When golfers collide!

7. Europe vs. USA

The 1999 Ryder Cup was one of the most heated and controversial in the history of the competition.

The animosity between the two sides had been building throughout the contest, now dubbed ‘The Battle of Brookline’.

USA fans had been directing a lot of their abuse towards Colin Montgomerie, so much so that the Scottish golfer’s father left the tournament early in disgust.

But the most controversial moment came when Justin Leonard was mobbed by members of the USA team on the 17th green as he sank his putt. The Americans were celebrating their probable victory despite Jose Maria Olazabal still having a chance to level the contest.

Angry European vice-captain Sam Torrance was not amused:

It’s about the most disgusting thing I’ve seen in my life. This is not sour grapes. The whole American team and spectators ran right across the green over Olly’s line. He still has a putt to tie the hole, we could still take the Ryder Cup home.

Torrance singled out Tom Lehman, who also celebrated wildly after holing a long birdie putt against Lee Westwood at the 13th:

It was disgusting and Tom Lehman calls himself a man of God. His behaviour today was disgusting.

Anyway, you know you want to watch it again…

8. Patrick Reed vs. His Ryder Cup team-mates

Reed isn’t universally liked. He has been accused of cheating by fellow players, practises alone, and is the last person his fellow pros would help in a bar fight.

After the 2018 Ryder Cup, where the USA were stuffed by their European counterparts, Reed said he was ready to “light up” the post-match press conference.

He was upset because he’d been separated from his previous playing partner Jordan Spieth and used an interview with the New York Post to air his frustrations:

The issue’s obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me. I don’t have any issue with Jordan. When it comes right down to it, I don’t care if I like the person I’m paired with or if the person likes me as long as it works and it sets up the team for success. He and I know how to make each other better. We know how to get the job done.

An unnamed member of the team later described Reed as “full of s***” and that he had “begged to play with Tiger Woods”.

You can read more on that here.

9. Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano vs. Simon Dyson

This one started in 2013 when Dyson was disqualified from the Shanghai Masters for tapping down a spike mark. Fernandez-Castano went on to win the tournament, Dyson’s career fell off a cliff.

Fast forward to January 2019 and the new Rules of Golf are in place. Commenting on the changes, the Spaniard tweeted:

First competitive round of the year on @EuropeanTour with the new rules on effect. Tapping down spikemarks felt so weird, it will take some time to get used to it – Unless you are Simon Dyson and you have been doing it for years.

— Gonzalo Fdez-Castaño (@gfcgolf) January 16, 2019

Dyson didn’t take too kindly to the jibe, calling GFC a “sad little man”.

You can see the full exchange here.

Why there is still plenty to like about Patrick Reed

What on earth is going on with the USA Ryder Cup team?

Everybody hates Reed: Pantomime villain or Public Enemy No. 1?

Alex Perry

Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.