AND ONE FOR ALL

And so another Ryder Cup is in the books and another defeat for the supposedly superior American team.  On paper, the American team is stronger than the European team.  Over the course of a year’s play, the American players rank higher as a group than the European players.  And with the exception of the three LIV players, they are playing against each other on the same courses and the same conditions.  Why then do the American’s lose so often.  Some say it’s that American players are used to medal play while the Europeans are more comfortable with match play.  Really?  That’s what you’re going to use as the reason we lose so consistently.  I’m not even sure that Europeans have more experience with match play than Americans to begin with.  Almost all of the European players went to college in America and played the same tournaments as the American players, some of which were match play and some of which were medal play.  So, if that’s not the reason, what is?

I still have not gotten over Super Bowl III.  The Baltimore Colts were superior to the New York Jets in virtually every phase of the game.  They were something like twelve-point favorites which at the time meant that they were a lock to win.  The Packers had won the first two Super Bowls and the AFL was on the ropes.  Lose Super Bowl II and the league might collapse.  The Jets therefore were playing for survival.  The Colts were not.  That difference in motivation was critical in my view to the outcome.  Fast forward to the Ryder Cup.  The European players have a common enemy, the United States.  They may live in Florida or Arizona but their hearts are with their countries of origin.  I know.  I’ve been a Bears’ fan since my birth despite living all over the country.  The American players have no such villain to defeat.  Europe is not a country; it is not an identifiable entity.  Heck, the French and English don’t even like each other.  The European players are motivated by defeating the United States.  The American players are motivated by defeating the European team, a team comprised of the same players they play against every week on the tour. 

The difference in motivation is most evident in the team events which occur over the first two days.  The European players are clearly playing for each other and the larger team.  The Americans not so much.  At the end of the matches, the outpouring of emotion among the European players was genuine and almost intimate as evidenced by the embraces of Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and others.  Imagine an embrace between Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau.  Or Harris English and Russell Henley. 

In the singles matches, the sense of “team” is less evident as it is more clearly mano on mano.  And so, in this years’ edition, the American players with greater ability on paper overcame the difference in motivation and almost won.  I am not saying that the American players have no national pride, only that the pride of the Europeans is slaying the USA giant is greater, and greater enough to be the difference between winning and losing every two years.  The dynamic in the President’s Cup is a little different as there is no geographic commonality among South Africa, Japan and Australia.  The common enemy motive therefore is weaker and has not as yet overcome the advantage the American team has in ability.

Alas, One for All doesn’t beat All for One.