Lee Eustace | Contributing Editor
A week on from team Europe’s latest Ryder cup victory against team USA, amid a wave of expert analysis and against a series of contrasting post-mortems, the question remains as to what is Europe’s secret recipe for success? The latest victory at Gleneagles marked Europe’s third consecutive triumph and indeed their eighth victory from the previous ten encounters, spanning all the way back to 1995.
On the surface, it appears as if there is little to separate the two teams – as the official world rankings suggest, with team USA commanding an average ranking position of 16th in comparison to Europe’s 18th. In spite of this seemingly equal playing-field, team USA once again struggled to match the passion and commitment shown by their European counterparts.
This recurring motif of European solidarity is particularly unusual given that the latest European team comprised of nine different nationalities, stretching from the four-corners of Great Britain to the heart of Scandinavia and back towards the Mediterranean coast. Team USA meanwhile, are ostensibly united under the one flag, The Star-Spangled Banner, which was so prominently displayed on their jumpers during Saturday’s proceedings. Unfortunately the knitwear better withstood the test of a bitter Scottish, Saturday afternoon than the American players.
It was during such a time that team Europe gained the upper-hand. The format of the Ryder Cup lends itself to four team sessions, with a grand total of sixteen points available in comparison to Sunday’s singles format which offers twelve points. In truth, Sunday’s twelve points, although evenly contested, were little more than a victory march for Europe who ran out 16.5 – 11.5 victors. Early victories for Irishmen McDowell and McIlroy and the German, Martin Kaymer, seemingly secured the trophy before Welsh rookie, Jamie Donaldson, played the winning shot midway through Sunday’s proceedings.
On reflection, the vital points were gained during Friday and Saturday’s foursome sessions, from which team Europe emerged with a staggering seven from a possible eight points. The imbalance in foursome matches was duly recognised by US Captain, Tom Watson, who moments after the winning shot, congratulated his counterpart McGinley with a wry smile as he joked, ‘we may have had a match if it weren’t for the foursomes!’. Watson, far from campaigning to change the format of the competition, was right to point towards his team’s deficiencies in such team formats of the game.
From high-fives to fist-bumps, and from battle cries to whispers of encouragement, team Europe oozed collective confidence and determination. United both on the golf course and in the press room, Europe’s winning team spoke of nothing but the collective goal. Team USA glaringly failed to adopt such an attitude, as shown by Phil Mickelson’s controversial comments in both pre and post tournament press conferences.
Mickelson, the senior-statesman of this US team, was quick to implicate team Europe, and in particular stalwarts McIlroy and McDowell, during his untimely ‘ligate’ accusations. Aligned to these inappropriate comments was his post-tournament assessment, in which he openly criticised team captain Watson. The fallout from such comments are well-documented as the US search for the winning mentality which was last seen during Paul Azinger’s captainship during the 2008 campaign at Valhalla.
Mickelson’s comments, although untimely, highlight the unrest beneath the surface of the US camp, as players and journalists alike wade into the on-going debate. Meanwhile, members of the European camp are surely in the process of framing the winning pictures from Sunday afternoon, and perhaps even a few celebratory photos from Sunday night, which have since emerged on social media.
Reports have also emerged that Irishman Darren Clarke is a front runner for the 2016 captaincy, a role which is of confirmed interest to him. Rumours on the other side of the Atlantic are somewhat less publicised, as the potential candidates seem understandably reluctant to enter such a volatile cauldron at present. Europe has no such problems, as players and supporters alike look forward to defending the crown on US soil in two years’ time.
