Ryder Cup diary: Pairings revealed for opening session
It is the walk of the golfing gladiator. From the practice putting green at the Marco Simone Country Club, there are 27 steps up to a raised walkway decorated with the names of the Ryder Cup European team. Beside them is a portaloo just in case. By now the heart will be racing, the chants from the first tee clearly audible. Climb the stairs and the European blue amphitheatre, with its sketched colosseum arches, towers into view.
With each stride the noise grows louder as the elevated pathway – decorated with the names of Europe’s 12 players – snakes some 100 yards before descending. Down 27 more steps and into the cool of the tunnel under the stands.
Bark is crunching beneath your feet but by now there is no way of hearing it. The tumult above from the 4,800 shoehorned into the grandstand curve is too much.
A square of light beckons. Mouth dry, you edge towards it and take a deep breath. There is no way back now. You step out into the arena, the place where a golfer feels more alive than at any other moment in his career. It is also a space where they can die a thousand deaths. Thankfully, only metaphorically.
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Rome will hit the spot when it comes to the staging of the 44th Ryder Cup. In many ways this is the boldest one yet, a long way from European golf’s comfort zone. But if the DP World Tour craved an evocative setting they have it.
The prospect of 50,000-strong crowds each day means this Ryder Cup is set to be a huge money-spinner for the Tour with a forecast profit of £13.6m.
And yet here’s the thing: Europe’s players will not receive a penny for taking part. The Americans will be given £164,000 ($200,000) each by the PGA of America but only to divert to a charitable cause of their choice.
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In this era of LIV Golf’s millions and prize funds swollen beyond all recognition, it is incredible that the world’s best golfers will put everything on the line in pursuit of nothing but glory. Fabulous too.
“It’s always about having something more to play for, something more than just yourself. You are playing for other people, playing for your teammates, representing your families, representing where you are from,” said Europe’s captain Luke Donald.
“That’s why you see the high emotions that you do in the Ryder Cup because it is pure, pure sport, with all the other stuff kind of taken out. The Ryder Cup will always be above all that stuff.”
This is professional sport stripped back to its raw essence. There is no colossal winners’ cheque for either team at the end, just a golden cup and the opportunity to share in an experience that is beyond special. For this week alone, that is beyond price.
“The Ryder Cup is as good as it gets,” said USA’s Justin Thomas. “The feelings that go through your body and your head when you’re out trying to compete and win points in a Ryder Cup are something I don’t and haven’t felt anywhere else.”
Whatever the stresses of that walk to the first tee, there is no place on earth these 24 players would rather be.
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