Zach Johnson said he will 'cherish the journey' of guiding U.S. Ryder Cup team in Rome

Zach Johnson made it clear once again: he would take the same 12 players on the U.S. Ryder Cup team and square off against the Europeans right now if it was possible to replay last week's competition in Rome.

"I loved that they didn't quit," Johnson said on Friday during his appearance at the Constellation Furyk & Friends Champions Breakfast at the Timuquana Country Club, before the first round of the tournament. "I loved that they were legitimately supporting each other ... they took ownership of their team and became one. That's all you can ask for."

Johnson, a St. Simons Island, Ga., resident and a two-time major champion, watched his team fall behind early to the European at the Marco Simone Golf Club, trailing 4-0 after the first session of doubles, 6.5-1.5 following the first day and 9.2-2.5 after the third doubles session.

The U.S. outscored Europe 9-7 in the final doubles session and in singles but had dug too deep a hole and Europe won 16.5-11.5. It extended the continent's streak to seven Ryder Cups won on its soil, dating back to 1993.

"It's hard, especially over there," Johnson told more than 100 attendees at the breakfast. "There's a reason we haven't won over there in a long time, and that's okay. We'll figure it out. At some point, we'll come out on top [in Europe]. I hope it's sooner than later."

But Johnson said he has no regrets about issues such as captain's selections and pairings.

"It's the journey," he said of the nearly two-year process of preparing for the Ryder Cup. "The journey is something I'm going to cherish."

Johnson praises Donald, Europeans

After the breakfast, Johnson told the Times-Union said it was a disservice to European captain Luke Donald for anyone to make excuses for how the U.S. team played.

"The European team played that much better," he said. "The amount of shots holed and pitched in on Friday and early Saturday was unbelievable -- even on Saturday afternoon. They played awesome. They won the Cup. They earned it."

Johnson said one key to the Europeans' performance was how quickly it started almost every match over the first three sessions. Europe's doubles teams won the first hole five times and halved seven, and a U.S. team didn't win an opening hole until Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa on Saturday afternoon.

"In any sporting event I've ever been associated with, momentum is massive," Johnson said. "Our 12 guys, on Friday in particular and even a little on Saturday morning, that first hole just did not go our way, whether it was a chip-in, a putt ... we seemed to lose the first hole a lot and you see blue go on the board that quick and it's pretty daunting."

U.S. team had 'character, comradery'

Johnson said he also prepared himself for the inevitable second-guessing but once he had his team and made decisions, he "was at peace with whatever transpired" and rebuffed any notion that the team wasn't unified.

"It still eats at me that we didn't win," he said. "But the manner in which those 12 guys competed, the character and certainly the comradery they displayed is everything. The scoreboard doesn't show team chemistry. I'm not going to have regrets."

There was also criticism that most of the U.S. players didn't compete in a PGA Tour event after the Tour Championship and before the Ryder Cup but Johnson pointed out that there was only one scheduled event over that span, in Napa, Calif., while the Europeans had one of their biggest tournaments on the DP World Tour two weeks before the Ryder Cup, the BMW PGA Championship, and the French Open the week before.

Johnson said the only thing he might have done differently was get the U.S. team to Rome the weekend before to get acclimated to the time change and put a day of trans-Atlantic travel behind them.

"I think the time change is a big deal," he said. "I think Monday through Thursday is really trying. But it's not an excuse. My guys did not make excuses."

Past captains praise Johnson

Three past U.S. Ryder Cup captains are in the field for this year's Furyk & Friends. Two won (Steve Stricker in 2021 and Davis Love III in 2016, both in America) and one lost (tournament host Jim Furyk, in Paris in 2018).

All three were vice-captains in Rome and to a man, they defended Johnson and the U.S. team.

"They played their hearts out and Zach did an amazing job," Furyk said at the breakfast. "Those 12 kids fought for each other and they were great in the team room. It just didn't work out all the way but this man [Johnson] did a wonderful job."

"The captain will always take the blame when we lose," Stricker said. "The players get the accolades when they win. Zach did a good job. We got outplayed."

Love, who is 1-1 as a U.S. captain, said the U.S. loss wasn't because the captain didn't work hard enough.

"I know how Zach feels," Love said. "Zach and [Johnson's wife] Kim poured two years into that and then to walk away from it with a loss ... there was so much talk about 30 years not winning on foreign soil and all those things. You know, we learned a lot and hopefully, New York [Bethpage State Park in 2025] will be to our advantage and then we've got to figure out Adare Manor [in Ireland] after that [in 2027]."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson praises team for battling to the end