Ryder Cup 2018 - Horses for courses come out trumps again

A reflection on where it all went wrong for the US and how Europe ran out convincing winners

The triumphant European team celebrate their convincing victory

The lead up to this year’s Ryder Cup was dominated by talk of the strength of the US team, boasting 11 of their 12 players in the top 20 of the world rankings. Their status as bookies favourites was nonetheless surprising to me, given the influence of home advantage and the wealth of experience and quality the European team possessed. Despite briefly threatening by dominating the Friday fourballs 3-1, the US failed to even come close to the Europeans for the rest of the weekend, and the 17.5-10.5 will go down in history as a humiliation for such a strong side.

The parting shots have already started, with Patrick Reed already accusing Jordan Spieth of refusing to play in a pair of him, and rumours of a bust up between best buddies Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka also circulating. Such responses illustrate the divisions within the team, and the difficulties Jim Furyk faced when putting together his team.

The key difference over the weekend was undoubtedly the wildcard selections of both sides, with Europe’s selection of Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey contributing 9.5 points, while only Tony Finau contributed 2 points for the US wildcards picks. This naturally leads to questions as to why Furyk chose to pick Phil Mickelson, who has failed to find any form this year and ceremonially dunked his tee shot into the water to concede the Ryder Cup.

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Phil Mickelson has failed to register a top 10 finish since the May 6 at the Wells Fargo Championship. Xander Schauffele recorded two top 10s during the Fed Ex Cup play-offs alone.

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On a course like Le Golf National which requires precision and consistency, candidates such as Zach Johnson and Xander Schauffele would surely have fared better, with Schauffele posting a runner up finish at The Open and showing signs of strong form. The notion of picking ‘horses for courses’ is particularly prevalent for a course that never required big hitters, but players with the correct skillset, an example being Francesco Molinari’s record breaking 5 points, built on his unerring accuracy off the tee, something the US lacked throughout.

Where the US Ryder Cup selection runs into issues is their lack of adaptability when travelling to Europe. Talismanic figures such as Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson thrive in the open fairways and thin cut rough of US courses, yet look stumped when confronted with the tight fairway and outright nasty rough that greeted them in Paris. As world number one, the onus should be on Johnson to provide more than the solitary point he contributed.

Captain Furyk will without doubt come under criticism, with the pairings of DeChambeau/Mickelson and Reed/Woods falling flat, while pairing up the continually unsuccessful pair of Watson and Simpson. While there were clear faults in his selection of Mickelson and some unusual pairings, these failings were inconsequential towards the result against a superior European team.

While Bjorn was able to call on vast experience and previously successful pairings, Furyk was left with no such options. Stenson picked himself through his formidable alliance with Justin Rose, while Poulter reunited with McIlroy, and the addition of ‘Moliwood’ gave Europe a strong base to build around. The US team has struggled to find similar successful combinations in recent years, besides Reed and Spieth, who were then strangely split up for this edition. Even the Johnson/Koepka bromance failed to create a partnership.

As Europe’s team took clear shape prior to the tournament, the US continued to be a confused muddle of guess work, with no lasting pairings or course experience to speak of. If the US are to break their 25-year European drought at Marco Simone Golf Club in 2022, they will have to choose their wildcards more wisely, find their favoured pairings, leave their egos and reputations behind, and play with the unity that Europe showed throughout the weekend.