The Presidents Cup is officially in the books, with Team USA once again finding a way to edge the International side at Medinah. Now, the focus shifts to the next major team event on the calendar: the 2027 Ryder Cup. Fans will have to wait another year for the biennial showdown, which is set to take center stage at the stunning Adare Manor in County Limerick, Ireland.
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Historically, Team USA still holds the upper hand, with 27 Ryder Cup victories to Europe’s 16, along with two ties. But as the Americans look ahead to another year of preparation, there are several areas they will need to address if they hope to avoid a repeat of what unfolded in 2025. So, here are three issues the US needs to solve before the 2027 Ryder Cup.
A lack of team camaraderie
At last year’s Ryder Cup, Team USA suffered an embarrassing defeat, and its struggles in the team portion of the competition played a major role. Friday’s foursomes set the tone, with the Americans managing just one win before the afternoon four-ball session produced only a single win and a halved match.
The struggles continued into Saturday, as the U.S. once again found it difficult to turn its individual talent into successful partnerships across both sessions. It was not until Sunday’s singles that the Americans finally found their footing, winning six matches. Europe managed just one victory, while the remaining five ended in halves.
The contrast was telling. When the Americans were competing individually, they were able to produce results. But when they were required to work in pairs, the same level of success proved much harder to find. That is an issue the U.S. will need to address ahead of the next Ryder Cup, particularly because the team portion accounts for the majority of the matches.
A lack of data-backed decisions by captains
When stakes are high, making data-based decisions is a no-brainer. However, when asked to explain the numbers behind one of Team USA’s pairings, Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman, in the Presidents Cup, Brandt Snedeker’s answer raised questions about how heavily the data is actually influencing those decisions.
Snedeker was asked what, beyond their personal relationship, convinced him that the duo would be an ideal alternate-shot pairing. He initially pointed to their individual credentials rather than any specific statistical indicators.
“Well, Russell Henley is the sixth-ranked player in the world. Jacob Bridgeman won last week on the PGA Tour. I think it’s a pretty strong pairing,” Snedeker said.
When pressed on whether there was anything in the numbers that specifically suggested the two would complement each other in foursomes, Snedeker again failed to provide a concrete statistic.
“I felt like they were. I felt like the numbers backed that up,” he said. “I felt like, especially on this golf course, the way those guys can kind of hit fairways and put pressure on groups, I felt like it was going to be a good matchup.”
This does not necessarily mean analytics played no role behind the scenes. But publicly, at least, the explanation offered little evidence of a detailed, data-driven process.
Institutional divide
The American team’s struggles in team golf may also point to a deeper institutional divide. As pointed out by Golf Digest’s Joel Beall, unlike a traditional national team structure, U.S. golf operates across two separate governing bodies: the PGA Tour runs the Presidents Cup, and the PGA of America oversees the Ryder Cup.
Yet the same core group of American players competes in both events, often facing similar challenges with pairings, preparation, analytics, and team strategy. The problem is that lessons learned in one team room do not necessarily carry into the next. Each event brings a new captain, a different set of ideas and, often, a fresh approach to how the team should operate.
Those decisions are rarely given enough continuity to be properly tested, evaluated, and refined over multiple cycles. As a result, Team USA lacks a permanent structure that preserves institutional knowledge and identifies recurring problems.
Hopefully, though, the Americans will realize these problems ahead of the 2027 Ryder Cup and dominate in team events rather than just depend on singles to get them the win.
