USA vs Europe: Golf's raucous rivalry

Dubbed “the one that started it” by photographer David Cannon, the 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island in South Carolina opened a new, prickly chapter in the history of the European-American rivalry.

The tournament took place shortly after the culmination of the first Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), with some members of the US team – including Corey Pavin and Steve Pate – wearing camouflage-patterned hats emblazoned with the words “Desert Storm.”

It set a patriotic tone that was reflected behind the ropes at the Ocean Course, with heckles getting so nasty and loud that captains at the next tournament worked to bring the noise down, six-time Ryder Cup caddie Fanny Sunesson told CNN in 2021.

Hostilities extended onto the fairways, as accusations of gamesmanship soured proceedings. Team USA’s decision to withdraw an allegedly injured Pate rankled Europe early, before Seve Ballesteros became public enemy number one for the Americans after a series of rules spats with Paul Azinger.

Azinger blasted the Spaniard as “the king of gamesmanship,” accusing him of purposely coughing when the US players took their shots. Ballesteros responded by accusing Azinger of lying about a rules issue, and would famously later describe the American team as “11 nice guys – and Paul Azinger.”

A missed putt from Germany’s Bernhard Langer handed a narrow 14.5 - 13.5 victory to the Americans, bringing an end to “the War on the Shore.”

It says a lot about the events of the 1999 Ryder Cup that it is remembered as much for what happened off the course as it is for the remarkable US comeback that took place on it.

Europe had taken a 10-6 lead into Sunday at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, but the US – roared on by a raucous home crowd – rallied in unprecedented fashion, winning the first six matches in a row.

Positioned in the firing line, photographer David Cannon described the atmosphere towards the Europeans as “vitriolic.” The climate proved too toxic for Colin Montgomerie’s father, who stopped watching his son’s matches due to the intensity of heckling, while Montgomerie’s European teammate Mark James claimed a fan spat at his wife.

Pandemonium ensued when Justin Leonard holed out for a birdie from 40 feet in a crucial match against José María Olazábal, as American players, wives, and caddies flooded onto the green in celebration – even though Olazábal still had a chance to putt and keep Europe in the game.

The Spaniard missed, confirming US triumph and reigniting celebrations all over again. The day’s events sparked widespread outrage in European media, with legendary British-American writer Alistair Cooke – in a BBC radio broadcast titled “The Arrival of the Golf Hooligan” – describing the tournament’s final day as “a date that will live in infamy.”

European vice-captain Sam Torrance would later label it as “the most disgusting day in the history of professional golf.”

"The spectators behaved like animals and some of the American players, most notably Tom Lehman, acted like madmen,” Torrance wrote in his 2004 autobiography, “Sam.”

It led to a conscious effort to rein in passions at the next event. The 2002 tournament at The Belfry in Warwickshire – delayed by a year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks – was a far calmer affair, with Europe taking victory.

Annika Sörenstam was left in tears after controversy struck during the 2000 Solheim Cup at Loch Lomond, Scotland.

Europe had been cruising as the Swede chipped in for a birdie during a four-ball matchup against Pat Hurst and Kelly Robbins, a sublime shot from off the 13th green that drew Sörenstam and playing partner Janice Moodie level – momentarily.

The American team challenged that Sörenstam had played out of turn, claiming that it was Robbins’ shot. After much discussion with US captain Pat Bradley, Sörenstam was forced to retake her shot.

Unable to repeat the feat, a visibly upset Sörenstam watched as Hurst putted to take the hole and, later, the match.

"It is just really sad when you have tournaments like this," Sörenstam told reporters at the time.

The Europeans would have the last laugh, taking a 14.5 to 11.5 victory, but the experience stuck with Sörenstam for years after.

"When people ask me what I wanted to be known for, I always said sportsmanship," Sörenstam told ESPN in 2013. "When that happened, that was no sportsmanship at all, and that made me upset.

"It wasn't about losing the hole or the match. It was more the principle that somebody could do something like that."

Another rules controversy took center stage at the 2015 Solheim Cup in Germany, but this time it was the Europeans who took on the role of villains.

Team USA had been struggling at Golf Club St. Leon-Rot on Sunday morning, but Alison Lee looked set to provide a boost when she putted to within 18 inches of the penultimate hole in a four-ball match against Suzann Pettersen and Charley Hull.

Believing her opponents had conceded the putt, Lee picked up her ball to make her way to the final hole, only for Norway’s Pettersen to claim that the shot had not been conceded. Referees upheld the challenge, Lee was hit with a one shot penalty and Europe went on to take the hole and a commanding 10-6 lead into the final round of singles matches.