Europe holds the Ryder Cup and will surely start next year's contest in Ireland as favourites. Great Britain and Ireland’s amateurs produced a performance for the ages to win the recent Walker Cup.
And the continental team has just regained the Solheim Cup, where the thing that struck me from the opening tee shot was the incredible camaraderie among Anna Nordqvist’s team. It is all about chemistry.
Who would ever have thought that Mimi Rhodes and Nastasia Nadaud would have been such a dominant force in foursomes and fourballs? Or that Linn Grant and Maja Stark would prove to be such a formidable pairing?
Equally, nobody could have foreseen the struggles of Charley Hull and Lottie Woad as a pairing, failing to win any of their four outings together despite being Europe’s highest ranked players.
There were signs that the Americans were finally getting it right off the course on Saturday evening.
Jennifer Kupcho and Lindy Duncan were one down with two to play. And then Kupcho birdied both the 17th and 18th, completing a remarkable comeback and stealing a point from Céline Boutier and Carlota Ciganda.
The win gave the Americans a 3-1 edge in the afternoon fourballs and brought the competition level heading into Sunday singles, with the teams tied 8-8.
The Americans celebrated hugely on the team bus on their way back to their hotel and then posted their celebrations on social media.
But that only served to fire up the Europeans in the decisive singles as they won 15-13. And how apt it was that the honour of holing the putt that ensured victory fell to Woad, who had earlier seen Hull coast home too.
(Image Credit: Rolex/Kieran Cleeves)
Look at the men’s professional world rankings and it is dominated by Americans, seven of the top 10 Americans in the amateur world rankings are Americans.
The Americans kicked off the Solheim Cup in the Netherlands as warm favourites but a glance at the women’s world rankings tell a somewhat different story. Yes, they have the world number one in Nelly Korda but the only other American in the top 20 is Lauren Coughlin at 17. Woad and Hull are ranked seventh and eighth respectively.
So, what is it about our teams? Why do they always seem to gel so well while the Americans struggle with the team ethic?
For most of the year, golf is an individual game. And it has to be said that the Americans never seem to have any problems getting along together when they get together for the Presidents Cup. I think that is an easy one to explain. They have only lost once! They bowl up for this contest knowing that they are going to win. To be frank, it is more of a social gathering than a competitive contest, as we will surely witness again next week.
The Ryder Cup is a different kettle of fish.
Players such as Robert MacIntyre and Marco Penge have spoken of their struggles to settle into life on the PGA Tour. Having spent the formative years of their careers on the DP World Tour, they speak of playing alongside a group of friends who regularly mix together. On the golf course they want to beat other’s brains out but that is forgotten off it. They socialise together, they eat together, they share hotels, they share flights. In other words, it is a tight-knit community.
Contrast this with America, where most players surround themselves with huge entourages - caddies, coaches (long-game, short-game, putting), psychologists, agents. On and on it goes. They live their lives in a bubble. There are, of course, exceptions to this, with the likes of Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth being close friends, but they are exceptions. Top American golfers are constantly being told they are the best on the planet.
It all goes back to their university days. American universities have extensive golf programmes. Yes, there is a team element, but it is all about individual performances, winning individual titles and looking to set individual scoring records. It is selfish golf.
Over the years there have been some disastrous US Ryder Cup pairings, none more so than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Chalk and cheese. Two men who basically did not like one another. Full stop.
European captains spend huge amounts of time with their players, asking them who they want to play with, and then looking at statistical evidence to see whether those pairings will work. Nobody has worked harder at this than Luke Donald - and look at the results he has achieved.
Although there have been some disappointing European Ryder Cup performances, we never resort to a blame culture - and that is most definitely not something you can say about the Americans. Defeats always seem to lead to recriminations and calls for change. But nothing ever changes. American captains never seem to see the same thing as we do, sticking with out-of-form players and pairings where there is no chemistry.
And the same is true of the Solheim Cup. This year the visitors went into the contest with huge question marks over the form and fitness of many of their players. They were on the back foot from the start and they fell short. Again!
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