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Europe 18 1/2 - US 9 1/2

After our biennial beating in the Ryder Cup, it's time for the equally traditional fit of navel-gazing on the state of American golf. This exercise more pointless now than ever before. The US pros aren't unfit for team play, or too selfish, or unmotivated. Don't bother second-guessing Tom Lehman, the latest in a line of unhappy US captains. In short American golf community, get over yourself. This rout wasn't about you.

Europe won for the reason teams usually win sports events. They were better. And if they played next weekend, they'd still be better. Way better.

As one who covered the last US Ryder Cup victory in 1999, the truth seems obvious. The balance of power has shifted. The European squad possessed way more championship golf talent from players 1 through 12 than the American squad, just as it did in 2002 and 2004. The US has stars, but no bench. In an event of 28 matches where no man can play more than five times, that's a tough way to win.

In the ferociously close Ryder Cups of the '90s, the European team depended on a handful of stars (Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo, Bernhard, Seve Ballesteros) to build up an early lead in the first two days of pairs play and to win enough points in singles to thwart the inevitable rally when the deeper US team went one-on-one with the lesser lights, players 7-12, of the European lineup. In '99, this approach blew up on the Euros when the Americans came out and massacred poor sods like Jean Van de Velde who had no business in the event, then used momentum and an alcohol-fueled crowd frenzy to a stirring victory.

In the last three European wins, THEY'VE won the majority of singles matches, in the last two, they've won 8 of the 12. No morale deficiency explains away losing 2 out of every 3 one-on-one confrontations. That's a talent beating pure and simple.

Let's put it this way. American rookies Vaughn Taylor, J.J. Henry, Brett Wetterich, and Zach Johnson are fine players one and all. Golf gamblers, have any of you ever picked one of those four in a majors pool or Calcutta auction? Me neither. By contrast, the upper middle level of the Euro team, guys like David Howell, Luke Donald, and Paul Casey, are decent bets to be in the Top 10 in majors for the foreseeable future. Two-time Masters champ Jose Maria Olazabal was almost a forgotten man on the Euro team in '06. That's impressive depth.

So is this. The Americans were a combined 18-under par in singles, and eight of them were under or at even par. That's not half-bad. The Europeans were a combined 35-under par. ALL OF THEM were under par for the day. They were impossible to catch, let alone beat.

The US comeback in 1999 began in earnest when Sergio Garcia lost his singles match. Garcia was never in his match this morning, either, and the Europeans barely noticed. Padraig Harrington, one of their "name" players, went winless in five matches, and his failure meant nothing.

The US had the top three players in the world, Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, and Phil Mickelson. Poor Lefty, who may NEVER recover from the 18th at Winged Foot, went 0-4-1, and the Americans were essentially toast. For that matter, Woods was 3-2, and Furyk 2-3, and those records weren't good enough either. Since Woods and Furyk were pairs partners, all three of the American stars would've had to win 4 of their 5 matches for the US to have prevailed at the K-Club. That's an unfair burden in a format as chancy as match play.

I'll leave the "what should we do" navel-gazing to the cheerleading sycophants in the American golf commentariat. There's no quick fix against superior talent. Maybe the US should make Woods playing captain in 2008. Tiger's solved every other golf problem he's encountered. Let's see how he does with this toughie.

posted by Michael Gee @ 5:07 PM