Ryder Cup's rely on 'point' magnifiers
DeChambeau could be the catalyst Team USA needs to fuel the passion at Bethpage
Can Bryson DeChambeau orchestrate some magic for Team USA (Michael Reaves/PGA of America)
Every match is worth just a point in the Ryder Cup. All points, however, are not created equal.
Obviously, certain situations are more dramatic — and impactful — than others. Some occur within the fabric of a match. At other times, they are significant because of who the winner (or loser) is. As a result, a single point’s value can sometimes seem tenfold.
A great example of a significant point came in 2012 at Medinah on Saturday afternoon in the final four-ball match.
The U.S. team led 8-4 after the Saturday morning foursomes and won the first two matches in the afternoon four-balls to build a six-point lead that would make playing the Sunday singles almost unnecessary.
The European team had been clearly outmatched for the first 14 matches. The end was seemingly in sight.
But Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia won a tense 1-up decision against Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods in the third match of the Saturday afternoon four-ball. That left it up to the team of Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy to try to get the tally within reasonable reach or fall hopelessly behind.
Poulter, a demonstrative and volatile Englishman, along with the best player on the European side made six birdies at the end of the match — the last five credited to Poulter for a 1-up victory and a four-shot deficit going into singles instead of five or six.
The win was only worth one point, but the emotion from the win buoyed a European team that just an hour before was teetering on despondence.
“I think the Ryder Cup should build a statue for him,” 2012 European captain José María Olazábal said after Poulter’s late Saturday fireworks. “That’s why we say that he has such a special character for this event. He thrives at this event. He loves to be in the spotlight. He loves to be in that kind of situation. And what he did today was just outstanding, period. Just amazing. The way he played those last few holes, making those clutch putts, that is the expression of Ryder Cup.”
Few played Ryder Cup like Poulter and his win that afternoon gave the Europeans a fighting chance.
The Americans have always struggled to have a personality like Poulter — with a some like Patrick Reed, Chris DiMarco and Paul Azinger doing there best down the years. But that catalyst may be available in 2025.
Bryson DeChambeau was seemingly an outsider in his only other Ryder Cup appearance in 2021. Somewhat immature and disliked by some, DeChambeau was a talented but difficult prodigy.
Over the last four years even as a LIV golfer since 2022, DeChambeau has become a rock star with golf fans, boasting two majors on his résumé and a YouTube following of 2.43 million subscribers.
He optimizes the kind personality golf’s hierarchy is looking for: a person who brings the younger generation into the game.
And he just might be the package of personality and skill needed by a U.S. team that is still licking its wounds from Rome.