By far the biggest golf story of 2012 was the Ryder Cup that was held at Medinah Country Club in Chicago. Golf fans start to discuss the next Ryder Cup as soon as one is completed.

(You can view 2012’s Top Golf Stories Nos. 2-10 at: http://edraft.com/golf/news/)

The same is happening again.  With Captain Davis Love taking the brunt of the criticism for the latest loss the PGA has gone completely outside the box and tapped Tom Watson to Captain the U.S. Ryder Cup Team in 2014.

Watson will be 65-years-old, the oldest Ryder Cup Captain ever, by the time the Cup is to be played at Gleneagles in Scotland.  He has won five Open Championships and is a beloved figure in Scotland.

Watson as captain may be a bit of a culture shock for the younger American team members.  He may require a slightly different attitude in their approach to the Ryder Cup. 

The highly anticipated 2012 Ryder Cup did not fail to meet expectations. 

The U.S. Team was again led by Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.  Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley, Brandt Snedeker, Jason Dufner and Bubba Watson made up the youth contingent.  Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker, and Matt Kuchar added experience and stability.

With Keegan, Webb, and Bubba winning three of the last five majors Team USA looked formidable.

Not to be outdone Jose’ Maria Olazabal had a few decent players on the European Team as well.  World No. 1 and recent PGA Champion, Rory McIlroy headlined the team.  Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Paul Lawrie, Peter Hanson, Martin Kaymer, and Francisco Molinari all had experience on the world golf stage.  Nicolas Colsaerts was the only rookie on the European Team but he had performed especially well in match play over the previous two years.

The team was so strong that Captain Olazabal didn’t even pick three-time major champion and Ryder Cup stalwart, Padraig Harrington to join the team.

And don’t forget the Euros secret weapon, Ian Poulter.  He makes it a point to show up big in team events and always seems to save his best golf for the Ryder Cup.  His play in the 2012 Ryder Cup was other-worldly.  He made putts from everywhere and inspired his European Team members to play outside their comfort zone.

Jose’ Maria even conjured images of the greatest Ryder Cupper of all, Seve Ballesteros.  It seemed that Seve indeed had a hand in helping some of those European putts find the bottom of the hole.

The players on both teams entered the Ryder Cup playing at a high level.  Excitement ran high and the atmosphere in Chicago at venerable old Medinah was electric.

The USA Team took a four-shot lead into the singles matches on Sunday and failed to win the 4 ½ points out of a possible 12 points that were needed to wrest the Cup away from the Europeans.

The Euros did exactly what was necessary with Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Rose winning the first four singles matches on Sunday to even the score and severely increase the pressure on the Americans.

It was nearly a perfect sporting event.  One team dominated in the early rounds but the underdog came back to eke out the win at the very last moment.

It transcended golf and sports fans who never watch golf were talking about it around the water cooler long after the Ryder Cup was over.

It deserved all of the hype and space that was devoted to the written word about the Ryder Cup.

I can’t wait until Gleneagles in 2014.