SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Jim Furyk wanted to make one point abundantly clear on Friday night, after his U.S. team was swept in a session for the first time in 29 years.
“We’ve played for eight points so far out of 28,” he said. “The event is still pretty young.”
But in a match between two of the strongest Ryder Cup teams ever assembled, one lopsided session – even one measly point – has often explained why the Americans are still searching for their first road victory in a quarter-century.
Just look at recent away-game history:
In 2014, the Americans trailed by just a point after three sessions.
In 2010, they lost by one.
In 2006, they were only down, 5-3, heading into Saturday.
And in 2002, they were tied going into Sunday.
Those are slim margins, all of them, which only amplifies a player’s poor performance or a captain’s curious decision.
Furyk had one of those decisions Friday at Le Golf National.
Wanting to get everyone on the course on the first day of matches, Furyk paired Phil Mickelson with rookie Bryson DeChambeau for the afternoon foursomes.
With 21 career losses, Mickelson is the losingest U.S. Ryder Cupper in history, but he’s been particularly poor in alternate shot (now 5-8-4). His current form has been suspect – he finished dead last a week ago at the Tour Championship – and his season-long statistics offered little reason to think he’d be a good fit for the format.
He ranked 192nd on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy – out of 193 players.
And he was 136th in greens in regulation.
Le Golf National just so happens to be one of the tightest driving courses that players have faced all year, with lush rough and hazards galore, and on Friday afternoon 20-mph gusts made hitting greens even more difficult.
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Captains typically opt for the birdie machines in fourballs and for the best players in alternate shot, when it’s imperative to strike shots solidly. Mickelson and DeChambeau are proficient at making birdies – they’re ranked Nos. 6 and 7 on Tour, respectively, in birdie average – but Furyk chose to keep them on the bench for better-ball.
“I felt comfortable putting them out there (in foursomes),” Furyk said. “They practiced a lot together.”
But no amount of practice could have prepared them for the onslaught they faced on Friday afternoon, when Sergio Garcia and Alex Noren – two of the game’s preeminent ball-strikers – went out in 5 under (including the usual match-play concessions) on their way to a 5-and-4 victory that probably wasn’t even that close.
“We thought this would be a good format for us,” Mickelson said later. “The challenge was we just didn’t play our best. I don’t know what to say. They played phenomenal golf and I’m not trying to take it away from them. We just weren’t at our best, either.”
Mickelson is correct there: Garcia and Noren likely would have beat any pairing in foursomes. So would many of their Europeans teammates, who played exceedingly well in difficult conditions. Their four pairings combined to go 5 under par in the awkward format; the Americans were 11 over.
“What we all have to remember, and the important message is: It was four points out of 28 that we played for,” Furyk said. “We are not happy with it. We will use it as motivation tomorrow. It’s significant, but it’s a small percentage of the points that we’re going to play for this week. Right now, we’re two points down with 20 left. There’s time.”
That’s true, but more significant than the clean sweep was the decisive manner in which the Europeans won the four matches (all by at least a three-hole margin). That’s what should be most worrisome to Furyk – they had no answer for Europe’s bevy of strong iron players.
And so there are decisions to make – tough decisions – and Furyk hinted at some possible lineup changes for the Saturday afternoon foursomes session. In what’s sure to be a tight match, every choice will be scrutinized, every error magnified.
When asked whether he could foresee a situation in which a struggling player (such as Mickelson) sat for both sessions on Saturday, Furyk said: “We’re going to make the decisions that are best for our team, and our players are all on board for that. We’ll do anything needed to try to put ourselves in position.”
But in the very next answer, when asked about his Day 1 foursomes lineup, Furyk said: “I’ll be honest, I’d do it again.”
Do it again?
After putting together two players who were ill-suited for the format?
After the first European session sweep since 1989?
That’s the kind of flawed thinking that has led to too many close U.S. losses.
