Of all the comparisons between the U.S. and Europe heading into this week’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits (including here and here): these might be the most striking:
— The U.S. has played in a combined 12 total Ryder Cups; the Europeans 38.
— The U.S. has a combined 24-22-3 record; the Europeans are 77-55-24.
— The U.S. has scored a combined 25.5 points; the Europeans have more than tripled that, at 89 points.
Why Steve Stricker is the perfect Ryder Cup captain for these unsettled times
Of course, bringing down the Americans’ tally is the fact that they are carrying six first-timers on their 12-player roster, while the Europeans have just three. Still, among the U.S. veterans, only Jordan Spieth, with eight points, and Dustin Johnson, with seven, have scored more than five. The Europeans have four players in double figures, including Garcia, the Euros’ all-time leading point scorer.
Thankfully for the Americans, points do not carry over.
“We are looking to the best players to perform here at Whistling Straits, and these six guys that we picked, we feel like fit Whistling Straits to a ‘T,’” Steve Stricker said in introducing his six captain’s picks to the U.S. team. “We have done some analysis of those rookies since 2008, and U.S. rookies have a 40-29-17 record in Ryder Cup. So rookies fare very well in this type of forms, and we’re excited to have these rookies.
“Some of them aren’t really rookies. They have played in past Presidents Cup teams. Some of these guys have match-play competition under their belt as well and other events that they played, the World Match Play. So we are excited. So we don’t really feel like they are rookies. We are just happy to have these guys, and they fit the course to a ‘T.’”
Below are the Ryder Cups played, records and points for both the U.S. and European teams:
U.S. Ryder Cups played, records and points
Jordan Spieth, three Ryder Cups, 7-5-2 record, eight points
Dustin Johnson, four Ryder Cups, 7-9-0 record, seven points
Brooks Koepka, two Ryder Cups, 4-3-1 record, 4.5 points
Justin Thomas, one Ryder Cup, 4-1-0 record, four points
Tony Finau, one Ryder Cup, 2-1-0 record, two points
Bryson DeChambeau, one Ryder Cup, 0-3-0 record, zero points
Daniel Berger, zero Ryder Cups
Patrick Cantlay, zero Ryder Cups
Harris English, zero Ryder Cups
Collin Morikawa, zero Ryder Cups
Xander Schauffele, zero Ryder Cups
Scottie Scheffler, zero Ryder Cups
Total Ryder Cups, record, points: 12, 24-22-3, 25.5
European Ryder Cups played, records and points
Sergio Garcia, nine Ryder Cups, 22-12-7 record, 25.5 points
Lee Westwood, 10 Ryder Cups, 20-18-6 record, 23 points
Ian Poulter, six Ryder Cups, 14-6-2 record, 15 points
Rory McIlroy, five Ryder Cups, 11-9-4 record, 13 points
Paul Casey, four Ryder Cups, 4-3-5 record, 6.5 points
Tommy Fleetwood, one Ryder Cup, 4-1-0 record, four points
Tyrrell Hatton, one Ryder Cup, 1-2-0 record, one point
Jon Rahm, one Ryder Cup, 1-2-0 record, one point
Matthew Fitzpatrick, one Ryder Cup, 0-2-0 record, zero points
Viktor Hovland, zero Ryder Cups
Shane Lowry, zero Ryder Cups
Bernd Wiesberger, zero Ryder Cups
Total Ryder Cups, record, points: 38, 77-55-24, 89
