This is the year – right here, right now – when the Americans finally win the Ryder Cup on European soil again.
You may have heard that Rome was not built in a day (and Wikipedia says that’s correct). Well, Zach Johnson and his crowd can build a new narrative over three days at hilly Marco Simone Golf Club this weekend when the Ryder Cup is played in Italy for the first time.
Let’s take a moment to consider what Italy has given the world:
Dipped candles, the first casino, espresso machines, gelato, newspapers, pizzerias, radio, and some say Trajan’s Market in ancient Rome around 100 A.D. was the first shopping center, though that is in question because there apparently was neither a Lululemon nor a Cheesecake Factory there.
Plus, there was Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Armani, Versace, Luciano Pavarotti and, for you hockey fans, Frank Zamboni, an American of Italian descent, created the Zamboni, thereby giving everyone something to watch between periods while the machine reconditions the ice.
What better place than Rome with all of its history for the Americans to make a bit of history for themselves?
It’s been a while, you know: 30 years since the Americans have won across the Atlantic.
Johnson should lean into the 30-year thing. Tell his team: not us; not again. Draw a line in the parmigiana.
The year was 1993, back when “Seinfeld†was still fairly new, “Jurassic Park†debuted and five members of this U.S. Ryder Cup team – Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler – had not been born.
Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth were still in diapers.
Six times since 1993 the Americans have gone overseas, and six times they have returned home disappointed, sometimes angry and, at least once, in need of a task force.
Some of those times – several, in fact – the Europeans were just better. That was the case at the K Club in 2006 when the Europeans laid an 18½-9½ beatdown on captain Tom Lehman’s squad, then celebrated by guzzling Guinness on the clubhouse balcony until it spewed from captain Ian Woosnam’s nose.
The Americans lost by five points in Scotland in 2014, which was followed by Phil Mickelson’s public takedown of captain Tom Watson, leading to the creation of the Ryder Cup task force. A seven-point loss in France four years later suggested the task force still needed work on its overseas plan.
The good news is that Francesco Molinari is not playing for Europe this time.
So why now?
Why this U.S team?
Let’s start with the obvious: It’s been 30 years. It’s about damn time.
Captain Johnson has been busy with many things over the past two years – picking red, white and blue team uniforms, making sense of the many gigabytes of analytics, talking with his various vice captains, imagining potential pairings and being his earnest self – so the 30-year shadow hanging over this team speaks for itself.
Everybody knows.
That’s a good thing for the Americans.
It will become a bad thing if they get stomped in foursomes play again as has happened too often, but it’s a rallying point beyond the obvious one, which is that little gold trophy the Americans won in a landslide at Whistling Straits two years ago.
Wear it. Own it. Heck, call in Deion Sanders for a pep talk.
Whatever it takes.
This Ryder Cup looks different than it did when the azaleas were blooming in the spring and the Americans were perceived to be two-touchdown favorites. Europe has closed the gap – Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg had a lot to do with that – and now the Europeans are the trendy pick.
The Europeans may have the advantage at the top of their lineup – Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Hovland – but the Americans have the deeper lineup top to bottom. If Marco Simone is physically demanding enough that few players will compete in all five sessions, that goes to the Americans’ advantage.
The Americans have another advantage: Justin Thomas.
They’ve heard the squeals of anger at Thomas being named as a captain’s pick, and they can rally around that. Thomas is at the emotional center of this team with his buddy Spieth, and that’s a strength that can’t be underestimated.
Form matters, but not as much as the moment matters.
The pressure should be on the Europeans. They don’t want to be the first team to lose at home in three decades.
Just as Luke Donald will do on the European side, Johnson will play to his strengths, and his team is loaded. Send Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay out first on Friday morning and let them do their laidback California thing because they are so good at it.
Pair Scottie Scheffler with someone who sees putts go in – Sam Burns and Brian Harman come to mind – and maybe it will be contagious.
Let Brooks Koepka be Brooks Koepka. Max Homa may be the most underrated arrow in Johnson’s quiver. Who wouldn’t want to pair with Collin Morikawa?
The pressure should be on the Europeans. They don’t want to be the first team to lose at home in three decades. If it’s close going to Sunday, the Europeans may play not to lose.
It’s tough to play defense in golf.
This is the Americans’ time. Call it 15-13.
And pass the Chianti.
E-MAIL RON
Top: The Americans bathe in the glory of a historic home-turf beatdown victory at Whistling Straits.
anthony behar, pa images via getty images
