Another prediction I made got motherfucked, as the U.S. simply fustigated Team Europe in the Ryder Cup by the insulting score of 19-9. It’s the largest margin of victory for either side since the competition was expanded to include all of Europe. It was an ass-kicking from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon.
You feel like this is what the U.S. should do every time. While Europe did boast the current No. 1 player in the world in John Rahm, the U.S. had the next six in the rankings and seven of the next eight. They are simply wildly more talented than Europe and usually are.
“This is a new era,” captain Steve Stricker told the media. “These guys are young. They want it. They’re motivated. They came here determined to win. I could see it in their eyes.”
Perhaps what makes this competition fun even for non-golf fans is the way the home-course advantage actually plays. It was only three years ago six of these guys were on the U.S. team that got pounded by Europe in France. Put them in Wisconsin and they can’t miss.
It certainly is a unique atmosphere, where you know your shanks and putts left short are going to get cheered instead of just minor groans. Perhaps that makes all the difference to these guys. We’ll find out in two years’ time in Italy, as given the age of most of the U.S. team, this team will mostly return intact.
“I woke up this morning and I was trying to tell the guys, ‘Let’s get to 20 points,’ because this is going to be the next era of Ryder Cup team for the U.S. side,” Patrick Cantlay said after beating Shane Lowry.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys. I think they’re going to be on teams for a long time, and I wanted to send a message.”