Follow us on Google Discover Team USA needs a total overhaul to stand any chance of winning the Ryder Cup next year.
They were beaten handily at the last two Ryder Cups, including their home event in New York last year, and they nearly lost the Presidents Cup to an outmatched International Team.
It’s clear to everyone that the American team is poorly run and approaches these events completely wrong. That’s why Wyndham Clark is actively looking for solutions before next year’s Ryder Cup in Ireland.
The two-time US Open winner has found something Team USA must do better if they want to beat Luke Donald’s side at Adare Manor.
Wyndham Clark says Team USA must pair players based on their golf balls
Brandt Snedeker seemed to adopt a buddy system at the Presidents Cup, pairing players based on their off-course friendships. That went poorly, as Team USA needed a Sunday comeback to win the event after losing the team matches.
Jim Furyk used the same system at the Ryder Cup in 2018, when the Americans were blown away in France. Clark thinks they should have learned their lesson by now, and they must think more about which players suit each other on the course rather than off it.
Speaking on “Gravy & The Sleeze!”, he said, “I think sometimes we overlook the golf ball. And what I mean by that is, you mentioned you can pull a name out of a hat, and we should go out and win in foursomes. And I think what happens is, the golf ball is such a big difference.
We had some guys playing whose golf balls’ difference is 800-1000 rpms. And when you get a firm golf course, some guys were struggling to hold the green because they were playing a lower-spinning golf ball, or vice versa.
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Because I think you can just pick a name out of a hat, I really think we need to match golf balls better. I think we feel like we’re taking the approach of maybe what the Europeans do by putting buddies together, and we think that’s going to be the best way. But we’ve been doing that, and it hasn’t been working.
So some of the talks I’ve had, whether it’s with JT or some of the other guys, is maybe we need to match golf balls better. For instance, Colin and I have a very similar golf ball and he likes my golf ball.
So that was a good matchup for us. I know we lost some of the matches, but we played really good golf. Cantlay and I play the same golf ball. Those are the two guys I should play with, and I haven’t traditionally played with those guys.”
This isn’t a new issue for the Americans. In 2004, captain Hal Sutton paired Tiger Woods with Phil Mickelson at the last minute, giving Mickelson just days to get used to Woods’ ball. The superstar pairing lost both matches together.
So this has been a problem for two decades, and the fact that Team USA haven’t learned from their mistakes is incredibly concerning.
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