Ryder Cup postmortem: How the U.S. built a juggernaut

HAVEN, Wisc. – Winning cures everything.

Team USA dominated the 43^rd Ryder Cup like never before, winning 19-9. Call it the Whipping at Whistling Straits.

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, a Wisconsin native, can drink Spotted Cow free for life, or until the cows come home, after this resounding victory in America’s heartland. The only thing Stricker seemingly did wrong all week was admit to being a Chicago Bears fan during his speech at the opening ceremony.

America’s youth won out over Europe’s experience. The six U.S. Ryder Cup rookies combined to go 14-4-3.

“It seems like the younger they are, the better they play,” said U.S. assistant captain Davis Love III.

“They didn’t play like they were rookies,” said Dustin Johnson, the team’s veteran presence at age 37, who won a team-best five matches. “They stepped up to the plate and they all wanted it. And like Xander and all of us have all 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, and we all played like it.”

Did they ever. It was the first time in 44 years that the U.S didn’t lose any of the five sessions. On Sunday the Americans obeyed the text message of Tiger Woods, who told them to “step on their necks.”

Patrick Cantlay took it to heart. “I woke up this morning and I was trying to tell the guys, ‘Let’s get to 20 points,’ because this is going to be the next era of Ryder Cup team for the U.S. side,” he said. “I want to send a message. Everyone has that killer instinct, and we are going to bring that to future Cups.”

The U.S victory was born in arguably the team’s lowest moment, when it was blown out in Scotland in 2014. Phil Mickelson publicly aired the team’s dirty laundry during its media session following the defeat and hung out U.S. captain Tom Watson to dry. But something good came from that day – a new beginning and commitment to change the culture.

“They realized they had to do something different,” Love said. “The PGA said, We’ll spend money on stats guys. We’ll spend money on NetJets to fly you guys in if you want to play practice rounds. … If we go in there and say this week we saw this and we need this for next time, we’re gonna get it. The Phil thing was the boiling-over point. It had been simmering for a while. Phil was the only one with enough nerve to say it. Now, we could have said that in the debriefing but it would not have been as impactful.”

The U.S. won in 2016, but the loss in Paris two years later meant the pressure was on America to hold serve. Otherwise it might’ve been back to the drawing board, given the Euros had won four of five meetings and nine of the last 12.

Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka smile during the opening ceremony for the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wisconsin. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Talent and depth beat potential dysfunction. The American team’s powerhouse lineup included eight of the top 10 players in the world, the FedEx Cup champion and an Olympic gold medalist. Despite concerns the ongoing beef between Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka would lead to built-in social distancing, the Americans were installed as a 2-to-1 betting favorite and made it sound as if instead of beating each others’ brains out playing pingpong in their team room, they sat around holding hands and singing Kumbaya.

“Even though we are competitors, we can all be friends and have unity,” DeChambeau said.

COVID-19 travel restrictions also meant the U.S. had an unprecedented home-field advantage, turning Whistling Straits into a hostile environment that one BBC Live commentator described as a “Cauldron of hate.” Whistling Straits, with its wide fairways and lack of rough, was a perfect venue for the Team USA bashers who dominated the par 5s.

“It seems the way the Ryder Cup is going, the home team certainly has an advantage every time that we play this thing. That was apparent in Paris a couple years ago. I think it was pretty apparent this week, as well,” said Europe’s Rory McIlroy, who went 1-3-0 at Whistling Straits. “You go back to Hazeltine, same sort of thing. This is the pattern that we are on.”

Europe captain Padraig Harrington hamstrung his team by limiting his captain’s choices to three compared to Stricker’s six. He could’ve played Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood more, and he was done in by getting nothing out of McIlroy and Ian Poulter, the team’s talisman, until it was too late. But Harrington said there’s no need for a longer postmortem or to revamp the team’s qualification system.

“In general it’s been working. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said. “The core of the European team is strong and we don’t have to change it.”

Indeed, Europe has a strong foundation with World No. 1 Jon Rahm, McIlroy and rookie Viktor Hovland, who should only get better in the years to come.

“The heart of this team will be here for a few more years for sure,” Harrington said. “They haven’t got to their peaks yet, so we should see some strength going forward.”

Team Europe player Viktor Hovland lines up a putt on the fourth green during Day 2 foursomes for the 43rd Ryder Cup golf competition at Whistling Straits. (Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)

But while the U.S. made a seamless transition to a younger nucleus that is built for the next decade, Europe hoped for heroics one more time from its winning core. But that tank was empty – those players went 5-9 over three days and it could’ve been worse if not for Sergio Garcia, who earned three points alongside Rahm. This was a statement win for Team USA, and not to diminish its achievement, you’re supposed to win at home. The real validation of the Americans’ new formula for success is to win on the road for the first time since 1993 when the 44^th Cup is held in Rome at Marco Simone Golf Club in 2023. When asked if that’s the next step, Xander Schauffele, one of America’s impressive rookies, balked at looking ahead.

“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but we are just going to enjoy now,” he said. “You’re thinking way too far ahead of us, for me, personally, so we’re going to enjoy this one for now and collect ourselves shortly after.”

But Jordan Spieth, a two-time loser overseas in 2014 and 2018, compared the romp to a Presidents Cup and already, to borrow a phrase from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, was on to Italy.

“I think that this is unfinished business,” he said. “I think it was a massive stepping stone for this team and the group that we have here that have really known each other since almost back to grade school to continue to try to work hard to be on these teams to go over there.

“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.”

Them some fightin’ words. The U.S. ushered in a new generation this week; Europe was outplayed and outputted, but it has two years to find replacements for its old guard – players along the lines of Bob McIntyre, Guido Migliozzi, Thomas Pieters and Sam Horsfield will have something to say about that. Rome is officially on the clock and the next Ryder Cup can’t come soon enough.