– Steve Stricker hoisted the Ryder Cup, gold and glorious, for all to see. Then, he quickly huddled his young American team together to make sure all 12 players had their hands on it.
Nine of them had never touched the 17-inch trophy in a moment of celebration.
They don’t expect this to be the last time.
The six U.S. Ryder Cup rookies scored more points than all of Europe, combining for a 14-4-3 record. The Americans didn’t lose a session for the first time in 44 years. Dustin Johnson became the first American to go 5-0 since 1979.
They had the best team on paper. They played even better on grass.
“It’s not just the strongest U.S. team I’ve seen, but they all played well this week,” Lee Westwood said. “Everybody performed and turned up this week. Looks like they are a team.”
The Americans finally looked like Europe, which has dominated the Ryder Cup by winning nine of the previous 12 until getting routed along the shores of Lake Michigan.
Staked to a six-point lead — no team has ever rallied from more than four points down going into the last day — the Americans quickly filled the scoreboards with their red numbers.