Hunter Mahan -a professional golfer slave

America's Newest Slaves

After last year's Open (British) I repeated some of the comments of BBC commentators asking why Europeans could win the Ryder Cup but did poorly in the four Major Tournaments (The Masters, The US Open, The Open, and the US PGA Championship).

Nick Faldo thought it might be that European players were to chummy with one another. I surmised that it might be the competitive capitalist system that is the US tour makes American players less likely to be proper team mates.

That was pooh-poohed by at least one reader of my blog! Then good old Hunter Mahan comes forward to make my point.

Mr Mahan said: "You've got dinners every night – not little dinners but huge, massive dinners. I know, as players, that's the last thing we want to do. You're just a slave that week. At some point the players might say, 'We're not doing this any more'. Don't be surprised if it happens. It's just not a fun week like it should be. From what I've heard, the Ryder Cup just isn't fun. Phil Mickelson and Tiger [Woods] – their time is worth money. And for the PGA of America, the Ryder Cup is a money-maker like no other. Is it an honour to play? Yes it is, but players value their time and this is a business."

Hunter has only earned a paltry $1,549,996 in 2008. I guess he really is a slave! If you were a Ryder Cup participant would you want to be partnered with this tool?