It’s not long now until the golf greatest team event begins on Long Island in New York.
Europe’s captain Luke Donald has been plotting a Bethpage Black coup ever since it was confirmed that he would be captain for a second successive match after his success in Rome two years ago.
What stats will have given him sleepless nights? Let’s take a look.
11 of the last 13 Ryder Cups were won by the home team
This weighs heavy – it’s a stat that everyone knows but one that the European team is keen to overcome.
In fact, within minutes of confirming the Rome triumph two years ago, Rory McIlroy addressed the issue in bold terms.
“I’ve said this for the last six or seven to anyone that will listen: I think one of the biggest accomplishments in golf right now is winning an away Ryder Cup,” he said and then added: “And that’s what we’re going to do at Bethpage.”
The visitors will also be encouraged that the two exceptions to the ‘Ryder Cup Away’ rule were two sets of their predecessors.
In 2004 Bernhard Langer was a fine captain of Europe but he was also helped by the fact that Hal Sutton was a catastrophic one for the Americans.
And in 2012 the Europeans pulled off the Miracle at Medinah.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the only time a home team has failed to win a Ryder Cup in the 21st century was when the home captain was hapless or the opposition quite literally pulled off a golfing miracle.
Three of Europe’s last four visits to America have resulted in heavy defeat
Further to the first point, the European team is all to aware that before and after the Miracle at Medinah they have been hammered when crossing the Atlantic.
Last time out, at Whistling Straits in 2021, they were thrashed 19-9 and never remotely looked like winning.
Before that in 2016 the final score was 17-11 and in 2008 it was 16.5-11.5.
They will try to explain these results. In 2021 there were still COVID restrictions so almost no supporters whatsoever. In 2016 the team was Europe’s weakest line-up of the century. And in 2008 Nick Faldo did a good impression of Hal Sutton’s captaincy.
But they will also be aware that history should leave no-one in doubt of the enormity of the task ahead of them.
Rory McIlroy has a losing Ryder Cup record on American soil
Rory McIlroy is Europe’s figurehead and those insiders have a strong belief that the top three golfers on both sides go a long way towards deciding the entire match.
Indeed, in the 21st century, the contributions of the top three world ranked players on either side has exactly matched the eventual result of the Ryder Cup.
So that makes McIlroy’s efforts absolutely key.
In home Ryder Cups he has an impressive 10-5-2 record.
But in American it is just 6-8-2.
The good news is that he has twice gone 3-2-0 which are decent efforts, but last time out his log book read 1-3-0 and he ended that week in tears.
Tommy Fleetwood’s away record is also poor
If Europe’s top three are critical to the team’s chances then Tommy Fleetwood also needs to step up (McIlroy, Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre are Europe’s top three in the world rankings although Jon Rahm would almost certainly usurp the Scot if he were not at LIV).
Fleetwood had a stunning debut in 2018 at Le Golf National in Paris, winning all four foursomes and fourballs he played with Francesco Molinari before losing his singles.
He was also exceptional in Rome two years ago. He combined with McIlroy for two foursomes wins, lost his one fourball contest, but then his defeat of Rickie Fowler regained the Ryder Cup.
Those two weeks tally up to 7-2-0 which is magnificent by any reckoning.
But at Whistling Straits in 2021 he was benched in both foursomes, won half a point from two fourballs with Viktor Hovland and halved his singles contest with Jordan Spieth for 0-1-2.
Donald will want to find a way to ensure Fleetwood excels on Long Island. His tally matters.
Matt Fitzpatrick’s entire Ryder Cup record is rotten
At first glance the Englishman’s Ryder Cup record is awful and that apparent truth was not lost on social media when the wildcards were announced.
Many insisted that the 2022 US Open should not have been considered given his inability to reap points in the past.
Donald disagreed and one reason is that he will know that there are mitigating factors around Fitzpatrick’s record.
On debut in 2016, for example, he played a foursomes with Henrik Stenson, but not with a ball he was familiar with and it came after he was benched throughout the entire first day of action.
In 2021 he was again paired with a golfer playing a ball he doesn’t normally plays with (Lee Westwood) and the pair lost twice.
He was ignored for the fourballs both times.
And what of the singles? In 2016 he was last out and, although he lost, the entire match result was a foregone conclusion after just a few holes of his match. Ditto in 2021.
Donald needs some good news and here it is: both those defeats with Westwood went to the 17th hole so were not appalling efforts.
And in 2023 Fitzpatrick partner McIlroy on the first afternoon to a 5-and-3 destruction of Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele before the pair were defeated on the 18th green the next afternoon. He also lost his singles to the US to scorer Max Homa on the final green.
Two more close defeats then.
Nonetheless, should Fitzpatrick lose his first match the pressure will build.
The post Five killer Ryder Cup stats that will concern Europe appeared first on Golf365.
Article Link: Ryder Cup: Shock Rory McIlroy stat emerges in concerning US trend