Hal Sutton’s Ryder Cup comments prove why Americans can’t understand and probably never will

Americans have endured tough competition in the Ryder Cup for the past 31 years.

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

And now Hal Sutton’s latest comments have given us all a glimpse of why the US side is having such a hard time.

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

Tiger Woods has been touted as America’s Ryder Cup savior, with the 15-time major champion set to take on the captain’s role at Adare Manor in 2027.

But unless he studies the data more than Keegan Bradley and most of the players who came before the Vermont native, the U.S. will find itself in even more dire straits in this race.

The Europeans discovered a system that works over 30 years ago, and it has since been refined into a boilerplate winning machine.

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Now is the time for Americans to jump on the bandwagon before they are left completely behind.

Hal Sutton’s Ryder Cup comments prove America just doesn’t understand

The 2004 captain spoke about the Ryder Cup and the work Bradley did at Bethpage Black.

Sutton made his position on the issue clear in an interview with Golf Channel.

The 2004 captain explained what a responsibility it is to the players to perform at the Ryder Cup.

“Personally, I don’t think captains can influence things as much as perhaps the world thinks.“ Sutton suggested.

“You know, I played four times as a player and was captain as well, and I can say I played really, really well the first three times.

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“And the captain had no influence on it.

“And the last time I played was in 2002, when the game was postponed for a year and I wasn’t playing very well, so 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 with 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 singles. We won, Scott Verplank and I, but we lost in singles.

“But I can tell you that there was nothing Curtis Strange could have done to improve my play that week.

“And it’s, I mean, I want it to stop. Winning the Ryder Cup depends on the players, not the captain.

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

“I called him but he didn’t answer my calls. I wanted to help him and make him feel better. Because it’s difficult.

“It’s an honor to be asked to captain the Ryder Cup, but it’s a burden to carry the burden everyone puts on you.“

There are some obvious problems with Sutton’s statement, and it’s another example of why the American team has performed so poorly in the Ryder Cup for more than 30 years.

U.S. Ryder Cup struggles summarized by Hal Sutton’s comments

First of all, of course the players need to play well. That much is clear.

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But to suggest that the captain has no influence on the outcome of the Ryder Cup is frankly ridiculous.

First, he downplays one of the key tools that all great leaders and captains have: motivational skills.

To lead your team to victory, there’s nothing like an enthusiastic team talk before a game.

Second, Sutton seems to completely ignore the importance of choosing the right combination.

We all know what a big mistake it was for Keegan Bradley to pair up Collin Morikawa and Harris English two days in a row.

They ranked 132nd on the “Best Pairings” list out of 132 potential U.S. Ryder Cup partnerships.

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The captain’s role has a lot to do with finding out which players are most compatible with each other and which are not.

Sutton also somewhat deflected his point by emphasizing how captain Curtis Strange actually affected the team by keeping him out for three sessions.

American Ryder Cup fans should hope that Hal Sutton’s views are not shared by the majority of players and captain candidates. If they do, they may suffer even more.

It is perhaps no coincidence that Sutton’s captaincy in 2004 was disastrous, as Team Europe won 18.5 to 9.5.