It is fair that few Americans will remember the 2023 Ryder Cup with much fondness, with Zach Johnson’s men enduring a pretty miserable week in Rome.
It has been apparent for some time that winning an away Ryder Cup is one of the toughest challenges in elite golf, with Medinah in 2012 marking the only time since 1997 that the visitors have won. Nevertheless, America’s attempt to win in Italy was particularly feeble – particularly as they had absolutely dismantled Europe two years earlier at Whistling Straits.
Certainly, the 2023 Ryder Cup is likely to act as the blueprint for the US of how not to do a Ryder Cup in the future, with the players going in with little preparation, particularly of playing in Europe. Ultimately, the 16.5-11.5 scoreline flattered the away side, after they showed some real fight on the final day.
The US did not win a single match on the first day, while they found themselves 9.5-2.5 down after the first session on Saturday. Had it not been for Max Homa and Brian Harman, Europe would have been on the verge of victory before a shot had been hit on Sunday.
US team not pleased with Zach Johnson picking one player for last year’s Ryder Cup
The low point for the US surely came on Saturday morning when Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka were beaten 9&7 by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg. Scheffler was clearly emotional after suffering a record defeat. Unsurprisingly, neither Scheffler or Koepka featured that afternoon.
Koepka’s inclusion was contentious with the five-time major champion receiving a captain’s pick after jumping to LIV Golf. And there appears to be a real chance that he will be in contention to make the team in 2025, with the PGA of America confirming that LIV Golf stars will be eligible to be selected for the Ryder Cup.
But perhaps the situation is not as simple as Keegan Bradley picking the 12 best players, with golf coach Simon Holmes telling the Sky Sports Golf Podcast that there was some animosity at the previous Ryder Cup.
“I think there’s a lot of moving parts that have still got to be reshuffled. I don’t know if the LIV players want to go back on the PGA Tour. I don’t think the PGA Tour players want the LIV players to come back, that’s going to have to be something which, for me, is the major thing that’s got to be overcome,” he said.
“I think if you spoke to most of the guys on the US team, they probably weren’t that happy with Brooks going on the team. I don’t think Scottie Scheffler wanted to play with Brooks in Marco Simone.”
Why any possible issues have clearly been put to bed
Obviously, there were all sorts of rumours concerning the American team last year, with the most infamous concerning Patrick Cantlay and why he was not wearing a cap in the event. That actually proved to be a unifying moment for the team, at least publicly.
In fairness, there was still a lot of ill-feeling in 2023 towards some of those who had decided to make the jump to LIV Golf. But any ill-feeling appears to have largely disappeared – as evidenced in the fact that Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are set to face Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in a match in December.
It would be a surprise if Scheffler was indeed unhappy about Koepka being on the team. He is the best player on the planet, so if he did not want to play with Koepka, he would have surely been able to avoid that pairing.
It would be naive to pretend that all 12 players get along every time a team is put together, but it definitely feels as if the golfing world is past the point of dividing itself by their respective tours.
It would certainly be a surprise if there was just one LIV Golf player on the two Ryder Cup teams this time next year.
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