Quote:
Originally Posted by
crayputter 
Can't wait !
Btw, does anyone also realise that this will be the FIRST Ryder Cup in the new millennium that doesn't have a guy named Woods as the World no 1 ?
That's six RC's that Tiger was the world no 1 going in.....just saying.....
Ray
True, but while liking Tiger Woods, as much as I do, I'm not at all impressed with his performance in the Ryder Cup. His Number #1 dominance will never be replicated in my lifetime, no doubt. I agree with you on that score - it has been one heck of a Number #1 ride with Tiger!
However, his performance during the the Ryder, leave much to be desired. Had he not won as many times as he did this year, I'd be saying that he should not even be on the Ryder Cup Team. Of course, you can't keep the best of the best down for very long and that's why he has multiple wins this year, yet again for the umpteenth time in his career.
I think the problem in the past with Tiger, and the Ryder Cup, has been the fact that it come late in the year. Tiger, had to have spent an enormous amount of energy winning 74 times on the PGA Tour over the years, including 14 majors and 16 WGC events and those years where he won 5/6/7 times a year for multiple years. All of that has to take an emotional toll at the end of the golf season, when really - winning on Tour is the most important thing on your annual agenda.
Then comes the Ryder Cup, at the very end - after you have spent all that energy beating up on everybody in sight earlier that same year. It must have been somewhat melodramatic for Tiger, over the years. Maybe even something on the level of an NFL Pro Bowl for Tiger, the Ryder Cup (maybe). Nobody expects to see any real big hits in Hawaii, during the Pro Bowl. In fact, they way they play the game today, they basically Red-Shirt everybody on the field during most of the game and the fans know it. The fans are basically there just to see all of their favorite players on the field at the same time. Nobody expects big hits anymore, or all out play.
That does not make Tiger, a non-team player. It is just the reality of giving your all over an extremely long golf season and then reaching what amounts to an "All Star Golf Tournament" for the Europeans and the United States. However, having said that ---------- I think the "Fans" have turned up the heat AND the expectations for the players in the Ryder Cup, over the decades, making it a very heated contest.
With Tiger, exploding onto the scene back in 1997, with his dramatic history making win in the Masters, he began to introduce the game of Golf to people all around the world, given the television coverage and the changes in satellite television networks. People from all over the world, were able to see his star rising and that got millions of people around the planet interested in playing and watching golf on a level had not been seen before, given the technology in use.
Now, the Ryder Cup, gets a visit from Celebrities from outside the world of Golf and a level of television coverage world wide that it never had before. Couple that to the Fan/Amateur golfer now buying billions of dollars in golf equipment each and every year, the global reality of having two teams from two different continents and it brings something of an Olympic flair to it.
Its no Super Bowl, by any stretch of the imagination - but its growing bigger each and every year. When you put a hot player like Rory, on one side and a perennial Hall of Fame Titan like Tiger, on the other - you spark something special that people want to see. Having it played on a course that looks downright Sexy, like Medinah, looks today - and you unleash a firestorm of interest.
A Side note: I've never seen Medinah, look this darn sexy. That course looks good enough to EAT!
