WASHINGTON — The Ryder Cup has not been kind to the United States in recent years. The event, which pits the top U.S. golfers against the top Europeans, has been dominated by the group across the pond, who have won six of the last seven, and eight of the last 10 tournaments.
With this year’s event taking place at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota, the trash-talking has already been elevated. English golfer Danny Willett’s brother penned a piece making fun of American fans leading into the event, prompting an apology. But the American fans earned the sweetest kind of revenge during a practice round Thursday.
Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson were each practicing a 12-foot putt, and kept missing. Reportedly, each failed to make it on six straight attempts, prompting fan David Johnson in the gallery to shout at them that even he could make the putt.
So Stenson pulled Johnson onto the course and handed him a putter, while Justin Rose dropped a crisp $100 bill on the green next to the ball for him to keep, giving Johnson the chance to literally put his money where his mouth was.
The result?
Has the @rydercup started already??🇪🇺🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/s6EImcbnZv
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) September 29, 2016
Your move, Europe.
