Team Europe were so dominant during the first two days of play at the Ryder Cup that even only one of their players winning in the Sunday singles didn’t prevent them from bringing the trophy back across the Atlantic.
Luke Donald masterminded Europe’s fifth away Ryder Cup victory while Keegan Bradley toiled throughout the week at Bethpage Black.
The Europeans had the psychological edge at the Ryder Cup very early on after some bizarre decisions from Bradley and his team.
The US captain’s use of Collin Morikawa and Harris English as a pairing was bizarre to say the least, while Scottie Scheffler opting to tee off on the even holes, leaving Russell Henley with the odd tee shots, was just as baffling.
Bradley admitted he made numerous mistakes as Ryder Cup captain, and the end scoreline of 15-13 actually flattered him slightly.
Despite the United States’ incredible fightback during the Sunday singles, the damage was already done after the first two days.
Team Europe were a well-drilled team from day one, as their so-called band of brothers won the Ryder Cup for the 11th time in their last 15 meetings with the US.
What happened in the European Ryder Cup meeting after the Sunday singles
The US have to try to get to the bottom of why the Europeans have been so good at winning the Ryder Cup against the odds over the past three decades.
Something they clearly do better than the United States is plan for the event two years ahead with a real level of continuity.
Rich Lerner was speaking on Golf Channel, and he revealed what went down in the European team meeting after the US side nearly mounted the greatest comeback of all time in all of sport.
He said: “Even last night, Paul shared with us. That on Sunday night, he sat with Edoardo Molinari and Luke Donald for a review, because it was fresh in their minds.
“What did they do wrong? Should we have changed the Sunday line-up? Maybe we should not have played Rory and Jon and Tommy five matches because they were exhausted, emotionally and physically.
“They’re already looking at Ireland. That goes to how sophisticated the operation is. How they are never out of business. It isn’t like we lost this Ryder Cup, let’s get a whole new team in here which is what the United States is going to do.
“No, the business and this sophisticated, holistic operation keeps going. It does not stop. It’s full time and it’s everything to them.
“They consider past players as part of the reason why they did not take the money, it would have been disrespectful in their view to the players who came before them, to the Eamonn Darcys and the Paul Ways. There is no aspect of this that the Europeans do not thoughtfully consider in the ways that we don’t.
“We are good at the rah, rah. They are good at the Ryder Cup. Big difference.“
Phil Mickelson suggested unique plan for the US Ryder Cup team
It’s obvious to see that changes have to be made if the US team are to be competitive in the Ryder Cup moving forward.
And Phil Mickelson has made a seriously bold suggestion.
The six-time major champion believes the PGA of America should at least consider heading in a completely different direction when it comes to appointing their next captain.
“Here is why looking outside of golf to a coach K or Lou Holtz is worth exploring. Golf is an individual sport that doesn’t have team work, support system, partnership, team analytics, personality traits, and more. The Europeans have a template that teaches and prepares their captains for these skills. U.S. has a new template every 2 years with little continuity.
“If a coach K or Lou Holtz or someone similar took over, would it be built upon or would it be scrapped and start over again afterwards? If that’s the case, it would be a waste of time and effort and not worth doing to begin with.“
Perhaps having a non-golfer captain the team would be the best way to go given the fact that they would have no affiliation with the players and would only be interested in one thing – getting them all to gel together as a unit.
The United States clearly have to do something, and having a Coach K type figure spearhead the team in Ireland in 2027 might just be the shift that is required to get them back on track.
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