Ryder Cup: it’s not as bad as it looks for US team
The U.S. team has lost 3 Ryder Cups in a row. So what? Sure, they got drubbed 18 1/2 to 9 1/2 in the last two Cups. Sure, the U.S. team got outplayed again. But I don’t think it’s as bad for the U.S. as people are making it out to be.
You have to remember that the scoring system for the Ryder Cup means that changing any win to a loss is effectively a “2 point” swing. For example, if Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco — who had gone 3-0-1 at the 2005 President’s Cup as a team — would have swept their 4 team matches, the score would have been: 14 1/2 Europe and 13 1/2 U.S. And, if Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk (2-1-1 in the President’s Cup) had also gone 3-1 in team play this year, the score would have been 14 1/2 U.S. and 13 1/2 Europe, and the U.S. would have won.
The numbers basically mean that if Phil Mickelson/Chris DiMarco and Tiger Woods/Jim Furyk had played better (and the rest of the U.S. team had played the same as they did), the U.S. would have won. But unfortunately, Mickelson and DiMarco did not get anything going, while Woods and Furyk could only manage a 2-2 split. That ain’t going to cut it against the Euros.
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