SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — They left no doubt.
And, in the process, they aggressively served notice for the future.
What took place this past week at Whistling Straits in the 43rd Ryder Cup — a record-breaking 19-9 U.S. victory over Europe — was not about simply one week, it was about the future: Two years from now, four years from now, six years from now and so on.
Europe had been rather greedy with the Ryder Cup, hogging the coveted 17-inch-tall chalice by winning four of the previous five and nine of the past 12.
Now the Americans get to drink whatever the hell they want out of it for the next two years until the teams reconvene in Italy for the 44th edition of this special golfing occasion.
How powerful is this biannual competition?
Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, the Americans’ nemesis brothers, hugged (at Justin Thomas’ urging) at the end of a hilarious champagne-fueled post-match press conference.
And a couple hours earlier, Rory McIlroy, one of Europe’s top players, was reduced to tears in TV interviews apologizing to teammates for not delivering this week, losing three of his four matches.
Sunday’s 12-match singles session was merely a coronation for Team USA. It was an introduction of the new era of American golf.
The end result had essentially been determined during the first two days of competition, with the Americans building an insurmountable 11-5 lead entering Sunday in the team matches.
Sunday was merely an exhibition, a preview of what’s to come in this competition, and it cannot help but make Europe a bit uneasy about its future in these matches.
“This is the greatest team of all time,’’ U.S. captain Steve Stricker said. “This is a new era. These guys are young and motivated. They want it. They came here determined to win. I could see it in their eyes.”
The Americans were dominant from start to finish. They set a tone for the week when they won the first foursomes (alternate shot) session 3-1 on Friday. That was followed by another 3-1 result in the Friday fourballs (best ball).
They won the Saturday foursomes 3-1 and split the fourballs 2-2 in the afternoon, adding up to an 11-5 lead entering Sunday, during which the U.S. won eight of the 12 matches to set a record for most points in a Ryder Cup.
“I don’t think it’s just a win, this is a dominant win,’’ Collin Morikawa said.
“We showed the world what we can do as a team, and I think it’s the precedent for the future of American golf,’’ Tony Finau said.
“I woke up this morning and I was trying to tell the guys this is going to be the next era of Ryder Cup team for the U.S. side and let’s get to 20 points,’’ rookie Patrick Cantlay said. “We have a lot of young guys and I think they are going to be on teams for a long time and I wanted to send a message.’’
The message was delivered.
Emphatically.
“The U.S. were very strong,’’ European captain Padraig Harrington said. “They got it right. Whatever their plan was, they got it right this week. It’s a great win for them.’’
Lee Westwood, playing in his record 11th (and possibly final) Ryder Cup, delivered perhaps the highest compliment that could be paid to the Americans, who’ve been criticized for years for not being as unified as the Europeans, when he said, “It looks like they were a team.’’
All the pressure was on the Americans this week. They’d gotten drummed so many times in these matches, they had eight of the top-10 players in the world rankings while Europe had only one, and they were playing at home.
A loss this week not only would have been devastating, it would have left them wondering if they can ever win another Ryder Cup.
“I know paper means nothing,’’ Morikawa said. “Even though we knew we had a very strong team and a lot of guys in the top 10 in the world, it means nothing until you hit that first tee shot. The guys pulled through, and we didn’t let up.’’
One group that never let up was the Americans’ six rookies, who delivered a remarkable 14-3-3 record compared to 2-9-3 from the European rookies.
Indicative of this new era in U.S. golf: Stricker sent out four rookies in the first five singles matches.
The first point out of the singles session came from rookie Scottie Scheffler, who smoked Jon Rahm, the No. 1 ranked player in the world, 4-and-3. And the clinching point came from Morikawa, another rookie.
“We sent out rookies in four out of the first five matches; that’s unheard of,’’ Cantlay said.
“This is a start to new generation,’’ DeChambeau said.
“We needed to win this one,’’ Jordan Spieth said. “I think that this is unfinished business.’’
