Ryder Cup or a major

[pulledabill]

What would give you more satisfaction a a pro golfer. Be a part of a winning Ryder Cup team or win a major? I love team sports but love the challenge and fulfillment of winning as an individual. 

When I watch the Ryder Cup and the sheer emotions of a winning team, Id have to go with a Ryder Cup team followed by winning the Masters.  

[cnosil]

15 minutes ago, pulledabill said:

What would give you more satisfaction a a pro golfer. Be a part of a winning Ryder Cup team or win a major? I love team sports but love the challenge and fulfillment of winning as an individual. 

When I watch the Ryder Cup and the sheer emotions of a winning team, Id have to go with a Ryder Cup team followed by winning the Masters.  

During the Ryder Cup we saw the emotions that the individuals showed;  Rory immediately comes to mind.  For me I would say winning a major over the Ryder Cup/team event.   Winning a team event has a special place,  but you can win a team even and not contribute anything to the win.  Winning a major requires that you perform better than everyone else.    The Ryder cup is an interesting event in that the players qualify over a period of time but when the event occurs it may not be the best possible team that is competing.  

[Middler]

18 hours ago, cnosil said:

During the Ryder Cup we saw the emotions that the individuals showed;  Rory immediately comes to mind.  For me I would say winning a major over the Ryder Cup/team event.   Winning a team event has a special place,  but you can win a team even and not contribute anything to the win.  Winning a major requires that you perform better than everyone else.    The Ryder cup is an interesting event in that the players qualify over a period of time but when the event occurs it may not be the best possible team that is competing.  

+1, exactly. Whenever there's a discussion or ranking of players, individual wins are all that's ever discussed - most majors, most wins, etc. Team golf, which is match play, is a different dimension altogether.

[Larryd3]

Win a major.  no question about it.  

[Kansas King]

Major but I think each would be their own special experience. I think the idea of winning the Masters or another major would be a far more special event as an individual over a team event. The team event would be very special but it's almost more of a confirmation about your success on your own and potentially during majors. I will say that the Ryder Cup is probably the most fun but I would have a tough time believing it to be the most satisfying.

[ChitownM2]

I'd probably rather win a major as I always think of golf as an individual sport which is one of the things that makes it different from nearly every other major sport which are all team events.  The Ryder cup would be fun to participate in and great to win, but if I only got to do one or the other then I'd rather have the individual accomplishment for golf.

[SmoothG]

Definitely a Major especially what comes with it (cash, exceptions, tour status etc..). But I think I'd have much more FUN at a Ryder cup. 

[Syks7]

Guess I'm in the minority here, but I say Ryder cup.  I come from a lot of team based sport back ground and even the individual sport I did (Wrestling) had a strong team component in duals and tournament scores.  The only individual sport that I did competitively without a team component was sport bike racing.  It was fun to do well, but I always prefer winning with team mates and it may not be popular opinion but I'd actually like to see a little more 4 ball match play or individual match play format tournaments (no alternating shot though) it reminds me too much of the scrambles that people always cheat in.

[ZenGolfer]

On 9/27/2021 at 6:33 PM, pulledabill said:

What would give you more satisfaction a a pro golfer. Be a part of a winning Ryder Cup team or win a major? I love team sports but love the challenge and fulfillment of winning as an individual. 

When I watch the Ryder Cup and the sheer emotions of a winning team, Id have to go with a Ryder Cup team followed by winning the Masters.  

Its a major for me simply because the Ryder Cup is a team even vs a major being something that you do all on your own.  Win a Ryder Cup and its just another Ryder Cup team, win a major and your name goes down in history and you live forever in the history of golf.

[Syks7]

5 minutes ago, Riverboat said:

Agree with the desire for more match play. It's the most exciting form of golf. But TV doesn't like the possibility of all the big names getting knocked off early. 

Another argument for majors is that they are really the ONLY thing that matters when it comes to being an immortal. Case in point.. Tom Kite... One of, if not the, top player in the world for most of a decade and the top career money earner in the pre tiger era, and most younger fans have never heard of him. Tournament wins don't matter when it comes to immortality, and neither does performance in team events (again, how many younger fans could even identify Colin Montgomery). Only one thing matters... Majors. It's why no player should even be considered for player of the year of they didn't win a major that year. 

Totally understand that, but I think a lot of the view on immortality comes from where you are in the world.  There was quite a bit of talk during the tournament about the difference in view of Ryder cup record in Europe vs. here.   Particularly in regards to why Europe has been so dominant.  One of the things mentioned several times was that a players Ryder cup record has outsized role in Euro's views of peoples careers vs. here.   I'm not saying that they don't value the majors like we do, but they seem to consider other factors in regards to 'immortality' in Europe.

[Shankster]

This order:

The Open

The Masters

Ryder Cup

Scottish Open

Irish Open

US Open

PGA Championship 

[DStar]

Major for me, purely because golf is normally 'you against the course' so it would be a victory over the course as well as other competitors.

With the Ryder Cup you're relying on your team mates to help you win as you can only contribute a small portion to the final result.

 

[Kanoito]

+1 major for the reasons stated above.

 

[tchat07]

I'm going to go Ryder Cup especially if you have the same situation as JT and Spieth, I mean how cool would it be to grow up together and win the Ryder Cup with a childhood friend. I also get chills whenever I hear those USA chants so I think itd be top notch to represent your country.

[TBT]

It would be a Major for me..

The Masters

The Open

Ryder Cup

US Open

and then the rest are interchangeable

 

[MWL_9]

I'll take the major 

[Chip Strokes]

majors pay better. show me the money.