The Ryder Cup is one of the most exciting sports events of the year. It is a contest between the men professional golfers of Europe and their counterparts from America. It takes place at the Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Kentucky 16-21 September.

The Ryder Cup was first contested in 1927. An unofficial match in 1926 was so successful that Samuel Ryder, a British businessman donated a trophy to be placed for in future. The Cup was originally contested by teams representing the professional golfers of Britain and the professional golfers of America. However, from 1979 onwards it because USA v Europe. The inclusion of players from Europe as well as Britain has led to a more evenly balanced match.

With one or two unfortunate exceptions, the matches have always been played in a spirit which brought great credit to the teams. In 1969 the destiny of the Ryder Cup depended on the last match on the last day between Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin.

Both players were on the 18th green and two shots. Jacklin putted first leaving the ball about two to three feet short. Nicklaus charged his putt about six feet past and then holed the return, which left Jacklin needing to hole his putt under enormous pressure to tie the Ryder Cup. However, Jack Nicklaus picked up Jacklin's marker, conceded the putt and offered a handshake. The match was tied.

As he walked off the green Nicklaus put his arm round Jacklin and said, 'I don't think you would have missed the putt but I would never have given you the chance.' Nicklaus said afterwards, 'I just thought after all he had done for golf it would have been such a terrible shame if he had missed that putt and been remembered for that.' A wonderful gesture of sportsmanship.

The climax of the 1991 Ryder Cup was almost as dramatic. After three days of competition Bernhard Langer had a putt to win the Ryder Cup. The putt missed and USA were winners. Bernhard was desperately disappointed, 'At first I was obviously disappointed for the team, all my colleagues, the captain, for the whole Tour, the continent, that I had let them down. I had missed a putt. On the other hand I knew I tried my best and did everything I could as I said earlier there are far more important things in life than making a putt or missing a putt.' The following week he put it all in perspective. In an interview with a golf magazine he said, 'Looking at the Ryder Cup from a Christian point of view, there has only ever been one perfect man, the Lord Jesus, and we killed him. I only missed a putt.'

The US captain for 2008 is Paul Azinger, a man who has suffered his fair share of trauma. In 1993 a few months after he won his first Major, the USPGA Championship, he was diagnosed with cancer and faced with a battle for his life. Paul's shoulder had been troubling him for a while. He consulted a doctor who ran some tests before giving Paul the news. ''He told me I had cancer in the bone in my shoulder. I was in shock. That was the last thing I expected to hear. I thought maybe it was some kind of weird stress fracture or an infection of some kind. But I didn't expect him to say cancer.'

As Paul adjusted to the news, he was helped by something Larry Moody, the chaplain to the PGA tour, said: 'Zinger, we're not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We are in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living.í That helped Paul get everything into perspective. He survived a horrendous regime of chemotherapy and radiation to overcome the cancer. Amazingly he was back defending his PGA Championship the following year.

He sums up his new outlook on life: 'I've made a lot of money since I've been on the tour and I've won a lot of tournament. That happiness is always temporary. The only way you will ever have true contentment is in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He promises to give me contentment no matter what life brings - even cancer. Even though it's great to be called a PGA Tour player and it's probably even better to be called a PGA Champion, no greater gift is mine than to be called a child of God, because I place my trust in Jesus Christ.