They did it: Steve Stricker, Team USA and Whistling Straits pulled off Ryder Cup win

HAVEN, Wis. — The 43rd Ryder Cup began in darkness Friday morning, with people who traveled the world bounding, sliding and racing over the sand of Whistling Straits to the first tee before the sun woke up just to get a chance to sit around the opening tee shots of the morning foursomes matches.

It concluded on a breezy, perfect Wisconsin early fall afternoon on Sunday in a historic American romp over Europe. In fact, Sundays singles matches were a formality with Steve Stricker’s U.S. team needing only 3½ out of a possible 12 points to win.

That was accomplished by 3:51 p.m. with seven matches left on the golf course. The tournament was formally wrapped at 4:59 p.m. local time, with the U.S. winning in record fashion, 19-9.

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The other golfers played on in exhibition, and fans who have been waiting for this tournament since it was formally awarded in January 2005 lingered to bask in the satisfaction of running out of the clock, to soak in the spectacle.

And it was that.

Over five days of public viewing, Whistling Straits provided an excellent edifice for golf’s Super Bowl. The emerald and tawny hues of Herbert Kohler Jr. and Pete Dye’s imagination providing a contrast against the slate of Lake Michigan and the blue of the Wisconsin sky.

It was a place for bald eagle rubber masks, astronaut costumes, an inflatable American chicken suit and a foam milk container pull over. It was a place for a "Bucks in six!" shout a putt rolled in and for U.S. golfers Daniel Berger and Justin Thomas to shotgun beers behind the first tee.

"It's something that's kind of a Wisconsin tradition, I guess, whether it's good or bad," Stricker said. "It just looks like they are having a good time."

One could wear their Devin Booker or Larry Bird Team USA basketball jerseys, or the hockey sweaters for Mike Eruzione and Jim Craig. Full George Washington costume, complete with a white wig and riding boots? Sure. Cheeseheads painted in red, white and blue? Yup. 

The camaraderie was palpable, even if the slick mounds of the Straits were punitive for the uninitiated. Then again plenty of fescue surfing was available, too, an interesting juxtaposition against the white caps on Lake Michigan during Friday’s play. A couple of dozen boats floated out on the lake over the weekend, watching the watchers.

The few Europeans who could travel in through various pandemic restrictions offered some color, not just in Team Europe’s yellow and blue but in support of their home countries. The rallying chants were lobbed to and from, and largely in good nature. (Though it helps when one side is essentially out of contention from the beginning.)

"This is by far the biggest tournament that we have in golf," Rory McIlroy said. "You look at the crowds. You look at what it means, it's the best. I can't wait to be a part of many, many more Ryder Cups and be teammates with some of these great guys and try to win many more."

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Watching the golf was different, too, drawing on the experience of other sports. Around the tee boxes, players were greeted with tingle-inducing roars but upon setting up for a tee shot the crowd fell so silent you could here a mosquito hiccup. Aaron Rodgers would be envious of such home-field courtesy.

Many crowds elected to sit at a hole and wait for the groups to come through, watching the action on big screens and digital leaderboards. Cheers, or groans, would echo over acres as points appeared – much like watching St. Louis Cardinals scores from the bleachers at a Milwaukee Brewers game.

There were some divots, too, as one could expect with any event with tens of thousands of people on a site. There were long lines and technical glitches that slowed the experience for some. Some did suffer serious injuries due to falls. Traffic was as gnarly as some of the lies the players faced in competition.

But it was, and will remain, a once-in-a-lifetime event for Wisconsinites who don’t make a habit of following the event around the country or the globe.

Stricker, who grew up in Edgerton and lives in Madison, felt it.

Eyes red, he gestured to the crowded stadium grandstand in appreciation and through tears he said, "I never won a major, but this is my major right here."

U.S. host cities have been named out through 2033, with 2037 being the earliest opening. Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota will become the first American venue to host its second Ryder Cup, in 2029. The odds of a return are long.

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime showcase for the state, too, as media outlets from around the world traveled to and dispatched from the shores of the great lake. Wisconsin is one of 17 states to hold the event. Tiny Haven, population less than 1,000, is now on the scoreboard with Paris, Rome, Edinburgh and Leeds.

Say what you want about the demographics of major golf tournaments, that’s a feather in whatever hat suits your style.

In the annals of golf history, people will remember how dominant this U.S. team was. How well the partners played. Perhaps, for a team that is one of the youngest the Americans have assembled, it is the start of their own run of Ryder Cup success.

The chest-beating will likely be saved for others. Here, though, it will be remembered like the victorious and soft-spoken U.S. captain: A true feel-good story.

The wheels for hosting this tournament were set in motion just before the turn of the century. The economy bottomed out shortly after this corporate playground was promised. It was postponed on the eve due to a global pandemic. On paper, there is no reason for Haven, Wisconsin, to have pulled off the biggest event in the sport. Arguably, Stricker wasn’t supposed to build a team for the ages, the greatest of all time in his words

They did.