Ryder Cup Time

As of today, the United States holds all of the following basketball titles:

1. The Olympic gold medal for men's basketball
2. The FIBA mens' basketball championship
3. The Olympic gold medal for women's basketball

and the following golf titles:

4. The Ryder Cup (U.S. male pros v. European male pros)
5. The Presidents' Cup (U.S. male pros v. Rest-of-the-world pros)
6. The Walker Cup (U.S. male amateurs v. Great Britain and Ireland male amateurs)
7. The Solheim Cup (U.S. female pros v. European female pros)
8. The Curtis Cup (U.S. female amateurs v. Great Britain and Ireland female amateurs)

I don't remember the last time we held all eight of these titles at the same time, and in fact it may never have happened before. It may never happen again. But we should all enjoy it today, because we are losing the Ryder Cup this weekend.

Here are the results of the Ryder Cups held in Europe since the Europeans started fielding a complete team:

1981 (Walton Heath, England): USA 18 1/2, Europe 9 1/2
1985 (The Belfry, England): Europe 16 1/2, USA 11 1/2
1989 (The Belfry, England): Europe 14, USA 14 (Europe retains cup with tie)
1993 (The Belfry, England): USA 15, Europe 13
1997 (Valderrama, Spain): Europe 14 1/2, USA 13 1/2
2002 (The Belfry, England): Europe 15 1/2, USA 12 1/2
2006 (The K Club, Ireland): Europe 18 1/2, USA 9 1/2

For those of you keeping score at home, that's a record of 2-4-1 for the Americans, with a current streak of three losses in a row. Furthermore, in the last four Ryder Cups (wherever played), the Europeans have taken 64 points, compared to only 48 for the Americans. Of course, the Americans have been quite bad almost the whole year -- and Tiger (who has never been good in the Ryder Cup and who has been useless all year) will presumably do nothing for us. And finally, the Europeans have a strong incentive to take back the Cup they lost in Kentucky two years ago.

Add it all up, and the Europeans should be regarded as overwhelming favorites. Indeed, the bookies are offering 2-1 odds to anyone willing to take the United States. I am not willing to do so. Here is my prediction:

Europe: 17
USA: 11