GOLF | RYDER CUP The conspiracy of Rome

“If we play like this weekend, the score will be the same in Rome,” says Jordan Spieth. The ‘wonder boy’ delved even further into the wound in Europe after the Wisconsin nightmare. The final 19 to 9, the biggest beating in history since the current duel began in 1979, left the twelve members of the team captained by Padraig Harrington touched. The tears of Lowry, Poulter, McIlroy or Fleetwood showed the scar on their pride and most announced their intention to play the 44th edition to get revenge. The conspiracy in Rome (September 29 to October 1, 2023) is underway.

“If I continue to play well enough to be included in the team I would want to be there,” said a humble Jon Rahm starring in the anecdote of the press conference as all eleven colleagues turned to Barrika’s Spaniard to answer him and provoke a general laugh: “You’ll be fine, Jon. Surely you’ll be in the team.” The number one in the world, at 26 years old, is the basis of the future of Europe together with the Norwegian Hovland (23) the English Fleetwood (30) or the Irish Lowry (34). “There are young guys who will be the heart of the team in the future. Some have not yet reached their peak so we should see even more strength in the future. This time it did not go well, but that happens in the sport. If you want to have glorious moments, you have to stick your head out and sometimes it gets ripped off. It is the reality of sport. We were beaten by a better team this week, but Europe will fight again, “said Harrington in a message of hope … and perhaps farewell since he may not repeat as captain in Italy, a position for which Lee Westwood already sounds strongly.

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The 48-year-old Englishman hinted that Whistling Straits had been his end at Ryder, a farewell that other names such as Paul Casey or Ian Poulter could share. Three members of the old guard, all over 40; an age not reached by any member of the United States whose ‘veteran’ is Dustin Johnson (37 years old). Precisely, the number two in the world ranking achieved a milestone in Wisconsin by adding five points and becoming the fifth player to achieve it. in a single issue of the Ryder after Larry Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Gardner Dickinson and Francesco Molinari. And the first American since 1979.

Europe wants revenge, but the future brings chills. The average of the 12 fantastic of the USA is 28.9 years … and in the bedroom is, for example, Patrick Reed (31). ‘The Old Continent’ led a team with 34.5 years, but the good news is that the spine is very young and has powerful alternatives for the future that should already reach the Roman appointment as the Frenchman Victor Pérez (29), the Scotsman Robert MacIntyre (25) or Italian Guido Migliozzi (24). Even the return of Francesco Molinari (38), a player with a very Ryder profile, is more than possible. “What happened makes the fire grow within each one of us for the appointment in two years in Rome,” warns McIlroy.