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Tennis Intensity Influences and Sparks Ryder Cup Golf
5 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
By Scoop Malinowski
Like Dan, I’m not much of a golf fan, but my favorite event is the Ryder Cup, which is a bi-annual USA vs Europe team event, currently being contested in Chaska, Minnesota.
The intensity of this golf clash of titans is above and beyond what we see in the regular golf majors and this year’s event seems especially passionate, with a lot of press sniping and pressure because the Euros have dominated the event this decade. Yesterday, Rory McIlroy unleashed the most explosive blast of emotion I’ve ever seen in golf. After McIlroy eagled the last hole with a long putt to clinch his match, which vaulted Europe back into contention to 3-5 from a 0-4 deficit, the fiery former fiance of Caroline Wozniacki took two bows to the boisterous gallery then screamed a bellowing COME AWN! with an added fist pump for extra emphasis.
“Even before I hit that putt, I wanted to put an exclamation point on that session for us,” said McIlroy to the press after. “I actually thought about the celebration before I hit the putt. I knew it had a good chance of going in. I just wanted everyone that’s watching out there to know how much this means to us, how much it means to me personally and, obviously, us as a team.”
The NBC announcers were still crowing about McIlroy’s gestures of triumph the next day, crediting the showmanship and passion that he expressed.
It all seemed like a page from professional tennis had been edited into the golf handbook and added considerably to the usually (in my opinion) too even-keeled theater of putting greens and postcard pretty fairways. Of course, McIlroy spent countless hours around professional tennis during his relationship with Wozniacki so one could surmise golf could be beginning to imitate the emotion and physicality of tennis which as we know is a sport that features fist pumps and Come awns yelled in just about every match on the circuit.
Today I took a peek to watch some more of the Ryder Cup and saw more fist pumps and screams of joy, and a couple Vamoses! by a pair of Spanish players. It’s almost like watching a tennis match and a golf game broke out.
Let’s hope tennis can continue to spark and inspire the golf world as we are seeing this weekend in the Ryder Cup. Or perhaps, pro tennis can invent a special bi-annual event featuring USA vs Europe.
Golf · Lleyton Hewitt · Novak Djokovic · Rafael Nadal · Rory McIlroy · Ryder Cup · Tennis
catherine bell · October 2, 2016 at 3:24 am
Scoop – there used to be the Wightman Cup, annual team event for women between USA and GB. It’s where we all saw Chris for the first time outside the US in 1972. She got publicity on arrival you wouldn’t believe.
In the end the event was so one sided they cancelled it.
There’s no room now for more team events. Pity in a way.
Scoop malinowski · October 2, 2016 at 7:16 am
Catherine; Laver Cup next november in Prague could be very good. Not sure how it works but Fed and Nadal have committed. What was the format of the now defunct Wightman Cup?
catherine bell · October 2, 2016 at 7:54 am
Wightman Cup (named after Hazel Wightman) was mixed singles and doubles, along the lines of the Davis Cup. It was played alternately in the US and GB. Don’t think it was ever a big deal in the US and there may have been problems finding sponsors along with the decline in competitiveness.
(Virginia Wade played one year in the middle of doing her final exams at Sussex University – GB won)
Also there was the Maureen Connolly Cup team event for junior girls from US and GB – don’t know when that was last held.
Scoop Malinowski · October 2, 2016 at 8:27 am
Thanks Catherine – sounds like Wightman Cup evolved into Fed Cup – I like the Fed Cup a lot – Seems Fed Cup is dominated by Czech Italy and Russia –
catherine bell · October 2, 2016 at 9:51 am
Scoop –
Yes – up until 70s UK, Aus and US were really the only powers in women’s tennis but after that time a more widely inclusive competition made sense – I fancy some countries take Fed Cup more seriously than others, which shows in the results.
Of course these days scheduling is a big problem.