Since 2014,Ralph Lauren has been the official uniform provider for the U.S. Ryder Cup Team as well as the caddies, spouses and partners.
This tradition has been continued at the highly anticipated 2023 Ryder Cup at the picturesque Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy. Spectators and attendees can purchase RL items in the merchandise tent to show their support for the U.S. Ryder Cup Team.
Focusing on performance fabrics, each piece is designed to move. Ralph Lauren has added subtle Ryder Cup specific touches to collars, trims, zippers and more.
Golfweek’s Averee Dovsek had a chance to see the collection first hand and gave fans at home the full rundown.
If you couldn’t make it to Rome to catch all the live action, you can shop the Ryder Cup collection at home at ralphlauren.com.
The U.S. traded acrimony for apathy, delivering a performance more befitting of a buddies’ trip to Myrtle Beach.
ROME — Not every American will be disappointed if Europe’s Ryder Cup rout short-circuits the importance of the final day’s singles matches. Certainly not devotees of Taylor Swift, now all but guaranteed that Sunday sports will again be dominated by their idol’s appearance at an NFL game. For that, they ought to thank the formidable performances of Europe’s players and captain, Luke Donald. But this is the most lop-sided contest in Rome since the Christians were drawn at home to the lions at the Colosseum, so the aftermath will almost certainly see less credit for Europe than criticism of the U.S.
The last two U.S. teams that competed over here were balkanized with internal strife. Scotland in 2014 was a week-long squabble between skipper Tom Watson and Phredo Mickelson, his “I’m smart!” detractor. That led to the “task force,” an exercise in shifting responsibility masquerading as group therapy. By Paris in 2018, Jordan Spieth had had enough of Patrick Reed (let he who hasn’t cast the first stone), so Reed aired his grievances about his former partner to the media before Europe had finished its first magnum of celebratory champagne.
In Rome, the U.S. team has traded acrimony for apathy, delivering a performance more befitting the last morning of a buddies’ trip to Myrtle Beach, without the redeeming excuse of thundering hangovers that would at least suggest fun was had along the way. But fun is in woefully short supply for Zach Johnson’s team.
That can be attributed in part to the unspecified illness that has impacted the U.S. team room, but missing fairways and putts aren’t symptoms of any infection. Sniffles won’t explain how Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg could play the first three holes of alternate shot on Saturday morning in 1-over-par, and win all of them. Mystery bugs can’t account for the U.S. team needing 11 matches before it managed to record an outright victory.
Like many European captains before him, Donald used the ghost of Seve Ballesteros as inspiration this week, but the secret to his success was best summarized by Lucius Seneca, a philosopher who lived across town a couple of millennia ago: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Team Europe captain Luke Donald leaves a team photo prior to a practice round of the Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports
Donald handled the preparation part himself. The opportunity? Well, that was gifted to him.
Because he replaced the deposed Henrik Stenson as Europe’s captain, Donald had five months fewer to prepare than his counterpart, not an insignificant period of time in a two-year Cup cycle. But he polished the template that guided his predecessors. Messaging was flawless, social media image-making was luminous, unity was air-tight, statistics were plain common sense, pairings were savvy. And like a lot of his forebears in the role, he got some help from the opposition.
Johnson is passionate about both the Ryder Cup and his patriotism. So too are his vice captains. The problem is that the same sentiment isn’t universal in the team room. To be clear, all 12 American players are not apathetic about being here. Most of them care. Most of them care a great deal. But apathy is a deadly contagion in team environments, and it only takes one case. Especially when the going is tough.
Every aspect of Team USA’s preparation and performance was repurposed by Europe to boost their confidence. Like when the U.S. showed up three shy of a full squad on their reconnaissance trip earlier this month, though Spieth had a perfectly valid excuse. Or when nine of the team didn’t compete for a month before coming to Rome. Even the LIV guy checked that box, and they’re supposedly the ones who want to spend more time at home. Or when rumors circulated that every prospective member of Johnson’s squad had signed the agreement stipulating their obligations for the week months ago, except for two, who only recently inked the paper. Or when they heard that some on the U.S. team are skipping group dinners to rest. Or knowing that some Americans are upset about not being paid to play, as though patriotism is just another commercial transaction.
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People relentlessly focused on money will always find it difficult to reconcile themselves to giving their time to an unpaid cause, no matter how distinguished, even if only for a few days. The dispiriting impact of the cash arms race in professional golf isn’t only evident in the veterans who are absent this week.
“A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea that is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself,” wrote the ancient Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius. “The one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.”
Captain Johnson ought to have painted that on the wall of his team room. The mountain facing the U.S. on Sunday is practically insurmountable, made no easier by the perception that not everyone in the line-up shares an equal passion for the challenge. You know who does? You know who isn’t apathetic? Keegan Bradley. But he’s not in the boys club, so he’s watching from his couch in Florida.
“That doesn’t even register to a low level of Jon anger on the golf course.”
Jon Rahm couldn’t avoid Brooks Koepka’s contentious comments Friday night at the Ryder Cup. Rahm would’ve rather that his friends not send him text messages regarding Koepka’s remarks that Rahm acted “like a child” during their afternoon fourball match, but the Spaniard seemed to take it all in stride.
Rahm hit a sign with his club out of frustration on Friday after leaving a 10-foot putt short on the 17th hole to possibly tie the match.
“That doesn’t even register to a low level of Jon anger on the golf course,” said Rahm on Saturday after another foursomes victory alongside Tyrrell Hatton.
“As far as I’m concerned, I’m very happy with who I am, and I needed to do that at that moment to let off some steam and play the hole I wanted to do. And clearly it worked out, played two great shots and got a little lucky on the putt. I needed to do what I needed to do to perform under those circumstances.”
Koepka had this to say to the press on Friday after Rahm made two eagles over the last three holes to tie the match: “I mean, I think me and Scottie birdied, what did we say, 14, we birdied 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and then lost by two. So yeah. I mean, I want to hit a board and pout just like Jon Rahm did. But, you know, it is what it is. Act like a child. But we’re adults. We move on.”
Jon Rahm of Team Europe reacts alongside Brooks Koepka of Team United States on the second green during the Friday afternoon fourball matches of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on September 29, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Koepka’s comments seemingly backfired as he and Sheffler suffered the worst loss in Ryder Cup history on Saturday morning after Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg crushed the American heavyweights, 9 and 7.
After Rahm and Hatton won their Saturday morning foursomes match, the Spaniard addressed Koepka’s comments for the first time.
“I mean, I’m not going to stand here and say I’m a, you know, perfect example on what to do on a golf course,” said Rahm. “I don’t think either of us two are (laughter). But I play and compete.”
Hatton, who is also known for having a short fuse, added: “I’m just sitting here watching the TV.”
ROME – There was more blue on the board on Saturday morning.
Team Europe extended its lead in the 44th Ryder Cup to 9½- 2½ after Saturday morning’s foursomes session, winning three of the four matches. That included Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg trouncing the American team of Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, 9 and 7, the worst loss in Ryder Cup history in any 18-hole match, regardless of format.
There was no let up in the European side after opening a five-point lead after the first day. They won three of four matches and seven of eight in the foursomes format. It ties the largest lead after three sessions since the Ryder Cup switched to the five-session format in 1963. (The U.S. led by seven in both 1967 and 1975.)
“Last night we talked about enjoying what we did yesterday but coming out and showing no mercy today,” McIlroy said. “Obviously the way Ludvig and Viktor started off and the way we started off, you know, that set the tone for the day again.”
It was a bloodbath for the Americans and for those fans who woke up early in hopes of seeing a valiant comeback, they were better off hitting the snooze as the Americans were thrown to the lions in Rome.
Team Europe extended its lead on Saturday morning and will look to seemingly close out the Cup in the afternoon.
Team Europe is in the driver’s seat with the car in cruise control and the GPS set for the trophy presentation.
The hosts of the 2023 Ryder Cup hold a commanding 9½-2½ lead over the Americans entering Saturday afternoon’s fourballs session at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome in Italy. The Europeans claimed the morning foursomes session, 3-1, to extend their lead to a near insurmountable number.
The only player who won’t play today will be Rickie Fowler, whereas all 12 European players will see action as they look to put the competition out of reach.
Check out the four matches and pairings, as well as the eight players who will ride the pine pony for the second session of matches at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
It was an emotional and historic loss for the Americans on Saturday morning.
ROME —Playing not far from the Colosseum in Rome, Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg could’ve screamed to the faithful fans at the 11th green at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, “Are you not entertained?”
They completed a beatdown for the ages at the 44th Ryder Cup. Hovland of Norway and Aberg of Sweden waxed the American duo of Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, 9 and 7. It’s the worst loss in Ryder Cup history in any format.
“I don’t think we could have done a whole lot better,” Hovland said. “It’s nice to kind of speak our own language and we understand each other. Obviously same humour, same culture. (Ludvig’s) a stud. He doesn’t miss a shot, so it’s easy when I’m playing well and he’s playing well and we are just feeding off of each other.”
This was a combination of Euro brilliance and American ineptitude. The world No. 1 and reigning PGA Championship winner started double-bogey-double to fall 3 down after three holes. Then the Euros turned it up a notch, making four birdies in the first 10 holes to build an 8-up lead. They missed only one green and hit every fairway on the front nine. The Americans, by contrast, combined to shoot 7 over. Their misery lasted just 2 hours and 19 minutes and 11 holes at 4:10 a.m. ET. It brought Scheffler to tears afterward.
“Horrible situation for the Americans, quite embarrassing for them,” a World feed announcer said in a funereal tone.
For Team Europe, this was a walk in the park with the added bonus that they may have found a pairing to be reckoned with for the next decade and beyond.
An Augusta golf cart company is using solar power at the historic Ryder Cup for the first time to charge its carts.
An Augusta golf cart company is using solar power at the historic Ryder Cup for the first time to charge its carts.
Since 1997, Club Car has been providing carts for the biennial tournament between U.S. and European golf teams. In this year’s tourney, being held just outside Rome through Oct. 1, much of the fleet is being charged by a bank of solar panels.
It’s the first time the Ryder Cup has used solar-powered charging points, which ties into the tournament’s sustainability policy and a commitment by the European Tour Group to be carbon-neutral by 2040, said Ryder Cup operations director Paul Dunstan.
“It’s a very complex site – much like a small town – with a large number of grandstands, hospitality facilities and event infrastructure. The best way to navigate the site quickly and efficiently is to use the vehicles Club Car provides,” he said.
Club Car is an official cart supplier for the PGA, the DP World Tour and the St. Andrews Links Trust. The company shipped 550 carts overseas to use in the Ryder Cup.
The fleet consists of six red and six blue team cars, driven by captains Luke Donald and Zach Johnson and their vice-captains, “plus hundreds more golf, turf and utility cars to assist with almost every area of the Ryder Cup from media and broadcasting to security and medical transportation,” Club Car said in a release.
ROME – The City of Eternal Light may not have been built in one day, but the Ryder Cup in Rome may have been lost in one after Team Europe jumped out to a 6 ½ – 1 ½ lead over the Americans.
It was a dominant performance by the Euros, who lead after the first session for the first time since 2006. In fact, it was a clean sweep and the U.S. didn’t hold a lead in any match until Justin Thomas made a birdie on the sixth hole in the first match of the afternoon session.
Here are four more things to know from Day One of the 44th Ryder Cup.
On a day when the European Ryder Cup team seemed to make one dramatic shot after another en route to taking a commanding 6½-1½ lead over the Americans at Marco Simone outside Rome, Italy, no one was better than Spain’s Jon Rahm. The 2023 Masters champion paired with England’s Tyrrell Hatton to beat Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 4 and 3 in a morning’s foursome match, then he rallied from behind with Nicolai Højgaard to save a half-point in an afternoon’s fourball match against Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
Dramatically, Rahm holed out from around the green three times on Friday, including this amazing shot at the 16th hole.
In addition to the Callaway Apex TCB pitching wedge that matches his irons, Rahm typically plays three Callaway Jaws Raw wedges — 52, 56 and 60 degree — that are all fitted with Project X 6.5 shafts and Golf Pride MCC grips. Here is what they looked like at the Travelers Championship in June.
Jon Rahm’s Callaway wedges and irons at the 2023 Travelers Championship. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
However, the lob wedge that Rahm used Friday was not his normal Callaway JAWS Raw 60-degree wedge, it was a prototype. As you can see in the photo above, Rahm’s JAWS RAW has four holes in the back, a Callaway logo on the toe and, per Jon’s preferences, the names of his children are stamped into his wedges. As you can see in the photo below, the club he used at Marco Simone looks very different.
Jon Rahm’s lob wedge Friday at the 2023 Ryder Cup. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
While the prototype club still has the Golf Pride MCC grip, we can clearly see it has a True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shaft instead of Rahm’s normal Project X 6.5 shaft. The wedge itself appears to lack a Callaway logo on the toe, but there does appear to be some identifying stamping on the back. There is moderate heel and toe relief, but significant, similar to the X Grind. With the extremely thick rough around the greens at Marco Simone, a high-bounce wedge would make a lot of sense and could make popping the ball out of tough lies easier.
According to Callaway, Rahm has used this wedge a few times, and adding it this week could definitely be a course-specific move. Upon seeing how a golf course is set up and what the conditions will likely be, many pros tweak their equipment setups, and in some cases, they use different wedges. At the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, where conditions were extremely firm and fast, Justin Thomas added a 60.5-degree, low-bounce Titleist Vokey Design T Grind wedge so he could get the leading edge under the ball without blading chips and pitch shots.
“We have got some congestion and some just signs of things that are unfortunate.”
Zach Johnson tried his best Friday evening to squash any notion he was disappointed in his team’s showing during the opening day of matches at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
The United States captain said he was proud of how his team fought, even considering the Americans are in a 6½-1½ hole against the Europeans at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy. The U.S. didn’t win one match on Friday and was swept in the morning session of foursomes but managed to halve three fourball matches in the afternoon.
However, Johnson hinted the Americans may not be 100 percent in the health department. He was asked whether the afternoon lineup was scripted and answered there were things they could and couldn’t control, and then he said this to a follow-up question.
“The bottom line is there’s been some unforeseen things that we’ve had to navigate around, which is really unfortunate, in the sense of health,” Johnson said. “It’s not an excuse, because we have depth, but I’ll just say, I’m grateful we have a team doctor.
“We’re just fighting things, I mean, internally. It’s kind of passed around a little bit, caddies, players. It is what it is. But it’s nothing more than that. Guys are fighting and playing regardless. I mean, it’s not anything that’s kind of weighed us down because of the depth we have and because of the many options we think we have.”
That’s certainly not anything American fans want to hear after what transpired on the course Friday. Some may view it as the U.S. making excuses. Others may look at it as an actual crutch to the limping American team after the first day of play.
Later in his press conference, Johnson elaborated more on the illness.
“We have got some congestion and some just signs of things that are unfortunate,” Johnson said. “It’s one of those where sometimes the energy is probably a little low, but the ability and desire to go out and play is still there. That’s what we are weighing. Every one of them still wants to play every match, which is encouraging.
“It kind of has, yeah, I’m being honest, yes, it has. It has spread through my team.”
Sounds like the Americans need some Benadryl and NyQuil before Saturday’s play begins.
