Golf’s governing bodies told ‘serious’ change may be needed to the Ryder Cup if America dominate this year

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The United States and Europe will go head-to-head in the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in just over two weeks’ time.

The upcoming Ryder Cup – the 45th edition of the competition – is arguably the most eagerly anticipated meeting between the USA and Europe of all time.

With Bethpage Black serving as the host, the atmosphere is expected to be intense to say the least – one that will be steeped in hostility for Luke Donald‘s European team.

Keegan Bradley is probably under more pressure than Donald, though, with the Americans in desperate need of a victory, having emerged victorious in just two of the last seven clashes with Europe.

Winning the Ryder Cup is incredibly important to the players and captains now, perhaps more so than it was decades ago.

Ahead of this year’s edition, the European team certainly seems to be the more settled out of the two, with numerous unanswered questions hanging over Team USA.

However, Bradley’s 12 players do have home advantage, and that has been a huge difference-maker in recent years.

Golf’s governing bodies told ‘serious’ change may be needed to the Ryder Cup format

Both the American team and the Europeans will fancy their chances of succeeding at Bethpage later this month.

Both sides are very well matched, and many are predicting a closely-fought contest up in New York State.

However, there are some people in the world of professional golf who are concerned about the direction that the competition is heading.

When speaking on the Golf Channel, journalist Ryan Lavner shared a big concern he has about a theme that has started to develop in the Ryder Cup.

Lavner explained: “I think if this was played on a neutral playing field so to speak, where it’s 50/50 fan support and the home team wasn’t dictating golf course set-up, I think you could make a strong argument that this is the best European team and certainly has the deepest roster.

“They have certainly closed the talent gap over this past decade in particular, but we are talking about can Europe stage an upset here.

“We are discounting just how significant of an impact it is for the home team. You look at the last five cups, it has been decided by the home team by an average of 6.6 points.

“It’s the single biggest indicator of success in the modern Ryder Cup. I think it’s going to be a great indication this year. If somehow the Americans blow out the Europeans, which I think is unlikely to be the case, but if they happen to do so I think it’s time to take a serious look at whether home course advantage has gone too far because this should be a very close and competitive Ryder Cup, even on American soil.“

It’s a fair argument from Lavner, but one that doesn’t really make sense in the context of worldwide sport in general.

Ryan Lavner has missed the point with Ryder Cup home team domination theory

The last Ryder Cup to end up with a score differential of less than five points was way back in 2012 at Medinah when the Europeans completed a remarkable turnaround to win out by a single point.

That win was one of only two away victories at the Ryder Cup since 1995.

As you can see from those results above, the past five Ryder Cups have been well and truly dominated by the home team.

However, I don’t agree with Lavner one little bit. Home court advantage, so to speak, is a huge factor in all elite sports around the world.

It’s what makes playing away from home so challenging, and yet so fulfilling if your team manages to win.

Why should the Ryder Cup be ‘close and competitive’, as Lavner says, just for the sake of it?

It’s why the USA and the Europeans alternate between hosting the Ryder Cup every other year.

This year’s edition of the Ryder Cup has all the makings of an all-time classic, and if the American team run away with victory, then so be it.