A SLEEPING GIANT

Team USA looks ready to reverse its Ryder Cup fortunes of recent years with a bright young line-up of stars preparing to do battle in Wisconsin

- Brian Wacker

When the Ryder Cup was last held in September of 2018 near Paris, the world was a different place. In much the same way as other significant moments in history have served as markers of time, so too has the Covid pandemic. There was before, and there was after.

The same could be said of the biennial contest between the United States and Europe, which now returns to odd-numbered years (as it was prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001) at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin this September. So, just how different is the golfing landscape compared to the last time the two foes met?

Well, consider this. Tiger Woods was still playing and was a few months shy of capturing his 15th career Major at the following year’s Masters. Collin Morikawa, meanwhile, was still an amateur and in the early stages of his senior year at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was busy putting the final touches to a degree in business economics.

Now, Woods’ playing future remains uncertain as he continues to recover from a near-fatal car crash earlier this year. And Morikawa is already a five-time PGA Tour winner and two-time Major Champion, having captured the 2020 USPGA Championship and this year’s Open at Royal St George’s.

So much for the prerequisite of experience! In taking home the Claret Jug, Morikawa became just the seventh man since 1900 to win the Open on his debut and the first since Ben Curtis in 2003, also at Royal St George’s, though Morikawa’s career looks set to burn a lot brighter and longer.