There seems to be two things that are a given when either the Ryder Cup or the Presidents Cup take place.
One, the United States will stink in Foursomes, and two, the United States will dominate singles play on the final day. Both were true again this past week when the United States captured the Presidents Cup with a 17-13 win over the International team.
The International team took the Foursomes by a 7-2 score and as a result rolled into Sunday’s final day of the event with a 10.5-7.5.
That meant the International team only needed five points of the 12 available on Sunday to capture the Cup and break a 10-match losing streak.
They got 2.5 points.
That the United States took 9.5 of the 12 points was of little surprise. In fact, following Saturday’s matches, the fact the U.S. was able to get two of the four Foursomes points leaving them in a prime spot to win the Cup.
Much is always made about the United States having a decided edge when it comes to player rankings. But that doesn’t translate into team play as the United States teams seem to have a problem meshing together as a team.
There is much speculation as to why this is the case. Some point to the players’ games not coming together, while others will point to the personalities of the two players clashing. There is also the feeling that having to choose what golf ball they will play in alternate shot causes problems.
Finally, especially during the Ryder Cup, the prevailing feeling always seems to be that the European team is closer than the Americans and adjust better to playing as a team.
There is probably a little bit of everything that is involved as to why we struggle so badly in Foursomes.
But then we get to singles and everything mentioned above goes right out the window.
Now you are on your own and there is no partner that you worry about letting down. We are back to relying on only yourself. Often in the singles, the better player is going to win, and this is where the Unite States with higher ranked players win the majority of the matches.
The key is not to play your way out of the event through the first four rounds. This is what the U.S. squad did in the 2025 Ryder Cup played at Bethpage Black in New York.
Our typically poor performance in the Foursome and Four-Ball was even worse than usual and Europe led 11.5-4.5 heading into singles.
The United States once again charged and got the best of the singles, winning 8.5-3.5 but the deficit was too much, and Europe got the 15-13 win.
I don’t know of an easy answer to improve our team performances but there one change I would make in the Presidents Cup that would be a fun thing to see.
Get rid of Foursomes and make it a two-man scramble. Imagine the scoring you’d see and the fun it would be to watch. It would probably come down as to which team would record some eagles on par 4 holes.
I think it would make for some very fun golf to watch but it also something that would probably never happen.
By Dennis Miller