The change Jon Rahm wants made to 2027 Ryder Cup venue to stop America winning  

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The 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor is an opportunity for Team Europe to win three in a row for the first time in over a decade.

After Europe’s decisive win against Team USA at Bethpage Black, they are heavy favorites to win in Ireland in two years’ time. For some, the biggest question is by how many they will win, rather than whether they will win. 

Adare Manor is one of Ireland’s best golf courses and was renovated in 2016 by Tom Fazio. Jon Rahm was one of many superstars who had a sneak preview of the 2027 Ryder Cup when they played there in 2022 for the JP McManus Pro-Am. 

But while he was full of praise for the course, he said “a lot of time” needs to be spent making changes if Team Europe are to win the Ryder Cup there.

The change Jon Rahm said needs to be made to Adare Manor before 2027 Ryder Cup

In 2021, Team Europe were demolished at Whistling Straits, and were hoping to bounce back in Rome in 2023. 

The story of the last decade of Ryder Cups had been home team dominance. The away team had won just two Ryder Cups since the turn of the millennium, and the last team to win away was in 2012.

In 2018, Europe beat Team USA in France 17.5-10.5, and the course was so different from what Americans were used to that Phil Mickelson said Le Golf National was “almost unplayable”. 

American golfers don’t typically feel comfortable on European courses, but Rahm felt like Europe were giving away their home advantage unless Adare Manor was de-Americanized.

He explained: “Fazio has done an amazing redesign of the golf course. It’s beautiful and this golf course can be made as easy as they want and as hard as they want, right. It’s the beauty of a good challenge.

“Now with that said, for a European possibly in that Ryder Cup, they might need to spend a lot of time and resources on de-Americanizing the golf course. Because right now, it would be pretty much what you would expect in a Ryder Cup in the US.

“Based on what I saw in Paris and what I’ve seen in other venues, Ryder Cup in Europe is a little different. They might spend some time and effort to do that obviously to suit our strength, right? But we’ll see.

“Otherwise we will have the Irish crowd, core of the crowd being Irish, supporting the European team, and we all know how the Irish can create a good after and a good time, and it will be really, really fun.

“The course is in fantastic shape. We don’t really see golf courses like this throughout the year, truly impressive and for how much traffic they got yesterday, it still held up. It’s not only beautiful to look at, it plays great.

“The greens are tricky. There’s a lot of run-offs but still fair, right. So it’s really, really enjoyable. They have done an amazing job and the superintendent should be happy because this is something that we don’t see every day.”

Jon Rahm was proven right about Adare Manor at 2022 JP McManus Pro-Am

Rahm’s point about Adare Manor was proven exactly correct by the result of the 2022 JP McManus Pro-Am, the only professional event to be played at the course since its 2016 re-design.

Xander Schauffele won at Adare Manor, beating Sam Burns by one stroke, and the pair were two of four Americans in the top five. They were joined by Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas, as the Americans had an unusual amount of success on a European course. 

European Ryder Cuppers Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, and Tyrrell Hatton also performed well, which bodes well for the 2027 event, but the American performances at the tournament suggest changes need to be made if Europe are going to have their usual home course advantage. 

There are a number of changes they can make with relative ease. Scottie Scheffler struggled with the slow greens of the Genesis Scottish Open this year, which is a common difference between the courses on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. 

Slowing the greens down has to be a priority, especially after Team USA complained about the speed of the greens at Bethpage Black.

Other changes, such as narrowing the fairways, adding more bunkers, and shortening par fours, would make the course feel distinctly less American, so expect Adare Manor to look noticeably different when the Ryder Cup comes to town.