It has been 24 days since the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup closed and Europe prevailed over the United States at the Marco Simone in Rome by 16.5-11.5. It’s a prudent time as any other to, once the historical data has been updated, entertain oneself by highlighting some more or less surprising facts.
Let’s go with this curious litany, in which of course Jon Rahm, our only representative in Rome, will be the main protagonist, although not the only one.
– Let’s point out, first of all, that there are already 359 golfers who have played at least one Ryder Cup match in the 44 editions contested. From 1927, the year of the first edition, to our days. Before this last Ryder there were 351, but the appearance of eight rookies in Rome, four Europeans (MacIntyre, Averg, Straka and Hojgaard) and four Americans (Harman, Homa, Burns and Clark) raised the figure to 359.
Of this total of 359, it should be noted that 161 belong to the European side and 198 to the American side.
– It is very difficult to get to play a Ryder Cup, but it is even more difficult to get to play a second one. Thus, almost forty percent of that total of 359 players only played one Ryder Cup (a total of 141 players, 65 Europeans and 76 Americans).
– Of the 161 Europeans who have played at least one Ryder Cup match, only 48 have played more Ryder Cup editions than Jon Rahm, who reached three in Rome.
– As is well known, only eleven Spanish players have played the Ryder Cup. Let’s remember them again: Severiano Ballesteros, Antonio Garrido, Manuel Piñero, José María Cañizares, Pepín Rivero, José María Olazábal, Nacho Garrido, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Sergio García, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Jon Rahm. Well, Rahm already occupies the fourth place in this list in terms of points scored. The Basque scored three points in Rome (two victories and two draws) and reached a total of 7.5 points, so he is now only behind the three great Spanish myths in the Ryder, Sergio (28.5), Seve (22.5) and Olazábal (20.5). Jon still has a long way to go to match them, which gives an idea of the feat achieved by the other three…
– And it is that in the entire history of this competition only twelve players, between the two squads, have reached or exceeded the figure of twenty points, the real threshold of true excellence. They are seven Europeans: Sergio (28.5), Faldo (25), Langer (24), Westwood (24), Montgomerie (23.5), Seve (22.5) and Olazábal (20.5). And five Americans: Billy Casper (23.5), Arnold Palmer (23), Phil Mickelson (21.5), Lanny Wadkins (21.5) and Lee Treviño (20).
© Golffile | David Lloyd
– In good logic, only one player could reach or exceed that magical figure of twenty points soon and thus join this absolutely exclusive club. It is Rory McIlroy, of course. The Northern Irishman scored four points in five matches in Rome and reached a total of 18 points. However, it would be foolish to take for granted that it will happen in two years at Bethpage. First of all, he would have to qualify, which seems reasonable to happen, considering the level of this player and his ascendancy in the group, but it cannot be taken for granted one hundred percent. And secondly, once in New York, he would have to score at least those two points he needs to reach twenty, a milkmaid’s account that should not be made if the Ryder Cup is concerned…
– Jon Rahm’s percentage in the ratio of points won to matches played (7.5 points in 12 matches) is already at an interesting 62.50 percent. But he has not yet reached the impressive figures of other European players who, moreover, have played more editions. The best in this sense are Luke Donald, who in four editions won 70 percent (10.5 points in 15 matches), Olazábal, who in seven editions won 66.13 percent (20.5/31), Montgomerie, who in eight editions won 65.28 (23.5/36), Poulter, who in seven editions won 64 percent (16/25) and Sergio, who in ten editions won 63.33 percent (28.5/45).
– Apart from the editions played, there is another interesting benchmark to determine the weight of a player, which is the number of matches played. Jon has already played a total of twelve matches and it should be noted that of the 359 players who have played at least one Ryder Cup match, only one hundred reached double digits, that is, the dispute of at least ten matches. Fifty Europeans and fifty Americans. In this sense, the Ryder in Rome did not change anything at the top. Mickelson and Westwood remain the players who have played the most matches in history (47), closely followed by Faldo (46) and Sergio (45). Of all of them, apparently only Sergio could continue adding in future editions, although it does not seem easy right now…
Rory, by the way, reached in Rome the not inconsiderable figure of 33 matches played in seven editions. That is, since he debuted in 2010 he has played all the editions and in this time he has only missed two matches out of the 35 possible. It is a crazy pace that proves his weight in the European team (he averages 4.7 matches played out of five possible in each Ryder), but even maintaining such a pace he would still need three more editions to surpass the 47 matches of Mickelson and Westwood.
– Jon is already a decisive factor in the European side, there is no need to insist on it. But there is no better way to highlight the historical scoring record of Sergio García than by establishing the following rule: to equal or surpass Sergio’s 28.5 points, Jon would, for example, have to play seven more Ryder Cups and score a minimum of three points in each one… It does not seem easy to achieve, rather it seems almost impossible. Rory himself would need to score 3.5 points per edition in three more he played to equal the 28.5 points of the Castellon player.
