This past weekend’s Ryder Cup did nothing to “lower the temperature” in our hot-tempered country.
Not only did the feverish rally by the previously inept Americans on Sunday increase the voltage, tempers flared between the two squads and between the Europeans and the rowdy crowds at the Bethpage Black course in Farmingdale, N.Y. To show how pervasive it got, even Scottie Scheffler’s laid-back caddie, Ted Scott, nearly blew his stack on Saturday.
Scott grew up in Lafayette and has fond memories of playing golf at Bringhurst Golf Course in Alexandria as a youngster with his father, Ted Scott Sr., and grandfather, Don Scott, who were from Alexandria.
His grandfather, Don, was one of the first players from Menard ever to be named to an all-state football team, in 1936, as a center. He later coached golf at Menard and, as a city employee, lived in what is now the clubhouse at the Bringhurst Golf Course. He had two sons, Don Jr., and Ted, the caddie’s father. Both were athletic, playing multiple sports. His uncle, Don Jr., was once the golf coach at McNeese State.
During four-ball play Saturday, Ted had a brusque reaction with European vice-captain Francesco Molinari that stunned many, given how calm Scott usually is.
The tension between the two teams was so heavy at one point that Molinari decided to step between Scott and Tommy Fleetwood, despite the two simply walking alongside each other and not even speaking. Scott and Bryson DeChambeau had just been in a heated discussion with Justin Rose after Rose, at the 15th green, had asked DeChambeau’s caddie to move away from his line.
It doesn’t take much at a Ryder Cup to trigger irritation between rivals from the different countries. When Molinari stepped between Scott and Fleetwood, he reportedly put his hand on Scott’s shoulder. Scott removed Molinari’s hand from his shoulder and was quickly jawing in his face, and Fleetwood’s caddie, Ian Finnis, acted as the peacemaker.
To his credit, Scott tried to bury the hatchet Sunday morning. He released a video on his Instagram account apologizing to Molinari for his actions Saturday. In the video, he puts his arm around Molinari’s shoulder, said some nice things about him and acknowledged the “heated moment” they had.
“But what many of you don’t realize,” he added, is they soon got over it.
“Neither of us want to make this competition about us,” he went on. “We want to let the players go out there and do their thing. Ultimately, I just want to spread love and joy. It’s a great competition, it’s great fun and this is a great man right here, so I just want to say I’m sorry.”
After the two shook hands, Molinari said, “I appreciate you. I have huge admiration for you, and I love you.”
If only the crowds at Bethpage would’ve followed Scott’s example, but no. They continued to be crass as they harassed the European golfers, especially Rory McIlroy. I found that odd since he was the darling of the patrons in Augusta, Ga., when he won the Masters last spring.
As an example, they made noise with squeaky rubber ducks, free giveaways with cocktails, when Rory was at the 10th tee. Many spectators were removed over the course of the tournament, but not enough, as European captain Luke Donald accused the crowd of “crossing the line.”
“Crossing the line” didn’t work. It backfired. On one occasion Sunday, McIlroy stepped away from a putt twice because of the fans’ disruption and wouldn’t play for four minutes until the atmosphere cooled, but he answered their taunting by making a 34-foot putt.
What looked like an unprecedented rout by Europe, which led by seven points going into Sunday’s single matches, became a tense duel Sunday. No team has ever come back from such a deficit to win, but the Americans came close. The Americans rallied from four down to win in 1999, and the Europeans came back from a four-point deficit in 2012 to win.
That was the last year an away team won on foreign soil.
Although disappointed in defeat, the Americans got some solace in knowing they fought valiantly at the end in nearly pulling off the most remarkable comeback ever. Scottie beat Rory. Cam Young and Justin Thomas won white-knuckler duels at 18 against Justin Rose and Fleetwood. Xavier Schauffele crushed Jon Rahm 4&3.
The Europeans clinched it before Shreveport native Sam Burns, the former LSU star, finished his match tying Rob MacIntyre, the Scotsman who played a season at McNeese before getting homesick.
The Irish like limericks, even when the stories are sad. Well, here’s one for us that’s sad:
There once was a caddie named Scott,
Who, touched by Molinari, got hot,
He said he was sorry,
And Scheffler nipped Rory,
But ‘twere not enough wins in the pot.