Three things we learned from the 2023 Ryder Cup

So that’s the 2023 Ryder Cup all wrapped up until 2025. After the first day, it looked to be mission complete for the Europeans, but there certainly were a couple of nervy moments on Sunday afternoon! But the boys got the job done and here are Zeon Golf’s three main takeaways from the Ryder Cup. And don’t worry, it’s not to mention a glance of the Zeon Golf Apollo snapback making an appearance!

European stars shone through

Now we aren’t going to pick a single stand-out star for the European team, but we can pick out three; Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland all had a significant impact on the Ryder Cup. Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are two of the most established players on the European Ryder Cup team and along with Viktor Hovland, who has had a remarkable rise this season, helped push the European team over the line.

Rahm’s iron shots seemed dialled in from the first hole of the weekend, whilst Hovland was able to continue his impressive form that brought him the FedExCup title by five shots last month. But it was McIlroy that could be argued to provide the spark for the whole event, which is even more impressive given that only two years ago, he only managed to register a single point at the last Ryder Cup. Well done boys!

The Saturday that shaped the Ryder Cup

We’ve spoken about the three European players that we thought helped drive Europe forward to Ryder Cup victory. But there were also two moments on Saturday that helped move the dial in Europe’s favour.

The first seemed to take place on the morning of Saturday, which was Cantlay’s refusal to wear USA caps due to a dispute regarding pay. This has not been confirmed by team USA of course, but the news quickly spread in the media, which meant even more pressure on the course with European fans waving caps at Cantlay during the round.

The second moment took place on Saturday evening, well after a close to the day’s golf. McIlroy and Cantlay’s caddie were filmed having an argument in the car park, with McIlroy supposedly unhappy with Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, celebrations on the 18th green. It was much to do about nothing in reality, but it certainly lit a fire within McIlroy, which helped him roar to victory on Sunday in his own singles match.

We all know the Ryder Cup can bring out emotions, but in the era of social media, we wonder if the American team would look back and wonder if these two moments are when the Ryder Cup slipped away.

Time for a rethink?

And finally, is it time for a rethink on the Ryder Cup structure? Controversial subject we know, but we do wish the Ryder Cup may take inspiration from the Presidents Cup in allowing matched pairings on the final day of the Ryder Cup next year.

The home advantage does clearly have a huge impact on the overall victor of a Ryder Cup, as in the past nine Ryder Cups the away team has only won once. One suggestion to fix this is allow the ‘away team’ to pair players against the ‘home team’ on the Sunday. This could really ramp up the pressure on the Sunday, giving the away team chance to try and reclaim some points and make the event closer come Sunday evening.

Whether you agree or disagree with our takeaways, we hope you enjoyed the Ryder Cup as much as we did. We can’t wait for the next Ryder Cup at bethpage black in 2025!

Swing easy out there brothers!