Team USA are the dominant force in the Ryder Cup, leading 27 to 15 in total tournaments won.
From Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, they have had an abundance of truly magnificent talent at their disposal over the years.
After a trouncing on European soil at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, captain Keegan Bradley will be keen to plot a way to redemption for his side after stepping aside and opting not to pick himself as a playing captain.
Since its inception in the early twentieth century, the USA has had some famed competitors in their Ryder Cup ranks, but who has won the most points for the Red, White, and Blue?
Photo by Al Messerschmidt/WireImageWho are Team USA’s top all-time point-scorers
The man who tops the list may not be known to many, unless you’re a golf diehard.
Billy Casper featured on eight Ryder Cup teams for the USA: 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975. He was also a non-playing captain for the 1979 edition.
He won in all nine of those years, including 1979 as captain, when the competition evolved from a Great Britain and Ireland team to be USA v Europe.
Modern-day greats Mickelson and Woods feature, as expected, with legends Nicklaus and Trevino there too.
PlayerPointsBilly Casper23.5Arnold Palmer23Phil Mickelson21.5Lanny Wadkins21.5Lee Trevino20Jack Nicklaus18.5Gene Littler18Tom Kite17Tiger Woods14.5Hale Irwin14How many points have Team USA’s current side earned in the Ryder CupJustin Thomas8Patrick Cantlay5.5Collin Morikawa4.5Xander Shcauffele4Scottie Scheffler3.5Bryson DeChambeau2.5Sam Burns1Harris English1JJ Spaun0Russell Henley0Ben Griffin0Cam Young0
Despite their firepower and form across the board this year, the US team is lacking when it comes to proven points winners.
Some of these guys will have featured in Presidents Cup matches and aren’t exactly unproven in this type of tournament set-up, but it’s clear they will need to lean heavily on some of their more experienced pros to steer the ship.
Thomas and Cantlay are well-known Ryder Cup challengers, but the bottom of that list is lacking in point-winning expertise.
Burns and Scheffler are all but certain to pair up together as they have done in previous tournaments, meaning the side is robbed of a more accomplished player to pair with one of the four rookies on the team.
There can be flexibility with Thomas as he usually partners up with Jordan Spieth, but the latter’s absence could open the door to the former combining with one of Spaun, Henley, Griffin and Young.
Not all the rookies will play across all four sessions either, so finding the right balance in their partners when they do play is crucial.
Despite Griffin surging into form this year, he is the most obvious candidate to pair with Thomas.
Spaun is the current US Open champion, and Young is a local to the venue’s area, meaning they will have a bit more free rein to play their own game alongside whoever they’re told, with Henley also fitting that mould.
Europe were victorious in Rome due, in large part, to their planning and strategising. Whose golf ball pairs well with another? Who can bomb it off the tee to set up a great wedge player? If player X goes off this par three, are we setting up the best putter of the two on the green?
Team USA have been much maligned in recent competitions for not being as stringent and exacting in their forethought. This year, they’re going to have to take it up a level if they want their inexperienced but in-form side to triumph.
