"If the Ryder Cup played for 34 points instead of 28, it never would have grown to the mega-spectacle it has become."

I'm probably in the minority in finding the differences between the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup to be refreshing, especially the Thursday start and the captain's drafts. So the calls to alter the format of the Presidents Cup in the name of competitiveness have felt a bit short-sighted considering there may come a day when the pendulum swings the other way.

But Jeff Rude, reviewing a number of topics in golf in his online musings column, sold me on reducing the number of matches for the long term health of the event when he put it this way:

It’s time for change, and the fix is to reduce the total points at stake from 34 to 28. That would facilitate closer matches and overall interest and growth.

Let’s put it this way: If the Ryder Cup played for 34 points instead of 28, it never would have grown to the mega-spectacle it has become. Europe rose and became competitive and elevated Ryder interest because it always rode its 5-6 show ponies and sat its lesser players against a deeper American team.

Playing for 28 points also would allow everyone to compare apples with apples in regard to the Europeans and Internationals. Because of the Presidents’ six extra matches, that’s anything but the case.

Hence we have this incongruity: The Americans have lost seven of the past nine Ryder Cups in an event where its depth is minimized and have won eight of the 10 Presidents Cups in a format that maximizes U.S. depth.