For U.S., a Cup of Ryder road woes

This was a while ago, and Davis Love III was in the process of returning to his South Carolina home from a tournament when a neighbor offered a greeting and a question.

”He asked me what the Ryder Cup was,” recalled Love, “And how did we lose it.”

The years pass, and if the event, the biennial golf competition between the United States and Europe, can easily be explained with four-ball, foursomes, and singles. The results of many recent matches are less so.

Even to the-called experts. Perhaps most of all to so-called experts.

America has had the best players, right? Other than, previously Seve Ballesteros and currently, say, Jon Rahm. But that’s only two.

So why does Europe keep thumping the Americans? Particularly when America is the visiting team, as it will be when the 44th Cup is held in the suburbs of Rome Friday through Sunday. America has lost the last six matches when passports are a requirement. They — we, if you choose — have been beaten in England, France, Wales, Spain, Scotland and Ireland. If not in that particular order. Of course, they’ve also been drubbed back in the U.S., although they have won the last two in America.

As a yardstick, it is how ineffective various groups of Americans have been. Consider the 2004 matches that were held in Detroit, the U.S. team included Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and was an embarrassment.

What’s wrong with America? Or right with Europe? Theories are as numerous as shots at the practice tee.

We’re told U.S. golfers are too individualistic to care about team play. We’re told the Euros come from more humble backgrounds and that winning the Cup means more to them — and their countries.

For sure they celebrate the success loudly and boisterously, the musical lyrics, “Ole, ole ole,” resounding from their team rooms and from their fans.

It isn’t the 49ers vs. the Cowboys or the Yankees against the Red Sox. It’s them against us — or more specifically against the U.S.

And fans are incorrigible. Yes, the Olympics involve more nations in more sports. But in the Ryder Cup, the fans are pinching in close.

“It’s one-sided,” Fred Couples, a former Ryder Cupper, told Golf Channel. “You can feel them breathing down the back of your necks. They‘re waiting for you to screw up.”

Lanny Wadkins played his college golf at Wake Forest, which despite numerous stars never won a team championship. “I guess we didn’t pass the ball around enough,” he said with more than a bit of sarcasm.

In the Ryder Cup, what the American team needs to pass is the test. It has to start quickly — the first-day leader is the inevitable champion — and start well.   

And finally, stop losing a Ryder Cup match in Europe.