Category: Ryder Cup

Team Europe adds Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer as vice captains for Ryder Cup

Former Ryder Cup stalwarts Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer will join Luke Donald as vice captains for Team Europe.

Former Ryder Cup stalwarts Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer will join Luke Donald as vice captains for Team Europe for the biennial matches at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

Europe captain Padraig Harrington pointed to the two’s vast experience in golf and the Ryder Cup in announcing the selections Wednesday.

“Both, I believe, will bring experience, knowledge, and a great balance to the team room,” Harrington said in a statement. “They have both contributed winning points in Ryder Cup history, have been there and done it, and the other players look up to them. They both have that aura and responsibility in that what they say will have meaning.”

The 43rd matches are September 24-26. Europe is in possession of the cherished cup, having won 17½-10½ in France in 2018. Europe has won seven of the last nine matches.

USA captain Steve Stricker has named Jim Furyk, Davis Love III and Zach Johnson as vice captains. He will bring on at least one other assistant, possibly two. Among the possibilities would be Tiger Woods.

Kaymer played in four consecutive Ryder Cups starting in 2010 and delivered the clinching point when Europe stormed back from a 10-4 deficit to win in 2012 in the Miracle at Medinah. Kaymer is a two-time major champion who won his first major at the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

This will be his first vice captaincy.

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“Martin is somebody I wanted as a vice captain because he has a great personality and brings a calmness, a European element, and a lot of confidence with him,” Harrington said. “The fact that he won around Whistling Straits also brings that level of authority and assurance that you need.”

Said Kaymer: “I admit it took me a while to say yes, because it’s a responsibility, and if I do something. I want to do it properly, so we talked about the role. I’m not the type of guy who is into numbers and statistics. I’m more the person talking to the guys, more of the personal stuff, a bit more of the mental side. I feel like I’m a fairly calm person when I’m playing golf and through my experience I know what they all go through, whether that’s the guys that might be playing the Ryder Cup for the first time or guys that I have played Ryder Cups with before, so I think I understand the feelings quite well.”

McDowell, who won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, has played in four Ryder Cups. He delivered the winning point at Celtic Manor in 2010. He was an assistant captain with Harrington and Donald in 2018.

“I decided on Graeme as a vice captain a long time ago,” Harrington said. “He’s quite an authority, confident in what he’s doing and saying and knows the scene. The only reason he would not have been a vice captain was if he was going to be a player. Graeme is a strong influence and the players look up to him. When he speaks, people listen, but he doesn’t speak unless he’s got something to say.”

Said McDowell: “If you can’t play on the team, being part of the support network and the vice captaincy is the next best thing. One of our big roles is to help Padraig delegate responsibility. He’s a very intelligent guy, he’s got a lot of information in that head. From a vice captain’s point of view, helping get that out of his head and communicate it to the players, to me, is one of the roles that is extremely important to us.”

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PGA of America planning for ‘full fan experience’ at Ryder Cup: ‘The world … is ready to have a party’

Seth Waugh expressed confidence that fans would be a big part of the biennial event.

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – When the Ryder Cup was postponed last year, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh declared, “A Ryder Cup with no fans is not a Ryder Cup.”

As the Ryder Cup, which is to be contested from Sept. 24-26, nears, Waugh expressed confidence that fans would be a big part of the biennial event between Team USA and Europe.

“We have every hope and every desire and we’re working very hard to make it an absolute full fan experience,” Waugh said Tuesday during a press conference at the PGA Championship. “We’re working obviously with the state and local governments to have all those conversations. It’ll be fluid. But our plan is to have a Ryder Cup in a way – have it be the greatest Ryder Cup in history. I think the world as we’ve seen is ready to have a party.”

How big that party will be is to be determined. The PGA announced earlier this year that it would cap attendance at 10,000 spectators a day for this week’s PGA Championship at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course.

“We are working with the county and the state of Wisconsin and have submitted our COVID protocol plan, which as Seth mentioned continues to change and evolve every day,” said Kerry Haigh, the PGA of America’s chief championships officer. “We’re hopeful that by September we will be able to have full attendance. If it were today, we could not, based on where COVID numbers are, but certainly with the vaccine and the numbers coming down, we are very hopeful and optimistic that we will be able to have a full attendance.”

Haigh played coy on how he defined “full attendance” but the galleries at the 2016 Ryder Cup swelled to more than 50,000 fans per day. Michael O’Reilly, the director of golf operations at Destination Kohler, operator of host site Whistling Straits, previously tabbed full capacity to be around 40,000 fans per day.

“The Olympics is going to happen it looks like, but not in the way that you would hope it would. And so this is really going to be the first time to cheer for your country, to have that sort of tribal – in-person anyway – to have that sort of tribal atmosphere that is so important,” Waugh said. “We’re hopeful that September will be one of the great events in golf and a great sort of exclamation point to the end of this thing. We think it’s all going to happen fast from here, certainly from a U.S. perspective. I realize the world still has a lot of challenges out there, but from a U.S. perspective we’re really hopeful we’ll be able to pull it off.”

Ryder Cup plans to host 40,000-plus fans daily at Whistling Straits in September

Destination Kohler is prepared to pivot again if needed, but the rescheduled Ryder Cup in Wisconsin plans for full fans and hospitality.

Fingers crossed, the COVID-19 pandemic will have eased considerably before fall of 2021, and the rescheduled Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin will be able to welcome 40,000-plus fans each day.

That’s the plan as of now for operators of Destination Kohler, home to the Straits golf course and three other highly ranked layouts.

“The original plan is what we’re with right now (with) 40,000 to 45,000 spectators on site per day,” Michael O’Reilly, the director of golf operations at Destination Kohler, said Thursday in a virtual conference with reporters. “Right now, that’s what we’re planning for. Obviously, the PGA of America and Kohler Company, we’re going to adhere to state and local guidelines and recommendations.”

The Ryder Cup, normally a biennial event that pits American PGA Tour players against the best from Europe, had been scheduled for September 2020 but was pushed back to Sept. 24-26 this year because of the pandemic.

Whistling Straits
Whistling Straits’ Straits Course at Destination Kohler in Wisconsin (Courtesy of Destination Kohler)

“Unlike other major sporting events that are played in existing stadiums, we had to make a decision now about building facilities to host the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits,” PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said in July when postponing the event from 2020. “It became clear that as of today, our medical experts and the public authorities in Wisconsin could not give us certainty that conducting an event responsibly with thousands of spectators in September would be possible.”

The PGA Tour missed almost two months of action in 2020 because of the pandemic before restarting play in May. The PGA of America, which conducts the Ryder Cup, was able to play its PGA Championship in August after the restart, but the Ryder Cup already was delayed by then.

The PGA Tour has continued since that 2020 restart, with several players having tested positive for COVID-19. O’Reilly said the PGA of America and Destination Kohler will continue to monitor the situation and learn everything available to keep fans and players safe.

“There’s a lot of golf tournaments to be played between now and late September, including the PGA Championship, which is in May down at Kiawah,” O’Reilly said. “We have the opportunity … to learn a lot along the way, and as things change and evolve, for us to pivot. But as of right now, that’s what we’re hoping for, full attendance and full corporate hospitality.”

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The Straits Course at Whistling Straits, built by Pete Dye on the shore of Lake Michigan north of Sheboygan and opened in 1988, is ranked No. 7 on Golfweek’s Best Modern Courses list for all U.S. layouts built in or after 1960. It also is the No. 1 course in Wisconsin on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for public-access tracks, and it is No. 5 in the U.S. among all resort courses. It has been the site of three PGA Championships (2004, ’10 and ’15) as well as the 2007 U.S. Senior Open.

“It’s an amazing golf course on television, really shows itself well, and it’s an amazing golf course in person,” O’Reilly said. “I think for the Ryder Cup, for the spectators, it’s going to be really, really good. We’ve made a few small changes here and there to help with the spectator flow, to make sure the spectator experience is as good as it can be. There’s a lot of bluffs, a lot of hills, a lot of spaces people can go to watch multiple holes of golf. … We’re set up in a good position to make it the best experience possible.”

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Ryder Cup: Who’s currently on Team USA, Europe entering 2021?

Entering the new year, check out who is currently qualified to play in the 2021 Ryder Cup for Team USA and Team Europe.

Get ready golf fans, because we’re just a few days away from turning the calendar to a Ryder Cup year.

The pandemic forced the postponement of the 43rd biennial battle between the United States and Europe, originally scheduled for Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. Twelve of the best American and European male golfers will now play Sept. 24-26, 2021, still at Whistling Straits.

In August, Team USA changed its selection criteria for the 2021 event. All points earned by U.S. players since qualification began in 2019 will be recognized, and the time to accrue points was extended through the 2021 BMW Championship (Aug. 26-29). The top six players on the points list will qualify, with U.S. captain Steve Stricker making the final six picks following the 2021 Tour Championship (Sept. 2-5).

Team Europe will take the top four players on its European Points List, as well as the top five players on its World Points List who didn’t qualify from the European list. Captain Padraig Harrington will make his three final picks the week of Monday, Sept. 13, 2021.

Here’s how the teams currently stand entering 2021.

More: Future Ryder Cup sites through 2037

Team USA

1. Dusting Johnson

2. Bryson Dechambeau

3. Justin Thomas

4. Brooks Koepka

5. Collin Morikawa

6. Xander Schauffele

Full rankings here.

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Team Europe

1. Tommy Fleetwood (European points)

2. Jon Rahm (European points)

3. Rory McIlroy (European points)

4. Victor Perez (European points)

5. Tyrrell Hatton (World points)

6. Danny Willett (World points)

7. Matthew Fitzpatrick (World points)

8. Lee Westwood (World points)

9. Bernd Wiesberger (World points)

European points here. World points here.

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Report: Ryder Cup to be postponed until 2021

COVID-19 grabs another casualty as the Ryder Cup won’t be played in 2020, but rather pushed back until 2021.

The 2020 Ryder Cup has been silenced.

Because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the PGA of America and European Tour are expected to jointly announce at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday that the Ryder Cup will not take place this year, according to ESPN.

The 43rd biennial bout between the U.S. and Europe was scheduled for Sept. 25-27 along the Lake Michigan shores of Wisconsin at Whistling Straits. The two will meet instead Sept. 2021 at the same location. According to ESPN citing an anonymous source, the dates in 2021 will be Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, which was supposed to be the dates for the 2021 Presidents Cup.

The PGA of America and European Tour had been considering a variety of options, including playing this year without fans or with limited spectators. But high-profile players voiced concern over playing a Ryder Cup without fans.

“Not a Ryder Cup,” world No. 1 Rory McIlroy said in a TaylorMade podcast when asked what a Ryder Cup would be without fans. McIlroy has played in the Ryder Cup five times. “That’s from a European, going to America, knowing that I’m going to get abuse. Obviously it would be better for Europeans to play without fans because we wouldn’t deal with some of the stuff that you have to put up with, but at the same time, it wouldn’t be a great spectacle. There would be no atmosphere.

“So if it came to whether they had to choose between not playing the Ryder Cup of playing it without fans, I would say just delay it a year.”

Added four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, who has played in the past two editions: “The fans make that event. The fans make that special. If we’re not playing in front of fans, it’s just like us playing a game in Florida. There’s no fist pumping there. There’s no excitement. The fans create the excitement for the Ryder Cup.”

Koepka added that some players may have boycotted if the event was held in September without fans.

Travel restrictions also may have impacted the qualify of the teams if this year’s matches were to have been played as scheduled.

Ripple effect

The Ryder Cup postponement necessitated the PGA Tour to move the 2021 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte to 2022 at the same venue.

Also on the postponement list is the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup, which was scheduled for 2022 in Italy at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome. That match will now be held in 2023 at the same venue.

The COVID pandemic will again alter the qualifying system. Because COVID shut down the qualifying system for three months, U.S. captain Steve Stricker was given two extra discretionary selections – from four to six, which is half the team.

Qualifying for the U.S. also had been extended through the BMW Championship August 27-30, the second of three FedExCup Playoffs events. That would have meant only one major championship – the Aug. 6-9 PGA Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco – would have been included in this year’s segment of qualifying. The U.S. Open at Winged Foot in New York was postponed to the week before the original Ryder Cup date, and the Masters in Georgia was postponed to November.

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 30: European fans celebrate during singles matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 30, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
European fans celebrate during singles matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris, France. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

Europe revised its qualifying process, as well, with captain Padraig Harrington having his discretionary picks dropped from four to three. Europe would be comprised of three captain’s picks, four players from the Europe Points List, and five from the World Points List. The European Tour, however, hasn’t played since the Qatar Masters the first week of March and is set to resume in July, thus players could only accumulated points on the World list. Top players including Tommy Fleetwood, Francesco Molinari, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood have not played since March.

Europe is in possession of the 17-inches tall, 4-pound gold trophy as a result of pasting the Americans, 17½-10½, at Le Golf National in Paris in 2018. Europe has won nine of the most recent 12 contests, with the U.S. victorious only in 2016, 2008 and 1999.

Francesco Molinari announces he’s coming to America, moving family to California

The Italian Stallion is California Dreamin’ and announced he’s moving his family’s residence to the Golden State.

Francesco Molinari is California Dreaming.

The Italian-born Molinari announced on Twitter that he plans to move his family’s residence from London, where he has lived for the past 11 years, to the U.S., where he has played most of his golf since 2015, and specifically to the Golden State.

Molinari and wife Valentina, and kids, Tommaso and Emma, are expected to move ahead of the PGA Championship, which he hinted would be his first tournament since the PGA Tour resumption in June.

“This forced break gave [me] a chance to sit back and think about many things. It mostly made me think about the future and what I want to achieve in the coming years, from a professional point of view but mostly from a family standpoint,” he wrote. “This is why we’ve decided to leave London and the U.K. after 11 happy, intense, satisfying and consuming years. The next chapter of our life is going to be in California, where we hope to be safe, happy and to spend more time together as a family. This is what’s keeping me busy now and away from tournament golf.”

Molinari, 37, won the 2018 British Open, but has been mired in a slump since winning the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and squandering the lead at the 2019 Masters on the back nine on Sunday when he hit into the water on both Nos. 12 and 15. He has dropped to No. 37 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and withdrew from his title defense at the Arnold Palmer Invitational citing a back injury. He did compete in the opening round of the Players before it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The news of his impending move came as a bit of a shock to his European Ryder Cup teammate, Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who tweeted several crying emojis and wrote, “but you said you’d never leave me!!!!” Their partnership in the 2018 Ryder Cup, which earned the nickname “Moli-Wood,” led the European side to victory thanks to a 4-0 mark as a tandem.

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