Roger Alton Roger Alton

Please don’t let the Ryder Cup go the way of football

What's wrong with a quiet round followed by a modest handshake and a gin and tonic?

Captain Paul McGinley lifts the trophy after Team Europe retained the Ryder Cup Photo: Getty 
issue 04 October 2014

Well, that was a lot of fuss wasn’t it? The Ryder Cup is a strange old creation, only fractionally less momentous than D-Day, judging by some of the hoo-hah, but it can turn even Nigel Farage into a proud European. The Little Englander agreed, very gamely, to appear in a Paddy Power advert, for which I’m told he didn’t get paid a bean, and urge everyone to ‘swing for Europe’. Mocking Americans called Hunter, Webb and Bubba — ‘those aren’t names, they’re noises’ — Nige sighed for heroic European names, such as Henrik, Sergio and Justin. Sometimes you think it is all going the way of football, with ugly tribalism, shaved heads, ‘banter’ and lunatic chest-pumping celebrations. (Step forward Ian Poulter.) Please guys, what’s wrong with a quiet round in a silly pullover, followed by a modest handshake and a gin and tonic (not slimline) in the clubhouse?

Well, it is the Ryder Cup, I suppose.

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