It may not be the only show in world golf this week, but it might as well be.
Since Scottie Scheffler tapped in from about a foot on the 72nd hole at Royal Portrush, the Ryder Cup has been the metaphorical elephant in every elite men’s golfing room, and we’re now just hours from the opening tee shots being hit.
The teams are long picked, the uniforms decided, heads measured to ensure that all hats fit, and the overall golf course setup finalised.
So, what remains to be picked over?
Well, in this series we’ll take a look at the big questions that remain to be answered.
5. Who is going to be MVP?
Tiger Woods never went 5-0-0 at a Ryder Cup, neither did Seve Ballesteros or Ian Poulter. Jack Nicklaus won all four of his matches at Walton Heath in 1981, but was rested for the opening day’s afternoon fourball matches.
Dustin Johnson won all five at Whistling Straits in 2021, Francesco Molinari did the same at Le Golf National in 2018, and Larry Nelson managed it at The Greenbrier in 1979. Those are the only three instances of a player having a perfect record since continental Europe entered the contest.
So, winning five points is an extremely rare thing.
2023 in Rome was Rory McIlroy’s best performance from a point-winning angle, taking four wins and a loss, and his fury at Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava after the Saturday fourball matches may well have been fuelled by him missing out on a chance to join such an elite club.
But by claiming four points, nobody did more for their side. Special mentions to Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, and Max Homa though.
Rory played all four matches on debut in 2010 – rain forced the tie to be reduced to four sessions – and, with the exception of Whistling Straits in 2021, has played in all five in every Ryder Cup since. And barring a drastic dip in form, he’s likely to play all five again.
Rahm played in five sessions at Whistling Straits, but by the time Sunday’s singles came around, he looked a spent force. Then again, he was playing Scottie Scheffler, and we’ve since seen exactly what Scheffler is made of… In Rome, Donald opted to rest Rahm on Saturday afternoon but sent him out first on Sunday and, with the lead Europe had built, the half-point he secured against Scheffler this time was as good as a win.
Hovland is the only European to have played all five sessions in the last two editions. It’s no mean feat to play two matches a day under the sort of intense pressure that the Ryder Cup brings and then still have something in the tank for Sunday, but Hovland has yet to lose in singles matchplay (one win, one tie) and having a player that you can lean on for all five matches if needs be is a significant feather in the cap of a captain.
If Europe are going to take the Ryder Cup trophy back across the Atlantic, they’re going to need at least one of these three players to stake a serious claim for MVP and the supporting cast to push them all the way.
On the U.S. side, only Justin Thomas has played all five matches in a previous Ryder Cup, winning four points on debut at Le Golf National in 2018. Scheffler had to have been pencilled in to play five in Rome before the 9&7 drubbing he and Koepka endured on Saturday morning. Barring something similar, it’s hard to see Bradley not selecting him to play in every session and without him grabbing at least three-and-a-half points, he’ll consider it a disappointing performance.
Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, these are all capable of going four-for-four or five-from-five, but it’s Scheffler that the US public and the US captaincy are banking on leading the way.
Having the MVP on your side is not a guarantee of overall success, but it goes a long way and when 14.5 is the ultimate goal, four or five points is worth its weight in gold.
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