London has Ryder Cup fever, too

Chicagoland, of course, is fully into Ryder Cup mode, but it’s not the only place. England is also celebrating the Ryder Cup, thanks to the staging of the Ryder Cup Heritage Exhibition.

The exhibition, which opened Thursday and runs through mid-October, is being staged at a BMW showroom on Marsham Street, Westminster, in London. That location makes sense because BMW is an official partner of the Ryder Cup.

The Heritage Exhibition features personal items from past players and rare photographs, while a series of specially created display cases and graphic storyboards recount the history of the past 38 matches, covering its growth from a friendly competition to one of the biggest sporting events in the world. The Ryder Cup itself is also on display, at least for another week or so, until it makes the trip back over the Atlantic with European Captain Jose Maria Olazabal and his team.

“The storyboards show the evolution of the Ryder Cup from its origins back in 1926 at The Wentworth Club through to the 39th match, which will be played at Medinah Country Club in two weeks time,” said European Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills. “Samuel Ryder himself was a man whose style mirrored the values of golf such as honesty, respect and integrity and his legacy spreads across many boundaries many of which the iconic Ryder Cup represents.”

Another Ryder Cup display, this one called “The Ryder Cup Exhibit … Where Legends are Forged and Legacies are Made,” debuted a few weeks ago in the Chicago suburb of Oakbrook, and is open to the public through the end of September. You can see a photo gallery of it here.