SAINT-QUENTIN-en-YVELINES, France — There’s a laundry list of reasons why the U.S. Ryder Cup team hasn’t won on foreign soil in 25 years.
Some years the Europeans have simply been the better, more talented team. Some years the Europeans have been the more cohesive unit. Once or twice, the Europeans were captained better than the Americans. In some cases perhaps the Europeans got one or two better breaks than the Americans.
The one common denominator, though, has been home-course advantage. It can be a big deal.
In 2016 at Hazeltine in Minnesota, the U.S. defeated the Europeans for the first time in eight years at least in some part because they had the golf course set up exactly the way they wanted it — with wide-open fairways and very little rough, making it a birdie-fest.
Traditionally, the Americans are the bigger bombers off the tee with their length, but not the more accurate bunch.
So it’s of little surprise for this week’s Ryder Cup that at Le Golf National, the fairways are set up tighter than the grip Tiger Woods had in his prime on the No. 1 world ranking.
How tight is it?
U.S. Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk, who was ranked 190th out of 193 players on the PGA Tour this season in driving distance, said on Tuesday that he used driver on only seven of the holes at Le Golf National when he played in the French Open this summer.
“It is somewhat limiting off the tee for most players, even someone as short as I am on the PGA Tour,’’ Furyk said. “When I played here in July, I only went around with seven drivers. The longer players, I could see three or four. You’ve got to put the ball in the fairway. The better iron players, the better putters, the better thinkers are going to have an advantage around here.’’
The Europeans want to take driver out of the hands of the long-bombing American players like Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka. They want to make players like Woods and Phil Mickelson, both of whom are also long but sometimes inaccurate off tee, pay for wayward tee shots.
The home team gets to set up the golf course, and the Europeans hope that, along with the fact that there’s a regular European Tour event played on the course every year, proves to be a home-course advantage that extends their home-soil stronghold over the Americans for another four years before they convene in 2022 in Italy.
Le Golf National is not a long course by PGA Tour standards — 7,183 yards. But, along with the narrow fairways, there are a lot of risk-reward elements that make it a terrific match-play venue.
All 12 of the European players — including 2016 French Open winner Tommy Fleetwood — have competed on the course while only six of the 12 U.S. players have. Woods, Mickelson, Johnson, Webb Simpson, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler and Bryson DeChambeau saw the golf course for the first time in Tuesday’s practice round.
“They are just trying to learn the golf course,’’ Furyk said. “I’ve got six guys that have seen the course, six that haven’t. We’re just trying to figure it out. Europe knows this golf course well. Europe had the opportunity to set the golf course up, so we’re trying to figure out what they have in store for us this week.’’
DeChambeau said, “You’ve got to hit it straight and you have to be very precise with your irons.’’
Mickelson said, “At Hazeltine you saw a lot of birdies. You saw a lot of aggressive play, and I think you’ll see less aggressiveness, more conservative tee-to-green. But once you get on the greens they are a little bit flatter and you can really make putts here. I think you’re going to see a lot of putts made, and that will be most likely the difference.’’
European team veteran Ian Poulter said he thinks the home-course advantage will definitely help their side.
“I think it’s probably the most played venue as a Ryder Cup venue for all of the European players that have played,’’ Poulter said. “So we definitely have a feel of how this golf course has played in very different weather conditions, as well. I definitely think we have an understanding of how this golf course can play.’’
European captain Thomas Bjorn said Le Golf National “is a tough golf course to start with.’’
“You’ve got to identify guys that are hitting the golf ball well,’’ he said. “It’s a completely different golf course [from Hazeltine]. It’s tight. Hazeltine was wide. It was a long golf course. There’s a lot of rough. There’s no rough in Hazeltine. All the differences you can come up with, they are here. That doesn’t make Hazeltine a bad golf course.’’
It just makes Le Golf National an advantage to the Europeans. As it should be. Home-course advantage lives.
