Following the Foursomes on Saturday morning – the second day of the Ryder Cup – I got a text from a friend asking me if the United States was going to win the Ryder Cup.
The United States had just finished off a third straight 3-1 session victory and led 9-3 with only the afternoon Four-Ball and the Sunday Singles left to play.
I told him, “It was over Friday morning.”
He then said I was being arrogant, but I came back with, “No – I’m just being honest.”
I felt the United States was going to boat race Europe this year, but you never know until after the first Foursomes are played. The alternate shot format has been a strength of the European side for years and if they got out strong Friday, it could have been the confidence boost they needed.
Also, in the past, there are times where the United States looked the sure winner on paper but went out lost to an apparently outmanned European team.
There was a different feeling coming into this event because the Americans looked too strong. They validated it early, taking the first Foursome round 3-1 Friday morning, then backing it up in the afternoon with a 3-1 Four-Ball win.
It was 6-2 at the end of day one and time to stick a fork in it. They rolled from there, finishing with a 19-9 margin, the most points scored in modern times.
The scary thing – I am expecting it to be this sort of romp for the next 4-5 Ryder Cups. The next will take in 2023 in Rome and unless something unseen happens in the respective team make up, it’s going to be ugly once again.
The United States sent out a young team – eight of the 12 players are in their 20’s and they played like it. Confident, but not too cocky, and extremely talented.
They knew they were better and went out and showed it. That’s not going to change anytime soon.
Coming into this year’s Cup, the United States had lost four of the last five, and nine of the last 12 Ryder Cups. At times we were way too complacent.
That’s not the case now.
Young guns like Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, and Patrick Cantlay each had three wins. The leader was 37-year-old Dustin Johnson – nicknamed Grandpa by the rest of the team – who went 5-0-0, one of only three players in history to do that.
Throw out the names of other team members like Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Daniel Berger, and Harris English, and things look good for us and scary for the European side.
Europe on the other hand looked old (they are in a relative way) and they played like it too. There is not, well not yet, a well-stocked youth movement looking to step in and replace the aging players Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, and Lee Westwood, all over 40. Other players like Shane Lowry (34) and Rory McIlroy (31) are much older than most of the American team.
Then you have American players like Patrick Reed, Max Homa, Will Zalatoris, and Matthew Wolff that are young and talented.
Of course, the big test will come in 2023 in Rome as the U.S. will have to beat a European team looking for redemption from the humiliating loss that brought McIlroy to tears Sunday afternoon. But, the way things are looking right now, I am feeling pretty confident and so should United States golf fans.