Fallout from the US Ryder Cup Loss Continues as Billy Horschel Has His Say
Photo by Soheb Zaidi on Unsplash
The US has failed to dominate the Ryder Cup since its incredible run of consecutive wins that spanned from 1959 to 1983. That is not to say that there haven’t been success stories; however, the latest European victory is their 11th in the last 15 events.
The 15-13 defeat came as a huge disappointment to the US team and its fans, who found favorable odds among the best offshore betting sites that thought they stood a great chance. Major tournaments like the Ryder Cup spark a flurry of interest from bettors, with markets covering team and individual performances, and live betting markets being updated in real time.
The final scoreline underlined how close the team were, with the team’s captain, Keegan Bradley, admitting that he will struggle to get over the loss.
Despite a poor start, Bradley described how the team put everything into the competition and that he will live with the defeat for the rest of his life. He will be hoping that the team will be able to come up with a solution for he next Ryder Cup, with some suggestions already coming in.
There has been a lot of fallout from the tournament, especially with criticism about fan behavior, and Billy Horschel has now had his say about the changes he thinks are necessary to give the team hope moving forward. With 2 years before the next Ryder Cup, Herschel revealed that a group of key figures and players have held discussions about what can be done to create a more united team that can offer the Europeans stiff competition.
He believes that the European Tour helps players build stronger relationships and that this is something the US team should be looking to emulate in 2027, when Team Europe defends their championship at Ireland’s Adare Manor.
Golf journalist Dan Rapaport believes that a lack of passion could have led to the team’s downfall, pointing to the immediate reaction of a lot of Ream USA players. Rather than speaking of their disappointment or devastation at losing out again, many spoke about how it was an honour to represent their country.
While this is a fair and professional approach to defeat, the European team appeared to be more passionate and driven in their desire to win. Part of this was sparked by fan behaviour that drew a lot of headlines.
In scenes more reminiscent of Happy Gilmore, the treatment of Team Europe players by US fans helped them to develop a siege mentality that could have given them the extra push they needed to win.
Derek Sprague, the PGA of America CEO, was compelled to apologise to Rory McIlroy, his family, and the rest of Team Europe after fans aimed personal insults in an attempt to put them off their game.
Organisers at the next Ryder Cup will be expected to be better prepared for crowd disruptions following this year’s shameful scenes, and everyone involved will be hoping the headlines will be made by players instead.