Ryder Cup recriminations began when Zach Johnson begrudgingly took the blame for the loss

Zach Johnson failed to inspire his team in Rome. Photo: Shutterstock/Fabio Frustachi

It was, as Zach Johnson said, a spirited fightback, given where his team was at lunchtime on Saturday.

But after the Ryder Cup, which the United States lost five points is 15 points better than their record 19-9 win at their last match in Whistling Straits. time out — to ensure their European Ryder Cup drought would last to at least 34 years, recriminations were not long in coming.

To his credit, Johnson didn't try to abdicate any responsibility, admitting to some «bad decisions» at Team USA's press conference and saying he «would like to start the week over again.» He was less specific about what he would have done differently, but it is not difficult to identify a few key areas that are likely to come up during the investigation; from leaving his best strikers on the bench on the first morning, to the lack of competitive performances for his players in camp, to not getting all his stars to come on a study tour with Marco Simone a few weeks ago.

Patrick Cantlay, the man accused of refusing to wear a hat. the team issued the cap because he was unhappy that he was not paid to be here in Rome, whose caddie Joe LaCava injured Rory McIlroy so badly that he had to be forced into a car to prevent a collision in the parking lot, spent another lively day spent at Marco Simone.

Patrick Cantlay is one of the few US players to leave Rome with honor. Photo: Getty Images/Ross Kinnaird

Just as on Saturday, when his superb performance ultimately ensured the US went into Sunday with at least a glimmer of hope, he was a revelation. Ignoring the jeers of the crowd, who waved their hats at him on every hole and sang an impressive number of songs referencing his supposed greed (“It's all about money, money, money. You just want your money, money, money. Patrick Cantlay! Patrick Cantlay!” on The tune of «Jessie J's Price Tag» was a particular favorite), the man from Long Beach, California managed to defeat Justin Rose 2&1 and even smiled a few times while he did it.

In truth, Cantlay played the final 27 holes of the Ryder Cup like a man possessed. However, whether he undermined team spirit from the start is still debatable. Cantlay's claim that he had been unable to find a hat that fit all week was unconvincing. And he never directly said that he didn't think the players should be paid.

Of course, by the end they all seem to be singing the same hymns. When Cantlay was asked if it was true that he didn't wear a hat because he didn't want a tan line to appear before his wedding in Rome on Monday, and he replied that it was true that he was getting married on Monday, it prompted spontaneous applause.

How Johnson dealt with Cantlie, and whether anything could have been done to prevent Hathgate, will undoubtedly be revealed.

How the Ryder Cup captains performed

What certainly depended on him was it was his decision to bench Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in the front four on Friday morning, although whether they would have done better than the players who played remains an open question.

Koepka went with Scotty Scheffler, theoretically the strongest pairing Johnson could put together, in Saturday's foursomes, and they were routed 9 and 7 by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg, a man who left college just four months ago and has yet to play in one game. Major.

Scheffler, feeling more invigorated after a superb match with Jon Rahm that ended in a draw, was actually quite funny about setting the record, which ended with him crying on the buggy while being consoled by his wife. “Brooks and I met and decided we were going to play terrible,” the world number one joked when asked about it. “I kind of started the party. I had a bad start and things got out of control from there.»

Scotty Scheffler was upset after it lost badly in a foursome against Europeans Ludwig Aberg and Viktor Hovland Photo: PA

There was another laugh when Justin Thomas — trying to show how well the Americans got along with each other — recalled the team trip to the Coliseum earlier in the week, and Max Homa forced team to stay until 5 a.m. to watch an American football game.

“We all really got along,” insisted Thomas, adding that even rebel LIV Koepka gave in to the fun. “We clicked. We had fun spending time together.”

Maybe. Johnson, however, did not give himself free rein. “Regret is a strong word, but I wish I had done a better job,” he reflected. “In four years, we will hopefully have implemented a better process than I did.”