How Europe can beat USA in their own backyard - according to Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley
Not a single member of the 2021 US team was born the last time America celebrated winning two Ryder Cup home matches in succession 38 years ago and Paul McGinley believes that, with a fair wind and a fast start, the Europeans can overcome the odds to pile on the home misery at Whistling Straits and so make it “The Wake at the Lake”.
McGinley counts as a highly qualified judge in this matter, not only because he was so impressive as the 2014 captain at Gleneagles, but also because the links-style layout at Lake Michigan was where he posted his only top 10 in a major – a tie for sixth at the 2004 US PGA.
And although Steve Stricker’s side boast an overwhelming advantage when it comes to the average world rankings (8.9 versus Europe’s 29.6), McGinley sees hope of an eighth blue-and-gold triumph in the past 10 stagings.
“Look, it’s a brilliant American team – there’s no two ways about it,” the Irishman said. “And if you combine their quality with conditions that they revel in – sterile, humid, hot, with no variables like wind – well, then we’ve got a big problem, especially as we are playing away from home in front of 40,000 people a day.
“Having said that, obviously we’re on Lake Michigan and we know how much the wind can be a factor. And with our team dynamic, we can flip the pressure and turn home advantage into disadvantage. Europe did that in the Solheim Cup a few weeks ago. They came out of the blocks and got control of the points early and all the burden was on the Americans. So that first day is going to be key for me.”
If the weather forecast is positive from a Europe point of view, with gusts emerging from different directions of up to 20mph on Friday – “things turn quickly there and we won’t really know what to expect until the Wednesday or even Thursday,” McGinley said – then, despite their fine run, the results from recent Fridays in the Ryder Cup are distinctly negative. Indeed, Europe have not “won” an opening session since 2006.
“And of those six matches, I think we have only halved one opening session – in 2012 when we went on to win at Medinah,” McGinley said. “The point is that you can make up the deficit at home, but when you are away in the US and have the momentum against you from the off, it is very, very hard. And if we lose it 4-0 like in Hazeltine [in 2016] then it becomes impossible. Padraig [Harrington] knows this.”
McGinley also feels that Europe’s captain will dismiss the notion of the Pete Dye creation being a bomber’s paradise. And with the US boasting supremacy in the driving distance stats, this could be an important misnomer.
“There’s a lot of talk about it being a big-hitters’ course and I get that, but you know, you look quietly there’s been some shorter hitters who have also had success around there,” he says. “Never mind me all those years ago, Zach Johnson has done well at Whistling [third in 2010 US PGA], Matt Kuchar [seventh in 2015] and Jordan Spieth is not the longest by any means and was runner-up there six years ago. And the reason why they’ve done well is because of the weather. You know, when you get a 20-mile-an-hour crosswind there, it’s more about skill. You have fairways, certainly in August, that were running and this is September so they should be decent enough.
“Those conditions require a wider skill-set than just blasting it off the tee and although Steve Stricker [the US captain] can have the rough cut back, there isn’t too much you can do to trick it up. The place has hosted three majors and hasn’t had an American winner – a Fijian [Vijay Singh], a German [Martin Kaymer] and an Australian [Jason Day].
“US players have won 11 of the other 14 PGAs contested in that timeframe. Whistling Straits has not been their happiest of hunting grounds.
“Furthermore, Stricker didn’t select Phil Mickelson, who won this year’s PGA at Kiawah Island, another Dye layout that is similar to this one. All these little factors do help to raise the optimism levels.”
