Defeat presents a lesson for future victory, provided the loser is humble enough to receive it. Unfortunately for American golf leadership, that gift keeps being refused, the opportunity instead spent explaining how the fault of what happened belongs to someone else.
The Solheim Cup was the latest example, with the Europeans coming out on top, the fourth time they have won or retained the Cup in the past five matches. In the postmortem, where the only thing required is accountability, U.S. captain Angela Stanford offered an excuse familiar to her American Ryder Cup counterparts. “I think we just didn't make enough putts. And if you listen to everything I've ever said, Europeans always putt better. I don't know why. I still don't know why. I mean, I have a good idea, but I'm not going to say it right now. Apparently, I didn't get to know the superintendent as well as I should have. But I think they played really well, and you have to compliment them, and we gave it our best shot.”
In her defense, Stanford acknowledged it was her responsibility to prepare the Americans, she repeatedly credited Europe, and her remarks were more frustration than accusatory. Still, the insinuation lingered that the Americans had been caught off guard. Again. Because Stanford’s comments echoed those of U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley last fall at Bethpage Black, when Bradley complained that the putting surfaces were softer and slower than his players anticipated on what was, allegedly, their course.
Stanford then noted her team lacked analytical support. “Like in Spain, we had people giving us strokes gained in each match, even in practice,” Stanford explained. “And we didn't have that this year.” Maybe not the strongest accusation against the stats team, although it was an admission that the management and administration was not where it needed to be. Sounds familiar, because it should. The American men had their own problems with stats at Bethpage, infamously sending out Harris English and Collin Morikawa twice despite Data Golf ranking them as the worst of 132 possible pairings. New Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk has since overhauled the analytics operation ahead of the 2027 matches, benching Scouts Consulting Group for new number crunches.
Two explanations, same message: The preparation had been compromised by incomplete reports, there were unexpected conditions and hey the Euros just make more putts. In a related note, the Americans lost 15-13 in both matches.
Captains are entitled to defend their calls, and no honest accounting should excuse the players. However, there is an order to a postmortem, which is to credit the opponent and accept the result. The examination comes after disappointment has cooled, where analysis no longer sounds like an alibi. For whatever reason American captains keep reversing that order. Bradley criticized the Ryder Cup’s envelope rule moments after it benefited Europe even though (as many European journalists pointed out) the provision had helped the Americans in the past. Bradley also defended a Bethpage crowd whose treatment of Rory McIlroy and others had crossed the boundary between provincial support and abuse. For posterity, Stanford was far more gracious toward Europe, but the superintendent sideswipe carries an insinuation whether it was meant to be loaded.
There’s even an overlap of the USA’s habit of supplying Europe with motivational material. On Saturday evening Jennifer Kupcho’s gutsy performance pulled the Americans square, and in the aftermath her teammates had every right to enjoy the moment. But part of the celebration was busting out beers on the team bus and broadcasting the celebration with another day still to play. Team events are often riddled with hindsight but as it was happening you didn’t have to squint to see the unintended message. The Americans were celebrating the tie as though something had already been won without realizing the event was just beginning.
That didn’t go over Europe’s collective head. After securing the Cup, its players answered with a chant: “They drink on Saturday, we drink on Sunday.” The episode recalled Bradley’s speech after the 2024 Presidents Cup, when he promised the Americans would go to Long Island and “kick their ******* ***.” European captain Luke Donald posted the words in Europe’s team room at Bethpage. After his putt sealed Europe's victory, Shane Lowry posed beneath those words with the Ryder Cup in tow.
Emotion is indispensable to these events; it’s why these weeks matter above the rest of the calendar. Understanding where to direct that passion matters too. American bravado keeps escaping private areas and Europe keeps pinning it to the wall.
In the wake of Bethpage, we wrote for an overarching entity similar to USA Basketball to oversee American golf operations. The Solheim Cup suggests the women should be under the same umbrella, interrupting the cycle in which captains inherit the same shortcomings while leaving behind more things to clean up. A large part of such a structure is operational, but as Europe has underlined for three decades in the Ryder Cup, the foundation of what makes the event so visceral and spiritual, results be damned, is ultimately cultural. The U.S. arrives at these events with a conviction that their topline firepower and deep rosters should make victory inevitable, and when it doesn’t arrive it acts like the loss is a consequence of fate failing to follow script.
That sentiment is best encapsulated by the Europeans. Believe it or not, they lose these events to, and yes there are grievances, but they are handled behind closed doors. American autopsies become public investigations, blaming captains and each other and bad luck while circling the one conclusion they refuse to reach, the truth.
There is an honor in representing your country, and that remains true in loss. Arguably that’s when the responsibility becomes meaningful, understanding the weight of what’s on the line, accepting the pain of falling short and refusing to inflict that wound on someone else. Matches come and go but respect surrendered in defeat is harder to recover. Until they choose humility the Americans will continue to lose the cups, and the lessons that will help win them back.