Americans look to usher in new era at Ryder Cup
KOHLER, Wis. (BVM) — It’s no secret that Europe has dominated the Ryder Cup as of late. Since 1985, the U.S. has won the prestigious golf tournament just five times. More recently in the 21st century, the U.S. has taken home wins just twice when they were led by Paul Azinger in 2008 and Davis Love III in 2016.
Even with two of the best golfers the sport has ever seen in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson competing in several of those events, the Europeans have been able to bring more energy and success to the links. With Padraig Harrington at the helm for the 2020 Ryder Cup, more of that same energy and passion from Europe can certainly be expected, and plenty of experience on the team can only help their chances.
“Certainly it’s pretty tried and tested in Europe that we’re going to go with experience when we’re coming across here,” Harrington said during a media availability on Monday. “We do have a few rookies on the team to provide that enthusiasm, but we are strongly relying on that experience.”
Europe brings along a stacked team to Wisconsin, featuring veteran players such as Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia. Meanwhile, some young guns such as Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland also make the team dangerous.
Then you have a couple past major champions including Shane Lowry and a name the U.S. is plenty familiar with, Rory McIlroy, who is thrilled to have a chance to play in the event once again.
“I think that the Ryder Cup epitomizes everything that’s great in the game of golf,” McIlroy said during a media availability on Tuesday. “It’s competitive but there’s also a lot of sportsmanship shown.
“Yeah, [the] Ryder Cup is one of the best events that we have in golf, if not the best event we have in golf, and just excited to be a part of another one.”
The headliner of the European team may very well be Spaniard Jon Rahm, who is the No. 1 golfer in the current world rankings and has been for the last 12 weeks. He also comes off a strong 2021 season which included his first major win at the U.S. Open.
While Europe undoubtedly has a stacked team, the Americans are looking to right the ship and get back to winning form. After the event was postponed due to COVID-19 last year, the U.S. has had to wait an additional year for the opportunity to bring the Ryder Cup trophy back to American soil.
It won’t ever be easy to beat Europe, but there are several things playing in the favor of the U.S. team. The first is having the tournament back home in their country at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. Although Europe has catered to the home fans thus far in practice rounds, there is no doubt the U.S. will have the advantage once competition begins.
Getting the locals onside @packers 🧀#TeamEurope #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/JpKHbSfYCH
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 22, 2021
“It’s a huge advantage to play in front of your home crowd, and it’s also what makes the event so special,” U.S. team member Justin Thomas said to the media on Tuesday. “It would have been a shame to play this without fans or even with very, very limited fans. This is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and it’s a huge deal for the PGA. It’s a big deal for us.”
Host of the 2004, 2010 and 2015 PGA Championships, Whistling Straits is a beautiful course along the shorelines of Lake Michigan that is a bit of a links-style track, but one many on the American team are familiar with.
“I love the golf course, the setup of it,” Jordan Spieth said on Tuesday. “It’s beautiful. It’s on the lake, but you’ve got to control the ball in the wind. … Should be a really exciting match play course because you can get into trouble but you can also birdie just about every single hole with the right shot.”
Perhaps none are more familiar with the course than Wisconsin native and U.S. Ryder Cup captain, Steve Stricker.
A 12-time PGA Tour winner, Stricker saw success that helped him finish in the top-30 at both the 2010 and 2015 PGA Championships. Now, he relishes his opportunity to lead a talented Ryder Cup squad.
“You want to be part of these competitions and you want to be the guy leading this team and being in charge, and you wouldn’t want to have it any other way,” Stricker said on Monday. “I’ve seen a lot of different things. I’ve seen some things that worked. I’ve seen some things that haven’t worked. I’ve put all those in my memory bank over the years and hopefully lean on those things that I’ve learned and apply them to this week.”
Of course, he, along with U.S. vice captains Fred Couples, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Love III and Mickelson, won’t be doing any playing this week.
Rather, the U.S. will usher in a new era with a young team that features six Ryder Cup rookies. Yet, in the experience the team may lack, they make up for it with superior talent that could take down the European team. Eight players on the 12-man roster for the U.S. are ranked in the top 10 of the world golf rankings.
It begins with those who qualified for the team based on their play throughout 2021. Those guys include Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Cantlay. For Americans, they should be feeling pretty good about this group for a couple of reasons.
First, many of those guys are coming off tremendous seasons. After two wins last year including his first major victory at the PGA Championship, Morikawa followed his performance up with another tremendous season and major victory at the Open Championship. The 24-year-old may be missing some experience at the Straits Course, but he is the kind of player who can get hot at any moment.
A man who has plenty of experience at Whistling Straits is Johnson. Unfortunately, some of it was not great, as Johnson was removed from a three-hole playoff in the 2010 PGA Championship for grounding his club in one of the many bunkers — what he thought was dirt trampled down by spectators — at the course.
At the time, Johnson was denied a chance to win his first major, a tournament that would be won by Europe vice captain Martin Kaymer. Johnson returned to Whistling Straits in 2015 to finish in a tie for seventh, and has since become a two-time major champion. But his experience and knowledge of this course may be greater than anyone playing in the field.
DeChambeau and Koepka have perhaps made more headlines this year based on their ongoing feud than they have on the course, but each are ready to put it aside this week and get a win for the Americans. Of course, everyone is familiar with the length and powerful swing of DeChambeau, and the 2020 U.S. Open winner is coming off a strong finish in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Meanwhile, Koepka’s season began and ended with injury, coming off a knee surgery towards the start and suffering a wrist injury just a few weeks back. He is good to go however, and is coming off top-six finishes in each of the last three majors.
Koepka also has some great memories in the state of Wisconsin, as he won his first major in dominant fashion at a similar-styled course in Erin Hills in 2017. Somewhat under the radar back then, he also finished in a tie for fifth at the 2015 PGA Championship. Being under the radar can no longer be said after four major wins, but Koepka brings a strong presence to this team.
Koepka was threatened in the 2017 U.S. Open by Thomas, who shot a record-setting nine-under 63 in the third round of the tournament. JT is another guy who has gone on to win a major since and brings experience of playing in the Ryder Cup previously.
Meanwhile, Cantlay is one of the six rookies of this tournament but comes off a truly breakout campaign as the FedEx Cup champion and 2021 PGA Tour Player of the Year. Cantlay won four times this season, including the last two tournaments he played in at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship. Some may remember he also has experience playing in Wisconsin, finishing runner up in the 2011 U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills.
Then, there are Stricker’s six captain’s picks, which include Daniel Berger, Harris English, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Spieth. Out of the bunch, there is no doubt Spieth is the headliner, and he came back to have a fine 2021 season that included his first win in several years at the Valero Texas Open.
The other experienced Ryder Cup member is Finau, who won the Northern Trust Open in late August and is always a threat in big tournaments. Schauffele is similar to Finau in the fact that he always seems to be in the mix at majors, and is another guy who almost chased down Koepka in 2017 at Erin Hills.
Scheffler, Berger and English are all young, up-and-coming players who each had solid seasons as well. While Scheffler is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory, Berger and English each have four apiece and both earned victories in the 2021 season.
Both the young team of the U.S. and the experienced Europeans will certainly be tested by the course at Whistling Straits. The Pete Dye design is slated to play over 7,300 yards this week, with the par-three holes of Nos. 3, 7, 12 and 17 looking to create some of the biggest challenges. Some long par-four holes at Nos. 4, 8, 11, 15 and 18 may also spark some difficulty.
On Friday and Saturday, each side will look to take home points in four matches of fourball and four matches of foursomes. Then, each of the 24 players will go head-to-head on Sunday in 12 singles matches, seeking to be the first team to 14.5 points.
With the tournament back in the U.S., the home crowd should be ready to give the Americans a boost. Combined with Wisconsin native Stricker as team captain and a young infusion of talent in which many players are coming off breakout years, it would seem the time is right for the U.S. to take back the Ryder Cup in 2021.