America is under as much pressure as the Ryder Cup favorites

KOHLER, Wisconsin – On paper, it looks like a lag.

But you know how painful paper cuts can be.

The U.S. Ryder Cup team, as they enter the 43rd edition of this bloody passion and points competition this week, have eight of the world’s top 10 players on their roster. The European side has one.

The US team’s official world golf ranking average is 8.9. That of Europe is 30.8.

The Americans have the advantage of the home course at Whistling Straits, an 18-hole eye-catching television that sits on the shores of Lake Michigan.

This advantage of national soil is magnified by COVID-19 travel restrictions that make it nearly impossible for spirited European fans to make the trip to America. So those still audible vocals of “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole” should be cut with a lot less followers this week.

When you factor in all of these factors, it’s hard to imagine the United States allowing the Ryder Cup on a return plane to Europe.

Still, it’s a very uncomfortable position for Americans as they are supposed to win this week.

Expectations represent the biggest challenge for US captain Steve Stricker as he prepares his squad for the games, which begin on Friday.

“I feel like on paper, head to toe, the world rankings, I would say we’re a stronger team,” said Stricker. “But I don’t think our guys feel like we’re any better. They know deep down how hard it is to beat them.

They are expected, given that Europe has won nine of the last 12 Ryder Cups, including four of the last five, the latest being a seven-point rout in 2018 at Golf France outside Paris.

“We have the best players this year,” said Paul Azinger, chief analyst for NBC Sports, captain of the winning US team in 2008. “And obviously they [the Europeans] ride with the most confidence and maybe the best team.

If there’s one thing about these games that has always been as true as a 4ft Tiger Woods putt in its prime, it’s that the best team hoists the chalice by the end of the week, not the team with the best players.

“If it was a computer that generated the results this week,” said European captain Padraig Harrington, “the Europeans don’t need to come.”

Brilliantly put together, as usual, by Harrington, which is one of the most honest interviews in golf.

Stricker’s most public dilemma with his team is how he handles Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, two players who hate each other and are teammates this week. More important to Stricker is the way DeChambeau and Koepka behave – behind closed team room doors and on the golf course.

Harrington offered a good comparison to the Bryson-Brooks friction when he referred to himself and Sergio Garcia, who was one of his captain’s choices.

“We have obviously been competitors for most of our careers [and] it’s well known that we wouldn’t necessarily have been successful, ”said Harrington. “The Ryder Cup is bigger than that. I think it has probably been good for both of us.

Stricker hopes that whatever the troubles of Koepka and Patrick Cantley – who were called out by DeChambeau for walking past him as they fought in the BMW Championship last month and didn’t even look him in the eye afterwards. have defeated him in the playoffs – have with DeChambeau, that they will realize that this week is bigger than ego and little nonsense.

Maybe this week – depending on the outcome (read: an American win) – will thaw the freeze between Koepka, Cantlay and anyone else who might have a problem with DeChambeau. The Ryder Cup can be such a powerful force.

“I can’t speak for the Americans – I don’t know what’s going on there – but I have a feeling that when we walk into the team room everyone takes off their armor and puts it on. side, ”Garcia said. “You can feel it. Everyone is happy to put their arm around everyone and try to help.

Three years ago in France, the United States entered with a similar advantage on paper as this year, with nine grand champions over the 12-man squad who had combined to win 10 of the 16 majors. previous ones.

The result: Europe 17.5, United States 10.5.

Europeans aspire to the role of underdog as many of their fans crave pints of Guinness – despite the fact that they have owned Americans in those matches for over two decades. With so much in favor of the United States this week, Europeans will appropriate the status of outsider like hungry dogs.

“That’s our advantage, I guess, in a way, isn’t it – that we delivered when maybe we shouldn’t have delivered?” Ian Poulter recently said in an interview with SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. “On paper – on paper – the American team should have delivered.”

Paper cuts sometimes hurt the most and they persist the longest.