ROME — Justin Thomas remembers the moment vividly.
It was his first Ryder Cup and it was on the road, outside of Paris in 2018, and it was a sick feeling.
The Europeans were waxing the American team and wild celebrations were breaking out all over the course, chants echoing across the grounds.
“For sure, watching the team celebrate in front of you,’’ Thomas, a captain’s pick, said Tuesday, three days before the U.S. duels Europe at Marco Simone Country Club and tries to end a 30-year drought without a win on European soil. “It’s nothing in terms of like an arrogance of the other team. It’s not disrespectful. It’s not rude. It’s a pretty crappy feeling, but it’s definitely motivating.
“I think you see that a lot in other team sports. Whether college basketball, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, you’ll hear of guys that come back out of the tunnel and watch the other team celebrate because they are like, ‘I don’t want to experience this again’ kind of thing.
“You’re just kind of sitting there and watching the joy, the champagne, everybody cheering. It’s not fun to be on the other side. I would prefer to not be again.’’
When the U.S. defeated Europe two years ago at Whistling Straits, Jordan Spieth said that win would mean nothing if the U.S. team didn’t come to Italy and win on the road. He was already thinking about the next one and the fact that the U.S. has lost six straight Ryder Cups on European soil.
“At home, we talk about the away Ryder Cups more than we talk about the home ones,’’ Spieth said Tuesday. “It’s unique because it’s one of the only times the majority of people watching you are rooting against you for golf. That happens in half the games for other sports, but for us it’s once every couple years as an American with Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.
“I try to remember that coming in and really embrace that and try to have a lot of fun with it because although they are rooting against you to make putts, they are very educated and fantastic crowds that if you have fun with, they will have fun with you. So, I’ve had a lot of great memories from my two away Ryder Cups before and hope to generate some more this week.’’
Of the 12 American players on the team this week only five were alive in 1993 when the U.S. last hoisted the Ryder Cup on European soil — Brian Harman was 6, Rickie Fowler was 4, Brooks Koepka was 3, Max Homa was 2 and Patrick Cantlay was 1.
So, the players on the American team are not carrying the baggage from all those previous losses in Europe.
“We’ve been made very aware of how long it’s been,’’ Spieth said. “I think that’s been made very clear to us over the last few months. It’s not something we really care about, to be honest. Most of the guys weren’t on any of those losing away teams.
“I was on two of them, but I felt like I played good golf. Rickie has played in three over here. Brooks and Justin played in one over here. We weren’t on all those losing teams.’’
U.S. players — led by Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Fowler, Davis Love III — formed a “task force’’ after the U.S. loss in Scotland in 2014 that was designed to give the players more ownership of their Ryder Cup teams — much the way Europe does it.
The U.S. has played better since 2014, but it still has not cracked the code on the road.
“I said it at Whistling Straits after the [final] round that this is really nice, but until we win one over there, nobody can talk about a change in the Ryder Cup or the U.S. or anything like that,’’ Spieth said.
Why is it so difficult for the Americans to win on the road?
“It’s hard to win outside of your comfort zone,’’ U.S. captain Zach Johnson said. “It’s hard to win against a team that’s always been very, very formidable. It’s really just that simple. The European teams have been very stout, very good, very deep, and this year is no different.
“I know what history says. I’m very aware of that. But at the same time, I can speak confidently, and talking to my team, these guys are ready and want to embrace that difficulty and want to just look at this as a great opportunity. The teams of the past are teams of the past. This is a new team with a new opportunity.’’
Jon Rahm, one of Europe’s top players, called the home streak over the U.S. “a big deal.’’
“You want to stretch the streak as much as possible,’’ Rahm said. “Hopefully, we can get into the 30s of years of Europe being undefeated here at home.’’
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