Even when broken, don’t fix it. That is the message from Europe’s Ryder Cup contingent as they assess the heavy defeat to the USA at Hazeltine, the hosts’ 17-11 victory their biggest since 1981.
Europe had earlier implemented what was widely regarded as a successful Ryder Cup framework, with Darren Clarke amongst those insisting that should not be changed now – mainly because in leading a team with six debutants Clarke has been spared some of the heavy criticism afforded to some of his predecessors.
“Why would you have a knee-jerk reaction when the whole system has been doing well?” the defeated captain asked. “Absolutely leave it as it is. They have been successful thus far. We came up against a very strong team and captain. They’ve played better than we have. There is no other answer.
“They were a brilliant European team, sensational. Everyone pulled for each other. One of my big things coming in was that ‘shoulder to shoulder’ thing taken from our wonderful Irish rugby team. The guys showed that in a different sport. Those guys would have jumped through burning hoops for each other.
“The scoreline never lies. The US team played exceptionally well. Give them a massive amount of credit. The Americans played better. In quite a few recent Ryder Cups, the Europeans won their share of the greens. This week the Americans played better and holed more putts. That’s the nature of the Ryder Cup.”
Clarke will form part of the group who decide upon his successor, with suggestions that an announcement could be made before Christmas.
Thomas Bjorn is the favourite to lead the European team into the 2018 Ryder Cup in France with Padraig Harrington also part of that discussion. In Bjorn’s favour is the sense that a continental captain is required to break with the mould of those from Britain or Ireland. Harrington, however, has by far the more stellar playing career.
Rory McIlroy has claimed that the “culture” of the European Tour means the captaincy choice is not absolutely crucial. “We obviously need a captain, need a leader, but it could be any one of a number of guys,” McIlroy said. “It goes in cycles but this being the first time with as many rookies since 2010, I think you will see a lot of these rookies come back and play the next time.”
The world No3’s support for Clarke, whom he described as “fantastic”, was echoed by Ian Poulter. The Englishman, something of a Ryder Cup icon, was a vice‑captain to Clarke at Hazeltine.
The deepest questioning of Clarke will inevitably surround the wildcard selection of Lee Westwood, who failed to return a single point at Hazeltine and his missed putt late on Saturday was an unfortunate turning point for Europe.
“Darren has tried his bollocks off,” Poulter said. “I know what’s going to happen; Lee is going to come under fire and Darren is going to be criticised for picking Lee but that’s unfair. You cannot expect to take seven or eight rookies, it’s just not possible. Unfortunately Lee missed some putts and he might not have played his best golf. Because of that it’s going to be tough for Darren.
“The template doesn’t need to change. We probably have a transitional team with a lot of young blood. If you look at where the young blood is going to be in two years from now you would expect them to be stronger. I don’t believe there needs to be a new template. The template is there. Unfortunately a couple of guys didn’t earn any points this week and that was clearly damaging. The overall scoreline was 17-11 but I think it was a little closer than that.”
