REPORT CARD
Team usa
Captain Steve Stricker
A
Stricker stuck to his plan to spread playing time evenly amongst his stars, taking advantage of the Americans’ depth and youth. Pairing Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa was a stroke of genius. Most importantly, he clearly communicated his plan well in advance and let his dogs hunt.
Daniel Berger
2021 Record: 2-1-0
Career Record: 2-1-0
B-
Despite the winning record, Berger struggled with ballstriking throughout the weekend and didn’t live up to the hope that he could cement himself as a core piece of American team golf moving forward. This Ryder Cup will go down more as a learning experience than a statement.
Patrick Cantlay
2021 Record: 3-0-1
Career Record: 3-0-1
Cantlay wasn’t perfect, especially on Friday afternoon when he only managed one birdie in his four-ball match. However, he was a combined 5 under in foursomes with Xander Schauffele as his partner, shot 5 under in his singles victory against Shane Lowry and rose to the occasion in big moments.
Bryson DeChambeau
2021 Record: 2-0-1
Career Record: 2-3-1
He wasn’t necessarily one of the stars this week, but DeChambeau played his role exactly how the Americans hoped he would. His high risk-high reward strategy off the tee made him the ideal four-ball candidate while keeping him away from foursomes. A singles victory against Sergio García put a positive stamp on his Ryder Cup.
Harris English
2021 Record: 1-2-0
Career Record: 1-2-0
C
English had a sluggish start, only picking up one birdie in Friday afternoon four-ball while Tony Finau carried him to victory. He was one of just a few U.S. players who didn’t have their best stuff but gained valuable experience.
Tony Finau
Career Record: 3-3-0
B
Give Finau credit for collecting six birdies during the Friday four-ball session and getting a key victory while partnering with Harris English. He shot 2 under in 16 holes against Ian Poulter in singles but was simply outplayed. It wasn’t a poor week by any means.
Dustin Johnson
2021 Record: 5-0-0
Career Record: 12-9-0
A+
The man of the match. Johnson joined an exclusive club of players to go 5-0-0, the most recent having been Francesco Molinari in 2018. DJ had a sketchy Ryder Cup record heading into Whistling Straits — he was seemingly not engaged emotionally in 2018 when he went 1-4-0 — but he looked happy and dominant this time around.
Brooks Koepka
2021 Record: 2-2-0
Career Record: 6-5-1
Koepka partnered with Daniel Berger, a fellow Florida State Seminole, and the two were the weakest foursomes partnership for the Americans. The four-time major champion did have his moments, showing more passion for a team event than has been seen from him recently.
Collin Morikawa
There were concerns for Morikawa heading into this week given a back injury and poor form that plagued him after his Open Championship victory. There were no concerns by the time the week ended. Morikawa had his putter – and just about everything else – working well in Wisconsin.
Xander Schauffele
2021 Record: 3-1-0
Career Record: 3-1-0
Schauffele wasn’t at his best on Sunday, but that can certainly be excused given his steady play in the first three matches. His partnership with Patrick Cantlay is dynamic, and it’s a near-guarantee that future U.S. teams will have those two prominently featured in foursomes play.
Scottie Scheffler
Career Record: 2-0-1
A-
This was the biggest stage in Scheffler’s fledgling career, and he aced the test. The former Texas Longhorn demolished Jon Rahm in singles and partnered brilliantly with Bryson DeChambeau. The possibility of picking a Kevin Kisner or Kevin Na ahead of Scheffler now seems laughable.
Jordan Spieth
2021 Record: 1-2-1
Career Record: 8-7-3
It will go down as a losing record for Spieth, but there was a lot of good in the four matches he played. Losing twice to the team of Jon Rahm and Sergio García, Spieth looked solid outside of a Saturday four-ball loss where contributed one eagle and nothing else.
Justin Thomas
2021 Record: 2-1-1
Career Record: 6-2-1
Thomas is the face of the U.S. team moving forward. His passion, experience and skillset make him the undisputed leader for the Americans. Patrick Reed is no longer the main antagonist for the Europeans – it’s the fiery Thomas.