“If we play like we did this week, the score will look the same over there in a couple of years and that’s what we’re here for” – Jordan Spieth in the press conference following the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.
As the European team retreated to lick their wounds in the aftermath of the record 19-9 drubbing at Whistling Straits in 2021, a jubilant U.S. team, champagne flowing and cigars smoldering, faced the press and, spirits high, were in no mood to downplay their achievements.
And why would they? They’d been awesome that week, played with ruthless aggression and a determination to bludgeon their opponents out of existence.
In many ways, it was like 20-year-old Mike Tyson facing Trevor Berbick for the WBA Heavyweight title back in ’86.
Berbick was the champion, but champion in name only, and his opponent was younger, faster, a heavier puncher, and had a burning hunger desire to be the top dog in the sport.
HBO lead commentator Larry Merchant was aghast at Berbick’s strategy to go toe-to-toe with Tyson, imploring him to use his jab to keep the shorter Tyson at arm’s length.
12 seconds into the fight, Merchant suggests that Berbick is showing false bravado, and less than a minute in, it was only going to end one way in Merchant’s eyes. “He’s standing flat footed right in front of him,” he explained. “He’s gonna get clipped. Believe me folks, he’s going down!”
Somehow, Berbick stayed on his feet until the bell rang ending the first round, but only he knows how and 10 seconds into round two he was on the flat of his back. He sprang back to his feet, fists up indicating that he was more than ready, but his eyes told a different story. It was pride and pride alone that was holding him up, and it wasn’t long before he was down again and this time, pride couldn’t save him. In fact, it was just as well because Tyson was landing punches at will and another sustained assault could’ve brought his life, not just his championship reign, to an end.
Merchant had been spot on.
Europe had no choice but to try to go toe-to-toe with the United States at Whistling Straits, but it was almost as lopsided as the younger, faster, heavier punchers landed shots at will. Similarly, after four defeats in the previous five Ryder Cups, they were hungry to set the record straight and launch their own era of dominance and nobody could stop them. Or so we were lead to believe.
Ian Poulter might’ve won his singles match against Tony Finau, but the Postman was Oh-for-two in the previous matches, Lee Westwood fared similar, and it was only Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia who ended the week with winning records for the Europeans. And three of these four Ryder Cup colossi were widely believed to be over the hill.
These Ryder Cup legends, who had countless US scalps to show off, were fading into the sunset. Where were the European reinforcements coming from?
The average age of the United States team was 29, and Dustin Johnson, the oldest by five years at 37, had just gone a perfect 5-0-0. Spieth had every right to be bullish, and even the most optimistic of European fans was fearing the worst. And if the Americans had played like they did in Wisconsin, that might’ve been the case.
But if two years is a long time in sport, four years is like an eternity and having wrestled the Ryder Cup back in Rome, there is a solid case to be made for Europe to be the favourites heading to Bethpage in seven months’ time.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. A lot can change in seven months as well, but even still, the resurgence in the European ranks has been remarkable.
Seven events into the 2025 PGA Tour season, and Europeans have won four times, including two of the three signature events with Hideki Matsuyama winning the third. Of the seven tournament winners, only Harris English is eligible for Team USA, and there is a certain irony in that alone.
The truth, though, is that this means very little in the context of a Ryder Cup. Maybe a European team with a core group of McIlroy, Rahm, Åberg, Hatton, Hovland and Fleetwood will still get thumped by the Americans at Bethpage, but just over three years after the humiliating nature of the loss at Whistling Straits, that we’re even able to visualise a different result in New York is worth talking about.
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