2016 RYDER CUP
LEE WESTWOOD has taunted America ahead of the Ryder Cup by claiming Europe have more mental strength than their rivals.
Westwood will be making an astonishing 10th appearance in the competition when it gets underway at Hazeltine this morning.
The Yorkshire ace said: “A lot of their players have had multiple experiences of losing Ryder Cups.
“Winning is a habit. A lot of the players on the European team have that habit and know what the experience is like and what to do.”
Westwood’s comments are guaranteed to fan the flames ahead of what should be another gripping duel.
It promises to be another explosive edition of golf ’s greatest battle as Europe look to make history by winning the gold trophy for the fourth time in succession.
America are more desperate than ever before to keep it on home soil, having not sampled that winning feeling since 2008.
Europe have won eight of the last 10 Ryder Cups home and abroad and Westwood reckons this gives Darren Clarke’s men the psychological advantage.
He is convinced Davis Love’s outfit are still scarred from recent defeats, not least at Medinah in 2012 when Europe produced a thrilling fightback to leave the Americans shattered.
America got so fed up with having their noses rubbed in the dirt that from JEREMY CROSS in Minnesota the rulers of their game set-up a special ‘Task Force’ following defeat at Gleneagles in 2014. The aim of it was to discover why they kept losing, find out how to prepare differently and leave no stone unturned in the search for success again. Westwood (below) reckons Europe should be flattered that America have attempted to copy their blueprint for winning. “It fills us with a lot of confidence,” he said. “A lot of the players on the European side have had multiple experiences of winning Ryder Cups. “It’s very flattering to Team Europe that the USA have put this task force together and are trying to replicate what we’ve done. “It means we are successful and we are doing it right. “You know, we take a lot of pride in that; that the USA are taking it so seriously to bring this task force together and bring Davis in as captain again.” Westwood piled even more pressure on his rivals by insisting failure wasn’t an option for them now and another defeat would leave Love and his stars with nowhere to turn.
“It puts added pressure on them. You form a task force and it doesn’t go right this week, where do you go from there?
“You’ve done pretty much all you can do. So we’ll see how that goes.”
Westwood has amassed 23 points during his glittering Ryder Cup career and needs just two-and-ahalf more to overtake Nick Faldo’s all-time record.
Records
He admits he’s desperate to do it but would happily win no points at all as long as Europe claimed another famous triumph.
He added: “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wanted to get past Nick’s record, because anybody involved in sport wants to break records.
“That’s what drives us all on, to be able to say you’re the best at anything.
“But if you give me a choice of not winning any points and the Europeans winning the Ryder Cup, then that would definitely come first before getting in front of Nick’s record or getting near it.
“It’s all about the team this week.”