For the uninitiated, it is an obscure golf competition among many others. For amateurs – lit or not -, this is one of the major dates on the calendar. In a sport that is usually practiced solo, the Ryder Cup (named after its English creator in 1927) has the particularity of being disputed in teams. Every two years, the Americans face Europeans, alternately on the old continent and in the United States. The success is there and its promoters are happy to present the event as one of the most watched sporting events on television behind the Football World Cup and the Olympic Games.
During the previous edition, in 2023, in Rome, European selection had won. Here it is almost identically renewed with eleven of the last twelve winners. Let us quote the Englishman Justin Rose who, from the top of his 45 years, acts as veteran, the Spaniard Jon Rahm or the North Irish Rory McILroy-one of the six golfers in history to have won all major tournaments-for whom “Winning a Ryder Cup outside is the most difficult thing in golf today”. Captain of this group, the former world number 1 Luke Donald adds: “We have great experience, which will be important for Bethpage, because we know the challenge that awaits us. »»
A boiling atmosphere
Black Bethpage. Mythical New York courses, considered one of the toughest in the United States. The public will be acquired by the cause of the “Team USA”, led in particular by its Olympic champions Xander Schauffele (Tokyo 2021) and Scottie Scheffler (Paris 2024). “Our team is made up of a solid mixture of veterans from the Ryder Cup and” rookies “, each bringing their strengths in our quest to win back the cup”predicts the United States Captain Keegan Bradley.
The atmosphere promises to be boiling
As of Tuesday, spectators will be able to attend the very popular training for three days. Friday and Saturday, it will be team matches, on Sunday the clashes in simple, in an atmosphere that promises to be boiling. On the statistical side, since 1979, Europe has led dance with twelve final victories against nine (plus equality). The French, they will look at the competition from afar. Admittedly, the National Golf had welcomed it in 2018 (270,000 spectators). But on the Greens, only Jean Van de Velde (1999), Thomas Levet (2004) and Victor Dubuisson (2014) played the Ryder Cup. And only the last two conquered it …
Before the Ryder Cup, Golf+ and Canal+ Sport broadcast this Sunday the final day of the Fedex Open of France, in Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche.
