Now that members of Team USA are done throwing each other under the bus, we can discuss a thoughtful, well-reasoned plan to return the Red, White and Blue to some semblance of competitiveness in the Ryder Cup. Losing 9 of the last 11 matches to Europe is not a sign of a sea-change in terms of the balance of talent in the golf world. Even this year, the average World Ranking of the US team was better than that of Europe's. So why can't the Americans win--even if they "don't care as much as the Euros?"
I have a multiple-part plan that I think would restore some of the competitive balance to the matches. Most require no change to the nature of the Ryder Cup itself (because are the Europeans going to willingly surrender whatever advantage they have gained over the past two decades willingly?) Let's start with those--and then cover some changes to the format itself that would make the competition better--regardless of whether the US gains an advantage or not.
Step 1--Bring in the PGA Tour as a fully-vested partner in the Ryder Cup. Without this step, several of the other suggestion I'm about to offer will be impossible--because a lot of the "problems" Team USA deals with before even arriving at the Cup venue are tied directly to the Tour acting separately from the interests of the Ryder Cup. This of course will likely require the PGA to give up some of the millions it makes from one of its two huge cash cows--and I don't see Ted Bishop (or any of his successors) being very enthusiastic about this. But if they really do care about winning more than once every decade, this will be necessary.
Step 2A--Make the FedEx Cup a biennial competition awarded opposite of the Ryder Cup years. If there is any "European template" it likely includes a provision that calls for its players not wear themselves into the ground the month of the competition trying to win 10-million dollars. Three-quarters of the American team was playing at New York, Boston, Denver and Atlanta over the space of five weeks in the Fed Ex Cup "Playoffs". Remember the derision Phil Mickelson received in some quarters for withdrawing from the Tour Championship so he could "rest" for the Ryder Cup? Meanwhile, most of the European team played a couple of the Fed Ex tourneys--or cruised through all of them if they made the cuts--not trying too hard to win. The rest skipped the European Tour's Swedish and Russian Opens--with nobody saying "boo" about that--because the Tour knew those guys needed to be fresh for the Ryder Cup.
Step 2B--Play the Ryder Cup on Labor Day Weekend. If PGA Commissioner Tim Finchem can't bear the thought of using two-year rolling standings for his beloved "Playoff" that nobody--least of all the players--really cares about, this will have to be the other alternative. Play the Ryder Cup a few weeks after the PGA Championship when everyone should be sharp--but not worn out. Then, everybody can head into the "Playoffs" after that with whatever effort they want to put forth. If you're on the team, you can probably afford to skip the first two events and still stand a pretty good chance of making it to Atlanta for the cash grab--I mean "highly coveted FedEx Cup". Playing earlier also reduces the chances of 45-degree mornings at the European venues that make everyone miserable (although it might cut down on the number of "Official Team Stocking Caps and Chopper Mittens" sold at the merchandise tent and online.
Step 3--Change the Accenture Match Play Championship into the Accenture Foursomes Match Play Championship. You can keep the top 64 World Rankings eligibility for the event--but everyone playing has to pick a partner for double-elimination, alternate-shot match play. This should help any future Ryder Cup captain see which players work well together--and help some guys to realize that they and their best buddy on tour are a terrible match because they are both wild off the tee and can't make big putts. This might also help the Presidents' Cup--as the Internationals get a chance to practice a format that they get drubbed in every two years as badly as the US does in the Ryder Cup. Given that the pace of alt-shot is much quicker than everyone playing their own ball, you should be able to play 36 every day for five days to get the tourney done.
Step 4--Drop the idea that every American captain has to be a major winner. What do Paul McGinley, Sam Torrance, Bernard Gallacher and Colin Montgomerie have in common? Ryder Cup wins as captains--and ZERO major victories. Just because you are a great golfer doesn't mean you know the first thing about organizing a team or inspiring others to do better than they thought they ever could. Look outside the world of golf. Can you name a hall of fame, mulitiple-championship winning player who made a great coach or manager? Ted Williams used to get in the batting cage in his 50's while managing the Washington Senators and hit line drive after line drive "teaching" his players--who still went out and hit .230.
Step 5--Groom a succession of captains in the "program". European captains tend to serve several turns as assistants--getting to learn what does and does not work in the team room, the pairings and the order of play. Paul McGinley had three turns--and captained the Seve Cup team for Great Britain and Ireland as well. If the PGA Tour joins in the effort (as I require in step one) future captains can cut their teeth as assistants in both Ryder and Presidents Cups--and perhaps lead both teams in consecutive years if they are ready to make the commitment. It can't work any worse than going from direction to direction with a new captain every two years has the last two decades.
Step 6--Employ analytics. This goes for both picking the wildcards and creating your pairings. Could Tom Watson have told you who his eight highest ranking players were in birdies or eagles made on Tour this year? Those are the kind of pairings that win at Fourballs. Who led the team in fairways hit and strokes gained putting on the Tour? Those are the kinds of teams that win Foursomes--where the one ball in play must be treated as the most precious thing on the face of the planet. I bet every European captain could recite his team's numbers forward and backward in those stats.
Step 7--Play courses that are regularly on the PGA Tour. The selection of host courses on the European side usually lead people to scratch their heads. You're going to have a Ryder Cup in Scotland and then play at Gleneagles instead of Carnoustie, Muirfield or St Andrews? The answer lies in the fact that Gleneagles is a regular stop on the European Tour. As was the K Club, Celtic Manor and Valderama. I know the teams arrive early and play the course in practice rounds all week before the Cup--but there is no substitute for an entire week of competitive play on a venue to build familiarity and confidence. Meanwhile in the US, we host the Ryder Cup on super-hard, past major venues that nobody plays more than once a decade. Here are some suggestions: Ryder Cup Pebble Beach, Ryder Cup TPC Sawgrass, Ryder Cup Riviera or the ultimate dream, Ryder Cup Augusta National.
Step 8--Change the attitude toward players that are successful only in the Ryder Cup. Quick, what feeling do you have about the careers of Monty, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter? The first three you think of as chokers, and all four you would classify as "under-achievers" because they have ZERO major wins between all of them. And nearly all of them have multiple major collapses that we can point to immediately and laugh. But in Europe, these men are treated as golfing gods--all because of what they did in Ryder Cup. Conversely, here in the US a player's major total is the only thing that matters. Phil Mickelson was a good Ryder Cup player but was considered "overrated" because he never won a major. Then he started winning majors but losing nearly all the time in Ryder Cup and he suddenly was being talked about as one of the "all time greats". It's why the greatest US Ryder Cuppers--Larry Nelson, Billy Casper, Lanny Wadkins and Paul Azinger are mere afterthoughts in that same conversation.
Step 9--Dump the idea that you need to have "veteran experience" on the team every year. Call this the Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed platform because they were two crazy-young guys who went over to Scotland believing that they could single-handedly take on the world and end this embarrassment--only to get no real support from the "veterans". Besides, what good is experience if it is only the experience of defeat? I'll take "young and foolish" over "old and beaten down" any time.
My final step does include an actual change to the Cup format--which would require the approval of the European committee--and I'm not confident they will be too keen on it.
Step 10--Adopt the same four-day, everybody plays format of the Presidents Cup. When you look at how the Europeans started this run of dominance, they came over with five great players, three really good guys and four guys that sat the bench for two days and then tried to somehow come up with a half point in singles on Sunday. Save for this year, I would say that the US has always had the deeper team--but had guys who would have easily won more points having to sit out matches for the first two days. Plus, adding a day cuts into the endless pre-match analysis and interview sessions and would actually keep the players fresher--as nobody has to go 36 except on Saturday. Maybe if Jack Nicklaus could make this suggestion the Continental Europeans will gladly accept it--since they would be watching all of this fun at home on TV if Jack hadn't suggested letting them play too.
While it may have seemed the Phil Mickelson was driving the bus over Tom Watson in the post-match press conference, he was clearly sending a message to Ted Bishop at the PGA of America that something needs to change--and right quick--before we lose another generation of players to the black cloud that hangs over Team USA at the Ryder Cup.
I want to end this on a positive note: All-time Ryder Cup record, USA leads 25-13-2. We have a ways to go before we even get close to a .500 (competitive) record.
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