Americans don’t care about Ryder Cup

So, um, this is out of sorts: A rivalry is most defined as a competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field.

They tell me the Ryder Cup was once thought of in these terms.

I’m pretty sure there was also a time someone thought Vin Diesel could act.

George Patton had it right. Americans love a winner. They won’t tolerate a loser.

They also won’t watch one.

That’s about it, really. American golfers have been beaten by Europe in the Ryder Cup so often of late, so decisively at times by those across the pond, that interest stateside in the event now rivals that of professional baseball standings in Japan.

Such indifference is expected. Embraced by many, even.

It’s who we are. Front-runners. It’s as much us as the bald eagle, cheeseburger and bad reality television.

While we were getting our fill of football over the weekend on television — from high school to college to the NFL — Europe was making the Ryder Cup a more casual stroll-along-a-Scottish-fairway than anything overly competitive, routing the United States 16½ to 11½.

Don’t feel bad for not knowing. You’re firmly in the majority.

It’s simple: The other guys care more about winning it. They’re UNR chasing a certain cannon.

They’re not as concerned about Arian Foster’s status.

I’m not certain Rory and Sergio even have fantasy teams.

It was the eighth time in 10 years that Europe claimed Ryder supremacy and just the second such tournament missed by Tiger Woods since 1997. He was injured in 2008. He just wasn’t good enough this time.

The television ratings (1.8) were down 56 percent from 2012 and Woods’ absence always plays a part in such a drop.

But not that big of one.

“The (Ryder Cup) to most Americans has become like a senseless Davis Cup tennis match,” said Tod Leonard, longtime golf writer for U-T San Diego newspaper who has covered past Ryder Cups. “This particular one was essentially decided by 9 a.m. West Coast time on Sunday. I think the interest might be different had we not lost eight of the last 10 times, but I don’t think it’s that simple.

“There are 1.6 million households where Americans watch any form of golf, from the Ryder Cup to any tournament being shown to late-night shows on the Golf Channel. Those are people who watch golf over and over. That number never changes. If you can’t climb much above it, it’s a failure. Nobody still moves the (ratings) needle like Tiger, but the entire Ryder Cup has lost its charm. It’s gone corporate, and it’s absolutely huge in Europe. Just not here.”

I’m guessing Arnold Palmer isn’t walking onto any green and giving another speech about the importance of representing one’s country at the Ryder Cup, about having nationalist pride in an event that maintains relations between countries.

Even if he did, I’m not sure most of today’s me-first pros would listen.

Phil Mickelson is right. The United States needs to change how it approaches the event, or at least return to a system that has proven successful in the past. But trying to re-invent a time when Paul Azinger captained the Americans to a victory in 2008 won’t guarantee a win and likely won’t raise the Ryder Cup much from its irrelevant status nationally.

If it is going to continue being played at this time of year, with baseball playoffs beginning and college and pro football underway, I’m not sure how much it will mean to anyone if American golfers chosen for the Ryder Cup are split into pods and play together and eat together and develop special bonds.

Golf returns to the Olympics in 2016 for the first time since 1904, and you’re sure to see more pride in an event that welcomes the world instead of just the seven countries represented at this year’s Ryder Cup. No matter which club you choose to play that uneven lie, enthusiasm in the Ryder Cup will shrink more and more as such a prominent international competition draws closer.

The next Ryder Cup is also in 2016, when it lands in Minneapolis on Sept. 16.

I wonder who the Vikings will play that week.

An American victory once in a while might create a boost in television ratings, but the time when any Ryder Cup was meaningful here beyond the golf purist disappeared long ago.

We just don’t care about it.

“You had one of the greatest press conferences of all time Sunday, with (Mickelson) ripping the strategy of (U.S. captain) Tom Watson as they sat a few feet from each other, and nobody but hard-core golfers cared to watch,” Leonard said. “It was as compelling theater as you could want, and no one saw it and it didn’t make the front page of most sports sections.

“I was in Ireland last week and all anyone talked about was the Ryder Cup. Nobody here wanted to talk about it at all. Maybe if it was moved to late January or early February, it might get more interest. As things stand now, it has no chance.”

Not if the U.S. keeps losing.

Patton was a smart guy.

The U.S. lost another Ryder Cup this past weekend and the biggest news from the American side was its most accomplished player ripping his captain and a few guys (Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson) who went winless having a picture posted of themselves stripped to the waist and wearing kilts and mock Highland wigs … after the loss.

Boy, they sure were broken up about getting their tails kicked.

Good thing we have college football and the NFL to distract us.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.