It is a nod to both captain Steve Stricker and the urgency of the moment that all 12 players on the United States’ Ryder Cup team were at Whistling Straits on Sunday, exactly two weeks before the little gold trophy will be awarded.
The Americans need to win this Ryder Cup and they know it.
The Europeans desperately want to win – the late Seve Ballesteros lit the cauldron that still fuels their passion – but having won nine of the past 12 Ryder Cup matches, they understand the pressure is on the Americans again.
It’s a familiar position for both sides and we’ve seen how that has worked out for the past two decades.
Stricker has been captain for 31 months due to COVID-19 postponement and he has sought advice from Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, all the players on the roster and at least one analytics company. That’s what captains do.
The old coaching adage fits the Ryder Cup as well as any other sport – it’s the coach’s responsibility to put players in the best position to succeed.
“I’m not saying that veterans aren’t, but (the rookies) just come here with eyes wide open and a ‘put-me-in-coach’ kind of attitude. So it’s refreshing.”
Steve stricker
That’s why the whole team went to Whistling Straits. It’s why numbers have been crunched and re-crunched, why weather patterns have been studied and why Stricker made the right call by picking bombers who make birdies to fill out his 12-man roster.
It would have been easy to play it safe and add Ryder Cup veterans Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed instead of Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler. But Stricker has a new version of the American Ryder Cup team – young and aggressive and without an extra layer of scar tissue.
This U.S. Ryder Cup team feels fresh with six first-timers. Stricker rightly sees that as a positive, not a negative, in the same way European captain Thomas Bjørn saw the value of five rookies three years ago in Paris.
Stricker, who seems like more of a go-with-the-gut kind of guy than a numbers guy, pointed out that U.S. Ryder Cup rookies have gone 40-29-17 since 2008. In an event where every half-point feels oversized, maybe experience has been overrated.
“They bring in an excitement level that is unmatched I think, and they are eager, they are willing to learn, they just want to have that opportunity and they will do anything for that opportunity,” Stricker said. “They are just eager to get in there and play and they are excited to be a part of this.
Yes, the Ryder Cup presents a unique pressure. But Collin Morikawa has won the PGA Championship and the Open Championship. Xander Schauffele just won the Olympic gold medal. Patrick Cantlay seemed oblivious to pressure in winning the FedEx Cup.
Three years ago in Paris, Justin Thomas went 4-1-0 as a Ryder Cup rookie. Tony Finau went 2-1-0. Those two rookies accounted for almost 60 percent of the American points.
“We need veterans, veterans to lead us. I’m not trying to knock on any veteran, but I think like Stricker said: The game is getting younger; Tiger Woods is to blame,” Schauffele said, referring to the wave of top talent inspired by the 15-time major champion.
“But kids are getting better and better. I feel like I’m an old guy on tour. I’m turning 28 soon and I feel like I’m one of the older guys. We have Collin on our team who is, I don't know, 23 or 24 maybe, and kids keep getting better at younger ages. So I just felt like it was a good time for a younger influx based on that.”
How strong is this American team on paper?
No player is ranked lower than 21st in the world. Get past Jon Rahm at No. 1, nine of the next 10 players in the rankings are on the U.S. team. That’s the definition of deep.
In setting up his team, Stricker is playing to his strengths on a golf course that could hardly be more different than Le Golf National, where the Americans seemed out of sorts from the start, bothered by the thick rough and the premium on precision off the tee.
That won’t be the case at Whistling Straits, which was created with an old-world look but designed for the modern power game. If the weather cooperates, Whistling Straits should allow bombers like Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka to thrive.
“There are some things that we can do and have done to hopefully tip it in our favor,” Stricker said. “I’m not going to tell you what we did ... and I’m sure they know what they are, too.
“We know what we are going to get into when we go over and play on their soil, and they know what they are going to get when they come here to play in the U.S.”
The Ryder Cup doesn’t officially begin until Friday, Sept. 24, but this past weekend in Wisconsin suggests it’s already begun for Stricker and his team.
Top: Collin Morikawa during the Tokyo Olympic Games
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