Michael Ventre

When it comes to the Ryder Cup, one remark sticks in my mind more than any other:

“Nobody ever cared about the Ryder Cup until we lost it.”

It was uttered by an anonymous wag sometime around 1995. The “we” of course refers to Americans. That year, Europe defeated the U.S. on our turf, at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. It wasn’t the first time the Euros had broken through in Ryder Cup competition, however. Between 1985 and 1997, Europe snagged the chalice in five out of seven tries.

But the reverberations were more widespread in ’95 because that was right around the height of the golf boom in this country. New courses were popping up all over, fueled by a strong economy. Club sales skyrocketed. Lessons were being taught like never before. When the U.S. lost the Ryder Cup, more people were playing and watching golf, and therefore more hackers felt the pain.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods turned pro in 1996. He quickly became an indispensable member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team. And now he’s out, recovering from knee surgery.

Does that mean that Europe, which has won the last three Ryder Cups, will make it four straight for the first time ever? Or, will the Yanks follow an old American sports tradition by pulling together without their best player and springing the unlikely upset?

Teamwork is as foreign to professional golfers as knockoff clubs. Golf at the pro level is inherently about the individual and his bank account. In high-school and college competition, there is a semblance of teamwork, although it still comes down to one person with a club in his hands. But at the pro level, rarely do players band together as brothers in pursuit of a common cause, unless they’re all endorsing the same brand of golf ball in a TV commercial.

When the 2008 Ryder Cup begins on Sept. 19 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., “Tiger and the Other Guys” will be down to just the "Other Guys." It will be like “Entourage” without Vincent Chase. Do the "Other Guys" have enough to overcome Tiger’s absence? Will they want to win one in Gipper fashion for him?

The axiom goes that the whole is stronger than its component parts. In other sports, this is sometimes easy to detect. A football team might be without its star running back, but everybody else digs deep and comes up with a little extra to make up the difference. Sometimes a star emerges in the process. It happens all the time in the NBA. A team’s best player might go down for six to eight weeks, and his teammates have to step up.

But can this happen in golf, with the U.S. Ryder Cup team? Can a group that includes Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry, Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk put aside their investment portfolios and their respective cadres of advisors long enough to summon some extra gumption in order to foil the dreaded Europeans?

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In other team sports, players have the advantage of watching and rooting on their mates. Even in tennis during Davis Cup matches, players who aren’t competing on the court can go bonkers in support of a teammate. In the Ryder Cup, though, most of the time players are on the course together at the same time, so there isn’t that advantage of getting an emotional push from the other guys — unless you’re Justin Leonard nailing a putt at the end of the 1999 competition as teammates, their wives and fans boogaloo in celebration while the Euros look on aghast.

It should be noted that while Tiger’s mere presence suggests victory at majors and at just about any other tournament, he really hasn’t inspired dread in the Europeans during Ryder Cup competitions. His performances have been very average, especially in partner matches.

But he's still Tiger Woods, master of all he surveys while standing on tee boxes or over putts. With Tiger, he could bust out of Ryder Cup limbo at any moment and rally the troops to victory. It’s better to have Tiger than not to have him. Even a Tiger on crutches would provide a Willis Reed effect. Even Tiger’s unborn second baby would provide a boost.