{"id":821,"date":"2021-09-24T15:53:12","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T19:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/?p=821"},"modified":"2022-03-30T12:48:30","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T16:48:30","slug":"the-2021-ryder-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/the-2021-ryder-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2021 Ryder Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Whistling Straits, Haven WI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 2021 Ryder Cup<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Today begins the long-awaited, and highly anticipated 2021 Ryder Cup<\/a>. With all the pent-up energy of waiting an extra year (postponed from 2020 due to COVID), and then being trapped inside for much of the time, you don\u2019t have to be Nostradamus to predict the crowds will be even more motivated and raucous than usual. Tournament organizers briefly considered holding the competition without fans last year, but that idea was quickly dismissed after negative comments made by a number of players, most notably Brooks Koepka (\u201cThe fans make the event\u201d). And the fans have been particularly important for the American side. Europe has taken the Cup in seven of the last ten competitions, including four of the last five, and the three won by the American side have all come on home soil. Prior to each, the general consensus would always be that the American team should dominate because they had so much depth of talent, yet somehow the Europeans, with a couple of stars and a host of no-names, would walk away with a shocking victory. Well, this year\u2019s battle will be no different with a powerhouse American team going up against Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, what\u2019s his name, and who\u2019s that guy. Just don\u2019t take it to the bank\u2014the European players have been ingrained with a hate-to-lose attitude that goes all the way back to Seve Ballesteros<\/a>. And two of their biggest victories have come right here (Oakland Hills in \u201904 and Medinah in \u201912). Something tells me this is going to be a special weekend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The History<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first Ryder Cup was played in 1927 at Worcester Country Club<\/a> in Massachusetts, and named in honor of English businessman and golf enthusiast, Samuel Ryder. The American team, captained by Walter Hagen, pounded the Europeans led by Ted Ray with a thumping 9 1\/2 to 2 1\/2 victory. Until 1977, the European team consisted of only players from Great Britain and Ireland, and the American team dominated the competition, winning 21 of the 25 Ryder Cups played. Beginning in 1979 the rules were modified, allowing players from all of continental Europe to participate in the competition, and the tide began to turn. The American team, led by Jack Nicklaus<\/a>, won handily in \u201879 and \u201881, but the 1983 Ryder Cup was extremely close as the Americans pulled out a tough 14 \u00bd-13 \u00bd victory. In \u201985 and \u201987 the American teams went down to defeat, ushering in a period of intense competition and European ascension, led by the charismatic leadership of Seve Ballesteros. Since 1985, the European team has won 11 times, the American team 5 times, and there was one draw (1989). The last quarter century of Ryder Cup competition has produced some of the most memorable moments in sports history, including the \u201cWar on the Shore\u201d (1991) and the \u201cMiracle at Medinah\u201d (2012) as the European team staged an incredible comeback victory following the tragic passing of Seve Ballesteros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Teams<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The 2021 American team<\/a> is captained by Steve Stricker, and includes a powerful group of big names, including Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth. Long hitting Tony Finau, a resurgent Harris English, up-and-coming Scottie Scheffler and the gritty Daniel Berger round out an incredibly deep cast of talented players. The European team<\/a>, captained by 3-time major champion Padraig Harrington, will be anchored by Rory McIlroy and Jon Rham, two of the greatest players in the world. Backing them up will be seasoned veterans of Ryder Cup competition Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey. They will be joined by Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowery, a pair of solid professionals who don\u2019t back down to anybody, as well as talented youngsters Victor Hoveland and Matthew Fitzpatrick. Tyrell Hatton and Bernd Wiesberger, two of the top players on the European tour, round out a tough European team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Venue<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whistling Straits<\/a>, located in Haven WI, and host to three PGA Championships (2004, 2010 and 2015) will host the 2021 Ryder Cup. Home to two Pete Dye masterpieces (Irish\/Straits) and opened in 1998, Whistling Straits<\/a> is among the finest golf resorts in the World. The matches will be fought on the Straits course, which boasts a course rating of 77.2 and a slope of 152. Don\u2019t miss a minute of what is sure to be some of the greatest golf you will ever see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today begins the long-awaited, and highly anticipated 2021 Ryder Cup. With all the pent-up energy of waiting an extra year (postponed from 2020 due to COVID), and then being trapped inside for much of the time, you don\u2019t have to be Nostradamus to predict the crowds will be even more motivated and raucous than usual.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[334],"tags":[239,118,251,80,208,94,253,252],"class_list":["post-821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-2021-ryder-cup","tag-brooks-koepka","tag-east-lake-golf-club","tag-european-tour","tag-pga-tour","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-ryder-cup","tag-seve-ballesteros","tag-whitling-straits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":823,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821\/revisions\/823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfday.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}