Life’s Golden Lesson for the Americans in the 2014 Ryder Cup!

I just spent the last three days of my life watching the Ryder Cup on Golf Channel and NBC. Mostly via my DVR since I was here at home on this side of the pond. I am a rabid golf fan but not rabid enough to get up or stay up (though one night I did) to 2 am to catch the action live. I remember the jubilation of American Ryder Cup victory when I was there at Valhalla in 2008. It felt like when my friend Sir Walter lag an 80-footer up to the hole so I could tap it in and together we won his member–guest at Royal Melbourne in Chicago. Our names are forever etched on the men’s locker room door. Forever at least in my mind as nothing is really forever except love and we know how that changes with time or it ceases to be love at all.

That was then and now is now and in between I did not get to Wales but I was at Medinah and personally felt that deep sense of loss knowing what could have easily been an American victory that was not. At Medinah I was okay with the loss. The golf was exceptional and the finishes heroic. I was entertained and I learned something about sportsmanship and congratulating the other side. I did find it odd that Phil Mickelson would give Justin Rose a thumbs up for making that long putt on 17 to keep his and his teams hopes alive. Maybe as Rory once said the Ryder Cup is merely an exhibition.

I was enthralled by the youth and spirit of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. They went out there, played golf and got the job done for the most part as far as they could. I loved it when Reed matched Henrik Stenson’s birdie on the sixth green and then shushed the European crowd and rallied the American fans. I wonder if they were there at Medinah if the  USA would have won? But like Mom would tell me growing up: “If ifs were horses we would all be riding.” Which I never understood completely since nobody is riding around on a horse these days.

American Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson is certainly not riding around on a horse today. We all wanted him to be the white knight to come to the rescue of the hopeless American Ryder Cup team. I was there in 2009 at The Open at Turnberry when he hit that 8-iron in the 18th fairway needing a par to win. I believed he would win that golf tournament like I believed the Americans were destined to win at Gleneagles. Captain Tom had his moments of brilliance like when he paired Spieth and Reed and he had his moments of fear like when he benched them and played Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in the afternoon alternate shot on Day 1. The fear there being, in my opinion, not duplicating the Saturday mistake at Medinah of sitting Phil and his wonder kid look-a=like younger brother.

Having said all of that which came from my heart first let me say what is evident in both my heart and mind. The European team played brilliantly and their victory in the 2014 Ryder Cup was hard earned and richly deserved. Congratulations Europe for a job well done. It was both a learning experience and exciting entertainment for me these past three days.

The 1995 movie The American President is a romance, a comedy and a drama with some great life lessons too. There is a great scene where the embattled president comes to the moment of clarity both in his personal life and his job as president leading the country. He speaks honestly and from the heart to his fellow Americans when he says “I promise you, (insert fear for Bob Rumson here) is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who’s to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And wave an old photo of the President’s girlfriend and you scream about patriotism and you tell them, she’s to blame for their lot in life, and you go on television and you call her a whore. Sydney Ellen Wade has done nothing to you, Bob…  You want a character debate, Bob? You better stick with me, ’cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league.”

Point being, we can’t solely look to the good old times and say simply that is the answer to our current and future problems. Yes, Captain Azinger’s ‘pod system’ in 2008 was an amazing invention and yes that was a thrilling (and the last) victory for USA. Captain Watson did his job to the best of his ability and Team Member Phil Mickelson played golf to the best of his ability. The bottom line is that held true for all three days. Even though Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley did not play on Saturday, their teammates did.

The reality is that the Americans played very good golf. Remember Jimmy Walker holing a bunker shot and chipping in on Friday morning best ball? That match was halved. Remember Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan making six birdies in Friday afternoon alternate shot? Their opponents Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson made six too and won 2&1. Remember Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar making nine birdies on Saturday morning best ball only to be outdueled by Rose and Stenson who made twelve birdies. My God, twelve birdies in sixteen holes, ten straight to finish! Remember Saturday afternoon alternate shot? Forget them, we only earned one of eight points in alternate shot. Actually the Spieth & Reed rescue team nearly held off Rose and Kaymer to earn a full point.

Sunday, down 10-6, brought hope in a new day. There was a point early on with all 12 matches on the course where if the current was projected as final the Americans had 14 points. That was when McIlroy and Kaymer were dominating their matches but all the other ones were either American led or all square. I remember seeing that bounce in Phil’s step and thinking maybe Captain Watson’s decision to rest him on Saturday would be come his “I had a feeling moment” in this Ryder Cup. Was it that at the time of change we only project one way? Phil and Keegan not playing on Saturday meant they could not win a point for the USA. It could have meant they would win points on Sunday too.

But a Sunday American comeback, like Brookline in 1999 or last time for the Euros with Seve’s Medinah Miracle, was not meant to be. I never did see a possibility for 14-1/2 American points on the scoreboard. The highest was 14 points and that would still have Europe retaining the Ryder Cup which is a victory in of itself. There was more good golf by the Americans. Remember Kuchar’s hole out for an eagle on No. 8? The Europeans win the 2014 Ryder Cup 16-1/2 to 11-1/2.

The point being the matches were closer than  what appears in the score. A difference of five points is only two and one-half matches out of twenty-eight going the other way. Less than 10 percent. With one more all square turning into an American point or one Euro point turning into an all square and there you would have had the needed American win. But then again we would all be back riding horses and who would like that?

Point being in my mind is that the Americans  played well and that level of golf inspired, once again, the Europeans to play better and win the Ryder Cup. I could write for the next three days on the exceptional golf played by members of the European team, namely, but not limited to Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Jamie Donaldson and Graeme McDowell who all scored three points for the blue team. Both teams are to be congratulated for competing in the true sense of the game of golf with honesty, integrity and true sportsmanship. All 24 players and the captains well represented their country and our human race on and off the golf course this past week in Scotland. Except when they did not.

Let’s look forward to another formidable competition in two years. Let’s not let fear or the reality of defeat take us back to fonder memories with no commitment to action for the future. Let’s learn from Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. We can’t be as young as they are (at least I cannot be) but we can be as young in mind and spirit and perspective as they are.

The last three days of Ryder Cup TV watching was not all in vain. An American loss does not mean it was time wasted yet it was time entertained and time spent marveling at this human life experience. The golf ball does some pretty silly things as does us humans.

Maybe the Ryder cup is merely a golf exhibition. What was exhibited was good in my mind. I remember back when I was 12 years old and received the Ben Hogan Five Lessons book from my older brother Larry. In it he inscribed “golf is a lot like life, the more you learn and understand about it, the easier it is to meet its challenges.” America continues to have a Ryder Cup challenge. What can we learn from this one to make it easier to win the next one? Somehow I think it is more about life than golf at this point.

The world has changed a great deal since America dominated the Ryder Cup.. Honestly, we all wake up in the morning first as human beings living on this one planet Earth and secondly as citizens of our countries. Golf has a leadership position in the world of sports. Think about it. Only golf and soccer for the most part have international team competitions. The Super Bowl and NBA Champions are really only champions here at home. Golf is more global than any sport in terms of world leadership and impact. There is a huge responsibility, in my opinion, that comes along with that position.

I realized I missed seeing Luke Donald compete as much as I did Jason Dufner, Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson call Lake Nona in Orland, Florida, USA their home. Justin Rose and his wife Kate will be hosting a fundraiser for their foundation next Monday at Lake Nona. They give back in terms of inspiring local children to grow from the inside out through nutrition, education, and new life experiences. We are all tied together and what is important is that we continue to inspire each other to new heights which give us a better perspective of our world together.

Congratulations Europe on a hard earned and well deserved Ryder Cup victory.

Americans, let’s grow from the inside-out. Nothing is hopeless, especially not hopeless is the 2016 American Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits or the one that will head to Paris in 2018 to win on foreign soil for the first time in 25 years.

It’s a new day in a new world. Golf is like life and life is like golf.

Life’s royal lesson from the 2014 Ryder Cup is to live and learn…