Robert MacIntyre doesn’t want the Americans to forget what happened in Marco Simone.
The 27-year-old rookie from Scotland is making his first appearance at this week’s Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Florida, but he has made his name known around the world for his performance on the DP World Tour and in the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Bobby Mac went 2-0-1 in Rome, helping the Europeans dispatch the Americans. And at the Valspar Championship, he’s not letting the Americans or fans in attendance forget.
At the Valspar, caddies get to pick what they want on their bibs. Instead of player names, they can put pretty much anything. MacIntyre and his caddie didn’t want anyone to forget the final score in Rome.
More than 270,000 people from 100 different countries attended the 2023 Ryder Cup to watch the Europeans defeat the Americans, 16½-11½, and reclaim the cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, Italy.
Even more watched from home.
On Tuesday, Ryder Cup Europe shared early numbers that showed a rise in average viewership on Sky Sports, particularly in the United Kingdom, which saw a 38 percent increase compared to the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits and a 25 percent increase from the last European-hosted Cup in 2018 at Le Golf National near Paris.
âThe 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy once again underlined the global appeal and continued growth of one of the worldâs leading sporting events,â said Guy Kinnings, Executive Director of the Ryder Cup. âThis yearâs contest, played against the backdrop of the historic city of Rome, truly connected with fans around the world, and our early figures show significant increases in engagement even from the recent record-breaking editions.â
While the 2023 edition was the most watched Ryder Cup ever on Sky Sports, the NBC Sports coverage in the United States left fans wanting more.
Not even two hours into the coverage of the Friday foursomes matches and television viewers who were awake at 1 a.m. ET for the start were already fed up with the coverage (or lack thereof).
Airing on USA Network, the broadcast missed the introductions and tee shots from the third match of Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka vs. Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa and showed more commercials than golf shots. This yearâs broadcast featured a score bug in the bottom right of the screen that showed the matches and live results, which was a nice innovation, except when the coverage didn’t provide context for how those scores came to be.
The 2025 Ryder Cup, the 45th playing of the biennial bash between the U.S. and Europe, will be held at Bethpage Black in New York.
Ryder Cup Europe confirmed that no injures were reported.
A structure at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, Italy, went up in massive flames on Thursday just days after the club hosted the 2023 Ryder Cup.
A video surfaced on social media of a three-story hospitality stand engulfed in fire, producing large black smoke clouds that could be seen from miles away. Local news stated that five teams of firefighters are on the scene and that no injuries were reported. A notice was sent to local residents to close their windows.
“A fire was reported in one of the temporary hospitality structures to the right of the first fairway at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club earlier this afternoon,” a statement from Ryder Cup Europe read. “Local fire crews were called to the scene at 5:07 p.m. local time and quickly brought the blaze under control. Nobody was injured in the incident and the fire did not spread beyond the hospitality structure. There was no damage to the golf course or any over structure. The cause of the fire is currently being investigated.”
Hundreds of thousands of fans were at the club over the last week to witness Team Europe defeat Team USA and reclaim the Ryder Cup, 16½-11½.
Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome originally was designed by David Mezzacane and Jim Fazio and opened in 1989. The layout was completely renovated in 2018-2020 by a team of European Golf Design led by Dave Sampson in conjunction with Tom Fazio II, a leading American architect and the son of Jim Fazio â Tom Fazio worked for his dad on the original layout. The renovation included a complete rerouting of the hilly layout with the Ryder Cup in mind. With 155 feet of elevation change across the course, the holes were laid out to favor match play, with several drivable par 4s. Marco Simone is a public-access layout with tee times available on the courseâs website.
âRome wasnât built in a day. But it was conquered in three.â
That was one of many posts on the Ryder Cup Europe social media accounts to celebrate the teamâs 16½-11½ win over the United States in the 44th playing of the biennial bash, held this year at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome, Italy.
The team celebrations with the Cup in the hours and days that follow are always fun to see, and European captain Luke Donald foreshadowed what would be a fun night in his interview with Golf Channelâs Cara Banks just minutes after Europe secured the Cup.
“We always do it right in Europe, we do it right,” said Donald with a smile. “We’ll have a few drinks.”
Did they ever.
The chants started with âTwo more years!â for the captain and transitioned to cheers of âOle! Ole! Ole!â and songs of victory on the team bus. Check out the highlights from Team Europeâs epic Ryder Cup celebrations.
Only one player earned four points this week and just one went home pointless.
The Europeans are back on top.
After a historic loss two years ago Team Europe dominated the 2023 Ryder Cup to reclaim the trophy with a 16½-11½ victory over the three days of play at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome in Italy.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy was the only player to score four points this week (4-1-0), while four players went unbeaten: Tyrrell Hatton (3-0-1), Viktor Hovland (3-0-1) Jon Rahm (2-0-2) and Robert MacIntyre (2-0-1).
Hereâs a breakdown of how each player fared this week by session at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy.
The incident then spilled over to the parking lot at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, where a visibly heated McIlroy needed to be restrained by teammate Shane Lowry as American caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay approached to discuss what happened.
Before Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm began the opening match of Sunday singles, Golf Channel reported that McIlroy and LaCava had mended fences after the dust-up on the 18th green. Steve Sands reported LaCava reached out to McIlroyâs camp on the car ride home from the course and texted the group, âI love you guys and respect all of you.â
McIlroyâs team reportedly said they felt the same way, which led to LaCava asking for a face-to-face meeting with McIlroy on Sunday morning. According to Sands, that brief meeting happened, and âeverythingâs been diffused.â
Well, McIlroy begs to differ. After his 3-and-1 singles victory over Sam Burns, Golf Channel’s Cara Banks asked McIlroy about the meeting with LaCava, and the four-time major champion said it didn’t happen.
“I haven’t met Joe,” said McIlroy, shaking his head.
“I was focused. I was very focused,” he said of his mindset entering the final match. “I let it fuel me, I didn’t let it take away from what’s been a fantastic week. I used that little incident last night to my advantage.”
âIt was a situation where our matchups felt it was best to go this direction,â said captain Zach Johnson.
ROME â Why was Rickie Fowler benched on Saturday?
The 34-year-old American, who is playing in his fifth Ryder Cup, didnât play in either session on Saturday at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy. That followed sitting the afternoon fourballs session on Friday, too.
Fowler has been rumored to be one of the players dealing with a bug that U.S. Captain Zach Johnson said has been going through his teamâs locker room. Golf Channelâs Todd Lewis reported that Fowler had a sinus infection. But Johnson said it wasnât an illness but rather a captainâs decision that was the reason that Fowler sat all day on Saturday.
âIt was a situation where our matchups felt it was best to go this direction,â Johnson said. âRickie is the consummate professional and team player. We had an embrace that I’ll never forget and a smile afterward. And you know what, it’s hard. I want to play all 12 guys every match — every session, excuse me. That goes without saying. So it was nothing more than that. He is a dear, dear, dear friend. And knowing him, it’s probably motivational.â
Live updates from the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy.
It’s all over in Rome.
The 44th Ryder Cup came to an end Sunday when Rickie Fowler conceded a putt to Tommy Fleetwod, handing Team Europe its 15th point, The Euros needed 14 ½ to reclaim the Cup they lost two years in the U.S.
The Europeans held a 5-point advantage, leading 10½-5½, heading into the Sunday singles matches.
The host course, Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, is a public-access layout with tee times available on the courseâs website starting at 190 Euros for international players. The course played to a par 71 with the scorecard showing 7,181 yards.
The Americans, captained by Zach Johnson, tried to win on foreign soil for the first time since 1993 but that streak will continue. Team Europe rode an influx of young talent for captain Luke Donald.
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. Â
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 buddiesâ trip to Myrtle Beach.
ROME â Not every American will be disappointed if Europeâs Ryder Cup rout short-circuits the importance of the final dayâs singles matches. Certainly not devotees of Taylor Swift, now all but guaranteed that Sunday sports will again be dominated by their idolâs appearance at an NFL game. For that, they ought to thank the formidable performances of Europeâs 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 âIâm smart!â detractor. That led to the âtask force,â an exercise in shifting responsibility masquerading as group therapy. By Paris in 2018, Jordan Spieth had had enough of Patrick Reed (let he who hasnât 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 buddiesâ 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 Johnsonâs team.
That can be attributed in part to the unspecified illness that has impacted the U.S. team room, but missing fairways and putts arenât symptoms of any infection. Sniffles wonât 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 canât 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: âLuck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.â
Donald handled the preparation part himself. The opportunity? Well, that was gifted to him.
Because he replaced the deposed Henrik Stenson as Europeâs 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 isnât 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 USAâs 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 didnât compete for a month before coming to Rome. Even the LIV guy checked that box, and theyâre supposedly the ones who want to spend more time at home. Or when rumors circulated that every prospective member of Johnsonâs 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.
[pickup_prop id=”34810″]
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 isnât only evident in the veterans who are absent this week.
âA noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea that is higher than himself; and a mean man, by one lower than himself,â wrote the ancient Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius. âThe one produces aspiration; the other ambition, which is the way in which a vulgar man aspires.â
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 isnât apathetic? Keegan Bradley. But heâs not in the boys club, so heâs watching from his couch in Florida.