americans call them games away. The label might as well be pain games. Three decades have passed since a team from the United States lifted the Ryder Cup in Europe. Paul Azinger, Fred Couples, Tom Kite, Lee Janzen, Corey Pavin, Payne Stewart, John Cook, Davis Love, Chip Beck, Jim Gallagher, Raymond Floyd, Lanny Wadkins; a decent enough collective, but unlikely history makers.
So emphatic was the success for the United States in the last Ryder Cup that giddy spectators pointed to a decade of dominance. Since Europe retained the trophy at the Belfry in 1989, the US has won only half a dozen times. Those were precisely the bold predictions about reducing Europe – and in fact the Ryder Cup itself – to irrelevance. Timing can be everything in this competition; in 2021, it was an undeniable fact that countless European golfers arrived at Whistling Straits in questionable form.
This was of course temporary. The competition for highly rated American teams crossing the Atlantic felt permanent. Zach Johnson and his class of 2023 are trying to break the pattern. If they do, they will not only have etched their name in golf folklore, but they will also have increased the competitive appeal of this event by changing the order of ‘home win, home win’. The European record in the United States is hardly impressive, which is why 2012 stands out in Medinah.
“The teams of the past are teams of the past,” Johnson emphasized. “This is a new team with a new opportunity.” He is of course absolutely right. Nothing should connect 2006 at the K Club with 17 years later in the Roman countryside. Yet this dismal record will continue to appear until the US can change it. “I said it in Whistling Straits,” Jordan Spieth remembers. “I said this is a lot of fun, but until we win one there, no one can talk about a change in the Ryder Cup or the USA or anything like that.” As always, Spieth’s analysis was and is correct.
Johnson’s approach to captaincy was interesting. Some players completed a nine-hole warm-up session, others played eighteen. The sight of Brooks Koepka standing alone on the court Tuesday morning played into the lone wolf story, but the theme is actually broader. Johnson clearly wants his team to feel as comfortable as they normally would in an individual environment as part of a team. Johnson’s scene is noticeably free of regulation and interference. “Guys know what they are doing,” said the American captain. They are professional golfers and the best players in the world.” In his own words, the two-time major winner has tried to ‘cut out the clutter’. There’s plenty of that; this is a sporting event that takes itself extremely seriously.
But why such problems outside the US? The answer must be multifaceted. The Tiger Woods factor during the numerous Ryder Cup appearances played a role. It’s funny to see Woods now as a point person for American captains, since he was the riddle that none of them could solve for years. European captains tend to insist on slow greens and thick rough greens; both are uncommon on the PGA Tour. Nevertheless, all but two members of this European team practice their profession in that American domain. The cruelty of a home crowd? Probably a factor, but one that is routinely overestimated. Golf fans can be annoying, but they are generally calm. Players should hardly be reduced to quivering wrecks.
Johnson can call on Koepka, the American PGA champion, Wyndham Clark, the US Open winner, and Brian Harman, who claimed the Claret Jug at the rain-affected Royal Liverpool. There are seven major champions on the US team. For comparison, Luke Donald has five. What the visitors miss is Dustin Johnson, who was imperious when winning a quintet of points two years ago. If the absence of Johnson and, to a lesser extent, Bryson DeChambeau here is keenly felt by the US, then LIV Golf has significantly affected the Ryder Cup results. Europeans watching were unlikely to play for Marco Simone after moving to the rebel circuit.
Instead of building his team into frenzy, Donald used emotional and motivational language early in Ryder Cup week. The rest was spent keeping his players calm. There has been great excitement within the European team room over the form of Ludvig Åberg. Rory McIlroy appears cheerful. If McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton click, the US will be behind the eight ball. Intriguingly, Johnson left Spieth and Justin Thomas out of session one. Two of those big holders, Koepka and Clark, will also be mere observers. These are bold calls.
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Mariah Carey’s ‘Dreamlover’ topped the charts as an American team boarded their flight home for the last time with the Ryder Cup as part of their carry-on luggage. Their current captain is undoubtedly steely, knowledgeable and has the deep respect of his players. Motion sickness only suggests that Johnson needs something more, something exceptional.
In the Eternal City, hope arises for Johnson and his team. History dictates that this can only be the case.