Confident US learn from past Ryder Cup stumbles
Europeans motivated by trying to beat best team assembled
CHASKA, United States, Sept 28, (Agencies): A US Ryder Cup team more relaxed and better prepared than past losing versions takes a confident attitude into this week’s showdown against holders Europe, which happily accepts its routine underdog role.
Europeans have won three in a row, six of seven and eight of the past 10 over the Americans entering Friday’s start of the biennial team golf matches at Hazeltine.
“We’re just tired of being told we haven’t won one in a while,” two-time major winner Jordan Spieth said. “We want this one. We feel very comfortable this year with the team we have day singles while the US team struggled to the finish.
“We’ve all got more miles under our belt and can handle really any situation better than probably we could in 2012,” Love said. “If we get four ahead or two behind, we’ve got it a little more figured out than we did in 2012.
“We’re just looking to the future right now and not looking to the past.” Europe captain Darren Clarke likes the course set-up handled by Love.
“The course is set up for scoring,” Clarke said. “It’s set up for entertainment, to make birdies and have the whole excitement of the Ryder Cup be the way it should be.”
Part of that normal state of things is oddsmakers making Europe unfancied at best and woeful underdogs at worst.
“We’re always
the underdogs aren’t we?” Clarke said. “We’re always not supposed to win. But they have been doing OK. The guys are very excited and keen to play. The odds are frequently against Europe. So it’s nothing different. I’m certainly not worried about it.”
Even Clarke had to laugh when asked whether Europe, which was once only Britain and Ireland until the roster was expanded to all of Europe starting in 1979, should allow the US squad to add Mexican and Canadian players for a North American team should Europe win an unprecedented fourth consecutive time.
“Let’s just see how this week works out first,” Clarke said.
Davis Love III said he was only trying to illustrate why his US team should play with more swagger in the Ryder Cup. His comments wound up providing plenty of fodder for the Europeans, and perhaps a little extra motivation they didn’t even need.
The catch phrase for this Ryder Cup: “Best golf team maybe ever assembled.”
That’s what Love said in a radio interview last week. Rory McIlroy seized on it last weekend, joking that the Americans at least had the best Ryder Cup Task Force ever assembled. He couldn’t help but mention it again on Tuesday before the first practice session at Hazeltine.
“Whenever we are going up against one of the greatest teams ever assembled, that’s motivation enough,” McIlroy said.
Adding to the bulletin-board material was NBC Sports analyst Johnny Miller saying Europe had the worst team he had seen in years, particularly with six rookies. The record shows otherwise. Europe has won eight of the last 10 times in the Ryder Cup dating to 1995, and while there are six players who have never experienced the emotions and pressure of the Ryder Cup, only four Europeans on the team know the feeling of losing.
“At the end of the day, you don’t win the Ryder Cups with your mouth,” Sergio Garcia said. “You win them out there on the golf course. So that’s what we’ll see, which team is the best.”
Love said the conversation on SiriusXM Radio last Friday was “misconstrued.” He said a Canadian caller had said the Americans needed to play with more swagger, and Love agreed with him. He said the host asked what he would tell his team.
“And I said: ‘I would tell my team they’re the best team ever assembled. Let’s go out and show off and play and have fun,’” Love said. It didn’t quite come out that way. Love said on the radio show that Americans have been guilty of playing not to lose, and that they need to smash the tee shot, walk quickly to the golf ball and “let the other team know that we are going to dominate you.” He talked about having confidence and how the Americans didn’t need to do anything “super human.”
“This is a great team,” he said. “This is the best golf team maybe ever assembled.”
European captain Darren Clarke said he didn’t need to post anything on the walls of the team room. His players heard the comment, some of them laughed about it, none appear to have forgotten. Clarke seemed more defensive about Miller’s comments.
“We have the Masters champion (Danny Willet), we have The Open champion (Henrik Stenson), we have the Olympic champion (Justin Rose) and we have the FedEx champion (McIlroy).