Nicklaus: Winning isn't the point of the Ryder Cup

Jack Nicklaus speaks to Dustin Johnson at the U.S. Open trophy presentation in June. (Getty Images)

Jack Nicklaus thinks the United States is going to win the Ryder Cup in a few weeks in Minnesota, but the 18-time major winner doesn’t believe that’s the point of the biennial competition

“To me the competition is incidental,” Nicklaus said Thursday at the Creighton Farms Invitational in Aldie, Va., according to USA Today.

“Who wins bragging rights — and I know everyone wants to win — but that’s not the important thing. The important thing is the game of golf and people having good relations and goodwill.”

Nicklaus has an outstanding Ryder Cup record, going 17-8-3 overall in six appearances, including a 4-0 effort in 1981. He was also the winning captain in 1983.

However, the U.S. has struggled in the last two decades, losing eight of the last 10 matches to the European side, including the last three in a row. Dating back to 1995, the U.S. has only won in 1999 at Brookline (Mass.) Country Club and in 2008 at the Nicklaus-designed Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky.

Ultimately, Nicklaus thinks everyone gets a little too riled up about the matches.

“It’s a great format; it’s a great competition,” he said. “There’s a lot of nice things about it, but I wish we wouldn’t make such a war out of it. I love the Ryder Cup, I loved playing in it, I love being a part of it.”

Nicklaus, who wasn’t a fan of the Ryder Cup task force created after the 2014 U.S. loss at Gleneagles in Scotland, may have the perspective he does because he won 73 times on the PGA Tour, including 18 majors. In other words, he achieved so much individual glory that defined his legacy that the Ryder Cup has never factored into how people view his career.

“I enjoyed playing the Ryder Cup, but I couldn’t tell you who I played or who I lost to, what my record was or anything else, I have no clue,” he said. “I can tell you what it is in the Masters or the U.S. Open, that’s sort of the way I looked at it. And I think most of the guys who are there are that way. It’s a tough event for the top players to get up for. The guys who are just below the top tier, they get so excited because all of a sudden there are brought forth into the spotlight. But the guys who are the 1, 2, 3, 4 players in the world they’re always playing for the major situation. It’s a little harder for them to get excited about it.”

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