Riley Taylor, Nile Miller-Powell, James Hale
The Ryder Cup, arguably the most prestigious tournament in golf, began today at the Le Golf National, Paris, France. It is a competition featuring two teams representing the USA and Europe and can often offer the sport at its dramatic best. We spoke to residents of Eastbourne to find out their views.
Daniel, aged 34 gave his views on his love for golf, “Yes I love golf. It is one of my many passions and I have been interested in it for a long time now. If I have the time I tend to watch it, along with other golf competitions. The Ryder Cup is always a great battle between America and Europe. Obviously, I will be supporting Europe, as that is the side the British players play for, I wouldn’t support them otherwise.”
Daniel’s prediction of who will win The Ryder Cup seems to go against that of the experts, who point to America’s incredibly stacked squad that includes recent PGA Tour Winner Tiger Woods, Jordan Speith and Dustin Johnson. “I’m predicting that Europe will shock the USA – I think it’s on the cards. Justin Rose will be one of my players to watch as he is an experienced head against such a strong American side and he always keeps calm and collected.”
However, Sarah aged 20, is one who will definitely not be watching. “No, absolutely not, it’s incredibly boring and I don’t know why anyone else would.” The 1st year student of International Tourism Management went on to say “I don’t watch golf, so I can’t say I’ve heard of The Ryder Cup, maybe on the news occasionally.” All that I know is that Tiger Woods plays in it and that they wear really weird outfits.” We went to ask people if they weren’t interested in golf, would your political standpoint on Brexit effect you supporting the European team in The Ryder Cup. Sarah didn’t seem interested in either factor, “I’m not interested in politics so it wouldn’t influence my decision, even if I will be watching The Ryder Cup, which I highly doubt I will.”
It seemed that the younger audience that we interviewed had a negative outlook on Golf as a whole, as Ellie aged 20 confirmed. “I do not watch Golf, as I find it boring and I associate it with being an older generation sport. As for the Ryder Cup, I’ve never even heard of it, its not something I would actively go out to find out about.” Ellie, also a student of International Tourism Management seemed to only relate Golf to Tiger Woods, proving why he is such a big factor for the sport as people who do not even watch the sport, have heard of him. “I know that Tiger Woods plays golf, so I know he plays in it but I know I definitely would not watch it because it is a golf competition so it must be really boring.” Whilst being a keen advocate of politics, I seemed it wouldn’t affect her choice on whether she watched The Ryder Cup “I love a political discussion and I know it can affect my decision on my things, but not this, I would still not watch it, no matter my stance on Brexit.”
The opinion that younger people disliked the sport of Golf seemed to be entirely true, with both Ellie and Sarah ruling out any love for Golf and whether they would tuning in to watch The Ryder Cup. However, speaking to Kendra, aged 19, she seemed to be a keen viewer of the sport, “I have watched Golf, and I don’t know why people find it boring, I quite enjoy it and I avidly watch it.” Unlike the other two, the student of International Hospitality Management knew what the Ryder Cup was and had even watched it before. “I have heard of the Ryder Cup, but I only follow it through the news, I haven’t got a TV, so I won’t be watching it and but being a big fan of golf I will be annoyed to miss it this year.” She also stated that her political view had a distinct impact on her support for the European team. “I think that the Brexit debate has massively influenced my view of supporting Europe, but I know that the British players play for them so despite my deep patriotism for this great country I know I will still be supporting them.”
