Ryder Cup Recap

43rd Ryder Cup

urope needed a miracle; they got a massacre. A new crop of Americans, armed with breathtaking golf games and a ravenous appetite for European humiliation, never considered taking their foot off the gas on Sunday at Whistling Straits—which, of course, they could have, seeing as they entered Sunday’s singles session with a Medinahproof lead of 11-5. They could’ve gone through the motions like a college kid who shows up to Friday afternoon class but really just wants to start drinking already. But for these 12 young men, simply winning back the Ryder Cup wasn’t enough. They wanted to deliver a generational blow and sow existential dread in their opponents, just as the Europeans did seven long years ago.

“I woke up this morning and I was trying to tell the guys, let’s get to 20 points,” said Patrick Cantlay. This was the team’s goal from the beginning of the day: Break the record for biggest blowout in the modern Ryder Cup. Why?

“Because this is going to be the next era of Ryder Cup teams for the U.S. side. We’ve got a lot of young guys and I think they’ll be on teams for a long time. I wanted to send a message.”

Cantlay did his part, fending off a highly emotional Shane Lowry for a comfortable 4&2 victory. So did fellow 20-something Justin Thomas. And Scottie Scheffler. And Bryson DeChambeau. And Jordan Spieth. And Collin Morikawa, who clinched the victory before 4 p.m. local time.

The essence of this team can be summarised by the last match of the day, which wrapped up a good hour later. During the dead time between clinching putt and celebratory swigs, Xander Schauffele wanted to know who was still on the course. “Berger is last,” Cantlay told him as he raised his eyebrows, lamenting the absence of the fun-loving Berger—known by “Boog” to his teammates—who tends to be the life of the party. Surely he would lay an egg against Matt Fitzpatrick, who was desperate to win his first point in his second Ryder Cup appearance—especially after Fitzpatrick won the 15th to go one up. A gentler soul may have. But this United States team harbours a ruthlessness that the preceding generation of Ryder Cup losers didn’t.

Twenty was no longer feasible but a record point total of 19 still was. So Berger locked in, knowing the ensuing party would run deep into the Wisconsin night, and scratched out a 1 up victory to polish off the most lopsided Ryder Cup since continental Europe joined the party in 1979. An 8-4 thumping in singles brought the final tally to a hard-to-believe 19-9. Yep, you could call that a message.

▶ happiness is Team USA and their significant others celebrates after the 19-9 defeat of Europe

“It was a special week all the way around, said captain Steve Stricker, whose laid back leadership style—“put us in position but stay out of the way,” as Jordan Spieth put it—meshed perfectly with his team of alpha males.

“I don’t know what else to say, and I’ve said it a number of times all week long and how these guys came together, and how they started two weeks ago when they showed up for the practice round. I could see the camaraderie then,” Stricker said. “I could see the willingness to prepare and get ready for this event prior to us even arriving. So a lot of these guys have played a lot of golf with each other….these guys are young, they want it, they’re motivated. They came here determined to win. I could see it in their eyes.”

This—playing against the strongest American side ever, with an average world ranking just above 8—was always going to be a huge ask for an ageing European team that entered in scratchy form. But the U.S. has held the talent advantage in quite a

few of these shindigs and left almost all of them without a trophy. Past Ryder Cups have made one thing clear: talent only goes so far without passion, and this group is overflowing with that. The other side noticed.

“I think the most important thing for the U.S. team is a lot of young guys that are great players have bought into the Ryder Cup,” said Rory McIlroy, who salvaged a brutal week with a singles victory over Schauffele. “I think that was probably missing in previous generations.”

Enter six rookies, four of which were captain’s picks. Stricker, then, deserves heaps of praise for eschewing experience and entrusting the kids. They wasted zero time taking this competition by the throat with a dominant 3-1 win in foursomes, which the Europeans have historically dominated, and matched it with a 3-1 victory in the Friday afternoon session, which the Europeans have historically dominated. Through Saturday morning’s foursomes, the only Europeans who had won a match were Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia.

“And I had to play [expletive] amazing just to get to 17 in all my matches,” Rahm said.

A half-hearted rally flickered out on Saturday afternoon, rendering Sunday’s festivities a mere formality. The Europeans knew they were going to lose and they had time to chew on it. It struck a note with the core group of 40-somethings that carried their side to seven Ryder Cup victories in nine tries.

“It was a 25-minute drive into the golf course this morning,” said 45-year-old Ian Poulter, “and I had (son) Luke in the car, (wife) Kate in the car, and there was not a lot of conversation. Your mind starts wandering: is it going to be my last match in a Ryder Cup outfit?”

Poulter preserved his undefeated singles record but lost both his foursomes matches alongside McIlroy and admitted the odds of him playing another one of these are not in his favour. Paul Casey, 44, and Lee Westwood, 48, face the same setting sun.

“They’ve had their changing of the guard—Tiger’s not in and Phil’s got a radio in his ear,” Poul-

▶ young Eight of the 12 Team USA players were in their 20s including Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler. It was a tough week for Ian Poulter (below)

WE HAD A LOT OF YOUNG GUYS...THEY DIDN'T PLAY LIKE THEY WERE ROOKIES. THEY STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE. THE ONE THING WE ALL HAVE IN COMMON IS WE ALL HATE TO LOSE.

ter said. “They’ve handed the baton over. In the team room last night and there were a couple emotional people speaking. You just wish you were 20 years old again. It’s hard. When you’ve played so many and been part of so many successful teams, it’s hard when you get old and you know there’s not many left. The best years of those Ryder Cups are behind you.”

The Americans have no such issue. The average age of this team was 29.4, practically diapers in the golf world. And yet the oldest player on the squad, Dustin Johnson, was the only one to play all fi ve matches. He won all of them in a legacyboosting performance.

“This week—yes, we had a lot of young guys, they are rookies in the Ryder Cup, but it didn’t feel like they were just because they have all played well in such big moments and big tournaments that it didn’t feel like they were rookies,” Johnson said. “And they didn’t play like they were rookies. They stepped up to the plate and they all wanted it. And like all of us have said all week, the one thing we all have in common is we all hate to lose. And so that’s how we came together.” Even Brooks and Bryson, who hugged it out after the winning team’s press conference. With, of course, an assist from Mr. Bubbly.

“I’ll tell you, winning the Ryder Cup, this is possibly way better than any tournament I’ve won in my entire life,” DeChambeau said after an electric week that featured a 417-yard-bomb, an eagle on the par-4 first on Sunday and a whole buncha love from fans. “The group of people, the collective game of golf, it’s so much bigger than just a singular tournament. It’s about people coming together and doing something special for the game of golf. And I couldn’t be more proud of Captain Strick and everybody putting their hearts out and making it the coolest experience I’ve ever had in my golf career.”

After Morikawa made it offi cial, Cantlay trudged up the hill short of the 18th fairway to watch the rest of his teammates fi nish their matches. Phil Mickelson zoomed by on the back of a golf cart with his wife by his side.

“You know, I would off er you a spot seeing as you played so well and all that,” Lefty said, “but that’s just not how I roll.” The party had begun, and the Americans wasted little time grabbing drinks to sip on and a few more for later. Remember, Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger shotgunned beers at noon on Saturday; this team clearly feels comfortable celebrating early. Their attitude screams if you don’t like it, then beat us.

The U.S. team that heads to Rome in two years will include many of the same young men who so thoroughly dominated this week. The European side will almost certainly feature a host of fresh new faces that’ll be keen to protect home field. This whipping surely sent a shiver down the spine of European golf fans, but the true mark of Ryder Cup dominance comes only with a road victory. Americans of yesteryear have learned this the hard way, hardened by six consecutive losses overseas. This group, however, holds no such scar tissue. They are unburdened by past failures, focused instead on the opportunies that lie ahead.

“This is unfi nished business,” says Jordan Spieth, who is somehow still just 28 years old. “I think this was one of those first wins—we needed to win this one and I think it was a massive stepping stone for this team.

“It’s one thing to win it over here, and it is a lot easier to do so and it is harder to win over there. If we play like we did this week, the score will look the same over there in a couple years. And that’s what we’re here for.”

▶ clutch Dustin Johnson became just the 5th American all-time to go 5-0... not bad for the oldest player on the 2021 U.S. roster at age 37

REPLENISH OR REPEAT europe’s day of reckoning arrives as lopsided loss hints dramatic changes are in order by dave shedloski

SADDLED WITH the weakest European team in decades, captain Padraig is replenishing the cupboard, reassessing its qualifying process and using its off year more eff ectively. do that immediately by changing its qualifying process to give its future captains more picks and fewer automatic qualifi ers. Harrington had three captains picks at his disposal, which he used on Shane Lowry, Garcia and Harrington had few strings that he could pull that would have changed the outcome appreciably in the 43rd Ryder Cup. Not that he had a string he could pull.

His lineup was threadbare.

And it was facing a United States team dressed to kill.

Younger, deeper, highly motivated and more battle-tested than recognised due to its participation in the Presidents Cup, the American dozen came together like no team in the modern era of the Ryder Cup with its 19-9 triumph at Whistling Straits, a record margin since players from continental Europe bolstered Great Britain & Ireland in 1979.

That is a core group poised to become every bit as formidable as Europe’s juggernaut of yore: Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sandy Lyle.

That’s a problem Europe can’t do much about. The task for the Old World A three-time major winner and a stalwart of European teams after its Big Six moved on, Harrington won’t escape criticism entirely. A few of his moves were head-scratchers, but only a few. Questioning them is too convenient. Different decisions would not have yielded a diff erent outcome. Only a slightly closer one. “This is going to be bad because Paddy is going to be questioned, and that is not fair,” said Ian Poulter, one of Harrington’s three captain’s picks. Europe’s primary weakness this week was fi elding as many forty-somethings as players in their 20s—four each. Two were wild card picks: Poulter, 45, and Sergio Garcia, 41, the latter who was a terrifi c complement to Jon Rahm, the world No. 1, who went 4-0 before running out of gas and magic and guts and falling to Scottie Scheffl er in singles. Scheffl er is 25, but played two fewer matches than the robust, rock-solid Spaniard. Automatic qualifiers Paul Casey and Lee Westwood are 44 and 48, respectively, and Europe would be well-served if they made their last appearances or channelled Ponce de Leon. Same for Poulter. Not that the loss falls on their shoulders, but the Ryder Cup, we have maintained repeatedly while watching America err continuously on the side of experience, is a young-man’s event. It is four days of anticipation and building tension followed by three days of constant motion and intense, almost ineff ably high pressure. There’s a reason Dustin Johnson this week became just the third man to go 5-0 since the 28-point format was instituted in ’79, joining Larry Nelson and Francesco Molinari. Players expend incalculable energy during the Ryder Cup, even when not competing. They have to keep their games sharp. They are on the course walking alongside and supporting their teammates. And they do all of this amid sleep deprivation and altered eating habits. All 24 players are invested in the fi ve sessions that could go as many as 504 holes combined over some 30 hours of a 72-hour period. So Europe has to get younger. It can Poulter. Stricker, meanwhile, because of the pandemic, had six stockpiled, and the American skipper used them wisely. Especially important were the selections of Spieth, a natural partner with close friend Thomas, and Scheffler, chosen expressly to accompany his quirky fellow Texan DeChambeau. Had Harrington had just one additional pick, Westwood likely would not have made his team as last man in on the World Points List. (Then the question becomes, would Harrington have picked him?) WE HAVE TO LOOK AT SYSTEMIC CHANGES BEHIND THE SCENES. THERE'S A CHANGING OF THE GUARD IN EUROPE, AND A LOT WE HAVE TO LOOK AT

Warning signs blared on the first hole of Westwood’s foursomes match with English compatriot Matt Fitzpatrick Friday morning when the veteran of 10 previous Ryder Cups was set up with a six-footer to win the opening hole against Berger and four-time major champion Brooks Koepka. Westwood didn’t hit the hole, and he and Fitzpatrick lost the next two holes and never recovered.

Instead of Westwood, who surely will be a future captain, Harrington, with an additional pick, could have added Victor Perez of France, Robert McIntyre of Scotland or Guido Migliozzi of Italy, the next three names on the European Points List and 29, 25 and 24 years old, respectively.

“We have to look at systemic changes behind the scenes,” Harrington allowed. “There’s a changing of the guard in Europe, and a lot we have to look at.”

Finally, Europe has been adversely affected by the loss of the Seve Trophy, which ended in 2013, and the Eurasia Cup, played from 2014-18. Harrington called the loss of both off-year team match-play events, “a big miss” because it gave the Europeans an opportunity to test partnerships and provide their players a taste of competing as part of a team rather than solely as individuals.

For years, as Europe has dominated the Ryder Cup, it was thought that America suffered from its Presidents Cup responsibilities. But while Schauffele, Cantlay and Daniel Berger were Ryder Cup rookies, they had been members of past U.S. Presidents Cup teams – winning teams, it should be pointed out. And the successful Cantlay-Schauffele pairing that won twice in foursomes here was battle-tested at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia.

Europe lost Sunday for just the fourth time in the last 13 matches, an astounding run of success, and since 1979 it owns an 11-9-1 edge. So blowing up its system, its culture, its strong use of analytics, would be foolhardy. Before Sunday, it twice beat its American rivals by nine points.

But for the first time since 1983, the United States owns consecutive wins on its home soil and is loaded and hungry, with the likes of Patrick Reed hankering to get back in the action and promising players like Sam Burns, Max Homa and Will Zalatoris pining for a shot.

Europe’s nucleus of Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood, plus perhaps the return of Molinari – whose absence this week was another blow – is solid. Harrington said as much: “There’s plenty of guys here. … We’ll draw lessons from this week, but most of these guys were winning in Paris, so there’s still quite a winning mentality there going forward.”

Indeed, but chances are high that preventing America from winning abroad for the first time since 1993 when the Ryder Cup goes to Rome in 2023 will be no less of a challenge than what they faced this week.

That has to be a sobering thought. The Euros will have to adapt. And quickly. Because their long reign of domination is in peril.

▶ sobering After winning seven of the nine matches before Whistling Straits, Europe are confronting a harsh new reality