Spieth-Reed friction looms over US team

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Following the 2016 Ryder Cup some of the tourists from Europe grumbled like they’d been forced to schlep around a local muni for three days.

“The setup of the course was ridiculous. You could hit it anywhere,” said Thomas Pieters, who went 4-1-0 as a rookie at the ’16 matches. “I didn't think it was a great Ryder Cup setup, to be honest.”

Justin Rose went so far as to call the setup at Hazeltine “pro-am” like and explained, “We want to showcase our skills. We want to be tested.”

Now fast forward two years to last week’s Ryder Cup on a course that’s best described as TPC Paris. Although the Americans were gracious in defeat, defaulting to the brilliant play of the European team when asked to explain the 17 1/2 - 10 1/2 beating, don’t expect that silence to last long.

For the U.S. team, Le Golf National was very much an acquired taste. Just as then-U.S. captain Davis Love III did in ’16 Hazeltine, European skipper Thomas Bjorn created a layout that was groomed perfectly for the majority of his team.

At Hazeltine Love set up a golf course virtually devoid of rough and placed hole locations in the most accessible positions. Bjorn went the other way in France, narrowing fairways and letting the rough grow thick and lush.

During one of last week’s practice rounds a member of the U.S. contingent noted that not only was the rough long, but it was also being mowed toward tee boxes, making recovery shots nearly impossible.

For a team of largely bomb-and-gouge specialists the setup at Le Golf National was kryptonite. Just four of the American dozen ranked inside the top 100 in driving accuracy this season on the PGA Tour, with the most glaring example of wayward play being Phil Mickelson who ranked 192nd out of 193 players off the tee this year.

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By comparison, the majority of Bjorn’s team play a game that favors fairways and the results were predictable. Seven of the 12 Europeans ranked inside the top 100 in driving accuracy, including Henrik Stenson who led the Tour off the tee this year.

In fact, those Europeans, like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, who play a game more in line with the Americans also struggled at Le Golf National. Rahm posted a 1-2-0 record as a rookie and McIlroy went 2-3-0, dropping his singles match to Justin Thomas after a wild drive at the last. But it was a calculated risk Bjorn was comfortable with.

If the Americans were able to hit fairways they were then faced with green speeds that were noticeably slower than what they play on Tour, a subtle tweak that seemed to particularly impact Tiger Woods who failed to earn at least a half point for the first time in his career at the Ryder Cup.

In every way Le Golf National was a “friendly confines” advantage for the Europeans, from the setup to the team’s familiarity on a layout that regularly hosts a European Tour event.

“It's difficult to argue that when you've got players like Alex [Noren] and Tommy [Fleetwood], who have won around here; that they obviously feel good about themselves. You feel like I can play this golf course,” Bjorn conceded.

Bjorn compared Le Golf National to TPC Sawgrass, which annually hosts The Players, but that’s an oversimplification. Although the two layouts have similar looks and plenty of water hazards that are framed by wooden bulkheads, the similarities end there.

If this was a Stadium Course clone the likes of Mickelson, Woods and Rickie Fowler, who have all won the Tour’s marquee event at TPC Sawgrass, would have probably been able to produce more than just a single point between them.

“If you were to digest statistics the barometer would lean in their direction with how the golf course was set up,” said Zach Johnson, one of Furyk’s vice captains. “But you still have to hit the shots.”

There’s no denying that the Europeans hit better shots than the Americans early and often, but it’s just as clear they did so on a course that favored their skillsets.

On Sunday, Furyk was asked about his team’s relative lack of knowledge of Le Golf National and whether that played into the outcome.

“I feel like we played our practice rounds and we understood the golf course. We got out-played,” the American captain said.

Perhaps the Americans could have used a few more practice rounds around the venue, but then that wasn’t going to change the fact that the team’s long-ball style was never going to be a good fit for Le Golf National.

Just as Love did in ’16, Bjorn largely dismissed the obvious home-field advantage his team enjoyed last week.

“I said it all along, when you take 24 of the best players in the world and put them on a golf course, they are going to find a way around it. We probably found a better way around it,” Bjorn acknowledged.

Home-field advantage is nothing new in sports. A right-handed pull hitter has always been able to do some damage at Fenway Park, and there’s a reason why Rafael Nadal is known as “The King of Clay.” But following consecutive Ryder Cups that were largely decided by the setup of the course it’s clear that golf has taken home court to a new level.

In two years when the matches are played at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin one can already imagine open fields of manicured fairway and “go” pins on every green. Just the way the Americans like it.

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