DAVIS LOVE SAYS a Super Bowl-like atmosphere and Medinah’s home-course advantage will empower the Americans and enable them to reclaim the Ryder Cup from their European rivals.
The 48-year-old US skipper knows all about the pressure of a Ryder Cup, having competed in a half dozen, beginning with his first in 1993.
He also knows about winning major championships, capturing the 1997 PGA Championship.
“It is our Olympics or our Super Bowl,” said Love. “It is the biggest thing you can play in golf.
“It is not the same as the PGA Tour where you play week after week after week and then there is a major. It is more pressure. It is something where we are scared to lose and we want the Cup back.”
The Americans have lost four of the last five Ryder Cups, including the last one in 2010 at Celtic Manor Resort in Wales. Their last victory was four years ago at Valhalla in Kentucky and they hope playing on home soil in front of raucous partisan galleries will give them the edge this time.
“You get to the last nine of PGA Championship and you are in the hunt and you get really nervous,” Love said. ”At the Ryder Cup you get really nervous on Thursday when they have the opening ceremonies and put the flags up and you realise you are playing for your country and every shot from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon is that kind of last nine holes of a major pressure.”
New guys
With four rookies this year and 10 of the top 16 ranked players in the world there will be no shortage of firepower for the US team that will play Europe at Chicago’s historic Medinah course September 28-30.
This is the first time the event will take place at the Medinah Country Club but the golf course is no stranger to international tournaments having hosted five major championships.
“It is going to be a great event,” said American Steve Stricker, who is making his third-straight appearance in the Ryder Cup. “From what I heard is they sold out of just about everything. I know the Chicago area is going to support it tremendously. We lost it last time at Celtic Manor and we want to get that back. Everybody will be fired up and it should be quite a scene and a lot of fun.
