Feature by Anand Datla
It is Ryder Cup time and passions are set to ride high next week in Scotland. While the golfers assemble in Gleneagles for the biennial event, here is a curious collection of Ryder Cup trivia that will get you warmed up for the stormy weekend that lay ahead.
An immortal sporting gesture – The most prolific golfer ever scripted a transcendental moment at Birkdale in 1969. Jack Nicklaus was playing out a tense final match against Tony Jacklin when the Ryder Cup set to be decided on the performance of these two men. In one of the closest Ryder Cup events in history, 17 of the 32 matches went to the final hole and the two teams were tied at 15.5 points each with only two men still in action.
The contest had been marked by acrimony and distaste for the most part, before Nicklaus decided to afford Jacklin a six footer for par, knowing that his decision was about to tie the match. It is a gesture that is widely celebrated as the greatest Ryder Cup moment ever, even though Nicklaus’s team-mates on the day did not really share the enthusiasm of the world. It is called “The Concession” and Nicklaus’s gesture typifies the true spirit in which sport is meant to be pursued.
A confluence of cultures – The European team is a confluence of cultures that present some unique challenges. There was Peter Handon, a Swede, who likes to dine at 0630pm and someone like Miguel Ángel Jiménez who likes to stretch it late into the evening. The Spaniard, as is custom with his countrymen, prefers to dine late, typically around 1100pm. In order to accommodate the different needs of the men on the team the buffet for the European team runs from 0600pm through midnight.
Hunger pangs – Staying on the topic of food, all the passionate exertions in the middle make even the spectators very hungry. It is believed an estimated 20,000 servings of fish and chips, around 15,000 burgers, over 7000 pies and more than a 100,000 pints of beer shall be consumed during the course of the event.
The seed merchant’s legacy – the Ryder Cup owes its concept to a certain Samuel Ryder, an English seed merchant whose enormous wealth allowed him the luxury of expressing himself through golf. Ryder commissioned the iconic trophy and presented it to the English Professional Golfers Association just before his team travelled to the US for the first edition of this great event.
A tribute to the teacher – the lid of the Ryder Cup features the silhouette of a golfer. This is that of Abe Mitchell, the man who taught Ryder the art and science of the game. Mitchell was also set to play the first event in 1927, but appendicitis laid him low and kept him home. He did however go on to play the next three editions of the cup.
American dominance preceded European success – the Americans dominated the cup for several years, before the active intervention by men such as Jack Nicklaus helped expand the competition to a larger European team. Till 1977, the Americans squared off every two years against a team of golfers from the Great Britain and Ireland. This has paved the way for eminent golfers such as Spaniards Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, German Bernhard Langer to establish a lasting Ryder Cup legacy.
Sharing pain and injury – each captain maintains the name of a golfer in a sealed envelope. In the event of an injury to a player on one of the teams, the player named in the sealed envelope drops out and the teams are awarded 0.5 each for that particular match.
Giving Experience its due – Tom Watson is the oldest ever Ryder Cup captain. He is heading the team USA in Ryder Cup 2014. Sergio Garcia is the youngest player ever to play in a Ryder Cup.
The Medinah Moment – Ian Poulter is the player who goes down in history for having birdied his last five holes in the final Saturday fourballs match for a 1-up victory.
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