The Ryder will return to Spain in 2031, hallelujah. It was the first country outside the British Isles to host this event and will again be the first to do so for a second time. It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence; hierarchy is hierarchy, and after all, Spanish golf has played a decisive role in the history of this very special competition. Here and now, we will simply review some pure and hard numbers, without delving into other considerations of equal or greater importance, which transcend the merely tangible.
– Since 1979, the first edition of the Ryder where Europe played as such, only 93 different players have represented the European squad (1979-2023), of which only 39 have been from outside Great Britain and Ireland. As is well known, eleven of those 39 have been Spanish players, a truly considerable percentage. Let’s review the list once more: Seve, Antonio Garrido, Manuel Piñero, José María Cañizares, Pepín Rivero, Olazábal, Nacho Garrido, Sergio, Jiménez, Cabrera Bello, and Jon Rahm.
– During this time (1979-2023), England has been by far the country that has contributed the most players, 28 of the 93 mentioned. Following, three countries are tied with eleven players: Spain, Sweden, and Scotland, in addition to the two Irelands, which also add another eleven (six Irish and five Northern Irish).
– During this time (1979-2023), a total of 616 matches/points have been played in the 22 editions of the Ryder that have taken place, and in 141 of them, there was Spanish presence (43 in singles matches and 98 in pairs matches). In those 141 matches, Europe scored 77.5 points, or in other words, almost 55 percent (54.96), a more than relevant figure in the percentage standards of a competition as tough as the Ryder.
– In the singles matches section, Spanish golf fares the worst, although its numbers, against a powerhouse like the United States, are more than remarkable. In the 43 singles matches played by the eleven Spanish Ryder players, there were 15 wins, 6 draws, and 22 losses, for a total of 18 points, which represents 41.86 percent. Indeed, it’s not bad at all.
– In the 98 pairs matches with Spanish presence, Europe scored the not insignificant figure of 59.5 points, which represents 60.71 percent of the total.
– But the percentages skyrocket when analysing the pairs matches in which two Spaniards competed together. It has happened 35 times, with a record of 23 wins, 5 draws, and only 7 losses, for a total of 25.5 points, which represents an astonishing percentage of 72.85.
– At this point, it could be argued that a single duo, the one formed by Seve and Chema, did much of the work. And it’s true. They played 15 matches together, with a legendary record of 11 wins, 2 draws, and only 2 losses, for a total of 12 points, which is a galactic 80 percent of the total. But let’s not underestimate the figures of the other pairs formed by two Spanish players, whose particular record, not counting the Seve-Chema pair, is 20 matches played, with 12 wins, three draws, and only five losses, for a tremendous percentage of 67.5.
– These have been the TEN SPANISH PAIRS that have occurred to date in the history of the Ryder (1979-2023):
– Seve and Antonio Garrido. They played four matches together; won only one and lost three.
– Seve and Manuel Piñero. They played four matches together; won three and lost one.
– Cañizares and Rivero. They played one match together and won it.
– Seve and Olazábal. They played fifteen matches together; won eleven, drew two, and lost two.
– Olazábal and Jiménez. They played two matches together; one win and one draw.
– Olazábal and Nacho Garrido. They played one and drew it.
– Olazábal and Sergio. They played two and won them.
– Sergio and Jiménez. They played once together and lost.
– Sergio and Cabrera Bello. They played two matches together; won one and drew another.
– Sergio and Jon Rahm. They have played three matches together with a record of three wins.
– Already, it is very striking the Spanish reliability in the most complicated and delicate modality, the foursomes. A Spanish pair has played in this modality 16 times, with a record of 12 wins, 2 draws, and only 2 losses.
– In short, it almost goes without saying, but just in case: since Europe has played as such, there has never been a Ryder Cup European team without at least one Spanish player, and there have been 22 editions. We must value it, as only England can boast the same. They even played four in 1985 (Seve, Piñero, Cañizares, and Rivero), precisely in the edition where Europe beat the United States for the first time. For now, it also seems assured that there will be at least one Spaniard in Bethpage in two months, as long as Luke Donald handpicks Jon Rahm, as it seems he will, barring a major surprise.
