David Feherty's Totally Subjective History of the Ryder Cup : A Hardly Definitive, Completely Cockeyed, But Absolutely Loving Look at Golf's Most Exciting Event

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Summary: The evolution of the modern European dominance
Review: This is a good look at how the Ryder Cup evolved every year it was played, with Feherty's tongue-in-cheek humour thrown in to keep it from being a dry read. He gives you behind the scene stuff too, like the interaction between players. The real story of how the Ryder Cup evolved from the 1981 massacre of the Europeans by the Americans (led by Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin, Raymond Floyd etc.), all the way to the 2004 massacre of the Americans (led by Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III etc.) by the Europeans is here. The Europeans were divided in 1981, looking after their own interests, leaving off Ballesteros and Tony Jacklin from their weak team, all because of petty disputes. But after they came to their senses in 1983 and put the great Seve Ballesteros on the team, and came within inches of winning, things started to jell. It was in the team room after that 1983 loss that Seve convinced his teammates (who included Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam) that they had what it takes to beat the Americans. They came together as a team because of Seve's pep talks and Tony Jacklin's coaching. And they went on from there to win 7 of the next 10 matches between 1985 and 2004 !!! American team couldn't believe that their losses were any more than fluke losses, even though it happened over and over again. And even though Seve, Faldo, Langer, Lyle, Woosie, and Olazabal no longer play for the Europeans, they'e obviously left that team spirit behind, as witness the 2004 drubbing the Europeans (with no major champions) gave to the Americans on their home soil. The evolution of the European team from huge underdogs with little to no chance in 1981 to the dominant favorites defending in Ireland in 2006 is the great story of the modern Ryder Cup. This is good reading, get it.