Europe owns the Ryder Cup.
That statement goes beyond the fact that the Euros have possession of Samuel Ryder’s trophy by virtue of a 16 1/2-11 1/2 victory over the United States two years ago in the most recent edition of the biennial event at Gleneagles in Scotland.
The guys from the other side of the Atlantic have the Americans’ number, winning the past three competitions, six of the past seven and eight of the past 10.
That makes the Americans’ 25-13-2 lead in the series seem almost meaningless heading into this week’s matches at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
And somehow, European captain Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland has convinced almost everybody that his team is the underdog.
“You guys are the favorite,” said Clarke, who won the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St. George’s and played in the Ryder Cup seven times. “You have to be the favorite, the Americans.
“It’s going to be a very, very big task ahead of us. Those guys (on the European team) have earned their place as of right. The talent that they all possess, I have no worries at all about the strength of that team. I’ll be very proud to take them.”
Perhaps the fact that the Europeans have six Ryder Cup rookies has influenced the opinion that the Americans should win this one.
Masters champion Danny Willett of England, Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain, Andy Sullivan of England, Thomas Pieters of Belgium, Chris Wood of England and 22-year-old Matthew Fitzpatrick of England will experience the intense Ryder Cup pressure for the first time.
However, the fact is, it hasn’t mattered who has been playing during this era of European domination, which includes the years in which Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were considered the best players in the game.
Ryder Cup veterans Lee Westwood of England, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Sergio Garcia of Spain, Henrik Stenson of Sweden, Justin Rose of England and Martin Kaymer of Germany lead the Euros.
“The Europeans have a psychological advantage because they’ve won so many recently,” said Mickelson, who has a 14-18-1 Ryder Cup record, including a 4-5-1 mark in singles.
“They have great leadership. They have great consistency in their leadership. They have continuity in the players who play, and overall continuity. And they have momentum from past successes.”
Woods isn’t playing this time, recovering from two back surgeries at the age of 40 and serving as one of Davis Love III’s vice captains. That might not make much difference because the greatest player of his generation has a 13-17-3 record, although he is 4-1-2 in singles.
Mickelson criticized captain Tom Watson after the U.S. lost in Scotland two years ago, and the Americans selected a committee that included past captains and current players in an effort to turn things around.
“You’ve had a task force,” Clarke said. “You’ve done everything that you’ve done, and rightly so. Davis has gone to great lengths to try and find a winning formula.”
There are numerous theories to explain the United States’ Ryder Cup troubles: that the Europeans play more match play growing up, that they care more about the Ryder Cup that the U.S. players, and that the Americans are more singular in their approach to the game.
The American players complained about not having any control of the millions of dollars generated by the event, and now they are able to earmark some of it toward charities they choose.
Woods raised eyebrows when he called the event “an exhibition” in 1999, but European star McIlroy said the same things a few years later before changing his mind after getting a taste of the Euros’ team camaraderie and success against the Yanks.
The 2016 U.S. team has four 20-somethings, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka, who hope to turn things around with veterans Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Jimmy Walker, J.B. Holmes, Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore.
“I don’t have a Ryder Cup,” Spieth said last week at the Tour Championship. “I think I will have a Ryder Cup at some point. … You want something that you don’t have. That’s a trophy that I’ve watched the other side of (when he played at Gleneagles in 2014) and it hurt. It was tough at the closing ceremony. … It was an empty feeling.
“We want that celebration. We want that champagne falling off the balcony. I’m pretty confident about how we’re going to go about our business. I think we’ve got a fantastic team this year, one of the best teams I can remember looking back at, and I love being a part of that.”
The Americans had their moments in 1999 at Brookline and 2008 at Valhalla, but there have too many others like the 2012 collapse at Medinah.
Hazeltine is where they hope to start turning that around.
–Story courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
