12 Jun 2019
This Friday sees the start of the Ryder Cup and it looks set to be an enticing affair as the players take to the course for those last few practise rounds at Le Golf National in Paris.
After a somewhat embarrassing 17-11 defeat last time around for Team Europe in 2016, they’ll no doubt be keen to seek revenge on home turf. Encouragingly, the United States haven’t won a Ryder Cup on European soil since 1993.
In fact, Europe have been the dominant force of recent times with the United States having recorded just three wins in the past two decades.
Although home advantage may prove to be decisive, the talent of the American side is unquestionable and the resurgence of cult heroes on either side in the form of Ian poulter and Tiger Woods will only fuel the excitement surrounding the tournament. Here we look at the key battles…
Strategy vs Talent
Home advantage has in the past been a strong indicator of success and with a European side assembled of men of which all but one have finished in the top ten at Le Golf National’s French Open, this may again hold the key. To add to that, Europe have the past two winners of the tournament in Alex Noren and Tommy Fleetwood at their disposal.
That being said though, the talent that the US team possess is undeniable with 11 of their 12 players boasting a top 17 world ranking. Europe will however hope that as a course where water often cuts fairways short, this may help stagnate the undeniable power that the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau possess.
With likely a more strategic approach required, we think Europe are good value at golf betting odds of 5/4 to win in Paris.
Top Scorers
Tiger Woods’ rise back to becoming one of the best players in the world is no secret, as evidenced by his inclusion as one of the US captain’s picks for this year’s addition of the tournament. The 14-time major winner plummeted to an astonishing ranking of 1,199 by the end of 2017, but he’s now ranked 13th in the world.
Having twice been the top scorer for the US both in 2006 and 2010 and buoyed by a first win in five years at the Tour Championship in Atlanta last weekend, we think he looks worth a punt to top score for the US at Ryder Cup betting odds of 11/2.
Aside from Woods, another veteran with unquestionable Ryder Cup pedigree who will relish the opportunity to once again step up for his team is Ian Poulter. After the disappointment of missing out last-time around through injury, a year in which he finished ranked 184th in the world, he boasts a Ryder Cup record second to none.
A clear top scorer in 2008 and 2012, the 42-year-old has the best ever winning percentage for a player that has contested at least 15 matches at the Ryder Cup - 72.2% to be precise.
If the world number 34 can play anything like he did in Medinah back in 2012, we’d be inclined to look past the likes of Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose as perhaps more obvious top scorers for Europe.
Jose Maria Olazabal played alongside Poulter then and has since paid the Englishman the highest compliment in striking comparison to the late Seve Ballesteros. Specifically picking out similarities in the intensity, focus and will to win every point, we think these traits could be the difference if Poulter is to be Europe’s top scorer. Get him at golf betting odds of 9/1 to be just that.
Looking towards the overall top scorer, the last time an American did so clearly was way back in 1995. We’d therefore be inclined to fancy Poulter to also come out on top at golf betting odds of 18/1.
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