5 minute read
Editor’s Letter
Roll on Rome
KENT GRAY kent.gray@motivate.ae • Twitter: @KentGrayGolf / @GolfDigestME
T
HE TEARS WILL BE replaced with lasting resolve and the ugly post-mortem handled with dignity where it should be – behind fi rmly fastened doors at the continent’s Wentworth war bunker. Still, an awful realisation confronted Padraig Harrington and his humbled European troops as they retreated from Whistling Straits, the victims of a record Ryder Cup trouncing.
What next? What if all the forward planning is shrewd, the inevitable young reinforcements carefully picked and perfectly paired, the on-course strategy cunning and Marco Simone Golf & Country Club tricked up to suit the home side. And what if it’s still not good enough the September after next?
There is no hiding from the historically lopsided 19-9 defeat in Wisconsin. This wasn’t so much a tide change as a scary sounding of a once in a generation alarm. A tsunami of Ryder Cup hurt, courtesy of this young bunch of ridiculously talented and supremely self-assured Americans, is already onshore. Traditional European fi ght versus newfound U.S. might, if you will.
It’s a sobering prospect for even the most optimistic European fan. It should be remembered that the boys from the Old World Tour have written a rich modern era legacy by throwing plucky passion at a perceived talent divide to win seven of the previous nine matches before Whistling Straits.
Forget not, either, that this is golf, the most predictably unpredictable game ever invented. All the major titles, FedEx Cups, Olympic gold medals and ranking points in the world count for nothing in the Ryder Cup cauldron if those superstars suff er an off week.
That could easily happen in Rome but it didn’t in Wisconsin. Steve Stricker had eight of the world’s top 10 at his disposal and they played well to a man. This was the youngest ever U.S. team with eight of the 12 in their 20s and only 5-0 Dustin Johnson older than 32. Imagine being the elder statesman at age 37. The six rookie Yanks combined for 15 ½ of the 19 points, Europe’s three fi rst-timers just two.
There is no guarantee the victorious Americans will all make it to Italy, nor that those who do land in Rome will be in such a rich vein of form. But hey, why fret when Patrick Reed will be back and whippersnappers like Will Zalatoris, Sam Burns and Matthew Wolff are itching to join the revolution alongside Captain America.
By contrast, many of the battled-hardened Europeans looked battle-weary,
sadly past their used-by date. Four of the beaten dozen were north of 40 and it smarts that this could be the playing swansong for heroic servants Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.
Robert MacIntyre, Guido Migliozzi and the brothers Hojgaard wait in the wings but as one American observer put it, the potential European debutants look “the equivalent of adding more muskets to a front line facing a wave of F-15s”.
Europe no doubt has an awful lot of questions to answer in the next 23 and a bit months, not least if Harrington deserves another shot as captain (he does) and what has happened to the real Rory McIlroy who contributed a sole singles point and a tearful apology to his teammates afterwards.
In addition to McIlroy firing, you fancy the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Fitzpatrick will have to go from potential to proven major champions as well to really give Europe belief for Rome. Jon Rahm can’t go on doing all the heavy lifting, especially with his Spanish side-kick Sergio Garcia set to be near 44 by the time Rome rolls around. Like Poulter, Westwood and Paul Casey, the winningest Ryder Cup player of all-time will have to answer to Father Time at some stage.
Perhaps the one bright (albeit bittersweet) takeaway from the biggest whooping since Europe replaced Great Britain in the biennial matches in 1979 is the realisation that reigns never last. The trick is not to be caught in a long, cold winter because discontent and division almost always follows. And that’s the last thing the struggling European Tour needs in this uncertain and disruptive COVID-19 era.
The next two years will reveal where the strategic alliance between the European and PGA Tours truly stands as the battle lines of the global professional game are redrawn. It will be utterly fascinating but perhaps not quite as intriguing as European’s retort to the worry from Wisconsin.
Roll on Rome 2023.
editor-in-chief Obaid Humaid Al Tayer managing partner & group editor Ian Fairservice
editor Kent Gray art director Clarkwin Cruz editorial assistant Londresa Flores instruction editors Luke Tidmarsh, Euan Bowden, Tom Ogilvie, Matthew Brookes, Alex Riggs chief commercial officer Anthony Milne publisher David Burke general manager - production S. Sunil Kumar assistant production manager Binu Purandaran
the golf digest publications editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde
director, business development &
partnerships Greg Chatzinoff international editor Ju Kuang Tan
golf digest usa editor-in-chief Jerry Tarde general manager Chris Reynolds editorial director Max Adler executive editor Peter Morrice art director Chloe Galkin managing editors Alan P. Pittman, Ryan Herrington (News) chief playing editor Tiger Woods playing editors Phil Mickelson, Francesco Molinari, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Tom Watson
Scan the QR Code to read, download and share the latest, and back issues, of Golf Digest Middle East.
head office: Media One Tower, PO Box 2331, Dubai, UAE Tel +971 4 427 3000; Fax +971 4 428 2270 dubai media city: SD 2-94, 2nd Floor, Building 2, Dubai, UAE Tel +971 4 390 3550; Fax +971 4 390 4845 abu dhabi: PO Box 43072, UAE Tel +971 2 657 3490; Fax +971 2 657 3489 london: Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER, UK, E-mail: motivateuk@motivate.ae
GOLF DIGEST and HOW TO PLAY, WHAT TO PLAY, WHERE TO PLAY are registered trademarks of Discovery Golf, Inc. Copyright © 2021 Discovery Golf, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Volume 72, Issue 2. GOLF DIGEST (ISSN 0017-176X) is published eight times a year by Discovery Golf, Inc. Principal office: Golf Digest, 1180 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y., 10036. Discovery Golf, Inc.: Alex Kaplan, President & GM; Gunnar Wiedenfels, Chief Financial Officer. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and at additional mailing offices.
