How to win an away Ryder Cup, by European legends

Bring on Bethpage !

That was the rallying cry from Rory McIlroy in the immediate aftermath of Europe’s 16½-11½ Ryder Cup victory over the United States in 2023.

The Northern Irishman was on a roll, even though the celebratory champagne had already hit his head.

“One of the big accomplishments in golf right now is winning an away Ryder Cup. And that’s what we’re going to do at Bethpage, he triumphantly declared.

As the players and fans revelled in Rome, all demanding “two more years” for skipper Luke Donald, statisticians reached for the record books.

With margins of five, ten, seven, six, and five points, they would have revealed that the home side had won the previous five Ryder Cups on a canter.

There have been six away wins in the 22 matches since 1979, when the contest became Europe v the US. Since 1993, the once dominating US side hasn’t won.

Let’s get to the big one first, before we get started. Even Donald is expecting a “bear pit” at Bethpage and the skipper has handed out virtual reality headsets to the players to replicate the abuse they are expecting.

Although most of the partisan support is good-natured, it occasionally crosses the line. Raucous home crowds have become a recurring theme at Ryder Cups.

“It’s not going to come as a shock”, Sir Nick Faldo, a stalwart of 11 Ryder Cups, told BBC Sport. You’ll need to be mentally prepared for it, they say.

” It’s going to be down to discipline – something’s going to go on, something’s going to be said and we’re saying to Luke, could you make it a rule that nobody will crack, or over-react.

“I believe your caddie and you have a secret conversation.” You turn and look and say something, have a little laugh and then he says ‘ right job at hand, get on with it’. re-enter the golfer after they click. This is a great golf course, we’ve got to play a great shot, that will keep you 100% focused”.

However, it’s difficult to block out.

Colin Montgomerie was subjected to such bad abuse at Brookline in 1999 that his late father was forced to walk away from his singles match against then US Open champion Payne Stewart.

When “things changed on the ninth tee,” The Scot was three holes clear of the Scot.

“It got ugly, somebody shouted out and didn’t allow me to hit my tee shot”, he recalled.

“I turned around to the crowd and said that I’ll have to walk in if this happens again, or that I’m not allowed to play.”

” I was shaking at the time, I’m feeling it now talking about it. This is a round of golf.

Despite his own reaction, Montgomerie echoed Faldo’s thoughts on focusing on the task ahead and how crucial a fast start could be.

He said, “Friday is huge for Europe.” If we can get ahead and stay ahead, you’ll probably find the American hostility could be directed at their own players. “

Justin Rose, who will make his seventh appearance for Europe this week, has direct experience from the epic Medinah comeback in 2012.

” The crowd in Chicago were rough and tough but for the most part the Americans had the upper hand, “he said.

The crowd did change, and they did go quiet as soon as we were able to change the script. They didn’t like it and that’s going to be our goal, to pacify the crowd.

“I don’t believe it’s going to be simple.” I don’t think we should expect to pacify the crowd, that might not be possible. Simply put, we must be steadfast as a team.

” But Medinah proves it’s possible. “

And he thinks the domestic fans’ expectations might be just as difficult for the US players to handle.

” It’s about not letting the environment affect us, “he said.

The fans chanting” two more years “towards Donald at Marco Simone in Rome was one thing, but the players joining in was the rubber stamp he needed to continue.

The European captaincy hasn’t been anything more than a one-and-out deal since Tony Jacklin and Bernard Gallacher were in charge in the 1980s.

But Donald has the continent’s golden touch. Four out of four players, with two of them being from America, win. One out of one as skipper.

Crucially, he was the only player to win the match and set the tone for the 2012 Sunday singles singles by coming out first and defeating Bubba Watson to start the record-setting turnaround from 10-6 down.

And that experience and nous will be needed to deal with some of the feistiest fans in American sport and home players desperate to regain the trophy.

He responded, “This is a different challenge.” I am aware we have lost three of the past four away Ryder Cups by significant margins. Some of Rome’s benefits are undoubtedly no longer.

“A lot of my thinking revolves around crowd management and how we react as a team.

That process began 15 months ago in terms of communication to get my message across. Hopefully they will see some good results. “

Rose and Donald shared a team-mate in 2012 and are aiming for a fifth Ryder Cup victory.

The Englishman told BBC South:” Luke has a plan. The message was consistent. He’s not adding to the noise and keeping it as simple as possible for us.

The visitors’ team hasn’t changed much in the 98-year history of the event, and this is their 45th year.

As Europe, the next fewest number of changes was three in 1985, 1987 and 2006 – and all three ended in victories.

The solitary change is Dane Rasmus Hojgaard, who was a member of the team in Rome after his twin brother Nicolai, who had already made his debut through the ranking system.

Montgomerie, who led the side to victory in 2010 and won five out of eight as a player, joked on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Ryder Cup preview programme: “With all due respect Rasmus and Nicolai are the same person really. We have the same team because they both had the same egg, which is fantastic.

With Donald looking to emulate Jacklin as the only captain to win home and away matches and cement his place alongside Europe’s greats, he opted not to include any rookies in his six selections.

“If I were going to win a Ryder Cup home, I would be comfortable with a few rookies and members of the next generation coming through,” Rose said.

“There is still tons of pressure, don’t get me wrong, but I’m really happy the boys have experienced a Ryder Cup and they know what to expect in terms of the rhythm and flow of the week and the emotion”.

And you get the idea that Donald is trying to turn a once-established community into a “cauldron” according to Montgomerie.

“It’s important we have a good amount of experience in that team room with people that have dealt with it”, said Donald.

Faldo added: “Your big guys have got to do the heavy lifting. He came in second only to Sergio Garcia for 25 points in 11 appearances.

” You need half the team playing great, winning the point and hope one or two others have a great period. You only need four out of the first twelve points in the singles if you can score close to ten in the first two days. That’s the gameplan. “

Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Rose, and others who have all won more than 50% of the points they have contested were mentioned by Faldo in his remarks.

Major winners McIlroy (18 points) and Rose (15.5) also bring seasoned know-how, having been in the victorious 2012 side alongside Donald.

Rahm was LIV Golf’s individual player of the year for the second time after Fleetwood won the season-ending Tour Championship last month.

Hatton’s major performances meant he claimed an automatic place despite also playing on the Saudi circuit and having limited qualification opportunities.

Given his performances since then, Robert MacIntyre, an inspired wildcard pick in Rome who qualified this time round, might be a member of that quintet.

After going unbeaten on his Ryder Cup debut, he has won the Scottish and Canadian Open titles – as well as finishing runner-up at the US Open in June.

Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg impressed as a pairing in Rome with two victories out of three matches, just like Rahm and Hovland were both in need of a wildcard pick.

Donald has also put his faith in Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka – who won one and lost one of their two outings together in 2023 – and Matt Fitzpatrick, despite his poor record of one point in three appearances, two of which were heavy away defeats in 2016 and 2021.

The pairings have been made work and have had a dry run, according to Jacklin, the first captain to win the Ryder Cup.

Scottie Scheffler, the game’s standout talent, leads the American team. Two more major titles in 2025, among six victories, have solidified his position as the world’s best.

Faldo contends that only the four-time major winner will be feared in Europe.

” Scottie will be a target because he’s meant to win, “he said”. That is a victory if you only manage to score him one point.

Scheffler went unbeaten as a rookie in the US ‘ record 19-9 mauling at Whistling Straits in 2021, but was reduced to tears in Rome after he and Brooks Koepka suffered a record 9&amp, 7 defeat at the hands of Hovland and Aberg.

Will he be motivated by McIlroy’s “revengeance,” which he cried when he left Michigan two years later after placing fourth overall in Europe, at Marco Simone,?

Scheffler, the Open champion, won two fourball matches alongside Bryson DeChambeau on the banks of Lake Michigan four years ago and the big-hitting LIV player returns in New York after sitting out last time.

“But consider the other names, “added Faldo.” They don’t scare me. Xander Schauffele is present, but he’s a little off the mark. There’s nobody in the team that any of our guys will look at]and fear]. “

Schauffele started the year slowly due to a broken rib, and while the 2024 champion had top-10 finishes in both the Masters and Open Championship, he had a inconsistent year that made him miss the Tour Championship for the first time in nine years.

Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay may have something to say about Faldo’s comments though, given they have the best Ryder Cup records on the US team.

In 2021, Thomas, who has eight points from 13 games, slammed the can before downing a celebratory beer on the first tee at Whistling Straits on the Saturday following just three of the five game practices.

Cantlay was the pantomime villain in Rome with ‘ cap-gate ‘ and his caddie’s spat with McIlroy. However, he has won five of his eight matches and a gnarly singles victory over Rose.

Both were given wildcard picks by captain Keegan Bradley, as was two-time major winner Collin Morikawa, who has been out of sorts since two early-season runners-up finishes.

Ben Griffin and Cameron Young, both of whom won on the PGA Tour in 2025, were also chosen by the skipper because he made the decision to not participate.

Bradley’s ‘ will he, won’t he ‘ be a playing captain dilemma dominated the build-up and the world number 12 would likely have been in the team had he not been skipper.

The home side is rifling four rookies, including US Open champion JJ Spaun, who was defeated by McIlroy in March and Tour Championship runner-up Russell Henley, who both qualified.

Since Jacklin’s dozen sneaked home in Ohio 38 years ago, Europe have won away once in every decade – 2012, 2004, 1995 and that all-important first one in 1987.

In 1981 and 1993, the US only managed to win Europe. Slim pickings. And you begin to feel pressure when a home game occurs.

Both sides will claim underdog status this week, but as American golf writer Alex Miceli told BBC Sport:” Our top six is good, the bottom six is not.

Because of their superior bottom six, the Europeans are “slight favorites.” Only slight, because they are away from home”.

It is a thought that Montgomerie shares. “I don’t fear the American team the way I have in the past and I think Europe are going to do this.

I don’t mean this as a fan of Europe. They are a stronger team, a stronger 12. “