Nicklaus thinks Ryder Cup should be worldwide

Finally! Jack Nicklaus has made the argument that the Ryder Cup should be expanded beyond its U.S. vs. Europe scheme. This is a completely fair and long overdue remedy.

The U.S. dominated the matches when they were played against an opposing team comprised of only U.K. players. When the U.K. team was expanded in 1979 to include all of Europe, it was just a few years before the Euros started dominating us.

Ever since that European expansion, the U.S. has struggled, winning only 6 of the 14 Cups (and if you consider the first and second Euro teams as "expansion" teams, then our record is even worse.)

Clearly the balance, and talent, has tipped in the Europeans' favor, and so, as Jack says:

"We keep playing the United States against the rest of the world," said Nicklaus, the captain of the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup, which takes on an international team in September. "Maybe we ought to play East versus West."

"We ought to divide this up a little differently, maybe the Americas (North and South) as a team because it's going to continue to go that way as the game grows internationally," he said. "That's not to say we're not going to have good golfers in the United States, but we're going to have good golfers everywhere else in the world and that's great for the game. I think you're going to continue to see that trend in the game."
(Quote courtesy of golf.com)

It has always confused me that we consider the Ryder Cup the definitive professional match-play event, when many of the world's best players--Els, Sighn, Appleby, and Choi, to name but a few--are excluded.

The other (and unintended) benefit of expanding the Ryder Cup would be it would obviate the need for the President's Cup, which is, let's face it, about as prestigious as two rats fucking in the sewer.

So come on PGA Tour: do something to make the Ryder Cup competitive again.