A common narrative that emerges at nearly every team match-play event is the squad that putts better wins.
Thunderous tee shots and precision-guided approach shots are great, but in match play, holing putts unexpectedly to a win hole or draining a pressure-filled putt on top of your opponent to deny him or her a hole can create a huge psychological swing.
Statistically, the best putter on the American team is Harris English. He finished 12th in the just-completed 2020-2021 PGA Tour season in Strokes Gained: Putting, with an average of 0.544. That means over the course of a 72-hole tournament, English typically earned more than a two-shot edge over the average player based solely on the quality of his putting. Steve Stricker certainly knew that when he gave English a captain’s pick. English’s putter of choice is a Ping Scottsdale Ho Hum.
The American Ryder Cup team has plenty of heavy hitters, but if it is going to win at Whistling Straits, the players need to make putts and these are the putters they will be relying on.
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