The actual reason the U.S. keeps losing the Ryder cup has nothing to do with the players, the strategy, the coaches, or the golf course. The reason we keep losing seems obvious to someone like me, who likes to analyze things using the entire continuum of interrelated disciplines. I believe no individual or geographical argument is plausible. I’ll take a deep breath to prove my point, which is that television is to blame.

Get your laughing and eye-rolling done before you read the rest, because you’re soon likely to be kicking yourself for not realizing it earlier. What comes next is an illustration why they call a T.V. the “Idiot Box”. Don’t take it personally. It cultural, not individual. Our emotions and our fidelities are actively manipulated through this technology.

Every contest is decided before it begins in the realm of Karl Jung’s often-eschewed concept of “Collective Unconscious”, which I believe not only exists as a cosmic tumbler, but that the media was developed to harness it. Furthermore, my opinion is that media actively focus its power to directly affect results which, in turn, create icons of glory, or ‘Heros’.

Jack Nicklaus’ “Golden Bear”, Tiger Woods’ wry and toothy boyish grin, and every other media darling have a decided advantage not by virtue of superior skill, but rather subtle media marketing – tantamount to luck powered by Jung’s theory. And the mass media want revenue almost as much as they want control. Therefore, they hop on the coattail of any emerging talent to sell their influence – directly BECAUSE they know the power of the collective unconscious.

The following comes from this link. Take it for what its worth.

Carl Jung’s Collective Unconscious Theory: What It Suggests About the Mind (verywellmind.com)

Jung believed that the collective unconscious is expressed through universal archetypes. Archetypes are signs, symbols, or patterns of thinking and/or behaving that are inherited from our ancestors.

According to Jung, these mythological images or cultural symbols are not static or fixed. Instead, many different archetypes may overlap or combine at any given time. Some common archetypes that Jung proposed for explaining the unconscious mind include:⁴

• Anima: Symbolized by an idealized woman who compels man to engage in feminine behaviors
• Animus: Woman’s source of meaning and power that both creates animosity toward man but also increases self-knowledge
• Hero: Starting with a humble birth, then overcoming evil and death
• Persona: The mask we use to conceal our inner selves to the outside world
• Self: The whole personality; the core of the total psyche
• Shadow: The psyche’s immoral and dark aspects
• Trickster: The child seeking self-gratification, sometimes being cruel and unfeeling in the process
• Wise old man: The self as a figure of wisdom or knowledge. For example, wizards and revered teachers frequently appear in the media and marketing messages to reflect this archetype.⁵

Notice, in particular, the animus, hero, and wise old man archetypes for present day applications. However, for our purposes, we’ll stick with the ‘Hero’ and “Wise old man’, since the politics of animus is beneath us all. If we can agree on the undue influence of television on our culture, then we might agree that the media uses the medium for their own benefit and not ours. As a result, THEY choose what WE see. Yes? Fine.

Now, for a moment, put away any judgement or preconception of personalities observed, since each is a construct of the media. Golf media, in particular, design programming to use personality both as a canvas and a brush. Nance, Azinger, producers and storytellers, etal., who hold their positions by virtue of demonstrating the ability to create narratives, paint a picture for our emotional and literal consumption, and coincidental construction of, our chosen archetypes.

As for the application of the narratives, the U.S. viewer is the target audience. We are the consumers… the eaters – colloquially derided by those feeding our emotional and literal lives. We blindly follow the trough in whichever direction it moves, never realizing it is we they want to move – not the trough.

Now, consider the personalities fed to us. Over the past thirty to forty years, golfers like the charming Seve Ballesteros, and Nick Faldo, the emotional Colin Montgomerie, happy Padraig Harrington and more, began playing the majority of, if not all their golf, in the U.S. That means, of course, we got to know them pretty well. I like all of them. Seve is immortal. And I can say that Nick Faldo is my favorite commentator ever. In fact, all my favorites are English. That doesn’t happen without television.

Europe is a different place altogether. Their lives don’t revolve around entertainment like ours. They know their players, not ours. They adore their players, not ours. Ours are their enemy. But theirs are not our enemy. When equally-skilled opponents meet, the result is swayed by luck focused by the collective unconscious.

If everybody in the U.S. and Europe knows and likes their players, but all of Europe sees U.S. players as the enemy, then the balance will always favor Europe. You can bet the Ryder Cup is not-to-be-missed programming in Europe. Therefore, European players will become the ‘Hero’ of all of Europe and a smattering of America. U.S. players will be ‘Hero’ to a smattering of America and NONE of Europe. THAT doesn’t happen without television.

I’d bring in the Patrick Cantlay hatless story the media created, but it’s too undignified to air. Suffice it to say the collective unconscious is on the side currently most unaffected by media, which is not an accident. The media wins when they get opposing viewership, which has nothing to do with who wins and loses the match.

We, in the U.S. are already hooked on sport T.V. Sports media has been working to get Europeans hooked on the Bread-and-Circus television spectacle now for forty years, which is much longer in other respects. Here is a video you should watch.

That doesn’t happen without Ryder Cup, World Cup, Olympics, Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Tennis wins by the media darling over an arch enemy (US). Those collective ‘Victories’, in turn, produce personalities they can then market into archetypal ‘Heros’ for a burgeoning European consumer base.

If the collective unconscious of Europe turns to television (the trough), then control of the collective unconscious, and the population, in general, is just an eventuality. Fortunately, Europe could give a damn about golf. But that won’t stop mass media from trying. That’s enough, I guess. You can thank me later.

Oh, one more thing. As for the wise old man archetype….

Ben Hogan, Homer Kelley, Harvey Penick, any Harmon, Ledbetter, McLean, Suttie, Como, Foley, Cowan, Flick, and every other instructor featured in any medium are media’s choices, not yours. These ‘Wise Old Men’ are proof positive that the media matters more than knowledge. You don’t need their help. You need to open your stance and play golf.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

The Open Stance Cures What Ails Every Golf Swing

The Secret in The Open Stance

Our Shoulders Hook Our Golf Ball, Not Our Hands