Wednesday, August 25, 1999
Two plans to merge the cups
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Forgive the Americans if this cup business
is getting old.
They play the Ryder Cup one year, the Presidents Cup the other.
They can't seem to hang onto either one, and it might not be long
before they can't seem to keep them straight.
Nick Faldo set a record by playing on 11 straight Ryder Cup
teams. Big deal. Barring injury or boredom, Tiger Woods
will have played on his 11th straight U.S. team at the ripe young
age of 31.
By then, the two cups may more closely resemble the Davis Cup
— no one will care, including those who have to play it year
after year.
“Whether the top players that are going to be asked to
represent their country every year for the next decade will ever
opt not to play, I don't know,” Payne Stewart said. “I
hope that never occurs, but I think we're going to have to take
a long, hard look at it.”
When Samuel Ryder commissioned that gold chalice in 1926, he
never dreamed the world of golf would stretch far beyond the Atlantic
Ocean to places like South Africa, Australia, even Paraguay. The
only world powers in golf back then were Britain and the United
States.
Imagine what Ryder would think if he could see all the talent
assembled this week at Firestone Country Club for the NEC Invitational,
the $5 million World Golf Championship bonanza for Ryder Cup and
Presidents Cup players.
So many great players. So many cups.
In a downtown Atlanta hotel room last November, Jack Nicklaus
first broached the idea of a “tri-match,” conceding
that it might become harder every year to get the Americans motivated
to play for a cup.
“Right now, it's pretty good the way it is,” Nicklaus
said. “Someday, probably sooner rather than later, that might
happen.”
Here's how it can.
Plan A: The winner keeps playing
Assume that Europe wins the Ryder Cup (again) next month at
The Country Club. Europe then would have the right to meet the
International team in the 2000 Presidents Cup. The winner of those
matches would play the losing Ryder Cup team in 2001.
The only drawback is where to play.
Interest would be minimal if Europe and the International team
were to play the next Presidents Cup in Virginia, just like it
would be if the International team played the Americans at The
Belfry in 2001.
The solution? The losing team would be the home team, giving
it two years to prepare a site. It would help if each team stuck
to one venue, although the International team should have more
flexibility.
Each cup could keep its name, even if it lost some of its identity.
Plan B: The mother of all matches
This is a little more complex, but a lot more compelling.
The United States, Europe and International team would each
bring 12-man squads to the new and improved and globally correct
Ryder Cup — three teams playing every two years for one cup.
On the first two days, six best-ball matches would be played
in the morning, followed by six alternate-shot matches in the
afternoon.
For every session, the captain submits his pairings in what
amounts to a blind draw. A U.S. team plays a European team in
the first and fourth matches, Europe plays the Internationals
in the second and fifth matches, and the Internationals play the
U.S. in the third and sixth matches.
For Sunday singles, another blind draw. Six Americans would
play six Europeans and the other six Americans would play six
from the International team. The leftover six from Europe and
International would play each other.
The team with the most points wins. In case of a tie, each
captain submits one name to compete in a four-hole playoff.
The only hangup is getting the PGA of America and the PGA Tour
to agree on who runs the show and controls the dough — a
major obstacle.
Still, it would help maintain pride and enthusiasm about playing
for the flag, and it would reflect the global nature of golf.
Purists no doubt will protest that the storied Ryder Cup should
never be tainted. Then again, the rest of Europe was invited to
the Ryder Cup in 1979 and it somehow managed to survive. Is it
too much to invite the rest of the world to the dance?
Samuel Ryder surely would not have frowned on the inclusion
of Seve Ballesteros, just like he wouldn't protest the inclusion
of Ernie Els.
He would probably say the same thing he uttered to George Duncan
that night in 1926 when the idea of the Ryder Cup matches was
first hatched.
“Why not?”
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