By: Arden X. ’27

Just a few weeks ago, the 45th edition of the Ryder Cup took place, and safe to say, it was a massive disappointment for Team USA. 

Context

The Ryder Cup is a biennial team golf event that is played between players from the United States and players from the continent of Europe. Ever since 1979, the competition between the US and Europe has been extremely intense, with the US winning 9, Europe winning 13, and tying 1 Ryder Cup. Throughout most of the golfing world, although there are more prestigious events to win (like the Masters), the Ryder Cup is often seen as the most competitive tournament, especially since national pride is at stake. 

Even since the 20th century, the United States has produced much better golfers than Europe, with household names such as Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Scottie Scheffler being some of the players that have played on Ryder Cup teams. However, even with the US team often being more talented than the European team, the Europeans are often able to beat the US team, making the Ryder Cup a very competitive event for Americans and Europeans to watch. In particular, the lackluster performance of highly-talented players on team USA has resulted in much frustration by American spectators. 

Going into the event, team USA was favored to win. They had the #1 player in the world, Scottie Scheffler, who had just won on the PGA Tour at Napa Valley two weeks ago, many of their key players played extremely well at the preparation event at Napa Valley, and the Ryder Cup was being played on US soil. History had bode well for team USA when playing on US soil, winning 7 out of 11 Ryder Cups and the previous two Ryder Cups contested in the United States. 

Friday

During morning foursomes, team USA got absolutely demolished, going 1-3. Not only that, they lost by extremely large margins (4&3, 5&3, 5&4) and barely won the last match (2 up) with a winning birdie on the very last hole of the match. When counting the number of holes won and lost, the US only won 9 holes compared to Europe’s dominating 22. 

Things still didn’t get better when afternoon four-ball arrived, with team USA going 2.5-1.5 and bringing the overall Ryder Cup score to 5.5 – 2.5, favoring team Europe. However, the US was playing a bit better, winning 13 holes compared to Europe’s 11. With the US only lagging behind by 3 points and a whopping 20 points available, fans were optimistic of a US turnaround.

Saturday

Morning foresomes at the Ryder Cup got off to a hot start, with the duo of Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Young lighting it up in the first match of the day and winning 4&2. However, any chance of US optimism was uncompromisingly crushed when Europe won the next three matches, shattering team USA’s chances of winning the Ryder Cup. The score stood at 8.5 – 3.5 in favor of Europe. This was the real turning point, and from here on out, the US would need an extremely strong performance to even have a chance of winning. 

Afternoon four-ball seemed like the real make-or-break moment: if team USA did well, they were still in play for the Ryder Cup. If they failed, the Ryder Cup was practically over. 

Unfortunately, not only did team USA fail, but they crashed and burned. They lost 3 out of the 4 matches, bringing the score to a lop-sided 11.5 to 4.5 in favor of Europe. Now, Europe was on track to have one of the largest winning margins of a Ryder Cup ever. All hope was lost—team USA had yet again disappointed in a Ryder Cup, this time in agonizing fashion.

Sunday Singles

Sunday just seemed like the cleanup day at Bethpage Black—the janitor comes by and just sweeps up the trash leftover by the rowdy American crowd. After Viktor Hovland withdrew due to a neck injury, the score stood at 12-5, with Team Europe needing just 2 points to win the Ryder Cup. Unsurprisingly, Team USA began the day with the clean-up mentality. Through 9 holes, they trailed in literally every single match—the first five matches to be exact. If I were a fan, I would have driven straight to Newark and flew home. Europe was putting the knife in the chest and twisting.

But by the grace of God, or some other superhuman power, team USA showed a pulse. 

Cameron Young was able to tie his match going into the last hole, and then made an electric 15 footer to win the match for the US. (Score: 12-6 favoring Europe) Justin Thomas did the same.

In front of a dazed Tommy Fleetwood, Thomas raised his fist and drained another 15 footer for a birdie and the full point for team USA. (Score: 12-7 favoring Europe)

Next, Xander Schauffele absolutely dominated the powerful Spaniard Jon Rahm, winning 4&3 and delivering yet another point for the US. (Score: 12-8 favoring Europe)

Unfortunately, Patrick Cantlay was unable to overcome Ludvig Åberg’s tremendous advantage, and lost his match 2&1. (Score: 13-8 favoring Europe) With Åberg’s win, Europe just needed 1 more point to win the Ryder Cup. The margins were slim, but the US was playing like their lives were on the line.

Then, Bryson DeChambeau, after being 5 down thru 7 holes, made an amazing comeback to tie the match, and while he missed his birdie for the win on the last hole, his halved match was crucial to prevent an automatic Europe win. (Score: 13.5-8.5 favoring Europe) However, Europe was now just ½ a point from winning. 

After DeChambeau, the marquee matchup of the day came. Scottie Scheffler vs Rory McIlroy. #1 in the world vs #2 in the world. After a week of struggle for Scottie and a back-and-forth battle between two goliaths, Scottie pulled through and delivered a win for the US. (Score: 13.5-9.5 favoring Europe)

The Ryder Cup rookie, J.J. Spaun, delivered another masterful point for team USA, dominating the young Sepp Straka for a comfortable 2&1 win. (Score: 13.5-10.5 favoring Europe)

At this point, the score was extremely close, but the US needed to win the rest of the 4 matches to win the Ryder Cup. 

In came Russell Henly battling Shane Lowry, the proud Irish man. Henley had a 2-up lead with four to play and a 1 up lead going into the last hole. Henley needed to birdie the 18th to halve the hole and win the match, but saw his birdie put come inches short, leaving Lowry to drain his birdie putt, halving the match and winning the Ryder Cup for Europe

The final 3 matches came and went, and when all was said and done, Europe had won the Ryder Cup 15-13. 

Aftermath

Team USA came stumbling out of the gates on Friday and Saturday, and dug a hole too deep to climb out of. Granted, the Sunday Singles effort was valiant. Team USA won 8.5 points, the most points ever earned in the Sunday Singles Ryder Cup session (tied with Medinah 2014). But it was too little, too late.

There were several reasons why Team USA lost. There were players that severely underperformed, like world #1 Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa. The European team played extremely well the first two days. But the biggest question that lingers after this loss is the identity of Team USA. Take, for instance, Team Europe’s players. They have household Ryder Cup veterans such as Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Tommy Fleetwood. All of these players have been playing in the Ryder Cup for more than a decade, and all of these players have historically successful Ryder Cup records. When one thinks of Team Europe, they think of those players. When will Team USA develop a core of strong Ryder Cup players? When will Team USA find an identity within the team itself? And when will Team USA finally succeed at the Ryder Cup? Hopefully these questions will be answered at the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland. We will wait and see.