Euro stars out to tame ‘The Monster’

In 1940, Samuel Ryder’s elegant golden chalice was proudly displayed at Oakland Hills.

The United States held the trophy, courtesy of an 8-4 winning margin at Southport & Ainsdale in 1937, and with World War II nearly ten months old, and with the British and Irish Ryder Cup team otherwise occupied, it seemed like a good idea for the United States team to exhibit their world class skills and to raise money for charity.

The seventh edition of the Ryder Cup matches had been scheduled to unfold at the Ponte Vedra Club in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1939 and, as had happened two years earlier when Henry Cotton won the Open Golf Championship, in the week following the match with all the Americans in the field, there was a genuine hope that the Cup would be brought home.