Last Sunday the United States beat Europe to win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1999. Golf isn’t a sport I play nor particularly enjoy watching save for the annual U.S. Masters event at Augusta, and the biannual competition between America and Europe’s twelve best.
Having seen Europe easily beat the U.S.A. in ’06, ’04, and ’02 I felt confident that the streak would continue under captain Nick Faldo in September 2008.
By the close of play on Sunday America had done more than enough to win the event and made me think about the faces, new and old, who have made up the respective teams. Here is a look at the past fifteen Ryder Cup competitions, who captained them, who played in them, and who will likely lead the two teams into future battles!
For the following Ryder Cup contests: 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004,2006, and 2008, the U.S.A. used 74 players while Europe only fielded 65.
Based on their number of appearances during this time period (1979-2008), an elite 1st and 2nd team for each region could look like this:
U.S.A.
1st Team
Captain: Jack Nicklaus (1 playing + 2 captain)
Paul Azinger (4 playing + 1 captain)
Fred Couples (5 playing)
Raymond Floyd (5 playing + 1 captain)
Jim Furyk (6 playing)
Tom Kite (7 playing + 1 captain)
Davis Love III (6 playing)
Phil Mickelson (7 playing)
Mark O’Meara (5 playing)
Curtis Strange (5 playing)
Payne Stewart (5 playing)
Lanny Wadkins (7 playing)
Tiger Woods (5 playing)
2nd Team
Captain: Tom Watson (3 playing + 1 captain)
Mark Calcavecchia (4 playing)
Chad Campbell (3 playing)
Stewart Cink (4 playing)
Ben Crenshaw (4 playing + 1 captain)
Jay Haas (3 playing)
Hale Irwin (3 playing)
Tom Lehman (3 playing + 1 captain)
Justin Leonard (3 playing)
Jeff Maggert (3 playing)
Corey Pavin (3 playing)
Hal Sutton (4 playing + 1 captain)
David Toms (3 playing)
Europe
1st Team
Captain: Tony Jacklin (1 playing + 4 captain)
Seve Ballesteros (8 playing + 1 captain)
Darren Clarke (5 playing)
Nick Faldo (10 playing + 1 captain)
Sergio Garcia (5 playing)
Padraig Harrington (5 playing)
Mark James (6 playing + 1 captain)
Bernhard Langer (10 playing + 1 captain)
Colin Montgomerie (8 playing)
Jose-Maria Olazabal (7 playing)
Sam Torrance (8 playing + 1 captain)
Lee Westwood (6 playing)
Ian Woosnam (8 playing + 1 captain)
2nd Team
Captain: Bernard Gallacher (3 playing + 3 captain)
Thomas Bjorn (2 playing)
Ken Brown (4 playing)
Jose-Maria Canizares (4 playing)
Paul Casey (3 playing)
Howard Clark (5 playing)
Miguel Angel Jimenez (3 playing)
Robert Karlsson (2 playing)
Sandy Lyle (5 playing)
Paul McGinley (3 playing)
Jesper Parnevik (3 playing)
Ian Poulter (2 playing)
Constantino Rocca (3 playing)
It would seem to be a pre-requisite of being a Ryder Cup captain that you have appeared in the team multiple times as a player. Of these elite twelves, ten Americans have served the non-playing captain role (Jack Nicklaus, Ray Floyd, Tom Watson, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Hal Sutton, Tom Lehman, and Paul Azinger) while only eight of the Europeans have (Tony Jacklin, Bernard Gallacher, Seve Ballesteros, Mark James, Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, and Nick Faldo). This is partly due to Jacklin and Gallacher captaining Europe on a combined seven occasions. The current trend seems to be towards a new captain for each tournament, so with this in mind, the next fifteen Ryder Cup competitions (predicting thirty years ahead!) could be led by the following pairings:
U.S.A. v. Europe
2010 Hale Irwin v. Sandy Lyle
2012 Fred Couples v. Howard Clark
2014 Corey Pavin v. Jose Maria Olazabal
2016 Jay Haas v. Colin Montgomerie
2018 Mark O’Meara v. Darren Clarke
2020 Jeff Maggert v. Miguel Angel Jimenez
2022 Mark Calcavecchia v. Jesper Parnevik
2024 Davis Love III v. Paul McGinley
2026 Jim Furyk v. Padraig Harrington
2028 David Toms v. Robert Karlsson
2030 Phil Mickelson v. Lee Westwood
2032 Justin Leonard v. Sergio Garcia
2034 Tiger Woods v. Ian Poulter
2036 Chad Campbell v. Paul Casey
2038 Stewart Cink v. Justin Rose
My crystal (golf) ball isn’t perfect, but there will definitely be future captaincy stints for the likes of Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, Fred Couples, and Corey Pavin. Can Tiger Woods stay fit and at the top of his game for the next two decades, breaking every record on the way, before taking over the Ryder Cup reigns for the U.S.A. in a quarter of a century from now?! And what of all the superstars who have not emerged yet? Only time will tell.
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