Happy to play the perennial role of underdogs, Padraig Harrington’s European team will have to draw on all of its battling instincts if they are to pull off an away win against a US team packed with proven winners at the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, writes Golf News Editor Nick Bayly
Although Europe has won four out of the last eight Ryder Cup matches played on US soil since 1987, the American team’s collective might and the absence of travelling support make the odds of Padraig Harrington’s band of brothers bagging an away win look increasingly long.
While Europe has only lost a home Ryder Cup twice since 1981, it’s fair to say that ‘our’ away form hasn’t been quite so stellar, although a 50% per cent win record since 1987 still makes for good reading for those that enjoy sporting statistics.
UK’s top bet apps have the best odds for both Team USA and Team Europe, but for a two-horse race that has only ever had two draws in its entire history, Europe represents some excellent value for those who bet on raw stats rather than heartfelt sentiment.
But the mood music is very much in the host team’s favour, with the US team stacked with major champions, Olympic gold medallists and recent PGA Tour winners, while Padraig Harrington’s team, barring world No.1 Jon Rahm, is looking a little lean when it comes to recent winning form of any kind.
Should Harrington lead Europe to glory at Whistling Straits, his career will have an outstanding team achievement alongside his epic personal highs. The role of a Ryder Cup captain can sometimes be wildly overplayed, but should Europe upset Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson et al on their own patch, the Irishman might not to have to buy a beer, or a Guinness, in bars at home and across the entire continent of Europe for the rest of his life.
Lost, but not entirely forgotten, in the build-up to the 43rd staging of the Ryder Cup is the dynamic that will shift things heavily in favour of the United States. With travellers from Europe still currently barred from entering US borders, the likelihood is that the only support that Harrington’s men can expect will come from those hardcore European golf fans already living and working in the States who can be bothered to take a week’s holiday in Wisconsin.
With no Barmy Army, or golf’s equivalent, to cheer every European shot or boo Bryson DeChambeau’s every move, the atmosphere will be like no Ryder Cup there has ever been. Well, certainly in the modern era of almost constant chanting and Mexican Waves. With Joe Biden unlikely to loosen restrictions on UK arrivals any time soon, TV viewers can expect the Stars & Stripes to dominate the backdrop at Whistling Straits, with any renditions of ‘Olé, Olé, Olé’ likely to be drowned out by the repetitive strains of “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!”
While there’s no doubt that the absence of the verbally combative rival crowds will rob the matches of much of their spectacle, there is also a danger that the matches themselves could be one-sided affairs if the current form of the US and European teams plays out.
So full was Steve Stricker’s hand that he had the luxury of being able to overlook a handful of Ryder Cup stalwarts for his team, including Patrick ‘Captain America’ Reed, who had his end-of-season push for Ryder Cup points curtailed by a bout of pneumonia that apparently had him at death’s door. Webb Simpson was also swerved in favour of rookies such as Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler, who boast much better recent good form, and whose memory banks aren’t quite so full of past Ryder Cup defeats.
With questions arising over the US team’s dynamics – i.e. can Koepka and DeChambeau keep out of each other’s way for a week? – there remains the feeling that the US squad has enough raw firepower to overcome whatever Europe has to throw at them. With six captain’s picks over Harrington’s three, Stricker has been able to strengthen his team still further with the addition of his choices, opting for players like Tony Finau and Xander Schuaffele who are bang in form and have recent wins to their names.
Without ‘Uncle’ Phil Mickelson in the squad – ‘Lefty’ was handed the poisoned chalice of being drafted in as a late vice-captain – the US team has an exceptionally youthful look about it, and there don’t look to be too many natural born leaders amongst them. You know, the types to stand up in the team room and deliver a Churchillian rallying cry should heads begin to drop. Then perhaps that’s where the vice-captains will earn their stripes (and stars), as all of them have been there and got the t-shirt, even though it has often been the loser’s t-shirt.
Stricker’s decision for half of his team to earn automatic qualification may well prove a masterstroke, and one that may ultimately lead to both sides going further down that route in years to come. With so many top Europeans playing an almost exclusively PGA Tour-based schedule these days, it feels like it can only be a matter of time before the European team is selected entirely on world rankings, rather than on points gathered from playing in European Tour events whose fields are often less than stellar.
But that debate is for another time. Right now, Harrington has to coax his team into doing what Europe does best – ignoring world rankings, tour wins and major victories and focus on the detail of what it will take to unsettle a home team that will not only be expected to win, but to win big. Do that, and they stand a good chance of completing a rare double-away win following the European Solheim Cup team’s stunning win earlier this month. Now that would really give fans of the blue and yellow something to cheer about. Olé, Olé, Olé….
43rd Ryder Cup Timetable
Friday Sept 24 4 foursomes and 4 fourballs*
Saturday Sept 25 4 foursomes and 4 fourballs*
Sunday Sept 26 12 singles
*Order of Day 1 and 2 foursomes/fourballs to be decided by US team captain
TV COVERAGE
The 43rd Ryder Cup will be shown exclusively live on Sky Sports for all three days. For details of schedule times, visit www.sky.com.
Last 10 Ryder Cup Results
2018 EUROPE WON 17½-10½ – Le Golf National
2016 USA WON 17-11 – Hazeltine
2014 EUROPE WON 16½-11½ – Gleneagles
2012 EUROPE WON 14½-13½ – Medinah
2010 EUROPE WON 14½-13½ – Celtic Manor
2008 USA WON 16½-11½ – Valhalla
2006 EUROPE WON 18½-9½ – K Club
2004 EUROPE WON 18½-9½ – Oakland Hills
2002 EUROPE WON 15½-12½ – The Belfry
1999 USA WON 14½-13½ – Brookline