Hal Sutton’s Ryder Cup comments prove why the Americans simply do not get it and probably never will

The Americans have endured real struggles in the Ryder Cup over the past 31 years.

Meanwhile, the Europeans have gone from strength to strength, winning eight of the last 12 editions of the Ryder Cup.

And now Hal Sutton’s latest comments have provided us all with a glimpse into why the US side have struggled so badly.

The Ryder Cup is one of the greatest sporting spectacles, and it has grown exponentially in size and stature over the past 30 years or so.

Tiger Woods is being touted as America’s Ryder Cup savior, with the 15-time major champion being lined up for the captaincy role at Adare Manor in 2027.

However, unless he studies the data more than Keegan Bradley did, and most of those who preceded the man from Vermont, the US will be set for more misery in the competition.

Photo by Michael Reaves/PGA of America/PGA of America via Getty Images

The Europeans found a system that worked more than three decades ago now, and it has since been refined into a formulaic winning machine.

Now it’s time for the Americans to jump on the bandwagon before they get left behind completely.

Hal Sutton’s Ryder Cup comments prove the USA simply do not get it

The 2004 captain has been speaking about the Ryder Cup and the job that Bradley did at Bethpage Black.

When speaking to the Golf Channel, Sutton made his stance on the matter very clear.

The 2004 captain outlined how the onus is on the players to perform at the Ryder Cup.

“I personally don’t feel like the captain can affect things as much as maybe the world thinks they can,“ Sutton suggested.

“You know, I was both a player, 4 times, and the captain, and I can tell you that the first three times I played, I played really, really well.

“And the captain didn’t affect it.

“And the last time I played was in 2002 when they had delayed it for a year, and I wasn’t playing very well, and I went to Curtis and said, look, I’m not playing that great, so don’t feel bad if you don’t want to play me.

“I want the team to win. It’s not about Hal Sutton, it’s about the team.

“And he played me once beforehand and I played the singles. We, Scott Verplank and I, won, and then I lost the singles.

“But I can tell you that nothing Curtis Strange could have done, could have helped me play better that week.

“And, you know, it’s, I mean, I’d like to put it to rest. It’s upon the players to win the Ryder Cup, not on the Captain.

“And, you know, I feel bad for Keegan.

“I put in a call in to him and he never returned my call. I wanted to try to help him and make him feel better about it because it’s a struggle, you know?

“It’s an honour to be asked to be the Ryder Cup captain, and then it’s a burden to carry the load that everybody puts on you.“

There are a couple of glaring issues with this statement from Sutton, and it’s yet another example of why the Americans have performed so badly at the Ryder Cup for more than 30 years now.

US Ryder Cup struggles summed up by Hal Sutton’s remarks

Firstly, it’s worth saying that, yes, of course the players need to play well. That much is obvious.

However, to suggest that captains don’t have any kind of influence on the outcome of the Ryder Cup is quite frankly ludicrous.

Firstly, he is discounting one of the key tools that all great leaders and captains possess – motivational skills.

There is nothing like a rousing team talk before a game to boost a team on to victory.

Secondly, Sutton seems to have completely bypassed the importance of selecting the right pairings.

We all know how big of a mistake it was by Keegan Bradley to pair Collin Morikawa and Harris English together for two consecutive days.

They were ranked 132nd in the ‘Optimal Pairings’ list out of 132 potential US Ryder Cup partnerships.

A captain’s role has a lot to do with finding out which players have the most chemistry with one another and which ones do not.

Also, Sutton kind of detracted from his own point by highlighting how his captain, Curtis Strange, did, in fact, have an influence on the team by leaving him out of the side for three sessions.

American Ryder Cup fans should be praying that Hal Sutton’s view is not one that is shared by the majority of players and potential captains because if it is, there could be much more pain to come for them.

It cannot be a coincidence that Sutton’s captaincy in 2004 was a disastrous one, as Team Europe ran away as 18.5-9.5 winners.

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