“I trust that the effect of this match will be to influence a cordial, friendly and peaceful feeling throughout the whole civilised world … I look upon the Royal and Ancient game as being a powerful force that influences the best things in humanity.”
So said Samuel Ryder, who set up golf matches between USA and Great Britain professionals in 1927 which became the Ryder Cup, now competed for between the USA and Europe (after we got battered time after time).
Ryder was a mild-mannered, religious teetotaller from St Albans, known for being soft-spoken, old-fashioned, and very “Victorian” in his outlook. A gentleman, by the sound of it. He just loved golf and wanted to foster friendship between nations. He is unlikely have to looked favourably on today's version of the Cup, populated as it is by hooligan, even hostile, crowds driven on by aggressive, far from friendly players. Of both sides. Winning is now everything.
I loved the Ryder Cup in my 20s and 30s and I remember Jack Nicklaus "giving" Tony Jacklin a short putt on the final green, ending the Ryder Cup in a 16–16 tie rather than risking Jacklin missing it under pressure. In match play you can concede a putt that your opponent seems certain to hole, as a gesture of professional courtesy; the length of putt has often been debated and there have certainly been controversies in the Ryder Cup. Jacklin's putt was about two feet and on the margins of a "gimme" given the context.
I never watch it now, because the behaviour of players and spectators has become boorish. Sam would have hated it. It's a shame.