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The 2023 Ryder Cup was a forgettable one for the US team. Right from day 1, the US team seemed to be crumbing from the get go. The pairings did not seem to be the strongest during the morning matches of day 1, and much of the play came down to the choices that captain Zach Johnson made while choosing the captain's picks.
There was a bit of controversy when it came to choosing some of the golfers on the team. Michael Breed, PGA Tour coach, spoke about the team dynamics of the team. He blamed the 'buddy culture' that seems to have been built up in the US team.
To make matters worse, Johnson decided to bench some of the best players during the opening round of the Ryder Cup. Discussing the biennial tournament on the SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio, Breed said:
"I can guarantee you the European team doesn't pick their players based on friendliness. They pick based on ability, based on the course they are going to play at and the format they have to play in."
Captain Zach Johnson explains decision behind choosing 2023 Ryder Cup team
Johnson has been adamant on the transparency of the selection process. However, with the vast talent pool available to the US team, the choices were rather hard to make and justify. Some did not approve of these choices, and Breed explained:
"The players were criticized for their bad first start and they weren't ready to play. But they all said at the end that 'hey, this is the closest team we've ever had'. Is that necessarily what you want to have, is all these people that are best friends?"
Zach Johnson has been clear about his goal with the Ryder Cup team. He defended his choices, saying via Golf Week:
“I can say this in full confidence with our six guys that made this team: Those guys were, you know, adamant they wanted those six other guys to help complete their team."
The European team on the other hand, displayed a stellar performance over the three days of the Ryder Cup. Ultimately, the European team seemed to be unstoppable, leaving Team USA to play catch up.
