Europe search for a consecutive Ryder Cup triumph at Whistling Straights

After a year’s delay due to Covid-19, the Ryder Cup, golf’s biggest team event, is finally set to get underway at Whistling Straights in Wisconsin, USA.

Europe, having won the trophy in 2018 in France, will be looking to take consecutive Ryder Cup victories, and continue the spell of dominance that has led them to win seven of the nine Ryder Cups this century. However, for the USA, home advantage is key, as the couple of Cups that they have won have both been in their home country, and they will hope to make the most of this advantage again this time around.

And the odds are certainly in Team USA’s favour. Although the team is remarkably young, captain Steve Stricker has been able to put together an extraordinarily talented team, including (among others) Open winner player of the year Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa and Olympic gold medallist Xander Schauffele. These talents, combined with seasoned Ryder Cup players such as Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth, may simply be too much for the European team to handle.

Europe’s team contains a lot of seasoned, well-known faces, and it may be this that holds them back. Although players such as Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia are by no means falling off, they are not the players they once were. Poulter especially was a questionable wildcard pick by Pádraig Harrington, considering his lack of power on the drive, a skill that is required on the long greens of Whistling Straights. Justin Rose, who is just coming back into form, would perhaps have been a better pick.

A lot of pressure will be placed on the shoulders of Viktor Hovland, the 23-year-old who has already proven himself at the top of the game, and seeming to have the big-hitting ability to match the powerful Americans. Europe may also require some career-defining performances from the likes of Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy if they are to have any chance of victory.

What is for certain, however, is that the next few weeks will be certain to provide the intrigue, debate and fallout that always follows the Ryder Cup. The questions of who will partner whom are already being debated, as anticipation builds, especially for the USA in what they hope will be a spell of dominance that will last for many years. They certainly have the players and the youth, but do they have the mindset when it counts, as the Europeans have proven time and time again that they undoubtedly do possess?