36 thoughts from Ryder Cup

DROWNING MY AMERICAN SORROW WITH A BAGEL LOADED WITH BACON, EGG AND CHEESE, N.Y. — Watching him stand atop a bar in midtown Manhattan was some sight. 

Romain Langasque sang on Saturday night at the Westbury, too. The song’s catchy. Sampling from the 1997 song “Freed from Desire” from Gala (you can listen here), it goes like this:

Europe’s on fire USA is terrifiedEurope’s on fireWoot Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-naNa-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-naNa-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-naNa-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na

Langasque also started a Thunderclap, the move where your left hand meets your right one above your head, you bark, and the ensuing claps are faster than the previous ones. (If you’ve watched Minnesota Vikings football games, you’ve seen it.) He appeared to feel as if he’d just played a round and birdied every hole. The cause? That afternoon, as it was that morning and the day before, the European Ryder Cup was on fire, as the song said. At Bethpage Black, the Euros won the foursomes and fall-ball sessions on Friday, then did it again on Saturday and led 11.5-4.5 going into the final day. Langasque saw some of it at Bethpage. And now he was reveling. 

But wait. 

Isn’t Langasque … a DP World Tour pro?

He is.

Sunday night, after Team Europe won the Ryder Cup for the ninth time in the past dozen playings and the Monday morning golf started, I thought about the scene, which Langasque shared on Instagram. What went right for the Europeans? What went wrong for the Americans? Just look at the French pro atop the bar. He cared cared — and he didn’t hit a shot, though he’ll no doubt want to be part of Team Europe when the event is played again, in two years at Adare Manor in Ireland. Across the pond, there’s Ryder Cup fervor, from the dozen who make the team — through the dozens more who don’t. No, that’s not at all to say the U S of A doesn’t believe in the Cup. You saw the heart all over Bethpage on Sunday afternoon. 

But maybe Europe believes just a little bit more. 

There’s buy-in. From everyone.     

As we look back at the Ryder Cup week that was, let’s make that observation No. 1 then. We’ll try for 35 more, and, as the dateline in the first paragraph reports, I’m being fueled by a good ole New Yawk breakfast. 

2. Let’s dive further into the Team Europe ‘process.’ And again, let’s go to Instagram. 

On the Team USA account, there were 23 posts on Sunday. 

On the Team Europe account?

One hundred and two.

Granted, the Europeans won, so there’s understandably going to be more. But if you’re going to capture the phone generation, meet them where they are. The European side appears to have done good work there.  

3. Let’s dig even deeper. Into shampoo. 

At his press conference after the win, Europe captain Luke Donald was asked what the attention to detail is like for his team, and he shared this:

“My job is literally to give these guys a better chance to win. It can be as simple as some very small things.

“I’ll give you an example. At the hotel rooms this week, the doors to our hotel rooms had a big crack that let in light. We brought things that covered the light. We put different shampoos that had a better smell. We had …”

Said Rory McIlroy, laughing: “Le Labo if anyone is wondering. Really, really nice.”

Continued Donald: “We changed the bedding because the beds weren’t very good, and they just had sheets, and we created much nicer beds so guys could sleep. They could have more energy. Those are just little things. I’m going into some really small details.

Said Jon Rahm: “They had snacks for everyone.”

Continued Donald: “It’s just taking the time and having the care that you want to do everything you can to kind of give these guys the best opportunity. You want to create an environment where they can succeed. These are 12 amazing players, we know that. You’re just trying to, again, put them in a position where they feel comfortable.”

4. Is Donald going to be captain again? By this point, you’d think the job is his for as long as he wants it. 

5. What about on the American side?

On Sunday, GOLF’s Michael Bamberger wrote that Keegan Bradley would be asked to do it again. Though there were mistakes made, which we’ll get to in a sec, I like the idea. But does he want to do it? It would create needed continuity at the position. He’d have the chance to continue to build his structure. His passion is unquestioned. 

But this quote, said on NBC on Sunday on the 18th green, was interesting to me. 

“I’ve got a real weird relationship with this tournament,” Bradley said. “A lot of heartbreak. But I still love it, and I love the guys. I love being out here again. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to do this again.

“I’ll remember this the rest of my life.”

6. There are, of course, Bradley questions.

Should Bethpage have been more Bethpage-ier, with tighter fairways, longer rough and firmer greens? Bradley thought so. He called it a mistake. That said, this thought almost sounds as if the Europeans had played only pitch-and-putts coming into the event and had never seen a difficult course before. 

What about that Collin Morikawa-Harris English foursomes pairing — on both Friday and Saturday? Only Bradley and his team know their data. But the numbers from Data Golf, a well-respected site, were ugly — they’d ranked Morikawa-English 132nd out of 132 possible pairings. Playing them Friday was forgivable. But then they were hammered. And Bradley rolled them out again. 

What about the Bradley decision on Bradley? Should he have played? Yes — but only if he weren’t the captain, too. Go back above and read some of the things that Donald oversaw. Do you think he could have played and continued to do all that? If you’re going to blame someone for the Bradley decision, blame the PGA of America, which is Team USA’s governing body. They put Bradley in the spot. 

7. Then there are the institutional questions. You can ask the biggest one this way:

How can you get American golfers to buy-in to the degree of Langasque, our hero from the opening few paragraphs of this article?

Does the U.S. captaincy become a person’s one job? Does the U.S. Ryder Cup team actually work like a team to a degree? Do 25 or so players meet semi-regularly?

If they do, hope that they play alternate shot.  

8. That all being said, Sunday was fun. The Americans nearly pulled off one of the greatest comebacks you’ll ever see. 

And the reason a rally was required was that the Europeans played well the previous two days. The U.S. can also look into its hotel shampoo bottles, but this won’t stop 40-footers from rolling in for Europe. 

9. Let’s talk about the crowd. 

Saturday felt disgusting to me. We all knew what very likely could come, and then it did. So what should have been done? That’s a tough one. Everyone insatiably wants to go viral; everyone wants to trump everyone else with a line.

So do it like the Masters does. 

Ban cellphones. 

Does that stop someone from shouting at McIlroy? No, of course not. Does it stop someone from recording that? Yes. Does it stop the snowball effect, where someone wants to try something ‘bigger?’ Good chance. 

10. Let’s make a pact, right here, right now. When you’re a fan:

Leave families alone.

Don’t get abusive. 

Let the players play. 

Deal?

11. I thought this was good from McIlroy:

“You know, we will be making sure to say to our fans in Ireland in 2027 that what happened here this week is not acceptable, and for me, it’s — you know, come and support your home team. Come and support your team.

“I think if I was an American, I would be annoyed that people — I didn’t hear a lot of shouts for Scottie [Scheffler] today, but I heard a lot of shouts against me. It’s like, support your players. That’s the thing.”

12. Don’t forget that Patrick Cantlay heard some things two years ago in Rome, though. 

13. I also thought it was strange how far back the build-out was from the first tee. If you’re going to create intimidation, shouldn’t the stands be right on top of players? Though maybe the road team is not the only one feeling the nerves. 

14. Let’s run through some players. Cam Young is that dude. A dog. The moment didn’t lock him up. It unlocked him. 

15. Cantlay’s like that.

16. Justin Thomas has that buy-in. Can he help spread it?

17. Bryson DeChambeau’s Sunday charge was cinematic. I imagine he’ll review how he channeled good play such as he did. 

18. What’s wrong with Scheffler? Four years ago, the event helped transform him into a world-beater. I think the sample size is still a little small. But his struggles are alarming. 

19. J.J. Spaun might just win another major. 

20. I feel bad for Harris English. 

I don’t mind the envelope rule. I also don’t mind the idea of a ‘13th man,’ who play only in the case of singles injury.  

21. The Euros could just bring everyone back again in two years. Rose’s continued good form will be an interesting watch. 

22. As will the participation of LIV Golf’s Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. 

23. Tommy Fleetwood will win a major next year. Maybe more than one. 

24. What’s more impressive? McIlroy’s Masters win with his demons against him? Or the Ryder Cup win, with 50,000 people against him?

25. I thought the post below was good.

26. McIlroy is also a bit of a troll, as the video below shows. 

36. I have a Long Island story. I shared it in my weekly Weekend 9 column, and I think I’ll share it here, too — allowing me to start and end this story with dancing in a bar.  

After college, I had an internship on LI, and after training for it in Philly, another intern and I drove out. Our first stop? We wanted Long Island iced teas from somewhere, because Long Island, right? (We were just out of college, and this was a college-age thought, for sure.) A “restaurant and bar” sign on a place seemed promising. Maybe it was an Applebee’s or something close to it. Good enough. (This was pre-smart phones, keep in mind.) We pulled up. 

And a valet came out. Hmm. Might be a club. We were still good with going. We walked up to the door. 

And there was a $30 cover charge. Hmm. Yeah, it must be a club. Still no worries. I paid for the two of us. We walked in. 

I went straight to the bar and ordered. As I waited, I looked to my right. 

A woman was dancing on the bar. Hmm. 

I looked behind me. There were other women dancing, and the men weren’t, and I’ll leave it at that. Put another away, no, we were not at a Chili’s-type place.

I looked to my left. The woman I drove with looked at me with a look that makes you want to include it in a story about Long Island. About 10 seconds later, we left. 

I did drink the drink, though. Quickly.   

Editor’s note: The author also wrote observations from the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. Those stories can be found here, here, here and here.

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