How we can make the Ryder Cup competitive every time – with one simple but fundamental change

The obvious problem with the Ryder Cup will probably become more obvious this year.

Although the teams look even and the Europeans may rightly feel confident despite heading to away New York turf, the USA will probably win because they are playing at home.

There is no spoiler alert here. Since 1997, two away teams have won, both were European, and one was the freak Miracle of Medinah, where absolutely everything fell into place for them.

One thing that always gets said is this: The Europeans play plenty of golf in America. They can handle it. This is true, but it isn’t reality.

Europe have won 10 of the last 14 Ryder Cups, but the blue and gold can’t boast a terribly better record on away soil than their American opponents. They have two more away wins than America in 28 years, who have none.

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A neutral Ryder Cup venue would reveal the best team every time

The home advantage is real, whether it be down to the course manipulation or the insurmountable crowd influence. America haven’t won an away Ryder Cup since 1993 and there is no telling when that will end, given that the 2027 edition is in Ireland, where the atmosphere will be at fever pitch in favour of Europe.

There is a rather simple answer to this that people hate, but know it’s the right thing:

Play the Ryder Cup at a neutral venue.

I know people hate this because NCG ran a survey full of questions about the event, in the lead up to the matches at Bethpage this month, and when asked if the Ryder Cup should be held outside of Europe and the USA, over 93% of over 2,000 respondents said no.

Seriously? Is this what we actually want?

Don’t come crying to us, or to anyone, and complain when the home team wins again, and the spiral of complete predictability keeps twisting.

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Let’s take it to a track further afield and remove the chances of crowd bias and golf course preference. You’d soon find out who the best team was, rather than the most well-supported.

Why do we think the Champions League final is held at a neutral venue? Why do we think the World Cup final is held at a neutral venue? (To name two examples from about 8 million)

There is no lop-sided advantage, and it leaves the participants to fend for themselves.

The event is an exhibition with loose rules. The biennial rotation across the Atlantic doesn’t need to be set in stone, and it is to the tournament’s detriment that this is the case.

If we are through the Ryder Cup at Congressional in 2037, and the results record reads USA, Europe, USA, Europe, USA, Europe, USA, will anyone still be watching at that point?

There have been close matches, like in Wales in 2010, but not only are home wins inevitable, they evolve into processions and snooze fests. America won easily in 2008 and 2016, and there was no jeopardy for Europe for most of the 2014, 2018 and 2023 home victories.

I distinctly remember watching the final day at Gleneagles in 2014 bored out of my mind and if anything, willing America to hole a few more putts to make things remotely interesting.

The last nailbiter was Medinah, but children born in that year are now in secondary school, 1,758 models of iPhone have come out, and there has been more UK Prime Ministers than I’ve had hot dinners.

We can eradicate the predictability of this great event with a simple solution: take the cup away from Europe and America.

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