Few in American sport try to build without access to public money

It’s about that time. Again.

A friend in the States remarks that this is the season for him to get bewildering emails from his mates in Ireland about his boys getting a battering. He usually sifts through the results of the basketball, baseball and gridiron teams he follows before the penny eventually drops. It’s the Ryder Cup they’re talking about.

That mental juggling has to be done because, as he puts it, the USA versus Europe in golf — despite the names involved — is usually the fourth or fifth item on the sports news.