The Ryder Cup is for me and most of my golfing pals on both sides of the Atlantic the pinnacle of our TV sporting year.
To have witnessed the behaviour of Patrick Cantlay in respect of the lack of payment for wearing a hat at the last event was a big disappointment. And now we find that the USA players will only play for their country for money (“Ryder ravage: Pay over pride,” November 18 GGP). I am sure that Samuel Ryder and every golfing pioneer will be turning in their graves.
Cantlay has soiled the reputation of a sport that many of us respect as a sport where honesty and honour are foremost. Not only that, but what sort of individual would not want to represent his team, club, county and, yes, country because he was not being paid?
I have been involved with charities supporting young people from every background for over a quarter of a century. If the professionals want fees, perhaps giving them to such charities would restore a little of the reputation of greed that is becoming synonymous with professional golf.
Ray Rantell
Pleshey, Essex, England
How is golf doing? Everything I read says golf is doing great, better than it has in a long time. Rounds are up across the country. More young people and especially women are teeing it up on a regular basis. Yep, golf is having a renaissance, putting the industry and courses, especially public access, in better shape than they’ve been in quite a while.
But what about professional tournament golf? Not so hot. Viewers on TV are down, as is just about every other metric by which it can be measured, except cash. They’re rolling in cash for the moment, but tournament sponsors are getting nervous about the investment being required to be a sponsor.
With golf up, why isn’t pro golf up too? Some say it’s the unmitigated greed of the top players or the coming of LIV. Maybe, but in my opinion, golf is a lousy spectator sport. I have attended regular PGA Tour, Senior Tour, LPGA, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and Ryder Cup events. While I enjoyed the in-person experience, I am not panting to repeat it. With 20,000 or so attendees, you don’t really see much and have no real grasp of what is going on overall. Your chances of seeing something exciting in person are slim. Television coverage does give you a better idea of the overall event, but the coverage is universally disparaged as lousy. Too many ads, random golf shots and putts, ridiculous split screens and banal babbling by announcers who think everyone is a fine young man with a great future. I have attended two big-time events that were different: the Walker Cup and the NCAA. Not big crowds, and you could walk down the fairway behind the players (held back a respectable distance). It was very enjoyable.
The Ryder Cup is the worst on-site, with the huge crowd and only four team matches in progress. Now it’s all about the money, a recurring theme in pro golf: mean-spirited comments and win at any cost. No laughs, and even sincere polite congratulations are in short supply. The crowds are getting way too rowdy and obstreperous, and we aren’t even in New York yet. Samuel Ryder would probably want his cup back.
So, what to do? It’s simple: book a tee time and go play. If golf is still on TV when you finish your Sunday round, catch the last few holes in the clubhouse. That’s the only time it can be really definitive anyway.
If enough of us would just let pro golf twist in the wind, maybe they’ll wise up.
Blaine Walker
St. Paul, Minnesota
Global Golf Post welcomes reader comment. Write to GGP at contact@globalgolfpost.com and provide your full name, city, state and country of residence. If your comment is selected for publication, GGP will contact you to verify the authenticity of email and confirm identity. We would not publish your email address and reserve the right to edit for clarity and brevity.