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New Ryder Cup Logo Launched
Ryder Cup Europe and The PGA of America today announced the launch of a new official logo for the Ryder Cup, which will unify the brand and strengthen the alliance between the two organising bodies of the world’s most famous team golf competition.
Ryder Cup Europe and The PGA of America engaged Interbrand, one of the world’s foremost brand consulting agencies, to support their objective to further enhance and expand the global brand awareness of The Ryder Cup.
The 2012 Ryder Cup, to be contested by Europe and the United States at Medinah Country Club, Illinois, USA, on September 28-30, 2012, will be the first match in the history of the competition – started in 1927 – to feature a unified logo. The logo takes shape in a cohesive, commanding presentation with the configuration similar to that of a coat of arms. The famous golden trophy is flanked by a segment of the flags of Europe and the United States.
Richard Hills, the European Ryder Cup Director, said: “One of the strengths of The Ryder Cup as a brand is the superb partnership we share with the PGA of America. Consolidating the brand not only reflects that alliance but also our desire to further enhance the global attraction of a competition whose footprint now stretches way beyond followers of golf.”
Joe Steranka, Chief Executive Officer of the PGA of America, said: “The Ryder Cup’s rich history, spanning 84 years of some of the most significant competitive moments in golf, is reflected even brighter today by a new presentation of a distinctive brand. The PGA of America is most pleased to join Ryder Cup Europe in presenting a unified visual image of The Ryder Cup logo that will extend its popularity to new audiences worldwide.”
David Martin, President of New York and Leader of Interbrand’s Golf Practice, said: “We all believed in the power of the brand; that it was time to make the Ryder Cup brand more broadly relevant to more than the passionate golf fan. The Ryder Cup stands for legendary experiences and is founded on three pillars – illustrious traditions, a collective pursuit by each team, and pure drama.
“The brand research process was a strategy that reinforced the Ryder Cup’s relevancy for the future. The Ryder Cup is a competition that has longevity, and the consensus of all within the project was that its brand must be powerful to withstand any challenge. The power of the shield is a mark that has a contemporary feel to it. It is fundamentally sound and works well in applications from merchandising to the Internet, and yet remains self-contained.”
Olazábal named European Team captain for 2012 Ryder Cup
Spain's José Maria Olazábal has been selected by the Tournament Committee of The European Tour to captain the European team at The 2012 Ryder Cup to be played at Medinah Country Club, Medinah, Ill.
José Maria Olazábal has accepted an invitation from the Tournament Committee of The European Tour, ratified by The European Ryder Cup Players and Stakeholders Board, to captain the European team in The 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club, Medinah, Illinois, United States of America, from September 28-30, 2012.
Olazábal, who was born in Fuenterrabia, Spain, on February 5, 1966, becomes the 23rd golfer to captain a Ryder Cup team against the United States and the second Spaniard following Seve Ballesteros, the winning captain in 1997 when Europe triumphed 14 ½ - 13 ½ at Club de Golf Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain.
Olazábal made the first of seven Ryder Cup appearances in 1987 when Europe created history by winning on American soil for the first time and he was also on the winning European team in 1997 and 2006 in a Ryder Cup playing career that spanned 19 years. Olazábal and Ballesteros formed the most successful partnership in Ryder Cup history in the fourballs and foursomes with 11 wins and two halved matches from 15 played, and with 18 wins and 20½ points, Olazábal stands fifth in the European lists for most matches won and most points won respectively.
Following Europe's 14 ½ - 13 ½ win at The Celtic Manor Resort, City of Newport, Wales, Olazábal succeeds Colin Montgomerie as captain with the aim of retaining The Ryder Cup which Europe has won eight times and the United States seven times with one match tied since players from the Continent of Europe became eligible in 1979. Europe's victories were achieved under the captaincies of Tony Jacklin (1985, 1987), Bernard Gallacher (1995), Ballesteros (1997), Sam Torrance (2002), Bernhard Langer (2004), Ian Woosnam (2006) and Montgomerie (2010) with Jacklin being the captain when the match was tied in 1989.
Olazábal said: "The two Masters wins at Augusta National are the highlight of my playing career but this is my proudest moment. Golf has been my life and representing Europe in The Ryder Cup has given me so much enjoyment. So to be named the European Ryder Cup captain is something very special and I am looking forward to the next 20 months before we reach Medinah.
"Without question The Ryder Cup has given me many memorable times especially with Seve from the moment we were first partners in 1987 and Europe won in America for the first time. We were unbeaten in 1989 and 1991 and we won our last match together in 1993.
"Seve was also our Captain at Valderrama in 1997 and that was especially significant because the match was played in Spain and on the Continent for the first time and, of course, we won. In all I've played under five Captains - Tony Jacklin, Bernard Gallacher, Mark James, Ian Woosnam and Seve - and the last in 2006 with Woosie was one to remember because we won 18 ½ - 9½. I played two fourball matches with Sergio (Garcia) and we won both and then I beat Phil Mickelson in the singles which was the last match I played.
"It was also a wonderful experience to be involved as a vice captain with Nick Faldo in 2008 and then again with Colin Montgomerie when we regained the Cup at Celtic Manor last year. I've learned a lot along the way and linked to my own experiences I look forward to drawing on all that knowledge with the aim, of course, to keeping the Cup in our possession. We all know The Ryder Cup is one of the most exciting and important competitions in the golfing calendar, and that it always inspires team members and spectators alike, but there is nothing like holding that trophy at the end of the week.
"I have spent a lot of my career in America and the fans there have always been fair to me. We want to keep the Cup, and that will be our priority, but I know that the American team will share with us the desire for this match to continue the fabulous tradition of The Ryder Cup with fair play and good sportsmanship the vital ingredients.
"I have accepted the captaincy but I think my desire to keep playing is known by everyone. This is the first of four tournaments in succession I am playing on the Desert Swing of The European Tour International Schedule. I am looking forward to competing again and giving myself the chance to win.
"But I want to stress it is a great honour to become the European Ryder Cup captain and I will be committed to getting everything right in the build-up to the 2012 match."
Olazábal, who won the Masters Tournament in 1994 and again in 1999 after recovering from rheumatoid polyarthritis in three joints of his right foot and two in his left, struck his first shots at the age of two at the Real Golf de San Sebastian, set in the lush foothills of the Pyrenees. He was drawn to the golf course because it was where his father, Gaspar, worked as the greenkeeper and his mother, Julia, as wardrobe mistress. It was on the practice range at Real Golf de San Sebastian in 1979 that Olazábal also met Sergio Gomez, who would go on to become his long-time friend and manager.
Aged seven, Olazábal won the Spanish Championship for under nines. Soon afterwards, Ballesteros broke through on The European Tour and Olazábal, although committed to studying at the public school in Fuenterrabia, knew that he wanted to aspire to such heights especially when three years later Ballesteros returned to his own home further along the Spanish coast with the famous silver claret jug following his 1979 Open Championship triumph.
Jesus Arruti, the club professional who spent marathon session after marathon session with Olazábal on the practice range, and Gomez, guided him through a meteoric amateur career during which he won the 'triple crown' of British Boys' Championship, British Amateur Championship and British Youths' Championship. He also captured the Spanish Amateur Open Championship in 1983 and 1984, the Italian Amateur Open Championship in 1983 and the Belgian International Youths' Championship in 1984.
Olazábal turned professional in 1985 when he led from start to finish to win The European Tour Qualifying School at La Manga in his native Spain and he made an immediate impact by becoming The Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in 1986 when he finished runner-up to Ballesteros in the then Order of Merit. He set new records with two wins on the way to earning three times what any other first-time Tour professional had earned with a stroke average of 70.69.
Olazábal has won 23 times on The European Tour International Schedule with 30 wins in all worldwide and he became the second Spaniard to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame when he joined his great friend Seve Ballesteros (inducted in 1999) in that illustrious group during a moving ceremony at St Augustine, Florida, in November, 2009.
Medinah Country Club's Number 3 Championship Course, close to Chicago, has hosted three Major Championships - the US Open in 1949, 1975 and in 1990 when Olazábal finished tied eighth and the US PGA Championship in 1999 and 2006. It has also staged a US Senior Open. The course was designed by Scotsman Tom Bendelow and carved out of an oak tree forest in rolling terrain and opened in 1928. After the 1999 US PGA Championship Rees Jones, the renowned architect, undertook a modification project and the course played to more than 7,500 yards from the championship tees in the 2006 US PGA Championship.
Davis Love III Named Us Captain Again
Davis Love III, a veteran of six Ryder Cup Teams, has been selected by The Professional Golfers' Association of America to captain the 2012 United States Ryder Cup Team.
Love will guide a 12-member team in The 39th Ryder Cup, from September 28-30, 2012 at Medinah Country Club in Illinois.
Love, 46, competed in The Ryder Cup in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2004, and in his rookie year in 1993 he won his singles match to spark the last victory for the USA on foreign soil. Love has a career 9-12-5 match record in The Ryder Cup and in 2010 served as an assistant captain to Corey Pavin at The Celtic Manor Resort in Wales.
Love is one of four players in history who is both a son of a PGA Professional and a US PGA Champion, having won at Winged Foot Golf Club in 1997, capping his performance by making an 18th-hole birdie that was framed by a rainbow above the course.
Love becomes the 27th Ryder Cup Captain to guide a team in one of the world's most compelling sports events. He has won 31 worldwide professional championships since becoming a US PGA Tour professional in 1985.
The United States last won The Ryder Cup in 2008 at Valhalla Golf Club, and Europe regained the Samuel Ryder Trophy with a thrilling 14½-13½ victory in Wales last October.
PGA of America President Allen Wronowski said: "Davis Love III inherited a love for the game through his father, a premier PGA teaching professional and carried that passion into becoming one of the finest competitors in the game. From his Ryder Cup rookie year in 1993 to today, Davis has performed so well under pressure and now brings that experience to lead our next United States Team and win back The Ryder Cup."
Love is a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, and is a resident of Sea Island, Georgia. He attended the University of North Carolina, where he was a three-time All-America and all-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection. He won six titles during his collegiate career, including the 1984 ACC Championship and the 1984 North and South Amateur Championship.
In 1993, Love helped the US to its last Ryder Cup victory outside the United States, posting a comeback singles victory over Costantino Rocca at The Belfry in England. Love joins a succession of golf's greatest players in the role of Ryder Cup Captain. Walter Hagen, the first Captain in 1927, was followed by such legendary performers as Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino.
He has already given some thought to his style of captaincy, telling a press conference: "The players, they know me. I've been on the board of the PGA Tour. This is my fourth term. I've been involved in the business and the inside of the PGA Tour.
"I think they know that I'm very traditional in my views of golf and of life and that I'm going to be a very supportive, easygoing, but very focused captain.
"I'm a players' captain, if you can term it that way. I'm going to try to give them what they need to be successful, and then obviously I'm not going to tell the best players in the world how to play golf. I'm not going to read their putts. I'm going to stay out of their way and let them show their talents, and I think a good leader knows he's got a great team and just gets them prepared and let's them go play."
Medinah Country Club will host its first Ryder Cup in September 2012, and is the first site in Illinois to host golf's premier event.
Medinah's No. 3 Course has been the home to five Major Championships, including the 1999 and 2006 PGA Championships and three US Opens, along with one US Senior Open and three Western Opens.
