Consider it an extreme reach, but some superstitious fan of American golf might go so far as to blame Rodney Harris for the United States' meltdown during Sunday's Ryder Cup loss to the Europeans.
The 1992 graduate of Spencer High School was present at Medinah Country Club (Ill.) when USA established a 5-3 lead after the first day of matches on Friday but was back in the Mid-Ohio Valley watching the event on TV when Europe retained the cup by a one-point margin.
Trust me. One person's absence had nothing to do with Europe outscoring the Americans 8-3 on that final day.
"I never thought the U.S. would lose after building a lead like that," said Harris, who is the PGA golf professional at Marietta Country Club. "But the Europeans had nothing to lose whereas we had everything to lose. The Americans could have been in protect mode instead of playing like they did earlier in the week."
Harris and his friend, Gary Murphy, arrived at Medinah CC in time for Thursday's practice rounds then spent Friday watching the action at the fourth and 13th holes.
"The Ryder Cup is not like a regular tour event where people are scattered all over the place," Harris explained. "So many people are trying to watch 24 golfers. The action is so compressed, so the only way to watch is to find a hole, sit down and watch the groups go through.
"If you tried to follow certain golfers, you were following a sea of people 25 deep. Unless you were very tall, you could not see that much."
The atmosphere those two days was exhilarating to say the least. Somewhat to the degree - but not quite - when Harris attended the 2008 Ryder Cup played at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville (Ky.) when the Americans snapped Europe's streak of three straight wins.
Two members from that U.S. squad - Kenny Perry and J.B. Holmes - were Kentucky natives, so that added to mystique.
"I watched that one until the end and the local crowd was just crazy," Harris remembers.
"Everybody in the gallery were high-fiving each other even if they didn't know one another. In the Ryder Cup, we're all one."
Harris is one of those responsible for bringing the Ryder Cup format to the Mid-Ohio Valley. Eight years ago, Marietta Country Cup and Parkersburg Country Club competed against each other for the first time in the annual two-day event.
This year's version was held earlier this month and reduced to one day after Friday's matches were rained out. Parkersburg Country Club won the title 7-5 to take a 5-4 edge in the overall series.
With the golf season winding down, Harris and a few of his buddies are planning a trip later this year to play Paradise Island in the Bahamas - which just happened to be the locale for Golf Channel's reality show, Big Break Atlantis.
"I don't know if I have enough golf balls - it looks like there is a lot of water on that course," Harris said.
