大象传媒

You've been fantastic. I've really loved the Ryder Cup bl*g. Well done on a good job all round.

Anyone know whether Tiger's 9 iron was recovered?

To Claire, Iain, Jay, Matt and Rob thanks for sharing the banter and making a memorable weekend all the more special. Enjoyed your coverage and look forward to more 'blog' reports in the future. Roll on 2008!

Hi Grant, yep, they got Tiger's 9-iron. A diver in a drysuit went in for it. (Caddie Steve Williams dropped it in the water on the 7th)

"We got the club back on 15 so I figure it must have been a European who was diving for it," joked Woods.

He admitted he needed it on the 11th.

"I had a perfect number, 127 (yards)," he said. "I went with just a tiny little 8-iron. Worked out ok, made birdie."

Couldn't the Americans team up with maybe Canada, Fiji, Argentina etc to make it Europe vs Americas. Then it might be a more interesting contest.

Please please please let the 大象传媒 teleivise the next Ryder Cup.Skye`s coverage of the event was woeful,no structure to the coverage,little co ordination of, and between, the competitors shots during matches and poor on screen information left us all confused as to what was going on.
On screen information,important with his `complicated` form of competition, was rare, if not non existantant, and that stating `Putting for Par`indicate a fundimental lack of knowledge regarding match play golf.
All in all a great sporting event poorly for produced for the public Please reply

Wonderful win. I blubbed with the team and for Darren in particular. Well done to all involved.

I agree with David Jack, Sky's coverage was nearly as bad as his spelling! Sorry mate, couldn't resist...

Well done to the 'bloggers' for some truly entertaining reads. The gags have been absolutely class!

well about david jacks comment. if bbc's coverage would be anything like the masters then sky all the way for ryder cup. there was only like a a few hours of the masters. also the "putting for par" bit. sky would put that if the other team had a par putt. therefore sky arent going to put on screen! "putting for a possible half if "usa" hole there par putt" sorry if i am misunderstanding your comment! neways fantastic win for europe!!

To David Jack
Could not agree more! As a sporting contest it has been without equal in recent years. Would have been even better if the "Team America" (NOT their players) had been more gracious in defeat. Tom Lehman recognises the team spirit that saw a "thumping victory" (to quote McGinley), shame the US broadcasters don't see how to be generous in the face of Europe's victory... 大象传媒 - put your bids in now.

The pink jackets were to show support for Cancer Research. Great job by all the team, a tough act for Faldo to follow.

Sport how it should be played!
Passion ,emotion, sportsmanship in abundance and most of all humanity.
I too was in tears-God bless you Darren.
Football and Cricket -YOU'VE GOT A LOT TO LEARN !!

Thanks for your blog. It made me enjoy the victory even more.

What more can be said about Darren Clarke that we haven't already seen with our own eyes..an absoloute hero of the game to get 3 wins out of 3 under that pressure, and still knows how to enjoy a nice Guiness. What a man...

Can I also say tht I would love to see Jimenez at the next Ryder Cup and would love to know whether I'm just mad?

What more can be said about Darren Clarke that we haven't already seen with our own eyes..an absoloute hero of the game to get 3 wins out of 3 under that pressure, and still knows how to enjoy a nice Guiness. What a man...

Can I also say tht I would love to see Jimenez at the next Ryder Cup and would love to know whether I'm just mad?

Some miscellaneous thoughts ...

I wonder how small Thomas Bjorn is feeling now. Westwood and Clarke were just massive.

In past wins it always felt like Europe had beaten USA only because they (Europe) formed a better team, but this time it feels like they are better golfers too.

No-one should criticise McGinley for his magnanimity on the 18th. Europe won and it was a thrashing. Why care about records? Whatever the hype and whatever the crowds and the public demand, the players should play the Ryder Cup as a sporting contest - a glorious irrelevance - and both teams should aim to complete it as friends. It seems that they achieved that this time: long may it continue.

RE: Pink Jackets.
So the cost of 13 (or more... of them) donated to e.g. cancer research and small ribbons on the european and US kit and some mention of it in the sponsor logos around the course would have been better.
Darren Clarke was immense. And credit to Lehman for mentioning him in hs closing speech.
Is this run as a charity event at all? If not, why not from now on, as it must generate huge revenues.And well done Europe, to single out any of the team does a disservice to the groundwork laid down by one Mr Torrance all those years ago.

Can somebody please tell me what the finances are on the Ryder?
Not a squeak about that all week from any of the journos.
Do these guys get paid? This is said to be the biggest single T.V. sporting event outside the World Cup,so we must be talking $50m plus.Where has it all gone?
Somewhere useful I do so hope.
JM

Regarding David Jack's comment about Sky's fundamental lack of knowledge about matchplay golf, I think it is David that suffers from this. 'Putting For Par' is only shown when the first team putts. 'Putting for Half/Win' can only be shown when the second team has a decisive putt. As Jamie said, they are not going to display "putting for a possible half if "usa" hole there par putt" as that would be stupid. Forgive Sky for showing some sense in doing it this way!

Personally I thought Sky's extensive coverage was excellent. I watched it from start to finish and the knowledge & banter combined made for an enjoyable weekends viewing. Butch Harmon is a superb member of this top team.

yes well done david....fantastic work with the badminton.

Thanks for the coverage! I'm in Canada and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the Ryder Cup, and congradulate Europe for the outstanding victory! I was in tears with Darren on the 16 and smiling ear-to-ear at the same time! COngrats to the BEST IN THE WORLD!

Firstly thanks to the blogmaster for all the insightful banter.

Secondly, mea culpa, I had previously predicted on this blog a 14 1/2 - 13 1/2 victory for Europe, little was I to realise that Garcia and Clarke, between them 7 points had other ideas.

Wonderful for Clarke, I too was holding back the tears.

And Garcia's loss in the singles should have been predictable, he is that singular specimen of golfer, (in complete contrast to Tiger) a team player who cannot win unless he has someone to chat with. His dispay in the Fourball/foursomes was sublime, left on his own he struggled. If his agent could devise a way of him chatting with someone whilst playing, he will start picking up majors.

Otherwise, we party on, awaiting Valhalla.

Good night from Dublin,

Paul

Beautiful - every year the sordid memories of Brookline fade further into obscurity where they belong.

With American humiliation now almost a ritual at Ryder Cups, perhaps it麓s time the whole of the Americas was enlisted - or perhaps we could loan them Iceland for 2008?

Well done Europe! Three times in a row - can we keep it now?

Well done Ian Woosnam & the European Team! Fabulous victory!

Certainly agree that the Beeb ought to be covering the Ryder Cup live on TV rather than Sky.

The Ryder Cup is surely in there among the finest of sporting crown jewels, and should be free to view LIVE for the nation鈥檚 sport lovers.

just read blogs for first time, had no sleep in three days here in hong kong, would happily sit through it all again.
What a team and what a result.

Well done Europe. Spanked the yanks big time. Very emotional day. Me, a grown man sat in his living room crying like a baby watching big DC winning his match. I tip my hat to you sir. Have a few pints of the black stuff for me.

Watched all the Ryder cup on Hi Def on skyhd and have to say it was breathtaking how good the picture was. If the 大象传媒 get the Ryder cup again please please make sure its on 大象传媒 HD. Tried to watch the highlights on 大象传媒2 tonight and the picture quality was awful. Hard to watch after being spoilt all day.

Congratulations to Europe's Dream Team from your fans in Canada.
Please dont complain about the Sky coverage too much, I can imagine it was fantastic compared to the Cadillac and Merrill Lynch commercials (advertisements) we had to watch over here, with a bit of Ryder Cup play in between. Also, we had no live coverage until Sunday...

What is the next step for USA? I am at a complete loss of words or advice. The bonding attempt didn't work, the selection change didn't work. I said something last year, John Daly would be my captains pick, lively guy who likes to have fun.

I think we should scrap the current points system for selection. Have 5 captains pick, 5 from world ranking (11 and below) and 2 on points system. What we need are lively people, who will smile, have fun and say hey, its just a game. Oh, here is the big one, don't select any in the top 10 world ranking, a bit too stiff and hey, Europe is winning with people in the 40's and 60's of the world ranking.

Myles, the Ryder Cup is massively invested in charity. Fear not.

Shrewd observation about Torrance, too. He set a new standard (after James' abysmal cock-up) -- with three seriously off-form rookies, he made them immediately equal members of the team, and out of them came at least points and two signal achievements: Price over Mickelson and the McGinley winning putt.

Both Langer and Woosnam have stayed with the "play 'em all early" philosophy and, oh, to what effect. Not a dud in the bunch.

After watching Darren and Woosie downing their pint of Guiness, I am defintely heading to an Irish Pub to down one myself in celebration of a fantastic European victory

why are u guys making big fuss of darren clarke making 3/3. afterall its not as big a deal as winning back to back majors. europeans are just making mountain out of molehill i believe.the only reason americans lost is lack of team sporit. they are so used to being competetive and playing against other players that they just could not overcome that attitude. that doesnt mean europe is great or talented.they are so used to losing to americans in single events that they are projecting this team win as a sum of great individual performances.want some harsh reality check? check the current top 10 players in golf

Great coverage by Sky, I thought. The 大象传媒 made a serious error with their graphics. While everyone was talking about the ammount of "blue on the board", The 大象传媒, in their wisdom, decide to put the Europe scores in RED!!!!!!

Myles
I understand (from radio 5 live) that the players and captains are not paid a fee but are each allowed to make a nomination of a charity which receives some (don't know how much) of the proceeds of the event.
Agree about the 大象传媒/Sky comments, although unless we get a similar Govt. intervention as per other major sports it will all be down to cash.
Superb all round performance.

For those who didn't enjoy Sky's presentation, fair enough - I'd also prefer to see these sort of events on terrestrial. However, for those of us lucky enough to have a HD box, the golf looked amazing! If the 大象传媒 can do it in HD, go for it!

Think the point about the 大象传媒 showing scores in red for Europe was very valid, not their wisest move. Sky did great, first class coverage. Have also thorughly enjoyed this page, some great fun. Well done everyone. You're right, and so am I.

fantastic win Europe cheered you all the way home - another fine win.
I do detect some sour grapes from cms above, let me just say there are 5 US in the top 20 and 8 Europeans, only one of those from the US has won outside america and most of the Europeans have won in America - guess that helps to level it up!

cms's comment - such an obvious wind up. If you can't appreciate DCs performance after all his emotional turmoil you don't have a empathic bone in your body.
But on Mr Clarke - that's enough coverage of the man now. Give him some space.

Reply to cms's comments,
We're talking about the Ryder Cup here, not about major records and individual performances. Who cares who's in the worlds top 10, or how many majors the teams have won, that only goes to underline and emulsify Europes immense performance. This is the best European team ever, because of talent. For that reason we played much the better golf and were good value for the win. So I completely disagree, Europe ARE great AND talented. And I dont agree with this lack of team spirit cry from America, theres only so many times tey can use that, all indications pointed to a great spirit in the USA camp.

cms - thank you for your comments. You have just made beating the US that much sweeter with your smoewhat less than magnanimous attitude.

Your guys lost bad, and each and every member of the US team handled it like a gentleman... and then you pop up with your comments and remind all of Europe why we enjoy beating you guys so much.

Roll on 4 in a row

"why are u guys making big fuss of darren clarke making 3/3. afterall its not as big a deal as winning back to back majors."

I think this is more than likely because his wife died six weeks ago.

And back to back majors, majors being dominated by one player like they are by woods (although not always) is kind of taking the gloss off of them.

Well done Europe, and well done Tom Lehman for taking defeat so dignified and curtiously. It's unusual from an American sportsman, not unheard of, but a rarity.

cms, your grapes are sour.

CMS
Your comments are hardly worth a response but if the Americans are so good as individuals why did they not perform better on the Sunday. Correct me if I am wrong but that was singles? If you are a top sportsman, you always want to win. That is what makes them top sportsmen.

As for the Darren Clarke comment, try losing your wife to cancer and then one month later being able to concentrate 110% on your profession. Afterall, next to talent, the reason these guys are at the top is due to their superior mental capabilities.

What a great tournament and congratulations to Team Europe!!

cms wrote: "why are u guys making big fuss of darren clarke making 3/3. afterall its not as big a deal as winning back to back majors. europeans are just making mountain out of molehill"

sour grapes do not go well with Guinness......

Dear CMS - if you have to ask what the big fuss was about big Darren making 3/3 then there is no hope for you. And the point of the Ryder cup is that it IS a team event - and the European players also face each other every week on the tour - so your point is ...well.. pointless.
SKY coverage - lots of it but disappointing - only followed the top matches - saw Olazabal putt twice and saw Mickelson CARRY a club down the fairway the only coverage of them for 15 holes. Aside from 3 putts, only saw Westwood from the 16th. Same with Stinson, Howell and Harrington hardly saw them playing. I realise that the early games gave us the win - but surely it's better to see the golf shots in the other matches than spend 45 secs watching Toms and Monty WALK to the 17th!! Give it back to the Beeb at least they follow the action

I take this oportunity to aplogise and take back the wise-ass remarks I made on earlier blogs about Woosie... But I will be thinking of new ones already for 2008 and Faldo, ah I can feel the contraversy already...

RE CMS
I saw the coverage here in the US and this is the same comment being made by the US sports commentators. However as with all sports the rankings are not an exact science, although I don't argue with the current top 3. But if you want to use these then check the 2 teams respective rankings and you will find Europe has the higher ranking overall!! The US has 2 players winning the majors, the rest are just journeymen making a decent living due to the obscene prize money on the US Tour. My understanding of the Ryder Cup is to determine which tour has the deepest depth of talent and from the last 3 days, or last 3 cups, it cannot be argued that Europe currently has a stronger depth of talent. I believe it is the diversity of the courses on the European Tour that makes for a better all round player who is adaptable to the conditions. Too many of the US courses are target practice with large fairways and short rough. The US tour needs to toughen up their players with more challenging courses which require a winning score of -10 or less not -20 before they are able to challenge the Europeans on an equal footing.

Whilst the commentators on sky was first class the actual coverage of watching the action was 2nd class.

There were times we were looking at the view from the blimp of the course, or at spectators whilst 12 matches out there unfolding, there were to many adverts interrupting the action, so I tuned in to radio 5 at the same time, where I found they were on real time reporting with sky on delayed time.

Bring back the 大象传媒 with its uninterrupted viewing.

Having watched the coverage of the last day on Sky and highlights on the 大象传媒 it appears that there were elements of the crowd booing Luke Donald - Am I alone in thinking this? And why on earth would that be the case?

this years ryder cup is summed up in 2 words for me: darren clarke. An outstanding captains pick, he more than played his part in the first two days laying down the foundations for an inevitable final days victory parade. His grit, determination, courage and light heart hearted nature are commendable, and boy was i crossing everything praying that he had the opportunity to sink the final putt.

Hey JJ,

Don't know where you think Fiji is but is sure ain't in the Americas!!!

I was lucky enough to be a the K club yesterday and feel the raw emotion at the 16th green.
I also saw the condition in which the course was left as 40,000 people tramped around some very wet fairways - anyone know how long a course takes to recover from a mauling like that?
Spare a thought for the head greenkeeper coming in to work this morning to face that....

Peter Allis made a comment about Tiger Woods in last weeks World Matchplay and its still true, "One minute a statue, next minute a pigeon"!

Not booing, just football style chant of Luke I suspect (similar to Kanu!)

Tom Lehman went up in my estimation for his tremendous conduct, speeches and gentlemanly behaviour with all at the 2006 Ryder Cup. Brookline is now dead and buried for me.

reply to Richard
they were NOT booing Luke .. they were chanting his name!

Thanks for the insight from the Ryder Cup. Darren Clarke's emotional Ryder Cup will not soon be forgotten.
Much appreciated here in Canada.

It was a great competition that kept us thrilled and completely entertained for three days.

It's been mentioned before and I feel it should be mentioned again. This is a huge event earning enormous revenues and benefits for almost all concerned.

The players are the ones providing the entertainment. They are professionals. Surely they should get paid. It is wrong that they are not.

We know they are more than willing to do it for nothing; but that is not the point. They should get paid. This is not an amateur event and everyone else is making money from the entertainment they are providing.

Well done to both teams and also to the Irish galleries. What great sports fans they are. Congratulations.

They werent booing Luke Donald. They were shouting "Luuuuuke, Luuuuke!" it just sounds a bit like booing. It has become his trademark chant and always brings an embarrassed smile to his face!!!

Richard,
They weren't booing Luke Donald, they were shouting/chanting "Luuuuuuuke". It sounds like a boo but they do it at football too, I think it started with someone called Gus,pronounced "Goooooooose". Don't ask me why!

Absolutely amazing!! The whole event was a wonderful exhibition of how sport should be played. Europe conducted themselves incredibly on and off the course throughout. The whole team and Woosie were hero's and all played their part in creating a magical spectacle. Fought back a few tears when Darren won, scenes I will remember for a long time and amazed at his courage, flair, humour and downright skill. Top man!! And the crowds in Ireland rocked!!!! Well done also to the US team, played fairly and took defeat graciously, Lehman did all he could do and he did it well.

The trouble with giving coverage to the Beeb is they just can't (or won't?) devote the air time to wall-to-wall coverage. You only have to see the abysmal coverage of the few top events they do have exlusive rights to - the Open, for example, unless you take a day off work on Thursday and Friday, you don't get to see any play and there are no evening highlights (they used to have them around midnight but now don't bother at all). Then at the weekend, you are constantly reaching for the remote to switch from channel to channel and then share coverage with racing! I agree, Sky was not brilliant, but there was the chance to use the interative coverage if you wanted it and at least the coverage was start to finish.

As for the event, it was FANTASTIC. My husband and I were in bits at the end, tears running down our cheeks and into our Champers glasses as we shared Darren's emotional rollercoaster. What a man! And what a team - not a weak link anywhere. Well done to Woosie for doing it his way; he may not be the best in PR terms but his passion for the game and his team was magnificent.

Richard

The crowd were not booing Luke Donald. In fact they were chanting "Luke, Luke, Luke" and it just sounded like booing.

great event and good victory for the boys - but the europeans need to push on and win majors (or at least world championship events) to prove they are truly great players by beating a full field of the best players in the world over 72 holes. we must remember that 99% of professional golf at the highest level is made up of 72 hole strokeplay events.
finally, i don't understand the complaint with the coverage, i don't subscribe to SKY but i watched the event via broadband which i must add was an amazing service to offer. the bbc does an excellent job of the tournaments it has, such as the Open and the recent world matchplay at wentworth, but the coverage isn't any better than SKY.

In reply to Richard: " it appears that there were elements of the crowd booing Luke Donald - Am I alone in thinking this?"

They weren't Booing they were shouting his name: "Luuuuuuke"

They were shouting his name - not booing.

Why did Faldo insist on talking over shots. I hated that.
also - Sam torrance would've made a good commentator over the weekend...

A massive congratulations to the european team, and some breathtaking golf was played by both teams over the 3 days. My heart goes out to Darren Clarke, what character he has shown over the weekend to win 3 from 3 I cried like a baby when he won, CMS- he lost his wife only 6 weeks ago. It goes to show it doesn't matter how many world top 10 players you have. I think Garcia has received unfair criticism over his singles defeat, he didn't play badly, Cink just didn't put a foot wrong

If people would stop mentioning his wife's death, Darren will get over his loss much quicker. He knows people care, everyone in public life doesn't have to be seen to be saying it.

As a fiend said on the death of her mother a few years ago, "I'm OK until people start saying how sorry they are, what a lovely woman she was and want to give me a cuddle - that sets it all off again."

Though I expect all of his emotions will be raked over and brought to the surface on every chat show he goes on for the next ten years.

Richard, the crowd weren't booing Luke Donald, they were chanting his name "Luuuuuke!"

Richard, they weren't booing Donald, they were in fact shouting Luuuuuuuuuuuuuke in a low tone, rather amusing I thought the crowd were booing at first also!

Well done Europe & well done 大象传媒 radio 5 live.

Excellent coverage, painted a perfect picture of the unfolding events for those people not fortunate to view Sky.

Re comments around Luke Donald - i believe the crowd were chanting luuuuuk, luuuuuuuk, luuuuuk and not booing him as alot of people may have thought.

Roll on 2008

No, they weren't booing, they were shouting "Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke"

This year ryder cup was outstanding
all credit to the irish for a great venue and to the players for a fantastic contest. Darren Clarke you were a credit to the team, your boys
will i am sure be proud of you and
your wife Heather was looking down on you through out the week.
WELL DONE AND GOD BLESS DARREN AND THE TEAM.

Re Sky's coverage, I thought the captions were far better than the 大象传媒's but the commentary I didn't enjoy. For instance Nick Faldo repeatedly telling us that Campbells putt on the 16th against Donald was for a half and to stay in the match when actually it was to win the hole, which he duly did. Re Richard's point about the fans booing Luke Donald, it did sound like they were but in actual fact they were shouting Luuuuuuuke (thanks to Five Live for clarifying that one).

Richard - re Luke Donald. The crowd were cheering him by chanting "Loooke, Loooke" - copying his many supporters on the American tour, especially in the Chicago area, where he's based.

Re Richard
Luke was not being booed. The crowd were calling his name which, collectively, sounds like booing. The same with Goosen when they shout "Goose".

I think you can analyse every aspect of the competition/teams/spirit/wild cards/captaincy/etc. but at the end of the day, the European's simply played much better golf over the course of the weekend. Confidence and form is massive in golf and it was no surprise to see the in-form Europeans (just look at how well Paul Casey played after his 拢1m Wentworth win last week) all playing so well. Well done Europe, was a brilliant performance!

Richard - I thought that too at first but then realised they were all shouting Luuuuuuke, not booing.

Big Stu - you're spot on with you're coverage comments. Westwood played some sparkling golf and yet we just saw him knocking in a putt or two. Also, I don't know about anyone else but watching golf without Peter Allis commentating just isn't the same.

In response to Richard's comment. They weren't booing Luke Donald, they were saying "Luuuuuke".

Re : Booing of Luke Donald

Thought the same myself for a while until finally figured out the fans were chanting "Luuuuuuuuuke" in the way Man U fans used to chant "Ruuuuuud" to Van Nistelrooy.

Darren Clarke for Sports Personality of the Year!!!!

It was a great game of golf.CONGRATULATIONS to EUROPE.Every one played ther part including the looses.DC WAS BRILLIANT.After what he has been through,and TIGERS compasion was brilliant as well.LET us pray NICK FALDO is not so uptight as he usually shows and he lightens up a bit.GOOD LOOK for the next one.

Thought the coverage on Sky was excellent, Knowledgable commentators, and more importantly all of it was shown, 大象传媒 also have fine commentators but cannot show all the coverage as it happens, Keep up the good work Sky.

Richard "Having watched the coverage of the last day on Sky and highlights on the 大象传媒 it appears that there were elements of the crowd booing Luke Donald - Am I alone in thinking this? And why on earth would that be the case?"

They explained on sky that although it sounded like booing, they were actually chanting "Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuke".

Garcia's bizarre comment about Walt Disney was in reaction to the crowd at the 1st tee chanting:
"You've got Walt Dis-a-ney... We've got Montgomery!!"

Genius

Richard, the crowd were not booing Luke Donald they were calling out his first name with a much elongated emphasis on the letter u, which is a form of support similar to that employed by Bruce Springsteen fans at his concerts.
If I'm not mistaken it is a practice started by galleries on the US Tour.

Regarding Sky coverage, the verbals were enjoyable but the concentration on players faces and the crowd when they could have been showing other matches was frustrating. Whatever excuses they had on the Sunday with 12 matches it was really annoying on the first 2 days when there were only 4 matches at any given time.

Great win fantastic for European Golf, as with many I was in tears watching Darren Clarke - suberb.
The biggest winner however was Golf itself because both teams showed how a sporting contest should really be played.

RE CMS

"want some harsh reality check? check the current top 10 players in golf"

Sorry mate think you should retract your statement there.

usa 3 europe 2 "harsh" i think not
lets take a look at the top 12 as its a 12 man event... usa 3 europe 3
lets take a look at top 20 for argument sake... usa 5 europe 8,

job done, europe have the best players, no question about it.

think that could be a harsh reality check for you my friend.

for me, Id like to see more americans competing on the european stage a lot more, and see how they fare out. its a hard thing to fly over there (to usa) get accustomed in such a short space of time and expect to compete on such a high stage. competing in front of an american crowd aswell. its like an 'away' match.

come on CMS give us more credit when it is due

had a fantastic weekend, well done wooosie and the boys

Dear CMS,

"why are u guys making big fuss of darren clarke making 3/3. afterall its not as big a deal as winning back to back majors. europeans are just making mountain out of molehill"

Triumph in the face of adversity is not making a mountain out of a molehill !

Records are just little pieces of History... they say what you did yesterday... they are no guarantee of what you will do tomorrow.

Playing Mickleson and Woods in all the matches was a mistake... they were baggage in the fourballs.

The sooner your next Captain takes this on board, the better.

Good luck in 2008... you're going to need it !

Richard, they weren'tbooing Luke Donald, they were saying "Luuuuuuke".

That's followed him around for quite a bit now.

Richard,

That's not booing - it is the sound of people screaming 'Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke'

Hi chaps (esp Robin & Ghillie)
Thanks for the clarification re charity. I recall seeing plenty of say, HSBC, Rolex and golf related logos, which is fair enough I suppose, and Guinness had plenty of (free?) airtime, just thought the non-commercial aspect of such a fantastic event could have been "marketed" better.
To cms. So the US team lost because
"they are so used to being competetive and playing against other players that they just could not overcome that attitude."
So their opponents (the whole EU team) were not "players"? Was it down to the fact there wasn't a multi million $$$ cheque at the end of it? Mind you it didn't make much difference at the Matchplay either...

I love listening to yanks when they lose - and let's face it, they were well and truly thumped - as they are the most ungracious losers going. The sight of grown men whooping and hollering like schoolgirls, whilst adorned in their stars and stripes attire and endless chants of "U S A" (do they not have ANY others songs?!?) really did create the biggest laugh and added to an already fantastic atmosphere in the pub I was watching it in.

Looking forward to the mauling in 2008 already!!

Oh, and Richard - they weren't booing Luke - they were chanting "Luuuuuuuuukkkke" - top notch stuff!!

Richard - no-one was booing Luke Donald. What you heard was "Luuuuuuke" - try shouting that out loud and see what it sounds like!!

Les in Nigeria

Re the perceived booing of Luke Donald, nothing could be further from the truth. It was actually 'Luuuuuuuuuu........' stemming from the support his American university fans used to give him.

Reply to Richard - re: Luke Donald

If you listened to Radio 5 Live, they explained it! It is the crowd shouting "Loooooooooooke" which sounds like boo-ing at times!

A couple of comments in regard to the 大象传媒/Sky debate.

I got Sky put in last Tuesday because I couldn't bear not to watch the greatest sporting event on earth (bar none!)when it was being staged in my home country. As a Sky virgin I felt the coverage was fine. However I felt at times like they majored on the big names (ie Tiger) and little was shown from elsewhere on the course. The constant breaks with their four repeating ads are also a major turn-off.

In response to Jamie, don't blame 大象传媒 for their limited coverage of the Masters. They show as much as the US broadcasters - exactly as much as Hootie & the other green-jacketed facists who run Augusta National allow them to beam live.

I thought that 大象传媒's coverage of the Open Championship this year was first rate. Plenty of hours (especially if you include the added interactive coverage), quality commentary and analysis and some innovative camera positions. I for one would be more than happy for the Beeb to cover the Ryder Cup and all major sport, but sadly in televised sport, as in sport & life in general, the dollar/pound/euro is king.

Tremendous victory, sportingly conducted on both sides, but we should acknowledge the contribution of the golf course to the excitement. The K club lay-out and condition was perfect for rewarding aggressive golf while punishing mistakes - absolutely ideal for matchplay, which must have benefitted Europe's greater tactical acumen in this format. The 16th proved a real star, and it's only a minor shame the last two holes didn't see a few more cliffhangers on Sunday!

Congratulations to Michael Smurfit, the K club was just the best facility ever, and to say we all had good viewing points is an understatement, it was exceptional. The crowd were just awesome, gave the two teams as much support as they could, and the knowledge of the game was brilliant.

Come to Ireland for your next golfing holiday, not Spain or Portugal...

The sight of Darren Clarke downing that pint of stout in one will be worh millions to Guinness, you just could never ever buy that kind of exposure.

Well done to one and all.

perhaps the us team should join up with the rest of the world and give us europeans a challenge.

Re Sky coverage

Having watched all three days, I agree with the comments that 大象传媒 coverage would be better providing they would devote the time to full coverage - I find the adverts are very irritating interruptions. However, most of all I find Sky's commentators' sycophantic adoration of Tiger Woods nauseating. Yes, he's a wonderful player but yesterday, much of the time, he might as well have been the only one playing. We didn't see anything of the matches involving Harrington, Westwood, Howell and Olazabal until they got to around the 9th/10th holes and other matches were sparsely covered. We were subjected to watching the lengthy preparation of every shot and putt of Woods when we could have been watching other players. I was so relieved when his match had finished so that the other matches got a fairer share of coverage. Having said that, it was a great sporting event, with so many emotions and a fantastic outcome.

Was a little bit dissapointed with Di-Marco at the end, he could have been a lot more gallant about the way he ended the match... and as for the fist pump he gave on 17?? what was all that about, the USA were loosing 17.5 to 9.5 at that point what did he have to celebrate, in my opinion that just showed me that he was not playing as part of the USA team, he was interested in nothing else but his own result... He really let himself down with the way he acted.

As for Darren clarke, what more can you say... in my mind he has to be one of the favourites for sports personality of the year this christmas...

To JJ (Quote No.5):

since when is Fiji part of Americas? I dont think even George Bush can claim such a thing!

I was thinking about a 3-way Rider cup in the future...Americas Vs Europe VS Rest of World..then we would have Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Greg Norman (back from glorious retirement) leading the charge...Go Rest of the World!!

CMS seems to forget that the only reason the USE players tend to be higher in the rankings is that they play exclsuively in the USA, where the prize money is higher for coming 5th than winning in Europe or the rest of the world.
Most of the american tean are merely "journey men" - collecting lots of cash for not winning but taking part and how well did Nos 1 2 and 3 in the world play? - even in the singles.

Somebody criticised Gracia for not playing well in the singles against Sink - I think you might find that Cink (not high enough in the rankning system to get an automatic pick) was 8 under and Sergio 4 under - which would have won against most.

Superb sport, a just result and the supreme demonstration of teamwork, strength and emotion. Europe were quite magnificent.

Since Brookline, The Americans' understanding of sportsmanship and mutual respect has developed faster than their golf. The Ryder Cup emphasises the problem with the PGA Tour - many of their courses are too easy, and it's too easy for journeyman players to win too much money : John Senden (OK, so he's an Aussie) won $740k and a shot at the British Open for -19 in the John Deere in July. Clearly in the form of his life, he romped to -2 and a tie for 35th round Hoylake. It's now a matter of policy that the US Open is played at a course where it's hard to shoot below par so it has some credibility. Crazy.

Given the geographical diversity of the US, the PGA tour can match Swiss mountains, Lancashire links and Dubai desert conditions, but they focus too heavily on drive-and-wedge courses in the sunshine states. Either the PGA has to diversify the styles of golf demanded of its Tour, or more US players have to look past their easy prize pots and enter big events in Europe. Then they may be fit to challenge the variety of skills in varied conditions that made the Europeans better golfers 1 to 12 not 1 to 3.

Absolutely fantastic win and I honestly think Woosnam got it right all the way through. I just hope that some of the Euro guy's start to bring this kind of form into all the majors.

Well done Guy's.

loved the Sky Sports coverage in HD-absolutely awsome!!! My only moan was about Nick Faldo-he will never be a good commentator! His one liners were awful. At least we won't have to listen to him in 2 years time as he is captain!!

re: post 65, gk

Sam Torrance was working for 大象传媒 so could not also commentate for Sky. Normally I would like to hear Sam, too, but the fact that he insists on referring to a bunker as a 'trap' has made me go off him just a tad!

Chris S.
Re your query about the recovery time for the course. When interviewed on 5 Live yesterday (Sun) morning Michael Smurfitt the course owner said they thought it would take 2 years to get it back to top condition.

I really enjoyed the Ryder Cup, great sportsmanship, good manners,great team spirit. Give the players expenses, but please do not pay them or worse give prize money, as all the good feeling will be lost as it becomes every player for himself. Also if you are playing at that level surely you are not a pauper. So please keep the cup and the players charitable. Hopefully terestial coverage in 2008

As for Darren clarke, what more can you say... in my mind he has to be one of the favourites for sports personality of the year this Christmas........I agree 100%, I just hope that when the voting process is announced that he is right up there, and that those of us who witnessed just how good he was at the weekend, will cast their vote in his direction.

Just think of what he did.

1. Lost his wife six weeks ago.
2. Made himself available, as it was what she would have wanted.
3. Left his kids in England, so as they would not have been subjected to the media scrums etc, (although I bet he wished they were there)
4. Considered all of the other players from both sides, when thanking them for all their good wishes and consideration.
5. Showed great inner strength, courage and conviction all throughout the week.

He is one hell of a man, and yes, as an Irishman I am completely proud of him, and all the members of the team.

Vote Darren No. 1.

Richard.
The crowd were not booing Luke Donald. They were shouting 'Luke' in a deep voice, which admittedly did sound a bit like boos. Well done Europe, in particular Casey, Westwood & Clark. What does Thomas Bjorn think now?

Yes it's not the same without Peter Alliss, Sam Torrance and the rest of 大象传媒 team. The 大象传媒 coverage of the Scottish Open made me laugh so much as well as being really varied. The SKY coverage was good but could have been more varied - plenty of opportunity to show a few shots from every game rather than just the top ones - also we did invest in Sky HD which gave fantastic pictures. Also a little too much analysis from those back in the studio, especially of the potential reasons for Tiger not performing.

All in all though a fantastic tournament with Europe worthy winners. The whole team were brilliant. Glad the sun came out for the finale.

I thought this Ryder cup was played in the right spirit and although the Europeans won handsomely they took great pains not to rub it in.The Americans must also be congratulated for taking defeat graciously.

It was a great victory for you Europeans. Your team made shots when it counted, the Americans did not. In match play, and foursomes that is particularly true. Well done to you. For those that write about the "sameness" of US PGA courses could you have not had a RC on a more "American" like course. This was not Hoylake, it was a parkland course softened by days of rain. Your team just played better.

In the "our tour is better" line of thinking, both the European and American PGA have a requirment for a minimum number of matches to be played to maintain tour status. That drives a lot of the players decisions.

Does the US tour have more money? Undoubtedly, and mainly because of Tiger Woods. That money is also why many European golfers live in the US and compete on the US tour. Golf is a sport where your performance is responsible for your reward. Anyone who has followed Man-U knows that the biggest payroll does not always produce the desired resulfs.

As an American I am mystified that our university system has not produced the quality of players given it's size. Luke Donald and Paul Casey both played for American Universitys. In fact at the PGA championship Luke had a large following of Americans cheering him on with the "Luuuuuke" cry in his round on Sunday. Where are their American equivalents?

Anyway, sport runs in cycles. In 2 years it could the US holding the cup. I certainly hope so and wish that the organizers at Valhalla produce a Ryder Cup as well as the K-Club did.

Congrats to the European Team. You outplayed our team, showed class and camaraderie--something our team will have a tough time building even in the next two years. I hope they take note and learn something from this experience or it will be another beating next time.

I think if the 大象传媒 could dedicate the hours that Sky did for the Ryder Cup, then they would cover it better in my opinion. It was an emotional moment to hear Sam Torrance, reduced to tears on air, during last nights Highlights, when Clarke broke down on the 16th.

Then again, I would still probably listen to Radio 5 Live's unrivalled commentaries, whilst watching TV with the sound down, and they always beat everyone hands down.

Well done Europe - I only wish the spoilt rich England footballers applied the same level of commaraderie and passion during this years World Cup, than what our Ryder Cup stars did over the weekend. Sorry, is that a bit of bacon I see up there, flying in the clouds?

I would just like to say what a fantastic ryder cup this was. The best ever. Great golf, fans and sportsmanship.

The one thing that has come out of Heather's tragic death is that the ryder cup is back to being played by friends for benefit of golf. Hopefully the rest of Europe will be able to host the event. I thought the crowd were excellent. Also the USA team lead by their Captain was true gentlemen in defeat. On last thought, Mcginley was spot on with his gesture in conceding the put on the 18th but so was Zac Johnson in conceding DC last putt. The first winner of the Heather Clarke Ryder cup sportsmanship award?

Anything been seen or heard of Thomas Bjorn over the last 3 days?

We need to be careful from now on - the American press are already talking about their players being paid to play - oh dear - to help them get motivated... kinda goes against old Sam's theory of friendly competition etc - is that all that motivates those Tiger-chasing players?

If they lose again in two years time we may see the end of the Ryder Cup as we know it. The Americans don't like losing (nothing wrong with that!), but losing every time will see them lose interest - the Presidents Cup will be be their 'big thing' then... Give them North & South America like some people have said - thats a good idea.

Chris Riley has said this week he "isn't motivated at all" by the Ryder Cup... Such a sad, sad comment to make...
Anyhow - a massive well done to Woosie and his TEAM!!

Its such a good job that Europe won - can anyone imagine them turning up at the closing ceremony in that get-up if they'd lost.

So they were shouting "Luuuuke"... thanks to the 75 people who jumped in to explain that ;-)

I agree that the Sky coverage was poor. As someone else said, we were watching people walking down fairways or discussing club selection while in other matches people were holing putts and nailing drives. The Woods/Furyk game on Friday morning was the worst, almost blanket coverage while the other games were virtually ignored. And no, Faldo is no commentator. The only person who finds him funny is himself.

While I'm on, I think Phil Mickelson got off too lightly - he was appalling. Everyone was harping on about Tiger but Mickelson looked like a hacker.

And pink jackets fair enough but white polo-necks ?!
I'll leave it there...

Congrats to Europe but boos once again to Sky golf coverage, or should that be the Tiger Woods channel. Once again we were treated to 15 cameras on Tiger and 3 on the rest of competition. All Tigers shots shown, many of other games might have well been a putting or pitching competition for all we were shown.

I knew Ewen Murray liked the guy but he topped it all when he stated that his memory of the event would be tiger's embrace of DC on the 16th. Jelousy perhaps.

Why did Howard Clark follow each woods game etc etc
Is Butch Harmon ever going to say anything but what a great guy all golfers are.

Yes the picture quality was good but the analysis as ever was hopeless.

The t.v. coverage here was appalling. No live coverage until Sunday and sporadic coverage between adverts. As a brit I wanted to see much more.

Great job Woosey, you have silenced your critics. Terrific team effort and a deserved win. Also, great job USA in being so graceful in defeat and restoring the true meaning of the Ryder Cup.

Ireland, you are to be commended for your terrific support and hosting a tournament to remember. You have set a new standard. Overall the finest sorting event in years (Yes, better than the world cup!) England football, take note!

Was at K club yesterday. The atmosphere in the stand at the first tee was amazing. Great chants, hilarious songs, Ivor Robson has never seen anything like it :)

Then quickly raced over to get a spot in the stand at the 16th where we saw DC win his match with many of the European and US team members around him.

Electric stuff.

On a related note however, rather than questioning the motivation of the US team and gloating when we beat them (we had a better overall squad) for the third time in a row we should be asking why European players have not won a major since 1999.... this is what the media should focus on over the coming weeks.

Enjoyed the blog entries. Good point about Europe having the better players as compared to the better team in earlier years.

The Ryder Cup is about money and the US players complained about the charitable donations 5 years ago. Now players are allowed to pick a personal charity.
US players, particularly Tiger do not enjoy annual team matches. Tiger's record in team play is consistent. No NCAA team title at Stanford, no Walker Cup in amateur play, and poor Ryder Cup record. One cup a year for the US to play is too much and eventually Tiger will find a way to get out and the two cups will be merged. Cary in NYC

where does the cup stay now? with woosie, or is it passed around between the players, or what?

Why not (as suggested earlier) have a 3rd team - Rest of World?

Then in the year between the Ryder Cup have an elimination round to determine who will challenge the holder for the Cup?

So next year USA v RoW and the winner to play Europe for the Cup
the following year?

What can I say about the klubbing @ the K Club. Once again the Americans proved that the cameradarie amply displayed by the European Team is something they can't or won't buy into.

My belief is when you grow up with a silver spoon in your mouth, (of course not all the Americans), you are not as hungry or team orientated like the Euro's showed throughout the past (3) Ryder Cups.

Congratulations to the European "TEAM" from an American of Irish/English ancestry.

Daren Clarke, my heart goes out to you & your family. You are a special person not only as a golfer but as a "MAN".!! Cried along w/you like a baby.

Thoroughly enjoyed the way the European team played, joked around & actually made the event memorable.

The American team needs to lighten up & enjoy the moment for what it is, a friendly match between countries that are comrades.

John Daly for the next Captain.

first of all let me make it clear. i am fully aware of DC situation. My opinion was purely based on what he did on the golf course. i am sorry if i offended some by not giving due consideration to his recent bereavement,Coming to European players just read what Ian woosnam has to say today- "Hopefully they'll turn this team success into success at majors".Is he saying europeans are not good enough at majors(singles) comapared to team cups like ryder cup(which is held for the sake of it once every 2 yrs without any rewards,how can u expect the better performance from the players anyway).The other day i was reading an article ,here is piece of it:-"No, they can't win majors. No, they can't stare down the Tiger on Sunday. But 11 of them won't be facing Tiger on Sunday. And this, to the Europeans, is a major. That's why, playing at home against this soft, rich crop of American pros, they are as close to a sure bet as you'll find".well put Mr.Swift.keep the US flag high.Anyways well played darren clarke ..oops should i say europe?

iknow what mcginley done may be viewed as generous or great manners in some quarters but i had a treble on monty,darren and paulto win and was not a happy bunny at the end. i thought that all games were played to a finish. the only winners were the bookies(again)

Well done Glenn (post 112), at least some Americans show sportsmanship.
I'm Brit, live in Italy, watched on Sky, cannot make comparison with 大象传媒 coverage of sport as not available to me. Agree with most comments that Sky dwelled too much on some matches and not others and too much on trivialities, however was reasonably satisfied.
As for the complaints about ads, don't! I watched the 1988 Olympics in the US, with a 30-second commercial in the middle of the 100m sprint final! We're still lucky in Europe.
Finally, well done Europe's team, well done the K club and the very sporting public of all nationalities, and an invitation to the US team to improve their attitude to the Ryder Cup. Their game will improve as a result.

agree it was like watching WOODS TV but still better than letting lineker at it with his too cheery ad lib laden demeanour.
Butch and Nick did well but its the golf that matters.(I'VE NEVER WATCHED IT BEFORE) but enjoyed every second of it.
Lehman was superb so give him a break.
Rankings don't mean anything, everybody knows Everton are the best team in Britain but we're still only 4th in the league...

For the US team to win the ryder cup, they have to "out-passion" the Europeans! They simply do not look like they really want to win as much as the Europeans. Also, wouldnt it be nice if the likes of Garcia, Casey and Clarke could take that sort of form to the majors. That passion may still be there in major tournaments, but do our guys really believe they can win? Stop trying so hard lads, and let your evident world class talent shine through!!

1. I beg to differ on some of you fellow bloggers' view on Tiger's attitude to team matches. I had a hunch that he is coming around, and would predict that in the years to come, Tiger will be bigger and bigger in this Ryder cup, n the President Cup too, to use that famous quote, ' ... I will be back ... ' . Do remember he just hate to lose.
2. Much had been said of how graceful the Americans had been in defeat, i cant agree more. It is so comforting and reassuring to see this great Ryder Cup competition being played in such spirits, so much more friendly, mutual respect, and yet so much more intensive and competitive. Mr.Tom Lehman the gentleman, such class. His words said it all, ' I am very disappointed to lose, but i have many warms memories of this week to last me all my life.' Bet u Ian would be his buddy for life, just like JJ isnt going to forget Paul for quite a while.

Let's build on this. We now know that we have numerous world class players. Majors beckon, and a nice warm up would be the Amex this week.
One last thing... Tom Lehman is a thorough gentleman. Some of the previous captains from both sides could learn fron the guy's dignity, integrity, and sheer class.
He deserved better from his players.
Mr. Mickleson should never be asked to play Ryder Cup golf again.

A fantastic team win suggests that we have the best dozen or so young players coming through that we have ever had together. Faldo and Lyle Langer and Seve, then Woosie , Montgomerie and Olazabal -great but watch this current big crop grow. There's a few majors in these boys alright. The Americans conducted themselves with honour in defeat but when the best three players in the world didn't come up to the plate there was a gulf in class a mile wide. This wasn't a freak win - the gulf doesn't look like being filled either, which presents a problem....the Americans must stop playing target golf for their own good and for the benefit of golf worldwide - we need them -they have invented modern golf and we must hope they find their own new young stars quickly that can play on courses like the K Club, set up for proper golf. Go USA! -it's only two years before we see you at Valhalla. What an apt name for the venue.

Great blogging throughout the tournament. You made it sound even more exciting than ecuador. Hope you get a wild card for kentucky.

Anybody know where you can find video footage of the European press conference?

Anyone wonder why Woods bag had to have his BUICK logo on it... ? Bet the answer would be the other one broke!

Well done Darren - i cried with you.

Does anybody know how many shots ended up in the water pretty please?

Anyone wonder why Woods bag had to have his BUICK logo on it... ? Bet the answer would be the other one broke!............

Yeah, and I noticed he was the only member of the USA team that did not have the USA headcovers as well... was using his normal Tiger headcovers... but then I suppose that could have been some sort of a good luck / Superstition thing on his behalf... or even something to do with his father.... so dont want to read into it too much...

I too agree the Pink jackets were spot on, especially as they were wearing them for "Breast Cancer" and for Darren... but they just did not go with the 1980's white polo shirts... I actually thought the Americans looked a lot smarter at the opening ceremony than the Europeans, the Suits and matching ties were a nice touch...

Aloha from Honolulu, I congratulate the European team for completely destroying us! Boy, we just didn't get it done. The Europeans looked like a team and we did not. I don't know that we ever will. You guys looked like you were playing as one and we looked like we were playing as 12 individuals. I tip my hat to Darren Clarke. When he won and the emotion hit him, the scene brought tears to my eyes. So cheers Europe, it looks like I'll be drinking Guiness for another two years. Keep it up, I like Guiness.

In defense of those wealthy American golfers who,"like their big houses and private jets etc.....(your radio broadcast). Does anyone in Europe realize that SIX of your team members live in FLORIDA...Yes, thats in the USA! And their homes are every bit as large!

Awesome performance from the European team! Can I be one of the first to put Darren Clarke forward for 大象传媒 Sports Personality of the Year for 2006?

What an unbelievable man! Superb golf over the three days and in such trying circumstances!

As Hazel Irvine said when interviewing Darren on Sunday evening, "What an amazing man".

WOW! It's been 5 days since I left the stand behind the 14th green just after the morning fourballs. Monty's long putt for a birdie to win the hole was watched in defeaning silence as it rolled endlessley toward the hole - most around me certain it would miss. It didn't. And how I know it! I am sure you'll have heard that roar wherever you are in the world, it was just immense - think 100 Jumbo's taking off and then double it. Can only imagine it would have been doubled again when Casey got his hole in one the next day.
I've been to many sporting events; seen England beat Holland in Euro 96 at Wembley, the rugby team win a few grand slams at Twickenham and the odd Open and matchplay event in last few years. But never, ever in my life have I experienced anything like the atmosphere at the K Club last week. At the time, I don't think I really appreciated it for what it was, but over the last 5 days, having seen the boys finish what they started on Friday and then reading all the reviews, blogs and articles I have greedily digested, I am overwhelmed at what I was lucky enough to witness first hand.
(The hairs are standing up on the back of my neck as I write this - soppy git!)
A truly mangificent day. Well done to all involved and thank you for the first class entertainment and unforgettable memories. What an exeperience. What a day. What a win! (Wonder if I can blag a holiday in Kentucky....)

Great entertainment, great sporting event. I'm sure Darren Clarke will look back on this event and think that this was the day he turned the corner after his wife sadly passed away. It goes to show what effect team mates and companions have to rise above personal tragedy.

You guys moaning about Sky Tv coverage, try watching this in India (where i am just now)and how irritating it is when they go to an advert when theres a guy over a putt to win the hole!

I don't know about anyone else but i dont think Faldo has the people skills/man management to carry it off in two years. Is there anybody else with this opinion?

CMS- get over it my friend.

What an absolute spectacle ... and a great win fore Europe. I bet I wasn't the only man with a tear in his eye and lump in the throat when Darren Clarke walked on to that 16th green. What a truly gem of a man,considering all he hand his family had been through. He was marvellous and to make a short speach to the cameras, well,I certainly couldn't have done that. Well done to Darren and the rest of the team.