If the Ryder Cup existed the golf would not be the same.
If the Ryder Cup did not exist, probably neither Sergio García nor Jon Rahm would be the players who are nowadays.
The Spaniards are two of the fundamental pillars of the European team that will try since Friday to retain the trophy, in the 43rd edition of the competition, in hostile territory.
The atmosphere will be more adverse than ever, since the entry restrictions in the United States will make the European hobby have to settle for following this single show on television.
If the Ryder Cup did not exist, maybe Jon Rahm would not be a professional golf player.
When Jon was 3 years old, friends close to his parents came to see the competition played in Valderrama in 1997 and ended up as captivated by the live lived show that infected his enthusiasm to Edorta and Angela, parents of the world number 1, who would end up
Weeks later pointing to his first golf lessons.
The end of history, they already know it.
In the case of Sergio García, we must go back to the 1995 Ryder Cup in the United States.
At 15, the ‘Mozart’ of European Golf was invited to tire the professionals in exhibition matches.
Contact the tournament atmosphere of the hand of Severiano Ballesteros would forever mark the Borriol player: “I remember that Seve got between ropes through the 12th hole. We were talking a little and was explaining things. It was an incredible moment.
I took a picture with him, obviously, “Sergio said still with the illuminated face.
“I remember walking towards the international pavilion and seeing some European followers singing, I felt a huge energy, at that time I was 15 years old and I thought I should be part of that at some point in my life,” he finished.
Twenty-six, nine participations (this will be the tenth) and 25 and a half points later, Sergio García can boast of being the best player in the history of the Ryder Cup, at least in the numerical, since no one has reached those figures.
With this experience and palmarés, nobody questions, that, although Spanish is not at the best time, it was one of the three elections of the European Captain Padraig Harrington.
As seen on training days, Sergio García and Jon Rahm could play together in the field of Whistling Straits, a pharaonic project of the Herb Kohler American tycoon magnate.
It is a tour links on the banks of the imposing Lake Michigan, with more than a thousand sand traps.
They tell that the number of bunkers is not known exactly, since nobody has been able to make a rigorous count.
They also count that Kohler landed the private plane of him a few years ago in the land of Seve Ballesteros and fell in love with a Cantabrian and coastal farm.
There he decided to raise another dream resort and honor the genius of Pedreña, but the project remains stuck in permits and political bureaucracy.
Jon Rahm faces the appointment with feelings found: he arrives as the best player in the world and with the responsibility of taking on the weight of the team in his second experience in the competition.
Three years ago in Paris, Jon played the first two games of him without being able to add any point and, against all odds, the captain sat at the bench.
A situation that generated anxiety in Barrika’s player, until in Sunday’s singles, get rid of Tiger Woods.
Maybe that was the last time for Woods in the prestigious tournament.
On paper, the United States is again favorite.
The world ranking average of Steve Stricker’s team is 8.9, the lowest in history since data are accounted for.
European players average 30,8.
The Field Factor will be fundamental and already in the days of practices has surprised the avalanche of fanatics who will crowd the field and put a lot of pressure on Europeans.
In favor of Europe, winner of the last edition, is the experience.
The average age of the continental team exceeds 35 years, with only three newbies;
While the United States average 29, on a team with half of its debuting players in the competition.
