Being a professional golfer is an individual pursuit. Granted, the highest-profile players do have a “team” but it’s often centered around their own success. They’re known as “Team X (insert player last name),” who they refer to as “we” in press conferences and victory speeches, made up of: agents, physios, nutritionists, swing, mental, chipping and putting coaches, to name only a few.
Even though these Team X’s exist, pro golf, at its core, is a solitary pursuit. It’s about the self.
Once a year, in either the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup, players get to go beyond their ordinary individualistic ways and become part of a true team. Their teams join other teams to form “The Team.”
Team USA. Team GB&I. Team Europe. Team International.
Coming off his win at the Biltmore Championship last week, 26-year-old American Jacob Bridgeman is making his first appearance in the Presidents Cup.
When asked on Tuesday to sum up what it means to play for Team USA, Bridgeman said, “It’s an honor,” echoing the title of Jimmy Breslin’s canonical piece of journalism.
“This is the highest honor that you can get in all of golf … this is just a dream come true. Playing for the United States is the best thing that any of us can ever ask for, and it’s an honor,” Bridgeman said.
“It’s the most special thing we can do, and I think it drives us even further than anything an individual could ever do.”
This week at the Presidents Cup, 12 American and 12 International players forget themselves and play for something greater. The ambitions of the individual will yield to those of the many, and the many who form the team become one. To have the chance to participate in that, “It’s an honor.”
