If you ask a golf enthusiast, he or she might tell you that the Ryder Cup has lost a great deal of the excitement it once had over the past several years. Why is that? In a sport that is almost always individually based, the Ryder Cup gives players the rare chance to compete for a team. For whatever reason, the usual spark seems to have been missing from the event in recent history. Former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton thinks it’s a problem with the egos of today’s golfers.
“I don’t know that guys are following anyone but their own selves today,” Sutton told the Golf Channel’s Morning Drive on Tuesday. “We live in a pretty selfish world. It’s not a criticism, in my mind that’s a fact.
“In order to be a leader you’ve got to understand that from the beginning. These guys don’t want to follow anybody. The hard part about being a captain is you’re the greatest guy in the world if you win and did the worse job in the world if you lose and you never hit a shot. And with golf I think there’s more to it than that.”
Rory McIlroy tried to spice up the event a couple years ago by taking a couple of friendly jabs at Tiger Woods, but very little ever came of it. Europe doesn’t seem to have the same type of issues that the United States has, as the guys from across the pond have dominated the event and won six out of the last eight Ryder Cups. If egos are the problem, perhaps leaving a guy like Tiger off the team — especially given his struggles as of late — would benefit 2012 U.S. captain Davis Love III.
H/T Devil Ball Golf
