The Americans favourite for this year’s Ryder Cup
The 2012 Ryder Cup is approaching and players are getting ready for one of the toughest competitions in the sport of golf. The United States team will face the Europeans from September 28 to 30, at the historic Medinah Country Club.
Since its inception in 1925, the venue has hosted some of the biggest tournaments, including US Open, PGA Championship and US Senior Open for three, two and one time, respectively.
Whenever a big event is organized at Medinah, the Americans tend to dominate the field because of their experience and the home soil advantage giving them an edge.
The 14-time major champion Tiger Woods, who is a part of this year’s US team, also has a great track record at the site of this year’s team tournament. He won the 1999 and 2006 edition of the PGA Championship when held in Medinah.
The course seems to offer a little favour to the Americans. However, it will play equal for both the teams. As far as the qualification process is concerned, both the US and European teams have revised the criteria.
According to the US team requirements, a player must get an automatic entry through listing his name among the top-10 players or get a wild-card entry through one of the four captain’s picks.
On the other hand, Europeans can make it to the final 12 by either getting a top-five spot in The Ryder Cup European Points List or The Ryder Cup World Points List. The remaining two players will be selected by the European team captain.
Jose Maria Olazabal, the European team captain, is set to bring a strong and experienced team to the Ryder Cup this year. Meanwhile, Davis Love III, the US team captain, is also optimistic about his squad’s performance.
Each of the players in the US team have at least one victory registered to their name in the current golf season. On the other hand, the Europeans have dominated in four of the last five Ryder Cups.
Therefore, it is expected to be one of the most challenging events for both the teams, as one has psychological domination because of its past victories and the other has a good track record on the venue.
When the 2012 golf season started, there were only three US players who were listed among the top-10 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Now, the number has increased to five because of the resurgence of players from the country that has always dominated the sport in the last one century.
Woods, who went out of the top-50 at the end of the 2011 season, is once again listed at the second place, trailing Luke Donald on the top. The time is not far away when he will be at the top and will reclaim his lost kingdom.
The Americans have also started to dominate the major championships after they lost their control in the past few years.
Therefore, the home team, despite having a poor track record in the past Ryder Cup editions, will be a hot favourite to win the title this year.
Woods has recorded three PGA Tour wins, and Hunter Mahan and Jason Dufner managed to win two titles each so far in the 2012 PGA Tour season.
Therefore, they can be a major threat to their opponents, especially when they will compete in singles during the tournament.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: