This year it's at the Valderrama Golf Club in the south of Spain.
In all of sports, it's one of the most pure competitions, akin to the World Cup, and the Olympics. The players do not play for money but for pride and country. The competition is also traditionally more nerve-wracking. Match play is rarely used in the professional ranks (and there are no match play events on the PGA Tour), which heightens the fear-factor for these top ranked players. There is simply more at stake.
Tiger's emergence on the scene came in a match play event. His stunning come-from-behind win over Steve Scott in the US Amateur Championship in August of 1996 sealed his image in people's minds (mine for the very first time). The dramatic upper-cutting of the air with his fist after draining a 35 foot putt (on a 553 yard par-5) to win the 35th hole of that match starts many a highlight segment on Tiger.
From a television point of view, match play provides the best viewing. Each hole is won, lost or halved, depending on who has the best "score" for the hole (a birdie (1-under) beats a par, for example). This goes on until the leader has won more holes than there are left in the match. For more on the rules, visit The 1997 Ryder Cup Web Site.
The Ryder Cup was first held in Worcester, MA in 1927. The US has tradionally been favored to win the Cup, but with the introduction of European Teams in 1979, the competition has been fairly close. These are the records since 1979:
Source: SPORTSTICKER
YEAR SITE/RESULT
---- -----------
1995 Rochester, New York - Europe 14 1/2, U.S. 13 1/2
1993 Sutton Coldfield, England - U.S. 15, Europe 13
1991 Kiawah Island, South Carolina - U.S. 14 1/2, Europe 13 1/2
1989 Sutton Coldfield, England - U.S. 14, Europe 14
(tie, Europe retains Ryder Cup)
1987 Dublin, Ohio - Europe 15, U.S. 13
1985 Sutton Coldfield, England - Europe 16 1/2, U.S. 11 1/2
1983 Palm Beach Gardens, Florida - U.S. 14 1/2, Europe 13 1/2
1981 Surrey, England - U.S. 18 1/2, Europe 9 1/2
1979 White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia - U.S. 17, Europe 11
Source: SPORTSTICKER
The United States Team Final Points Ranking ------------------------------------------- 1. Tiger Woods 1,185.000 2. Justin Leonard 1,068.500 3. Tom Lehman 1,022.953 4. Davis Love III 957.166 5. Jim Furyk 947.500 6. Phil Mickelson 809.286 7. Jeff Maggert 806.625 8. Mark O'Meara 801.250 9. Scott Hoch 791.952 10. Brad Faxon 727.500 Captain's Picks 15. Lee Janzen 498.500 17. Fred Couples 458.040 Note: Points are awarded for Top 10 finishes at PGA Tour co-sponsored events from January 7, 1996 through the 1997 PGA Championship. Points are weighted in favor of major championships and 1997 tournaments. The European Team Final Points Ranking -------------------------------------- 1. Colin Montgomerie, Scotland 920,565.97 2. Darren Clarke, Northern Ireland 594,813.13 3. Bernhard Langer, Germany 529,638.97 4. Ian Woosnam, Wales 514,059.61 5. Per-Ulrik Johansson, Sweden 481,040.24 6. Lee Westwood, England 468,153.59 7. Ignacio Garrido, Spain 371,696.85 8. Thomas Bjorn, Denmark 363,449.31 9. Costantino Rocca, Italy 352,332.82 10. X-Miguel Angel Martin, Spain 324,400.30 11. Jose Maria Olazabal, Spain 321,396.22 Captain's Picks 27. Nick Faldo, England 191,120.73 XX. Jesper Parnevik, Sweden XXXXXXXXXX Note: Jesper is a part of the PGA Tour, not the European Tour, so he was not eligible for an automatic berth on the European Team. Note: Miguel Angel Martin qualified on points, but was deemed unfit to play due to an injury. Mr. Olazabal took his place.
1st - 389 yards, par 4: Sol y Sombra (Sun and Shade) 2nd - 399 yards, par 4: El Arbol (The Tree) 3rd - 173 yards, par 3: El Tunel (The Tunnel) 4th - 535 yards, par 5: La Cascada (The Waterfall) 5th - 381 yards, par 4: Los Altos (The Heights) 6th - 163 yards, par 3: El Vallejo (The Little Valley) 7th - 461 yards, par 4: El Mirador (The Corridor) 8th - 345 yards, par 4: El Bunker (The Bunker) 9th - 441 yards, par 4: El Muro (The Wall) 10th - 364 yards, par 4: El Lago (The Lake) 11th - 547 yards, par 5: Un Sueno (A Dream) 12th - 197 yards, par 3: La Camelias (The Camelias) 13th - 402 yards, par 4: Sin Bunker (Without Bunker) 14th - 370 yards, par 4: La Piedra (The Stone) 15th - 200 yards, par 3: El Puerto (The Pass) 16th - 422 yards, par 4: Muy Dificil (Very Difficult) 17th - 511 yards, par 5: Los Gabiones (The Gabion Walls) 18th - 434 yards, par 4: Casa Club (Club House)Valderrama is in the Southern coast of Spain (Costa del Sol) in a town called Sotogrande.
Reuters reports Tiger Woods as saying: "I have always preferred match play over medal play. It is the epitome, one on one, you don't get that chance to do it very often." (Tiger's six US Amateur wins have all been all match play.)
One of the brouhahas that emerged before the Ryder Cup matches was Tiger's father raising a stink because neither of Tiger's parents are allowed to travel with the team as Tiger's "guest", since Tiger doesn't have a wife or a girlfriend. In the end, the PGA said that it wouldn't be right to have either of Tiger's parents travelling as Tiger's "guest", so both will watch at home.
(Yes, Tiger continues to say he doesn't have a girlfriend. Agence France-Presse quotes Tiger as saying "I'm as single as it gets.") On The Golf Channel, Tiger claimed that the course was laid out "perfectly", with the greens being at the right speed.
In the first match, Tiger and O'Meara won 3 and 2. In the second match, they lost 5 and 3.
Final results for matches completed on Friday (source: Reuters):
Fourballs --------- Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain)/Costantino Rocca (Italy) beat Davis Love/Phil Mickelson by one hole. Colin Montgomerie (Britain)/Bernhard Langer (Germany) lost to Tiger Woods/Mark O'Meara 3 and 2. Nick Faldo/Lee Westwood (Britain) lost to Fred Couples/Brad Faxon by one hole. Jesper Parnevik/Per-Ulrik Johansson (Sweden) beat Tom Lehman/Jim Furyk by one hole. Foursomes --------- Montgomerie/Langer beat O'Meara/Woods 5 and 3. Olazabal/Rocca lost to Scott Hoch/Lee Janzen by one hole. Parnevik/Ignacio Garrido (Spain) all square after 12 holes with Lehman/Mickelson, match suspended, bad light. Faldo/Westwood two up on Justin Leonard/Jeff Maggert on 16th green, match suspended, bad light.The overall Friday score: Europe 3 United States 3.
In the afternoon's alternate shot, Justin Leonard and Tiger Woods are all square after 7 with Jesper Parnevik and Ignacio Garrido. Their match was suspended due to darkness.
So far, Tiger's Ryder Cup record is 1 and 2. There's still tomorrow's single match, plus the completion of the foursome that was suspended today, before we can tally up Tiger's match play record as a professional, but it certainly won't match the lofty expectations of his fans.
Any television coverage you saw of Tiger probably showed a frustrated golfer, lipping out putts, and then lashing at the ball in consternation. Could it be overplaying? Tiger's the only player to be present in both rounds of the four-ball, and both rounds of the foursome.
Overall, the US has 4 points to Europe's 9. Seve's European squad has to only win 5 points out of the remaining 15 matches (three foursomes were postponed due to darkness; 12 singles matches will be played starting at 6AM EDT).
Final results for matches completed on Saturday (source: Reuters):
Foursomes (held over from Friday) --------- Faldo/Westwood (Britain) beat Maggert/Leonard 3 and 2. Parnevik (Sweden)/Garrido (Spain) halved with Lehman/Mickelson. Foursomes (Saturday) --------- Montgomerie (Britain)/Langer (Germany) beat Janzen/Furyk by one hole. Faldo/Westwood one up v Hoch/Maggert - Hole 14 (suspended) Parnevik/Garrido level with Leonard/Woods - Hole 7 (suspended) Olazabal (Spain)/Rocca (Italy) one up v Love/Couples - Hole 7 (suspended) Fourballs --------- Montgomerie/Darren Clarke (Britain) beat Love/Couples by one hole. Ian Woosnam (Britain)/Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) beat Leonard/Faxon 2 and 1. Faldo/Westwood beat Woods/O'Meara 2 and 1. Olazabal/Garrido halved with Lehman/Mickelson.Overall score on Saturday night: 9 to 4, Europe.
Final results for matches resumed on Sunday (source: Reuters):
Foursomes --------- Faldo/Westwood (Britain) lost to Hoch/Maggert 2 and 1 Rocca/Olazabal beat Couples/Love 5 and 4 Parnevik/Garrido v Leonard/Woods halved.In Tiger's singles match with Costantino Rocca, Tiger couldn't build any momentum, and eventually lost to the fine Italian, 4 and 2. Soggy conditions, and extra play weren't the excuse though for Woods. His iron play was just not there, not to mention his putting. Tiger ended up with 5 bogeys in his match, and wound up with a 1-3-1 record in his first Ryder Cup. However, according to Agency Presse-France, Rocca said "I played great today. Woods did not play his proper game today." f
Johnny Miller (NBC) commented on the telecast that Tiger found himself a "fringe" player today. Tiger didn't hit the greens that he needed to, and consequently had to play a chip and pitch shots. He also commented that perhaps this wasn't Tiger's kind of course (i.e. the narrow fairways and small greens did not suit Tiger's long driving).
Either way, a disappointing finish for US Team's youngest player, and a disappointing finish for the US Team in general. Europe took advantage of their five point cushion going into today's matches, and they retained and won the Ryder Cup 14 1/2 to 13 1/2.
The United States did stage a rally, keeping the later matches close. Bernhard Langer did close the coffin by beating Brad Faxon, 2 and 1, to insure the 14 points needed by Europe to retain the cup. But Colin Montgomerie sealed the outright win by halving his match with Scott Hoch.
The final singles match results (source: Agence France-Presse):
Ian Woosnam lost to Freddie Couples 8 and 7 Per-Ulrik Johansson beat Davis Love 3 and 2 Costantino Rocca beat Tiger Woods 4 and 2 Thomas Bjorn halved with Justin Leonard Darren Clarke lost to Phil Mickelson 2 and 1 Jesper Parnevik lost to Mark O'Meara 5 and 4 Jose Maria Olazabal lost to Lee Janzen one down Bernhard Langer beat Brad Faxon 2 and 1 Lee Westwood lost to Jeff Maggert 3 and 2 Colin Montgomerie halved with Scott Hoch Nick Faldo lost to Jim Furyk 3 and 2 Ignacio Garrido lost to Tom Lehman 7 and 6