QUEST CUP FOR THE

The Americans would seem to have a lot going for them in the Ryder Cup.

This, of course, is nothing new. They are on home soil at Whistling Straits along the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan, and the home crowd figures to be louder than usual because of travel restrictions for European-based fans. They have eight of the top 10 players in the world ranking (Europe has only Jon Rahm at No. 1) and a team that has combined to win twice as many majors.

The Americans always bring a better collection of players to the Ryder Cup.

They just rarely leave with the gold trophy.

“I feel like on paper, from head to toe, the world ranking, I would say we’re a stronger team,” U.S. captain Steve Stricker said. “But I don’t think our guys feel we’re better. They know deep down how hard it is to beat them.”

The only paper that matters is the record book: Europe has won nine of the last 12 times in the Ryder Cup, and it looks to extend its dominance Sept. 24-26 when the Ryder Cup returns after a one-year postponement from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Padraig Harrington, the three-time major champion from Ireland, takes the helm of a European juggernaut that returns seven players from the 2018 team that had an easy time winning outside Paris. While the Americans are leaning on youth — six rookies and the youngest team in U.S. history — Harrington relies on experience. He has three Ryder

Cup rookies, and Europe has never lost when it had three or fewer newcomers. Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia have played the Ryder Cup in parts of four decades.

Experience only matters when the putts are falling. Harrington was aware of this when he said, “You can’t just bring in experience for the sake of it. ... That’s no use unless they are playing well.”

As for the Americans, what value is experience in losing so much? Stricker is bringing a strong team minus the scar tissue. Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth are the only players who have competed in at least three Ryder Cups, only one of those ending in a victory.

THE NEW GUARD

Stricker used four of his six captain’s picks on players who had never taken part in the Ryder Cup. The six rookies are the most for an American team since 2008 at Valhalla, which the U.S. won. Eight of the players are in their 20s. The youngest is 24-year-old Collin Morikawa, who already has won two majors, a World Golf Championship and earned the most points in Ryder Cup qualifying.

THE OLD GUARD

The best illustration of Europe’s overwhelming advantage in experience is Garcia. He has won 25½ points in his Ryder Cup year, as many as the entire U.S. team combined. Westwood ties Nick Faldo’s record for most appearances by a European player (11). Harrington used one of his picks on Ian Poulter, who was won 68% of his matches in his six Ryder Cup appearances.

Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka have been antagonizing each other, mostly on social media, for nearly two years. Koepka has made it clear he doesn’t like DeChambeau but that he can get along for a week. Fans have chimed in, getting under DeChambeau’s skin by calling him, “Brooksie.” Stricker spoke to them a month before the Ryder Cup and said they told him it would not be an issue. Koepka, meanwhile, was trying to heal an injured left wrist in the weeks leading into the matches. DeChambeau was preparing for a Long Drive Championship right after the Ryder Cup. This is the kind of drama Stricker could do without.

THE POSTPONEMENT

The Ryder Cup was scheduled for the last week in September 2020 until it was postponed one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “A Ryder Cup with no fans is not a Ryder Cup,” said Seth Waugh, the PGA of America’s CEO. The other postponements since the Ryder Cup began in 1927 was for World War II (eight years) and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

A NEW ERA

This will be the first Ryder Cup without Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson since 1993, the year five players on this U.S. team were born. They are the two biggest stars of their generation based on victories and money and majors. But in the Ryder Cup? Perhaps they won’t be missed. Mickelson, an assistant captain to Stricker, holds the record for most Ryder Cups (12) and for most losses (22). Woods won just 39% of his matches and played on only one winning team in 1999.