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Ryder Cup 2023 Review

  • Writer: Luke Wolff
    Luke Wolff
  • Oct 3, 2023
  • 5 min read

What a week! If you're #TeamUSA - yikes! Although the USA was down the entire tournament with hardly a glimmer of hope to come back, there were still some aspects of the Ryder Cup this year that produced great TV and will go down as memorable moments. We can sit here and comb through how many points each player got and what their record was (we will touch on these a little obivously), but I am going to take a medium dive into this past weekend using simply an eye test - what stuck out to me from just simply watching it live (when able) or catching highlights later in the day. Let's start with the positives of who is #InTheGroove, then get to the negatives.


Team Europe

Let's start with the team across the pond. The usual killers - Jon Rahm and Rory - played extremely well overall and had some massive shots, which we all expected. Rahm seemed to hit every long putt and chipped in wayyyy too many times for a weekend golfer like me to be comfortable with. Really put my bladed chips over the green into a whole new perspective for me. Hovland played extremely well this weekend, teaming up with Ludvig (who I am a massive fan of now, shoutout to Tron from No Laying Up) to hand a historic beatdown to Scottie and Brooks, who are both in my top 5 favorite golfers of all time. However, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Fleetwood and Rose have as much fun as they did out there. Fleetwood's chip in with his flowing hair. Rose's birdie putt on 18 to push the hole and seeing an unrecognizable and emotional Justin Rose screaming was maybe the highlight of the tournamaent for me. Overall it just seemed like everything was clicking for that squad all 3 days.


Team USA

I really have my work cut out for me picking USA players who were #InTheGroove, but I will start with someone who I was an outspoken critic of (to my friends), and I want to get ahead of this one. When I need to walk back my comments, I will not shy away from it. I was wrong about someone who I so wanted to be right about - Justin Thomas. I owe you an apology. I do not hate JT by any means, but I was extremely against him as a captain's pick (on this blog, we are big Dustin Johnson and Cam Young fans). Part of me wanted JT to prove me right, but wow was he electric! He brought the energy when Spieth decided to look like an 11 handicap, he had some risky/huge shots throughout the weekend, and was in the zone on Sunday going 2up in singles. Hats off to you, Mr. Thomas. The other big shoutout goes to another beloved golfer of this page, the young fella from Cali Mr. Max Homa. Wow! What a debut! It's incredible to think this is his first Ryder Cup appearance, but snagging 3.5 points and having the best record on the American side shows that Max Homa is ready for a BIG year in the 2023-2024 season, and you think his first major has to be on the horizon. Also, big shoutout to Brooks Koepka for being absolutely hilarious all weekend, and the picture of Rickie, Homa, Burns, and Xander wearing Smash GC shirts was the funniest thing I've seen in a while. Pic here.


Team Europe

I mean... no one??? Nicolai Hojgaard is the only European player that went winless all week, but he is a rookie who is only 22 years old and earned a captain's pick from some good finishes in the European Ryder Cup qualifying events. It's tough to say anyone on this team wasn't grooving with the beatdown they put on the Americans.


Team USA

Captain Zach Johnson. Jordan Spieth. Rickie Fowler. And this one absolutely pains me to type but I will try to push aside bias when necessary - Scottie Scheffler (insert sad face). In my opinion, Zach Johnson did not navigate this week the right way at all. From picks to when guys played/who they played with to comments and press conferences, I think there was much to be desired (which is exactly what I said about my own golf game after last Sunday. I had no business being on the course that morning). I understand ZJ went with his gut, and even though Rickie is a fan favorite, you have to question why he was there. Sure, he won this year and looked to be in good form, but Keegan Bradley? Cam Young? DJ, Bryson, or even Talor Gooch who was lights out early on this season on LIV? I think these are important questions to ask. Spieth had no energy whatsoever, and I can't tell if I want Captain Zach to be at fault for the 3-wood instead of driver on the 16th where Spieth watered it, or if I want that to be Spieth's fault. I can only blame Zach Johnson for so much. Having Scottie fall into this category shocks me. I would've bet a lot of money that he would be a top performer. If you're reading this blog, I assume you play golf and everyone knows how golf can be - sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't. The lights were brighter in Rome than the Americans thought they were, and Scottie just couldn't string much together. Is he still one of the best players in the world? Absolutely. Will he come back with a vengeance at Bethpage Black in 2025? 1000%. If Scottie crying and showing raw emotion to his wife in the golf cart after his historic loss is any indication, you can tell how badly he wanted to play well this week. Groove Golfing is rooting for you Scottie.


Alll in all, the Ryder Cup was not terrible to watch. Sure, we can complain about the time zone differences and how bad the coverage was with their abundance of commercials, but the course made for some great golf overall. For some reason it's weird to think Rome has golf courses, but Marco Simone Golf & Country Club looks absolutely awesome. I would put that short par 4 hole 16 up there with some of the coolest holes in existence. Watching the pros attack that green (or try to) was truly incredible to watch, and the possibilty of hitting a shot like that while playing with your buddies is what keeps us coming back to play. Although I am Team USA, it was really cool to see Luke Donald rally the Europeans the way he did. The European guys seemed to all vibe together and were incredibly close-knit, and you can't help but think that was a huge factor in their commanding victory. I don't think this will foreshadow the season any players of Team USA will have, but simultaneously I am excited to see how Team Europe carries this over into the season. Who will captain Team USA in 2025? Too early to tell, but I think there needs to be a passing of the half-lit torch at this moment.


Onto Sanderson Farms for a TOUR event! Back like we never left. Mackenzie Hughes from Canada is the defending champ, but Sepp Straka pulled off a solo second... intersting interesting. Preview of that tournament coming soon.


 
 
 

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