Even When Impressive,
Past Results are Not
Indicative of Future Performance
The universe is a pretty consistent place.
Travel far enough in a straight line, and you’ll find the odd comet or nebula every once in a while. But mostly, it’s the same thing over and over: cold, dark, and empty.
The Ryder Cup is none of those things, save one: consistent. After the United States’ blowout win over Europe at Whistling Straits, observers have scrambled to paint the weekend as a tectonic moment — a historic shift away from Europe’s era of dominance, and the beginning of American superiority.
That picture not only reads too much into one three-day event, but it misrepresents the Ryder Cup’s past decade. The real picture of this Ryder Cup era has been one of homefield advantage, which the Americans’ win at Whistling Straits underscores rather than changes.
Dating back to 2008, the Ryder Cup’s home team has won every meeting — with the sole exception of the 2012 battle at Medinah, where Europe staged a massive Sunday comeback. That rally, for all its drama, can only be described as a historic anomaly.
Even going going back to 1979, when the competition opened to all of Europe, the Americans have lost just 11 of 21 opportunities. Mathematically, that’s a losing record, but it’s hardly the image of a redheaded stepchild. It would be fair to point to Europe’s run through the early Twenty-First Century, when they claimed six of seven Ryder Cup titles. But that includes the freakish outcome at Medinah; flip a couple of that weekend’s matches, and the Americans would have won three of the past five.
Maybe this American beatdown will be different, as U.S. captain Steve Stricker predicted when he dubbed this “a new era for USA golf.” Maybe it portends something bigger than just three days of near-flawless play. But consensus following the United States’ victory at Hazeltine in 2016 was no different. And two years later, Europe embarrassed the Americans in France — on home turf, naturally.
If Whistling Straits truly marks the beginning of a new era, then we won’t know until after the 2023 meeting in Rome. And even if that happens, it won’t be the end of an era of European ascendance. That era never happened.
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