The Ryder Cup is one of my favorite events in golf.  USA versus Europe.  Team atmosphere.  Rowdy fans.  Three formats.  The best players in the world.  What’s not to love?  I had the luxury of going to the singles portion of the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine, and let me tell you, it’s nothing short of spectacular.  With all of that aside, let’s take a peek into this year’s Ryder Cup, and I’ll give some of my personal takes.

Team USA

Captain Jim Furyk’s American team might be the strongest it’s been in a long time.  They have six of the top ten players in the world in World #1 Dustin Johnson, US Open Champion Brooks Koepka, and studs in Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, and our favorite Rickie Fowler.  Add a red hot Tiger Woods to that lineup, and you’ve got a recipe for success. The team is rounded out with Captain America and 2016 hero Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, Tony Finau, and Phil.

Now, I’m not a big fan of the Phil pick.  LGN is one of the tightest golf tracks you’ll come across and Phil is anything but a straight hitter.  But I do get the experience and leadership piece.  That said, I think you might have been better served with Vice Captain Zach Johnson actually playing, but hey that’s just my $.02.  Either way, this is a solid squad poised to retain the Cup.

Team Europe

Thomas Bjorn’s squad is far from a cake walk.  You have a red hot Justin Rose, two of the year’s hottest players in Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, the always dangerous Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Alex Noren, Tyrrell Hatton, Thorbjorn Olesen, and captain’s picks in Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey, and Ryder Cup heroes Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter.  Again, this is the Ryder Cup and will showcase twenty-four of the best players in the world, but all bias aside, I have to give an edge to Team USA here.

The Course

Le Golf National in Paris, France is a new host to the Ryder Cup, and we will see what France can produce from a fan-fare perspective.  If there’s one thing we can guarantee with this course, is that there will be fireworks.  Again, LGN is one of the tightest golf courses you will ever find.  I read a stat the other day that Justin Thomas played an event there recently, and he hit seven drivers ALL WEEK.

Accuracy will be key this week, which is why guys like Phil scare me a tad for team USA, but then again, might (MIGHT) make guys like Rory a little less lethal for Europe.  Hitting fairways will carry a premium this week, and the greens won’t be easy either.  Long irons and short game are going to prove most critical, in my opinion.

What Can we Expect?

Fireworks.  I think this Ryder Cup might be one of the most exciting yet.  The course is tough, the top players in the World have seemed to be peaking at the right time, and this event always seems to bring out some dark horse heroes a la Ian Poulter.  Per usual, it will probably come down to Singles Sunday, I think the key is for those picks who may have played one or no matches to that point to come away with points in order to secure their team a victory.  Either way, the Ryder Cup is a huge treat every other year, and I can’t wait for this one to get going!