5 huge momentum swings from Ryder Cup history

FILE - In this Oct. 22, 1967 file photo, British Ryder Cup team captain Dai Rees, left, congratulates Ben Hogan, captain of the U.S. team after Hogan's golfers beat the British in the three day competition at Champions course in Houston. Momentum means everything at the Ryder Cup. Shot to shot, match to match, even era to era, it’s swung back and forth between the United States and Europe. Golfers don’t come any tougher or more taciturn than Ben Hogan. The United States had largely dominated Ryder Cup play in the preceding four decades. (AP Photo/File)

By Associated Press September 29, 2016 4 min read

CHASKA, Minn. (AP) – Momentum means everything at the Ryder Cup.

Shot to shot, match to match, even era to era, it’s swung back and forth between the United States and Europe, sometimes at a glacial pace and occasionally with head-turning speed.

This time, it’s the visitors who arrive with the wind at their backs. Europe has won the last three, six of the last seven and eight of the last 10.

But if the history of that small gold trophy that English seed merchant Samuel Ryder first put up for grabs in 1927 proves anything, it’s that momentum is hard to catch and even harder to hold onto.

Here are five key swings in momentum at past Ryder Cups: