Whistling Straits is also known as Whipping Straits.
Team USA won the 43rd Ryder Cup 2021 by a score of 19-9. The youth of America won over the experience of Europe. The combined Ryder Cup scores of the six U.S. Ryder Cup debutants were 14-4-3.
Davis Love III, assistant captain of the United States, said: “It appears that the younger the players are the better they perform.”
This was the first time since 1944 that the U.S. did not lose any of the 5 sessions. This was an impressive win by any standard. It’s not to minimize its accomplishment, but the U.S. was able to win at home, despite a fluky European return in 2012. In 2016, the U.S. hosted and won, but two years later it lost in Paris. This put pressure on America to maintain its serve. It could have been a re-do, as the Euros won nine of the 12 matches in the past decade and four of the five previous meetings. This brings us to a question that will not be answered fully until this week. Did the U.S. beating in 2021 mark a sea-change in Ryder Cup fortunes.
When the 44th Cup takes place in Rome, Italy on September 24-26 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, the real proof of America’s success will be if they win the Cup on the road. Xander Schauffele refused to rush to judgement during the U.S. Team’s final press conference at Whistlingstraits two years ago.
He said, “I’m so sorry to burst you bubble but we will just enjoy the moment.” “You are thinking too far ahead for us personally. We’re just going to enjoy now and then collect ourselves soon after,” he said.
Jordan Spieth has played on foreign soil twice, in 2014 and 2018. He knows the pain. He compared it to the Presidents Cup, and, borrowing a phrase from New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was already on to Italy.
He said, “I believe that this is an unfinished matter.” It’s easier to win here than it is to win there. If we continue to play as we have been this week, we will see the same score in two years. That’s why we are here.
Spieth was still in diapers when Team USA defeated Europe in the road last year. Why have the U.S. team – despite having consistently the stronger, more talented side on paper – lost the last six matches on the road despite always having the deeper and more talented team? There is no easy answer.
Hal Sutton said, “That’s an excellent question.” He was the captain of the U.S. team that lost in Oakland Hills 2004. “I’m certain we would already have the answer if we knew it.”
Sutton’s response may be true, but it also reveals why the U.S. has failed to learn from its mistakes in the past. From the humble beginnings of 1927 to Europe’s first home victory in 1985, U.S. dominance is a thing of the past. The next major champion – preferably a former PGA Championship champion – was given the captaincy. Tony Jacklin, an Englishman who led Europe from 1983 until 1989, established a model that was passed on through the years. Team USA hid its head in sand, not understanding why they continued to struggle, despite being the favorites.
They believed that the Ryder Cup was a random event, where equal talent would sometimes win and the Europeans lose. But all ideas of teamwork or strategy were exaggerated. It could be arrogance or complacency. But they stuck to their belief despite the fact that the results were anything but random. Shane Ryan wrote this in his book “The Cup They COULDN’T Lose: America and the Ryder Cup on the Long Road to Whistling Straits,” in which he explains the European renaissance and how America regained its groove.
Ryan wrote, “The Americans are too successful on talent alone to learn the lesson.” In that sense, the Americans were victims of their success and it would take years for them to humble themselves enough so as to learn.
Paul Azinger was the only one in 2008 to build his team using an unconventional approach. He conceived the pod system, and made the most of a U.S. line-up that included Chad Campbell and Boo Weekley. Ben Curtis, and Anthony Kim, the rookie, were also part of the lineup. The team won big in their home country against a Nick Faldo-led squad that ignored the template of Team Europe. Azinger ran for captaincy in Wales in 2010 and deserved to be given the job. The PGA of America instead chose Corey Pavin, and the U.S. Ryder Cup captains that followed each approached it in their own way with little or no consistency.
Ryan writes, “There are many lessons to learn.” They learned nothing.
Ryan dedicates an entire chapter in his Ryder Cup Book, a section titled “Why Does Europe Win?” to seven of the most common theories. These include the old standbys, that the Americans need to improve their game and the Europeans simply like each other better. Ryan quotes a Euro veteran who explains their team chemistry as follows: “We spend a week together, we get along and then we go back to hate Monty.”
Padraig Harrington’s theory, as captain of Whistling Straits and a former professional golfer, touches on mental aspects of competitions, expectations, and pressure.
He said, “We try to win the Ryder Cup while the U.S. is trying to not lose it.” They’re scared because they’re favorites and should win. We’re just country cousins. We have something to prove. We have something to prove.
Sutton isn’t alone in being at a loss of words when asked why Team USA cannot win across the pond.
Jim Furyk stated, “You know, I would have changed it a long time back if I had been able to pinpoint the problem.”
Golfweek spoke to several former captains of both teams to understand why the Americans haven’t been able to win in the past and what could happen this year.
Hitting rock bottom
In 2014, Team USA was at its lowest point when it lost to Scotland. Phil Mickelson aired Team USA’s dirty linen during the media session that followed the defeat, and publicly humiliated U.S. Captain Tom Watson.
The mess had ended and it was impossible to claim with any credence that the Ryder Cup is a simple test of who plays better. Ryan wrote that the effect of management on golf was so evident, even the most stubborn American could not pretend to be happy. The Ryder Cup is what broke the Americans.
The day brought about a new start and a commitment to changing the culture.
Love stated that the PGA had realized they needed to do something else, and noted that The Task Force was a necessary evil, created after Mickelson’s tirade. They said, “We’ll spend the money on stats guys. We will spend money on NetJets so that you can fly in to practice rounds. . . We’ll get what we want if we say that we need it for (Italy). It was Phil that triggered the boil-over. The simmering had been going on for some time. Phil was the only person with enough courage to speak up. He could have said it in the debriefing, but that would have not been as impactful.”
Home course rules
The home team has won 10 of the 12 Ryder Cups in the past. This includes the Europeans’ Miracle at Medinah from 2012, when they rallied to overcome a 10-six deficit on the final round.
The Ryder Cup seems to be going in a direction where the home team has a distinct advantage each time we play. This was evident in Paris two years ago. “I think it was also pretty evident this week,” said Rory McIlroy in Whistling Straits, 2021. You can go back to Hazeltine and see the same thing. “This is the pattern we are on.”
Is the crowd the 13th man in the race? Does it depend on the course knowledge of the captain or how the team at home sets up the course. Furyk says that the home field advantage is worth a minimum of one point. Furyk was the losing captain when the U.S. lost the last match on the road, in 2018. He joked in Paris that it was worth seven points, which is the difference between the final score (17 1/2-10 1/2).
Furyk said that Seve Balesteros had narrowed the fairways at Valderrama and grown the rough in 1997, forcing American bombers like Tiger Woods and Love III into hitting fairway woods or 2-irons from the tee.
Furyk stated that the new system “levelled the playing field”.
Jacklin’s playbook was on display. Jacklin, in 1985 at The Belfry had neutralized what was called the American advantage by asking that the greens be not cut too short. The Americans were used to fast greens. Jacklin, and the Euro captains that followed him, poured over every rock in their quest for the slightest advantage. Jacklin is the first captain to pair players based on compatibility.
Big Guns must produce
Jacklin, speaking of U.S. Captain Lee Trevino who, in 1985, was the first American captain on foreign soil to lose, said: “Lee thought you could put two men together, spank them on the butt, and say, Go get ’em.’ But I think winning is an emotional thing.”
Trevino is not alone in his experience as a U.S. Ryder Cup losing captain since 1993. He has a theory about what makes the difference between winning and losing.
Trevino stated, “I’ve played six Ryder Cups and it doesn’t matter who the players, captains or how you pair them up are. You’ve got to bring your four guns. You have four guns out of the 12 guys. These boys have big guns. They’re machine guns. If you win, lose, or draw the Ryder Cup these four guns must give you at least a plus-5. (Win five more matches or points than they lose) Trevino said, “They’ve got give you plus-something.” Love agrees, and refers to 1997, when Woods, Justin Leonard and Love all won major titles and were at their peak.
Love remembered, “None us putt well and we received zero points.” Davis Love: “Tom Kite, the captain of the United States in 1997, was blamed. But you can also put it on Davis Love. I got zero points. I will never forget that I felt personally responsible.
“When we went on tour to Paris in 2018, Tiger was supposed to have just won the Tour Championship (but he went 0-4). Mickelson should be the veteran leader (2-0) and Patrick Reed should be ‘Captain America (1-2), but they played poorly. Add in Bryson deChambeau who played some of the world’s best golf leading up to the Cup, but was winless for three matches and the big four went 1-11. “When your best players aren’t producing, you won’t be able to beat them.”
Love stated that the Task Force set an ambitious goal to win seven of the nine Cups in the future (including Presidents).
Love said that it would be a huge achievement, pointing out that Team USA has already won six Cups since the 2015 Presidents Cup.
Woods and Mickelson are the stars of their respective generations. Woods had an overall Ryder Cup record of 13-21-3. He also went 9-12-2 on his five overseas appearances. Mickelson had a slightly better Ryder Cup overall record at 18-22-7. However, Lefty’s six road appearances saw him go 6-13-4. In 2018, they went a combined score of 0-6-0 outside Paris. The U.S. would be unable to recover from such poor performances.
Lessons learned
The U.S. tries to learn from mistakes. Love cites his own mistakes in Medinah, 2012. In the Ryder Cups of the past six years, the home team led the two-matches by as much as four points. Over that period, the home team has a 58-38 advantage. That is a 60% winning rate.
Love explained, “We were so focused Friday and Saturday where we seemed to have done less well that we did not have a plan or momentum for Sunday.”
Furyk stated that “any time a team has come back, now twice in this tournament, from four point – it was a quick start and a strong middle-to late part of the line-up.”
He’s right. In 1999, the U.S. had won the six first matches. In 2012, the Euros scored in the first five. Spieth said that momentum can change quickly during match play. He added that it is important to plant a seed of uncertainty.
Love talked to Darren Clarke that night after Love’s 2012 team blew its 10-6 advantage on Sunday. Clarke said: “You knew we would load the boat.” Why didn’t you load the boat? “You did it to us back in 1999.”
Love gave a few reasons why he did not front-load his team. Clarke, Love’s captain-elect in 2016, said, “Rubbish. Your lineup was terrible.”
Love’s team had a large lead going into the Sunday singles match against Clarke’s squad in 2016. He stacked up his lineup early and the U.S. took five out of the seven first matches, and split another. The U.S. seized the momentum and won with ease, then used the same strategy at Whistling Straights in 2021.
Love stated that in 2018, Europe had an advantage because of their knowledge of Le Golf National, Paris, as it was the site for decades for the French Open. Marco Simone is the host of the last three Italian Opens. This gives the U.S. less of an advantage, but they still plan to travel to Italy ahead of time in order to neutralize the potential advantage.
How will the Euros react to the biggest U.S. Ryder Cup blowout ever? Paul McGinley said in the aftermath, “I do not agree that everything will be fine and that we can continue to do the same thing and expect to win in two years.” I believe our competitors have become stronger. Our competitor is much more intelligent off the golfing course. Our competitor is coming with a completely different mentality from what they used in France. This is not something that should be ignored. “This was a serious loss.”
McGinley, who was European captain in 2014 and had a motto emblazoned across the team room, believes this slogan is more relevant than ever to the European side.
He told Ryan that the Americans had matched him in terms of passion. It’s all about attitude now, being the Rottweiler and having that siege mentality, playing away from home, knowing it will be difficult. It’s obvious that even in an age when the home-course is a huge advantage, America operates from a place of strength and Europe from one of hope.
The biggest challenge facing Johnson and his Team USA Vice Captains is to remain in the moment and not try to correct the mistakes of 30 years of road failure.
It gets to the point that it becomes mental. Love said, “We know we should win but we haven’t.” The team in Italy is a new one. The team is new. It’s not the game that matters, it’s just the talk. It will be the theme for the build-up and our job is to make it now.”
