Continuity and meticulous preparations are key.
Europe has it in abundance with Luke Donald, whereas it feels U.S is fumbling in the dark.
We roll back the band to 2021; The Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits and an American team that completely crushed a aging European squad.
Stars in blue and white were loosing their shine and the coming generation had plenty of question marks surounding it. At the same time as the U.S. team won 19–9, the largest margin of victory in a Ryder Cup since 1967, Steve Stricker's team also featured six rookies. The future was looking bright and no one could foresee what would transpire in the years to follow.
Henrik Stenson was appointed the man to lead the europeans into a new era, but it was when he decided to accept Saudi money and head to LIV everything changed.
Luke Donald took over, LIV-players shown the door, and a new type of European team saw the light. According to world rankings the Americans were big favorites, but in Rome everything went according to Donald's plans and Europe won a landslide victory, much thanks to getting e head early, dominating the team formats. Again led by Donald, Europe where once more strong out of the gates in New York.
The European success in many ways have been built on meticulous preparations and team chemistry, stemming from shared values.
In contrast the U.S team didn't even travel to Rome for a scouting trip, with only Justin Thomas playing in the Italian Open. Looking at Bethpage Black, the Americans had decided to more or less mow down all the rough that normally makes it such a hard "driving course". They had also softened up the greens, making it less important to hit the fairway. What Captain Keegan Bradley and his team hadn't thought about was that dynamics had changed since previous matches. Now it was the Europeans that were the longer, and a bit wilder, drivers of the golf ball that benefited from such a setup.
A huge strategical mistake.
But perhaps the biggest difference is spelled "consistency". When Ryder Cup now return to European soil, Luke Donald holds the captaincy for the third consecutive match. Not since the days of Walter Hagen and Ben Hogan has the Americans had the same captains for two consecutive Ryder Cups.
In Ryder Cup the pressure is tougher than in any other golf tournament, and experience becomes invaluable, knowing how to handle different very stressful moments.
Having a person with a proven success rate, having been through it before, radiating calm in those moments, is a deciding factor.
When Tiger Woods was no longer a candidate to captain the U.S team, they instead turned to Jim Furyk.
The last man to really succeed creating togetherness within an American team was Steve Stricker. But after the win at Whistling Straits it became evident the match took too big of a toll on him.
Furyk was available. Maybe even craving for revenge. He has led the team before, when the U.S lost at Le Golf National, in Paris. It was a match where his Captain's Picks were criticized, where the team had open feuds, and where Patrick Reed complained over who he got and did not get to play with.
I guess bad experiences are better than no experiences.
However, it feels that the duell between the captains is heavily tilted in European favour.