No sooner had the last putt dropped and the fingers of blame were pointing straight at Jim Furyk and his ‘France Four’.
The four – Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tony Finau and Bryson DeChambeau – were Furyk’s four ‘wildcard’ picks.
All but Finau proved to be a huge let down to the Americans in their goal not only to win back-to-back Ryder Cup’s but in the process end a 25-year European ‘soil’ domination of the biennial contest.
The so-called strongest ‘Stars and Stripes’ side to tee-up in a Ryder Cup in many a decade were white-washed to the humiliating tune of 17 ½ to 10 ½.
A big difference in the two teams was the efforts of the ‘wildcard’ picks.
Furyk’s four picks managed just two of 10 points and with Finau, a rookie, providing those two points.
In start contrast, Bjorn’s four picks – Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson and the controversial choice of an out-of-form Sergio Garcia – combined to win nine matches, lose four and draw one.
Bjorn’s chosen four thus won 9 ½ of Europe’s 17 ½ points.
Indeed, Stenson won three of his three matches, Garcia three of four, Poulter two of his four while Casey won one, drew one and lost one.
“Thomas was a better captain, and their team out-played us,” said Furyk.
All four of Furyk’s picks had been playing well and deserved their place in the side but for Woods, Mickelson and DeChambeau they seemingly left any form they had in Atlanta.
A week earlier Woods had won an 107th worldwide title but lost all four of his matches including being humbled by Spanish sensation Jon Rahm in the Singles.
“Those were four points that were not going towards our side,’’ said Woods. “It’s going towards their side. To have a Ryder Cup end that way, for me personally, it doesn’t feel very good because I didn’t help my teammates earn any points.’’
Furky was so disappointed with Mickelson he played him just once before the mandatory Singles and then gave Molinari the distinction of claiming victory for Europe when ‘Lefty’ sent his tee shot into the drink at 15.
“It’s difficult to talk about it, because it means so much to me over the years and I did not play well this year,’’ Mickelson said.
“This could very well, realistically, be my last one. But with these guys, I’m motivated now to work hard, to not go out on this note, and I’m motivated to play well these next two years to get back at Whistling Straits [in 2020] and to show what I can do in these events.’’
DeChambeau had been red-hot winning the opening two of the four FedEx Cup play-off events but was stone-cold in Versailles.
“I’m not good at adding up, but I’m sure if I put these numbers together they make the difference in the score,’’ said Bjorn.
“I couldn’t have dreamt of what they brought on the golf course. But in the team room, they bring the experience. They bring the understanding.
“Sometimes, when you have some great new guys coming through, you’ve got to balance it out with experience. I’m extremely proud of those four guys that got picked, because it’s by no means easy to be picked. There’s pressure on you if you’re going to be picked, and they stood up and showed what they are worth.
“We got it right. It worked well for us this week.’’
Just when the Americans thought they had successfully copied the winning European model, it’s now clearly back to the drawing board for the Steve Stricker led 2020 USA team.
