Every couple of years the end of September means Ryder Cup time. I usually go, but not this year. It isn't because I don't like Gleneagles. Quite the opposite. It is one of my favorite places in the world. I once worked for Diageo, the owner, which meant many boozy conferences there. And I have been regularly on golfing vacations ever since. But this means I have been in Gleneagles during September. Lots of times. In my experience, it is always a squelchy bog. I expected the 2014 Ryder Cup would turn into a mudbath lottery. Being as tickets are distributed years in advance by a hugely oversubscribed ballot, I decided not to apply. Now it's too late and central Scotland has had its driest late summer for fifty years. The Centenary Course is merely soggy as opposed to its usual quagmire. If there is no rain in the next week, there is even a chance that they will be playing the ball down. More fool me. And my apologies to anyone that I advised not to go.
I have horribly mixed feelings about the Ryder Cup. Since the accession of Continental players, there has been a constant danger of the European supporters not being partisan so much as anti-American, which would spoil it all. The players feel deeply ashamed when they lose, which I hate. The crowd often turn into drunken noisy louts in the afternoon, which I hate. And the huge galleries are compressed onto just four holes, which makes it difficult to see anything. Yet it is a wonderful event. The atmosphere is just amazing, especially when it is in Europe. The players are clearly terrified, which gives me solace when I am on the first tee at the monthly medal. And, most years, the three competition days make wonderful theater; ebb and flow, twists and turns, unlikely heroes, unexpected villains. All marvelous fun.
Still, I won't be there so my thoughts have turned to future European Ryder Cup captains. Europe has been blessed by a terrific list of inspirational former Ryder Cup captains nearly all of whom, with the notable exception of Nick Faldo, managed get a quart out of a pint pot. And it's almost as if there is a conveyor belt of future captains lining up. I'll eat my hat if these are not the next seven:
2016: Darren Clarke
2018: Thomas Bjorn
2020: Padraig Harrington
2022: Lee Westwood
2024: Ian Poulter
2026: Luke Donald
2028: Sergio Garcia
Anyway, good luck to both teams. Let's hope for a close match.
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