Ryder Cup hotting up!

October 1st will mark the thirty-eighth Ryder Cup in history. This prestigious golfing event, a biannual championship between a team from the United States and one from Europe, has its roots in the 1920s. Golfing lore tells the story of Samuel Ryder, a seed merchant turned club captain who took up golf in his fifties and achieved a handicap of six within a year. When Ryder was told about the idea of an Anglo-American golfing championship he immediately offered his support, commissioning the original gold cup that bears his name with its adorning golfing figure, designed to resemble his mentor Abe Mitchell. Today the English team has been extended to include players from Europe, with both teams continuing the tradition of the gentleman’s game by playing for prestige rather than prize money.

This year the Cup will be hosted for the first time at Celtic Manor in Newport, South Wales. The course has been extensively upgraded and redesigned to challenge the skills of the finest players from Europe and the USA, while retaining its characteristic beauty and design heritage from the Robert Trent Jones Jnr era.

This year’s teams are being captained by seasoned champions, with Colin Montgomerie heading the European team and Corey Pavin at the helm of team USA. Both captains are set on winning the trophy, with the American team eager to repeat their 2008 victory at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky and the European team hungry for victory on home soil. Both captains have selected some of the finest players in their regions to contest the 2010 Ryder Cup.

Colin Montgomerie’s European team features several robust young talents who have wowed golf crowds in recent tournaments. The Italian brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Ross Fisher of the UK, and Martin Kaymer of Germany are some of Europe’s hottest young players. To help them weather the competition are veteran players Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington, and Graeme McDowell as well as several other top European players. In contrast, Corey Pavin has selected a field of seasoned players for the American team, including world number one and two Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Household names like Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson add their experience to the team, while young guns Rickie Fowler and Jeff Overton will have an opportunity to test their skills against the European team alongside some of golf’s greatest players.

Playing away from home, the American team may have a challenge ahead if they are to retain the trophy. The European team is young and dynamic, with young champions who are poised to end the lacklustre trend in European golf and pose a serious challenge to team USA. However, the American team boasts some of the finest champions in world golf whose experience will be invaluable and whose patriotism has proved strong in every Ryder Cup. When the championship ends on October 3rd, the winning team will be revealed after three days of play that is set to be riveting.