Justin Timberlake Opened The Ryder Cup By Reading A Shitty Poem About Golf

Justin Timberlake is serving as a Team USA "Ambassador" for this year's Ryder Cup at Medinah, a job title apparently created especially for the pop singer, actor and golf lover. Timberlake's appearance at today's opening ceremony was preceded by an introduction by Olympian Michael Phelps and accompanied by the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.

It was also godawful.

I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a J.T. fan, but his performance (a reading of the terrible, terrible poem "Golf" by Randy Sabados—which organizers appear to have found by searching for the word on PoemHunter) did make me ashamed for Timberlake. While Golf Channel hosts praised the performance (with David Feherty calling it "beautiful") it was, actually, awful. You can watch the video above and see for yourself. Sure, the music is nice, but Timberlake is working with such horrid source material that it was impossible for him to make anything called art out of it.

Opening ceremonies are always weird (and often pointless and weak) but for a ceremony celebrating the only major international team golf tournament in existence (and one that's only held every two years, at that) it's an especially big disappointment.