Team USA avoided complete humiliation at the Ryder Cup with a historic comeback on Sunday’s singles.
Trailing by seven points, Keegan Bradley’s team was tasked with pulling off the largest Sunday comeback in Ryder Cup history. And they almost pulled it off.
As the results came in on Sunday, and as the Americans made several clutch putts, the possibility of a historic comeback grew larger and larger. Eventually, Shane Lowry retained the Ryder Cup on the 18th green, and Europe went on to win. But Team USA could have snatched it from their hands.
The result was partially celebrated by the Americans as a display of grit, guts, and a never-say-die attitude. They lost only one match on Sunday. However, all that did was paper over the cracks that had them bailing water for the first two days.
Sunday’s singles performance covered fatal flaws with Team USA
There are a few ways of viewing Sunday’s singles performance. Team USA’s comeback could be a testament to Bradley’s leadership. He motivated his team to fight to the end despite the odds, and they almost battled back for the win.
It could also have proven Bradley right about Europe’s performance. The consensus coming out of Team USA was that they were losing because of their opponent’s incredible putting through the first two days.
Instead of acknowledging Bradley’s mistakes in partnerships and unwillingness to adapt, Friday’s disaster in particular was met with a metaphoric shrug and a “what can you do?” attitude.
Yes, Europe were putting incredibly well over the first two days. Bradley admitted he made a mistake in the course setup, which turned the Ryder Cup into a putting contest.
But putting wasn’t the real issue. Team USA entered the tournament unprepared, and as the walls crumbled down around them on Friday, Bradley stuck to his plan. That led to the building collapsing on Saturday, predictably.
But after Sunday’s comeback, Team USA can convince themselves they were right all along. Europe’s putts stopped dropping and the American’s went down, hence the comeback. The door has been opened for them to say, “We’re ok, it was the putting all along!”
That wouldn’t be possible if Europe slammed the door shut. If they went on to win in the dominant fashion many expected, Team USA would be forced into some real introspection.
But instead of 19-9, the final score was 15-13. The Americans could have been forced to look themselves in the mirror. Now, they must willingly do it themselves.
Keegan Bradley’s stubbornness cost them Ryder Cup
Luke Donald and Team Europe outclassed their opponents throughout the tournament. Over the course of two years, they had meticulously planned their perfect pairings for various events, determined the optimal order for them to play, and formulated plans A, B, C, and D for each contingency.
Even when Viktor Hovland pulled out with an injury before Saturday’s fourball, up stepped Tyrrell Hatton, who then won the match alongside Matt Fitzpatrick.
Meanwhile, Team USA hardly had a Plan A. Pairing Collin Morikawa and Harris English was a puzzling decision on Friday. Data Golf had them as the worst possible partnership for foursomes at Bethpage Black.
But after they were beaten handily by Europe’s legendary pairing of Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy, rolling the same duo out again on Saturday morning demonstrated an astounding level of stubbornness and inflexibility.
Team USA has to learn from that going into 2027. They cannot afford to be inflexible and stick to the plan like Bradley did. Now has to be the time for change.
That doesn’t have to mean simply copying the Europeans. The two sides have totally different cultures and approaches to the tournament.
Team Europe has a selfless approach. It doesn’t matter to them who takes the credit, as long as the job is done. As Justin Rose said, it’s for “the badge and the boys”. Donald refused to take any credit for his legendary run as captain over the last two Ryder Cups.
If that’s not the culture Team USA feel like they can establish within their own organization, that’s ok. There are different ways to achieve the same goal. They can appoint Tiger Woods as captain and allow his intensity and aura to dominate Europe, as it has done to so many opponents in the past.
But whichever path they take, it just needs to be different. They cannot allow Sunday’s comeback to define their next decade.
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