McCARTHY: Team USA Dominates, Wins Ryder Cup; What’s next for Europe?

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Team USA went to the Whistling Straits looking to turn the page in a quarter century of misery at the Ryder Cup, they left Wisconsin having written the first chapter of a new story.

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Collin Morikawa, 24, made a birdie shot on the treacherous par-3 on the seventeenth hole that guaranteed the 14.5 points needed for victory, a fitting end to a changing of the guard for the American team, and possibly the final. Ryder Cup for years to come.

“What a glorious day for American golf, in this competition for so long,” said NBC Sports analyst and former Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger when the putt fell.

The victory became official a hole later when Morikawa and Europe’s Viktor Hovland split their singles match with pairs at par 4 18 in half, earning Morikawa, who finished the week undefeated 3-0-1 , the half point necessary to win the trophy. Team USA

Heading into the week, the question was whether Europe’s familiar roster of Ryder Cup legends would have its Last Dance moment or if the most favored Americans and their six rookies would start their own legacy. Beginning with the first session on Friday morning, the writing was on the wall as Team USA finally turned their obvious advantage on paper into a clear advantage on the golf course. Along the way, they showed that they, like the European teams they have faced so often, could be more than the sum of their parts.

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“They played very well and bonded,” US captain Steve Stricker said. “I mean, Brooks and Bryson wanted to play together; that’s how much they joined. That shows a lot about this whole team. … This is a new era for US golf, they are young. They come with a lot of passion, a lot of energy, a lot of play ”.

It was the youngest and highest ranked American team on paper, with an average age of 29 and with eight of the top ten players in the world, one from Europe. Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods left the US team, and for the first time since 1993 the face of the team would be someone other than one of the golf giants of the past generation. What is sure to keep the European Ryder Cuppers awake at night is that there was no singular face to this young American team.

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“It’s a different group of guys, it’s a lot more fun than in previous years,” Brooks Koepka said after beating Bernd Wiesberger 2 & 1. “It’s a very close-knit group of guys. They are all a little younger and they have all known each other for more than 15 years. “

In Game 1 on Sunday, European Rory McIlroy ended a miserable Ryder Cup by salvaging his first point of the week by defeating Xander Schauffele 3 and 2. Rookie gold medalist Schauffele still finished the week with an impressive 3-1 record. 1.

The American rush started in Match 2 with another rookie. Patrick Cantlay finished a week undefeated 3-0-1 defeating Irishman Shane Lowry 4-2. In Match 3, Scottie Scheffler, another rookie, handed World No. 1 Jon Rahm his only loss of the week, winning 4-3. Then it was Bryson DeChambeau, who, while enjoying fan love this week, defeated the winningest player in Ryder Cup history, Sergio Garcia 3 and 2.

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And that was until the dust settled and Team USA achieved a record 19-9 victory. It is the first time a team has reached 19 points since continental Europe was added to the Ryder Cup in 1979.

The oldest player on the US team by five years, Dustin Johnson, 37, had a perfect week, playing all five sessions.

“I wasn’t expecting 5-0-0, that’s for sure,” Johnson said. “But I wasn’t really expecting to play five games, but obviously I got off to a good start and had some good partnerships there with Collin and Xander, so the Captain just kept us going.”

For the Europeans it was a stinging defeat, not only because of the lopsided margin, but because of what the future portends. European captain Padraig Harrington is sure to be criticized for his decisions, as are all losing captains, but it was evident all week that his team was simply outmatched.

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Harrington will be questioned for his decision to reduce the number of captain picks for his team from four to three, as 48-year-old Lee Westwood automatically qualified despite starting the week without a top-20 finish in six months. . It’s reckless to guess the three picks he made, as the picks of captain Sergio Garcia and Shane Lowry provided the only spark for his team, other than his only stud in Rahm. Ian Poulter was the captain’s third pick and no one can blame Harrington for seeing if there was any magic left in the 45-year-old Englishman, as the next best picks were probably another forty-something on Justin Rose, Danny Willett or a rookie. Victor Pérez.

“It’s been a tough week,” McIlroy said through tears after their game. “And the more I play in this event, I realize that it is the best event in golf, without exception. … I don’t think there is a greater privilege to be part of one of these teams, European or American. It is an absolute privilege. “

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McIlroy and Poulter were left in tears on Sunday as both players showed a passion for the Ryder Cup that has always come so naturally to Team Europe. Where Europe is going from here is going to be the tough question for team leaders because this trip to Whistling Straits surely seemed to close the book inelegantly on one of the great teams in golf history. The team that always has the will, now needs to find a way.

The remembered story of this long overdue 2020 Ryder Cup is that of America’s team of the future, which shows that they are very ready now. They said that they were a more united group than in previous years, that they could put aside any difference, and throughout the week they showed it.

They will have the opportunity to prove it all again in two years in Rome.