The DREAM TEAM
Changing of the guard stirs vocal home fans as brash young guns get party started early
THE hierarchy of the US Ryder Cup team is clear. First off, you have the captain. The head honcho, assisted by their various minions and vice-captains. Then, standing alone, is Captain America. It is an unofficial position, if you like. Boo Weekley had a bash at it at Valhalla in 2008, when he infamously straddled his own club and ‘rode the bull’ as he galloped off the first tee.
A man of simple pleasures who loved nothin’ more than some huntin’ and fishin’, Weekley’s cowboy rodeo carried echoes of Happy Gilmore as he wound up a raucous home crowd.
So, too, did Bubba Watson’s tactic of revving up the fans like a DJ at a kids party and encouraging them to shout, scream and holler whilst he teed off.
Yet, neither of them ever got close to Phil Mickelson. For well over 20 years, Mickelson was the undisputed Captain America.
A cheery and chirpy Californian so doused in Americana that one could be forgiven for thinking that he might have star-spangled banners emblazoned on his golf balls.
With Mickelson sidelined as a vice-captain this week, however, a vacancy was always going to arise. Step forward, then, Justin Thomas.
No sooner had Thomas finished his assignment in the morning foursomes yesterday than the decibels around Whistling Straits began to rise once again; U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A.
Like a pair of naughty college frat boys, he and Daniel Berger took it upon themselves to start chugging a couple of beers thrown to them by some well-oiled fans on the first tee.
Neither Thomas nor Berger featured in the fourballs after lunchtime, and it’s perhaps just as well given the zest with which they guzzled those cans.
But it was symbolic for one key reason. Despite having played only three sessions of golf, and still with a day-and-a-half to go, Thomas and the Americans felt like starting the party early.
And who could blame them? They were 9-3 ahead going into the afternoon fourballs. As far as they were concerned, they already had one hand on the Ryder Cup.
Thomas slammed his empty beer can down on the first tee as the noise erupted around him, no doubt sending a shiver down the spine of the good chaps of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers some 3,000 miles away on the other side of the Atlantic.
Yet, beyond the complaints of the game’s traditionalists, and discounting some petulance from Brooks Koepka yesterday morning, it was hard to find fault in much of what the Americans had done over the opening two days.
Thomas and his partner in crime, Jordan Spieth, were three down through six holes against Europe’s rookie pairing of Viktor Hovland and Bernd Wiesberger, but fought back quite magnificently to win two up.
It is perhaps Thomas and Spieth, above all others, who embody this new golden generation of talent which has emerged on the American team.
Rickie Fowler was supposed to be the poster boy once upon a time. So, too, was Patrick Reed, a man who looked born to perform in this sort of environment.
But neither Fowler nor Reed are part of the equation this week. They have been scratching for form, and so did not make it on to the US team.
Fowler has lost his way to the extent that he now sits outside the world’s top 100 players, a fate that almost befell Spieth when he was struggling to hit a barn door 12 months ago.
Born only three months apart, Thomas and Spieth are lifelong best friends. Their journey together began in junior golf more than 20 years ago.
The same sort of timeline can be applied to Mickelson’s relationship with the Ryder Cup; this is the first time since 1993 that the popular lefty has not been part of the US team.
Given that Tiger Woods is also absent as he recovers from a car crash, those are two notable absentees. No Phil and no Tiger for the first time in almost 30 years.
There is no guarantee that Woods will ever swing a club again. And, despite his US PGA heroics earlier this year, Mickelson’s career is winding down at 51 years of age.
It is extremely unlikely that we will ever see either of them again in this event. But Mickelson and Woods often flattered to deceive at the Ryder Cup. Their results were not befitting of the world’s two best players.
But, through sheer weight of personality, they were invariably the two alpha males in the red team. Or Captain America, in the case of Mickelson.
Yet, it’s difficult to imagine Tiger or Phil ever chugging a couple of beers on the first tee. That’s where this young and talented American team have broken new ground.
They are not afraid to be different or push the boundaries. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but they’ve got the talent and results to back up their behaviour, no matter how brash it might be at times.
The average age of this American team is just 29, which makes it the youngest in Ryder Cup history. Their average world ranking works out at 8.9. Again, a Ryder Cup record. Thomas and Co have picked up the baton and run with it over these first two days.
The average world ranking for the Europeans is 30.8, so it is no surprise to see them being so comprehensively outplayed.
This will be the last hurrah for Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, and possibly Sergio Garcia as well. Three stalwarts of Team Europe.
They may have won nine of the last 12 Ryder Cups in an era of unprecedented dominance, but that era will surely come to an end this afternoon.