‘United States took the beating’

A few hours after the culmination of the Ryder Cup, for readers in America at least, it was as if the tournament had never happened. The story of Europe’s victory didn’t appear among the headlines on or ESPN, who concerned themselves with Sunday’s NFL games, college football and the final day of baseball’s regular season. But when the US press did deal with USA’s defeat they acknowledged Europe had been the better team.

“Over three sunlit days at Le Golf National and in front of more than 50,000 spectators, Europe was simply magnifique while the Americans looked listless and were left to wonder why it all falls apart for them when the Ryder Cup is held overseas,” wrote Steve DiMeglio in

Michael Rosenberg agreed, even if he admitted that may not go down well with his countrymen. “You could just say the better team won,” he wrote. “I know. That might not feel very American. It’s easier to blame the coach or scream at a referee or hire a lawyer to file an injunction. But Europe was better.”

CBS Sports’ Kyle Porter said the Americans were still the more talented team, but had simply not performed to the level they can. “In a sport where the margins are thin, these margins are not, and that’s sort of the problem,” he wrote. “The Europeans played about how you would expect a team of their calibre to play in a Ryder Cup. They’re a solid team full of good players. The US players are better by every statistical measure. They represent six of the last seven major winners. Europe doesn’t even have six total major winners on its team. Europe is what we thought they were, but the US did not rise to the occasion. They just laid down and took the beating.”