It's been more than 30 years since the US last won in Europe. Photo: Getty Images/Patrick Smith
Well, it was crazy. What a golf weekend. First of all I want to congratulate Team Europe — it was a great performance and every member of this team should be incredibly proud of themselves.
As I wrote in my column after Saturday's game, momentum can be a very powerful thing. When Fitzy missed that kick in the 18th to end the game, there was a brief period where things got a little nervous (by the way, Max Homa's up and down movement after taking the free kick was absolutely jarring). It seemed like every little hit or chip went in the US's favor. It wasn't until Rickie Fowler's (somewhat stunning in the circumstances) ball hit the water at 16 to really calm his nerves. But in fact, Europe always had something in stock. They won the Ryder Cup on Friday.
I'm so happy for all the guys. Luke Donald, who was clearly a great captain. For Tommy Fleetwood — it's so important to load up front but leave some strength in the back of the order, such a calm and classy player; for Shane Lowry. After Christy O'Connor Jr in 1989, Philip Walton in 1995, Paul McGinley in 2002 and then myself in 2010, I honestly thought Shane might be the last Irishman to kick the winning kick in the Cup Ryder (not sure what it is with Ireland and the Ryder Cup!). He played great though; for Bob McIntyre, who went undefeated in his first Ryder Cup. He stepped up in crucial moments and the fact that he came out and won his singles was huge. Who knows what it might do for him; for Rory, who was determined after what happened on Saturday. After watching the replays in more detail I can see why he was so upset, Joe LaCava was definitely making his presence felt.
If there's a catch, it's the fact that the final margin of victory — five points — was once again quite tight. It's been over 10 years since we've had a really close Ryder Cup. And more than 30 years have passed since the United States won in Europe. This fact is something to be proud of, but it is also a cause for concern.
In 2014 it was a failure at Gleneagles, in 2016 it was a failure at Hazeltine, in 2018 it was a failure at Paris, in 2021 it was a failure at Whistling Straits. And now Rome. Rory said at his press conference that winning the Ryder Cup on the road was now golf's biggest test. But is this good? The Ryder Cup is the Super Bowl of golf, the biggest tournament in the world, and having one-sided matches like this all the time is not good for the brand. What can you do about it?
Aside from the obvious partisan crowd effect, it ultimately comes down to course setting. Yes, these guys are the best players in the world and should be able to adapt to anything you throw at them, but thanks to the analytics we now have at our disposal, we know exactly what our strengths are compared to our opponents. Over the course of a weekend where thousands of shots were fired, the sample size is such that it really matters. That's why in Paris we saw such narrow fairways and green speeds of 10.5-11 maximum on the Stimpmeter, because that's what we were used to as kids. Here the fairways were narrow again. We had manageable par-fours, but otherwise the par-fours were very long, and we tried to keep wedges out of the Americans' hands because our statistics told us that's what they were better at. The statistics were correct.
The Americans hardly broke away from the site. Photo: PA/David Davis
By the way, Marco Simone was great. That wasn't the problem. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's one of the best match venues I've ever seen. The last three holes were phenomenal finishing holes for the Ryder Cup. I really liked the 18. Ram owned it all week. He needed to hit those two shots in the opening match on Sunday with the pin in such a difficult backhand position. Everyone was saved correctly. He landed the best shot of all, a front right. Then a phenomenal blow. At the time, that half point was huge. But it's true, it benefited our players. Taking the crowd and field into account, the home team's lead should be around three to four points.
So what's the answer? Well, some things have already been done to try to even out the situation. At the last few Ryder Cups, a joint committee has taken charge of organizing the course during game week. Both teams are notified of uneven pitches, green speeds, pin positions, and the like. In the past, as happened to us in Medina, the home team could cut and roll the greens twice at dinner and not tell us about it. This happened between matches on Friday. We had no idea! We were suspended from golf that day. Or at Valhalla where they switched to some front tees that we didn't know were going to be used. They could potentially go even further and collaborate on course development from the start of the two-year process. Put it all together and then say, “May the best team win.” The home team will still have spectators, but this could bring them closer together?
The most radical solution would be to play on a completely neutral site. Take a Super Bowl Golf Tour. Take Ryder Cup products with you around the world. Take it to Asia, Australasia or South America. I'm not saying I'll advocate for it. Obviously this will hurt fans from Europe and the US who want to attend. But this is one way to stop the home advantage. I'm sure all of these options will be discussed in the coming weeks and months.
In the meantime, European players should have fun and celebrate their victory. I know they will! As I said in my preview column, I'd love to go there. These three days of watching TV did not weaken this desire. I haven't actually watched many Ryder Cups on TV, at least not for many years, and although I was on the edge of my seat, I found it very disappointing. Especially on American television with all the advertising. We missed so much action. I needed 12 screens so I could watch every shot in every match. Hopefully one day I'll be back in some capacity. Anything to introduce that shade of blue again. In the meantime, I once again congratulate the European team on their excellent performance.
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