Steve Stricker, who will look to lead his American Ryder Cup team to a much-needed victory at Whistling Straits next year, didn’t mince any words about what that will take.
With the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits now just one year away, American captain Steve Stricker is preparing his team to change their fortunes in his home state of Wisconsin. And he has some very simple expectations on how they can accomplish that task.
“The last few Ryder Cups haven’t gone really the way that we have liked,” Stricker said to members of the media and other invited guests. “Bottom line is, they played great and they outplayed us.”
His focus is squarely on the future.
“For me, it’s about moving forward, learning from the past a little bit. Taking some of the things that we haven’t done so well in, and then trying to apply that to this next time and next year,” he explained. “And it’s about playing better.”
These days, teams and team captains look at stats and Stricker found something in his statistics from 2018.
“We made almost as many birdies, if I remember right, during that week in France, but we just gave so many holes away in making different numbers,” Stricker noted.
And by different, he means big numbers or two partners having big numbers at the same time. One reason is that the U.S. teams, over the years, have had many players with aggressive styles. It’s the way most PGA Tour golfers play today.
“They make a lot of birdies,” Stricker said about U.S. players. “And you know, sometimes in match play, it’s okay to back down and try to make a par. It’s showed in France, that if we could have just made some pars, that it could have been a different match.”
But having a hot putter also helps.
“Bottom line is you make more putts than the other team and you’re going to win. Hopefully we can do that,” he added.
Both captains are taking what they learned in their previous Ryder Cups and as vice captains for previous teams into 2020.
Harrington, who played on six Ryder Cups, recalled that Bernhard Langer was very detail oriented.
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"“Bernhard will be on the tees telling you what clubs to hit into the par 3s and things like that,” he recalled. “I’d be more of the Bernhard Langer style of captaincy than the warm and fuzzy Ian Woosnam style of captaincy or Sam Torrance.”"
Stricker has experience as a vice captain at Ryder Cup and has already been a Presidents Cup captain.
“This event, it brings out some crazy emotions in you as a player, and even as an assistant captain when I’ve been a part of some of these teams,” he said about what he expects of himself. “I try to keep it under the radar and low-key, but you never know.”
Both Harrington and Stricker agreed that course set-up definitely affects the outcome of the matches.
In Europe in 2018, for instance, the Paris National course was set up with narrow fairways, which are not favored by many U.S. players. But the Europeans play the course every year, and they know its quirks. They expected the narrow fairways.
“We had a difficult time with the golf course,” Stricker said about the 2018 matches.
“I think Paris National no doubt suited the European game,” Harrington admitted.
In addition, Europe often plays on slower greens than are found on the PGA Tour week in and out.
“It’s not going to be 8 on the stimpmeter like it was in Paris.” Stricker added about the 2020 Ryder Cup. That drew a laugh from those in attendance. He vowed the rough would not be as high as 2018 either.
While Whistling Straits, the 2020 venue, may look like a links course, according to Steve Stricker, it doesn’t really play like one.
"“Some of the links style that I’ve played on over the years overseas is you really bounce the ball up, you roll it up and you can flight it down low,” he said. “Here, I think it’s a little bit more in the air than it is overseas, personally thinking.”"
Harrington played in all three PGA Championships at Whistling Straits.
“I think it will be a great venue for The Ryder Cup. It’s a dramatic golf course. We need that in The Ryder Cup,” he said.
One big question to Stricker was does he think Tiger Woods and/or Phil Mickelson will make the 2018 team? He said it would not surprise him at all.
"“Tiger probably will make his own team this year in The Presidents Cup,” he noted. “It looks like Phil is building up his calves and getting thinner and hitting more bombs; so anything is possible with Phil, and with Tiger we know what type of player and competitor he is.”"
The preparation for the 2020 Ryder Cup begins in earnest as the new PGA TOUR season is underway. Don’t expect Steve Stricker to let his team come in anything less than fully prepared.