Ryder Cup 2018: Why the U.S. lost, and lessons they need to learn

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PARIS, FRANCE – SEPTEMBER 29: Dustin Johnson of the United States tees off during the afternoon foursome matches of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National on September 29, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Picking a course that requires the kind of precision of TPC Sawgrass and a course that the Euros see every year was a big benefit for them.

I have said for 20 years that the U.S. team would have a better chance in the Ryder Cup if a PGA Tour course were used, but that is never going to happen as long as the PGA of America is in charge of selecting the site.

Would they ever come together with the PGA Tour to pick a site? Well, maybe not if the PGA of America has to give up big money. I say, what’s wrong with playing at a PGA Tour course? The tour doesn’t own all the courses, although they own or license some. There are a lot of great courses that would love to host a Ryder Cup.

Europe wanted to negate the big hitters like Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, and they did it with the golf course set up. Our power guys could barely keep a ball in the fairway because the course was set up for a bunch of Zach Johnsons or Jim Furyks. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Zach or Jim. They just have never been long hitters.)

The U.S. squad had eight players who are bombers. Dustin Johnson, Koepka, Tony Finau, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson are ridiculously long, and even Bryson DeChambeau, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson average over 300 yards. That’s eight out of 12 players whose bread and butter is based in part on length.

They might as well have left their drivers at home and put in a weed eater club .

The course set-up caused problems from the outset, as guy after guy found the rough off the tee. It was not PGA Tour rough. It was okay the first couple of feet and after that balls disappeared. It was long, tangled and unpleasant. That caused shots from the rough to roll over the green or come up short of it. It’s hard to putt for birdie when you’re rarely on the green in regulation. The European course set-up made the rough a real penalty, unlike the set-up on the PGA Tour. The US didn’t adjust or couldn’t adjust.

In contrast, Henrik Stenson is well-known for not using his driver because he has a hard time keeping in it the fairway. So, he relies on a 3-wood. Sergio Garcia is one of the best ball strikers on the planet, as are Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari and Ian Poulter, when he’s on.

The U.S. team just didn’t get into the fairway often enough.

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