haas. Seven years later, Paul McGinley sunk the putt which won the Cup in 2002.

J

Jingoism. The special sauce that makes a Ryder Cup great. As ever, the gold standard here is Brookline '99.

Trailing by four points on Saturday evening and in need of inspiration, captain Ben Crenshaw invited his good pal George W Bush - soon bound for the White House - to read out a letter from a US commander at the Battle of the Alamo, which finished with the words 'Victory or Death!'

The Americans abandoned golf's civilities the following day as chants of USA! USA! USA! rang around the course.

They hollered and fist-pumped their way to a notorious 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 success which left some of the stuffier Europeans smarting.

K

The K Club in Kildare hosted the event the only time it was staged an Ireland, a weekend which many of us will remember as the absolute apex of the Celtic Tiger.

As a friend of the writer noted, you were nobody if you didn't arrive at the course in a helicopter.

The big show returns to this fair isle in two years time. They're dolling up the road network around Adare Manor so helicopters shouldn't be required.

L

Losing streaks. It's fair to say the Ryder Cup has come a long way from a competition which was dying on its backside in the late 70s to one of the most engrossing and hyped spectacles in the sport.

By 1977, the roll of honour read USA 18-3 GB & I, with one halved match (which meant USA retained the trophy).

The Americans were growing so bored by their own success that the match was in jeopardy and Jack Nicklaus took it upon himself to write a letter to the British PGA telling them to get the continentals on board to make it a fairer fight.

The Golden Bear and his compatriots may have gotten more than they bargained for.

Between 1995 and 2014, the USA went on their own dismal run, winning just two from ten competitions. And this despite their players dominating the majors for much of that time.

This presumably contributed to Mickelson's outburst in 2014, he played in every Ryder Cup during this run.

M

Money. Controversially, the Americans are getting some this time. The home players are each getting $500,000, $300,000 of which is going to charity, with the players doing what they wish with the remaining $200k.

Captain Bradley insists that all his players are giving their 'bonus' to charity too, though only Patrick Cantlay has identified a specific charity.

The Europeans, pure-hearted Corinthians that they are, have not asked for money. And the DP World Tour is very grateful for the fact.

N

Nick Faldo.

Europe's most successful ever golfer in terms of major titles, Faldo was also a smashing Ryder Cup performer, playing a critical role in several European wins, most notably 1995 when he beat Curtis Strange in a vital singles match.

That all counted for nowt when he captained the team in 2008 and was generally agreed to have made a hames of the job.

One can't help feeling that his widespread unpopularity left him facing an uphill battle from the off. No wonder he once thanked the UK press "from the heart of my bottom".

O

O'Connor. You don't need me to tell you what he did in 1989. Christy played only one foursomes game over the previous two days which he lost with Ronan Rafferty. But he made a memorable impact on the singles against Freddie Couples.

P

P is for Presidents. The Ryder Cup remains unmatched among sporting contests in the status and calibre of its hangers-on.

On the American side, it's a common sight to see a sitting or a former President riding around on a golf buggy as part of the entourage.

The late George HW Bush (aka, senior) was a particular fiend for the Ryder Cup. He delivered a video message wishing the Americans luck ahead of the Kiawah Island and was a very prominent spectator for the entire weekend at the K Club.

This Friday, the 45th/47th President has made plain he will put in an appearance at Bethpage, which has necessitated some beefed up security measures.

Mr Trump is such an integral part of the American elite golfing community it's a wonder he wasn't considered a wildcard pick, possibly in a fourballs pairing with Bryson DeChambeau (provided they can play off the red tees).

R

Republicans. There'll be no shortage of them. See above.

S

Samuel Ryder. The man who founded the yoke. A businessman and a golf promoter.

The only pity is that there hasn't been a United Passions style hagiography made in his honour.

The late British journalist Alastair Cooke, in the course of a lengthy screed about fan behaviour at the 1999 Ryder Cup, noted that Ryder's fortune was made after he had the idea to sell flower seeds in penny packets.

"He was in middle-age when he got the golf bug," Cooke wrote. "And any old golfer will tell you that golf virus is most virulent in middle age."

T

Tiger. It was assumed that the great man would assume the captaincy this time only for Bradley to come out of leftfield.

This has heightened anticipation that he will be in the hot-seat for Adare Manor, the course owned by his old mucker, JP.

Woods hasn't played at a Ryder Cup since 2018 and presumably won't be in position to make a team again.

In eight Ryder Cups, he was only on the winning side once (in 1999), having been injured for both the 2008 and 2016 victories.

Q

Qualification. Q was always going to be tricky.

U

USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!! US-

Expect to hear it a lot this weekend, provided the crowd are sober enough to remember all the words.

V

Ordinarily, one would plump for vice-captains.

For the week that's in it, it has to be VR headsets, of which we've heard a great deal.

Europe's latest ingenious gambit is to practice with the aid of them, so as to harden themselves against the abuse and catcalls from the nationalistic home support.

W

Wives. They're there. You'll see them invading the green when the winning putt is sunk. Hopefully after the opposing player has had his go at putting.

An alternative 'w' is Weekly - as in Boo Weekly - who spent the 2008 competition geeing up the crowd and riding his iron up and down the course like a cowboy.

X

Xander Schauffele. He didn't distinguish himself in Rome, losing all three of his matches in the opening two days. Did redeem things slightly with a singles win over Nicolai Hojgaard, at a time when it briefly looked like the visitors could pull it out of the fire.

Has won two majors in the mean-time after a stunning year in 2024, claiming the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow and the Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Y

Young. Much is made of the debutant's status as a local, having attended a local school in the Bronx.

He played down the US reporters' efforts to turn his story into a rags to riches tale: "I think the streets of New York is probably a stretch."

Z

Zola! Helpfully from the perspective of A-Z compilers, Gianfranco Zola will be part of Team Europe's sizable entourage.

He is the designated buggy driver of vice-captain Francesco Molinari, his compatriot and former Open Champion.

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