2016 Ryder Cup

It starts tomorrow and it has the makings of a very memorable event.

It's being played right after the death of the great Arnold Palmer. Arnie was a global ambassador for golf and was beloved in Britain and Europe, but it should inspire the Americans even more than they are already. The outpouring of grief and all the tributes to The King have been amazing this week as Golf Channel (co-founded by Palmer among his countless other accomplishments) has covered his passing almost non-stop and any golf fan and Arnie fan has to be moved. His death has hit me harder than that of anyone who wasn't in my family. Just a huge loss for the sport and really for the last remnants of the America we yearn for but which keeps slipping further away by the day.

The Americans have "home field" as this year's event is being played at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Medina, Minnesota outside the Twin Cities. The Europeans have been beating the Americans like clockwork for the past two decades. After the most recent defeat two years ago, Phil Mickelson publicly criticized the leadership of Tom Watson and in the aftermath all kinds of "task forces" and other changes have been made in an attempt to end the Euros' hegemony. So losing to the Europeans again, at home and right after the death of Arnold Palmer, will really leave a bitter taste.

And to make it even more interesting, Peter Willett, brother of '16 Masters champion Danny Willett, unleashed an epic anti-American rant (more of an anti-American DWF rant in reality) that will make the atmosphere even more charged for the three-day event. Don't know how much I'll get to watch between football and various obligations but it should be must-see TV for golf fans.

Here's Willett's rant (read down through the whole article to get the full extent of it): https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/golf...cup-storm-with-astonishing-rant-on-americans/

I'm not sure of the political agenda of Willett's brother's "rant," but this line could provide some insight to suggest that he's a white-bashing liberal:

"Team Europe needs to shut those groupies up. They need to stun the angry, unwashed, Make America Great Again swarm."

He wrote the following on his twitter account concerning his imbecilic stance on the Brexit vote, another bad sign:

"Just so you know, I voted remain. But I'll give you the other two."

https://twitter.com/p_j_willett

The guy has written some pretty funny and clever insults, though, such as this humorous comment he wrote in German:

"Dank für meine Schreiben zu lesen. Sie sind ein turd Kauen Narr." [TRANSLATION: "Thanks for reading my writing/letters. You are a turd-chewing fool."]

Golf fans are the classiest group of spectators we have in America. Can you imagine the offenses he could conjure up about basketball/football DWFs?

The U.S. swept the morning matches 4-0. Usually I'm not emotionally invested in the outcome of the Ryder Cup but greatly enjoy the drama of it, but definitely want to see the Americans win this year.

I hope the U.S. team destroys them. The Willett fellow (brother of the golfer) is a true scum bucket. He's not "humorous" but it might be humorous if one of our golfers took the winning putter and bashed his face in.

After the Europeans clawed their way back in through this morning's matches, as well as McIlroy and Pieters winning the first fourball of the afternoon, the USA has came back strong, with 3 wins in the afternoon session. Patrick Reed has been absolutely on fire this afternoon, with 7 birdies and 1 eagle!! He's been carrying Spieth, who's looked off this afternoon. Phil Mickelson has also played well, making some clutch putts on the back 9 as he and Kucher (who also made a huge 50 footer on the Back 9) finished off Garcia and Kaymer.

Lee Westwood also missed a gimmee on 18 to give the USA a full point.

I'll definitely be cheering for the Americans to win it tomorrow.. Go USA!!

I watched the afternoon matches and it was tremendous theater. Patrick Reed entered into legend after his play today, virtually single-handedly defeating the super-powerful duo of Rose and Stenson (gold and silver medalists at Rio) as Jordan Spieth was off his game. Mickelson was awesome as well; if the U.S. prevails he'll deserve a lot of credit for spearheading the overhaul of the way the U.S. team conducts business.

U.S. has a 9.5 to 6.5 lead, with 12 single matches tomorrow to decide it. The last time the Ryder Cup was contested on U.S. soil in 2012, the Americans had a seemingly comfortable 10-6 lead going into Sunday but lost. I don't think that will happen this time but what a great event the Ryder Cup has become with first the U.S. dominating for generations and now the Europeans dominating. Win it for Arnie and his Army!

Hopefully Spieth will be clutch tomorrow and Reed continues to amaze. This could be one of the most memorable Ryder's of all time, and more so because Arnie being the great American that he was. I will always miss him. Total class.

U.S. needs half a point to win the Cup. The only question is which American will get the clincher that starts the mega-celebration. It's on NBC if anyone wants to see it. As was mentioned in the Week 4 NFL thread, it's a sea of White faces, fun to watch.

Americans win! USA USA USA!! For once I'm in solidarity with DWFs.

USA!! What a day of singles matches!! So many Americans played well. Reed, Phil, Moore, Koepka, Fowler, Snedeker, just to name a few of them! What a weekend!! I'm so happy that the Americans pulled it out!! The Reed/Rory match and the Phil/Sergio match were the two best of the day for me.