Question of the week [September 30 – October 6]: What tweaks, if any, would you make to the three main international match-play competitions — the Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup?
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The Solheim and Ryder cup events are enough. Nobody wants or needs the Presidents Cup.
Jim Kavanagh
St. Johns County, Florida
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I would love to see a return to the sportsmanship that used to be the norm in these contests. Over the past 15 to 20 years, these international events have devolved into players encouraging crowd noise, booing the other side and poor reactions to putts not given. I’m not exactly sure when it began, but I think around the time of Davis Love III, Fred Couples, Paul Azinger, Justin Leonard and Boo Weekley.
Having almost as many captains and co-captains as there are players is simply foolish. All these pros are so used to personal support groups that they need a hand-holder it seems. Very weak-minded.
I think the next Ryder Cup will be the tipping point. The Long Island venue [Bethpage Black] and coupled with the boisterous crowds will lead to over-the-top behavior issues. The sensitive souls on the U.S. team like Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Scottie Scheffler, et al will be aghast when the crowd noise that they’ll encourage against Europe will often turn on them after a poor drive or missed putt. It will definitely happen.
Perhaps if it’s as much of a debacle as I foresee, things may start swinging back to more civility.
Vinny Mooney
Poughkeepsie, New York
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Add LPGA players, as it would strengthen the International Team.
Format:
— 8 men and 8 women per team.
— Session 1: 4 mixed foursomes.
— Session 2: 4 mixed fourball.
— Session 3: Players from Session 1 switch to fourball.
— Session 4: Players from Session 2 switch to foursomes.
— Session 5: 16 individual matches; men vs. men, women vs. women (Women in odd-numbered matches; men in even-numbered matches).
Each team would have one male and one female designated as substitute for injury or illness purposes, bringing rosters to 10 each.
Tom Horan
Clermont, Florida
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I'd leave the Solheim and Ryder Cups alone. Let's make the Presidents Cup both men and women. Then we would get to see the best men and women competing in a team event every year. And by including women on the International team, the event would become more competitive than it is now.
Chris Belanger
Cincinnati, Ohio
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One, in the Presidents Cup, let the International captain pick one or two European players. I saw a comment where the International Team would have two players from each geographical area, but that has the opposite effect because it rules out some quality players.
For what it's worth, the Internationals played very well on Sunday, except Jason Day losing the matches on the last hole or two and Tom Kim missing a 4-footer for a win on 18.
Some want a bigger change, due to the U.S. domination. But the U.S. has such a bigger pool for developing players — the college, amateur and juniors. We develop more solid players. The Internationals are close enough to make it fun to watch. Even if the Internationals were losing every day, every time by lopsided matches, how can you equalize it? Golf is golf. Everybody plays the same course, same equipment. If the advertisers are buying airtime, it's their money.
I did have a bone to pick with NBC. On Saturday, I forgot to start recording it live. So I set the DVR to record the re-broadcast, using the guide display on screen for when the repeat is set to play. When I played the recording later, instead of starting from the start of the match, the re-broadcast started with a one-hour recap of the day, so I instantly saw the results. Boo. No suspense.
Donn Rutkoff
Oceanside, California
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Do away with lines on the ball and players stomping and straddling their putting line to feel the ground.
Ben Duncan
Quincy, Florida
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Guess most do not agree with me: "The girls" can play and would add to the Presidents Cup — big time. And this is from a Canadian over-the-hill guy who has been around a long time, including having lived in the United States.
How about that, sports fans.
Bill Bamber
Edmonton, Alberta
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In these Cup matches each team has 12 players. These players are accustomed to playing four rounds of golf on a regular basis. Why not have six matches a day on Thursday thru Saturday and 12 singles on Sunday? I believe there were several players on each team who had played in only one or two sessions each.
It is supposed to be a team event, so let the entire team play every session. You would eliminate anybody claiming to be tired or not getting enough playing time. Under this format we would know who really had the best team.
Bob Beasley
Greensboro, North Carolina
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Why change? Is it the players, captains, tours that want the change or is it all the media sources?
Look how long it took the Europeans to turn the tide on the Americans in the Ryder Cup and now who is on the short end of the stick? The Solheim Cup is different, it’s been close since the beginning. It’s a good thing we haven’t let the Asian players in because we would probably be on the short end of that stick. Presidents Cup, do you think playing in these types of events every year makes a difference? The Internationals vs the Europeans every other year might toughen the International Team. If this happened the U.S. might never beat the Euros.
What if everybody on the teams played in these events, no hiding the weak link? Look at the NFL and college football. Parity … is that good, has it made these products better? It seems every time we have dominance, we want to change that.
Wayne Smith
Georgetown, Texas
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Front: The Europeans celebrate winning the 44th Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in 2023.
Photo: Mateo Villalba / Golffile