Ryder Cup 2016: Final Grades for Team USA

Perhaps it was the Ryder Cup task force.

Perhaps it was the endless parade of vice captains that would have had the PGA of America renting out an additional floor at the team hotel.

Perhaps it was a combination of a red-hot American team combined with a poor European team that arrived with six Ryder Cup rookies to Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.

Whatever the reason may be, the curse is finally broken and the America side has captured the Cup for the first time since 2008.

And not only did the American side win, they won "bigly" (or "big league") as one unnamed presidential candidate might be inclined to say.

The 17-11 win was the largest margin of victory for an American side since 1981 and the second-largest margin of victory for the Americans since the matches were opened up to mainland Europe.

Davis Love III has redeemed himself, and the much-hyped task force can breathe a collective sign of relief. 

While it takes a complete team effort to capture the cup, as with any team, not all players perform equally.

Here are the final grades for all 12 American Ryder Cup participants.

Jordan Spieth: D

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Record: 2-2-1

Jordan Spieth opened the Ryder Cup matches with a strong performance while paired with Patrick Reed in the Friday morning foursomes session where the two young Americans handily defeated the strong European pairing of Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose.

However, Spieth’s play deteriorated from that point, and the 23-year-old Texan spent the next day and a half counting his lucky stars to have been paired with a red-hot Reed.

Spieth and Reed were 4 up through 11 holes on Saturday morning before Spieth pulled his tee shot into the bunker on 14 when the Europeans were in trouble to the right of the fairway. He then made what could only be described as a mental error on 15 when he attempted to go directly at the green from the left rough, which required a shot under a tree and over a large lake. Spieth’s ball inevitably found the water and gave the European side its second win in three holes.

Spieth then lost his tee shot well to the right on 18, and Reed wound up having to sink a six-footer for par to halve a match they had firmly in their grasp less than two hours earlier.

On Saturday afternoon Spieth simply sat back and watched Reed single-handedly defeat Rose and Stenson with seven birdies and an eagle.

Spieth’s A-game once again alluded him on Sunday afternoon where Stenson handed him a 3-and-2 loss.

The two-time major champion has been struggling with various aspects of his game for much of the 2016 season, and those issues appeared to be magnified this week under intense Ryder Cup pressure.

Jimmy Walker: D

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Record: 1-2-0

Jimmy Walker started off his Ryder Cup campaign paired with Zach Johnson in a Friday morning foursomes match.

Both he and Johnson were flat for much of the morning session before Walker finally began to catch fire on the greens. Walker’s birdie putts on 13 and 14 were instrumental in the duo’s torrid run of four consecutive holes won, which led to a 4-and-2 victory over Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer.

However, that short spurt of Friday morning greatness on the greens was pretty much the highlight of the week for Walker.

Walker and Johnson were paired together again during the Saturday morning foursomes session where they managed to play 18 holes in just one under par and lost their match 1 up to Rose and Wood.

Rafa Cabrera Bello easily defeated the 37-year old Texan in his Sunday singles match, which resulted in Walker being one of only two Americans to leave Hazeltine with a losing match record.

Zach Johnson: C

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Record: 2-1-0

Zach Johnson got off to a slow start on Friday morning when he and Jimmy Walker were paired together in a foursomes match against Kaymer and Garcia.

Walker’s putter began to heat up when he sunk birdie putts on 13 and 14 before Johnson would ultimately close out the match and a streak of five consecutive holes won with a 20-foot birdie putt on 16.

Johnson and Walker were both off their game on Friday morning where the two were once again paired together in a foursome match, this time against Rose and Chris Wood.

The American due played 18 holes of the match in even par and were lucky to only suffer a 1-up loss to Rose and Wood.

Johnson won Sunday’s singles match over Matt Fitzpatrick with a score of 4 and 3, but he was also facing off against a Ryder Cup rookie at a time when the American side had already secured the Cup.

Although Johnson will leave Hazeltine with a strong 2-1-0 record on paper, his game was pretty flat for most of the week.

J.B. Holmes: C

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Record: 1-2-0

J.B. Holmes played two four-ball matches with Ryan Moore. Both he and Moore played poorly on Friday afternoon, and the Spanish duo of Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello easily defeated them.

However, on Saturday afternoon while Moore continued to struggle, Holmes almost single-handedly defeated Danny Willett and Lee Westwood. He birdied two out of the first three holes and made seven birdies on the day to secure a vitally important point for the American side as it allowed them to take a 3-1 win for the session as opposed to a four-ball split.

Holmes wasn’t anywhere near his best on Sunday, playing 16 holes in just two under par and losing his singles match to European Ryder Cup rookie Thomas Pieters.

For the week Holmes was 1-2-0 with only one round of what could be described as high-quality golf.

Ryan Moore: C+

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Record: 2-1-0

Perhaps it was Ryder Cup rookie jitters or perhaps it was exhaustion from a long and grueling season-ending schedule. Whatever the reason may be, Moore got off to an extremely slow start this week at Hazeltine.

The 33-year-old Las Vegas resident gave himself several good looks at birdie on Friday afternoon but let virtually every opportunity slip by.

On Saturday Moore was nothing more than a spectator to Holmes’ seven birdie win over Willett and Westwood.

But that all changed late on Sunday afternoon when Moore won three consecutive holes to overcome a two-down deficit with three to play and secure the first Ryder Cup win for the American side in eight years.

Rickie Fowler: C+

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Record: 2-1-0

Even though Fowler and Mickelson won their opening four-ball match on Friday morning, neither player was at his best.

Fowler played slightly better on Saturday morning than he did the previous day, but the strong pairing of Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters handily defeated Fowler and Mickelson.

Fowler did not step foot back onto the course until his Sunday singles match where he secured a huge point over European Ryder Cup veteran Justin Rose.

All-in-all Fowler’s game was somewhat shaky during the competition's opening two days, but that was easily forgivable after he sent shockwaves down the European side by taking down Rose on Sunday afternoon.

Matt Kuchar: B

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Record: 2-2-0

Matt Kuchar and Johnson dominated their opening foursome match and handed Lee Westwood and Pieters a 5-and-4 defeat.

The 38-year-old Olympic bronze medalist seemed to have lost a step by Friday afternoon, though, and made just one birdie on his own ball in a 3-and-2 four-ball loss to McIlroy and Pieters.

Kuchar sat out the Saturday morning foursomes session and was paired with Mickelson in a Saturday afternoon four-ball match where he carried the U.S. side for most of the front-nine before Mickelson began to catch fire on the back nine.

Although Kuchar wound up losing his Sunday singles match against Kaymer, not a great deal of weight can be placed on that loss as the match concluded after the Americans had already secured the Cup.

Dustin Johnson: B

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Record: 2-2-0

Dustin Johnson performed slightly better than his record indicates.

He and Kuchar teamed up to demolish McIlroy and Pieters in their opening Friday morning foursomes match, and even though the duo would lose their four-ball match that afternoon, Johnson was four under on his own ball through 16 holes.

It was a similar story for Johnson on Saturday afternoon when McIlroy and Pieters defeated him and Koepka despite Johnson playing 17 holes in four under par.

Johnson played his final singles match in five under par to defeat European Ryder Cup rookie Chris Wood 1 up on the 18th.

All in all Johnson was solid throughout much of the week. However, solid is also a bit of a disappointment when we are talking about by far the best American player in the world throughout the 2016 season.

Phil Mickelson: B+

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Record: 2-1-1

Mickelson’s game was streaky for much of the opening two days.

He put together an average performance during the Friday morning foursomes session when he and Fowler defeated McIlroy and Andy Sullivan 1 up. However, it was more of Sullivan’s extremely poor play than strong performances by Mickelson and Fowler that allowed the pairing to win the match and secure a full point for the American side.

Mickelson and Fowler were then paired together again on Saturday morning where the left-hander performed slightly better than he had on Friday but McIlroy and Pieters, who had both entered the proverbial “zone” by that point, flattened the duo.

But everything changed for Mickelson on Saturday afternoon.

The 46-year-old 10-time Ryder Cup veteran had gone to lunch as Clark Kent and returned as Superman.

Mickelson, who was paired with Kuchar, reeled off five birdies in 17 holes on Saturday afternoon to secure a 2-and-1 victory over Garcia and Kaymer in their four-ball match.

He then went out on Sunday and made an incredible 10 birdies to halve his match with Garcia who just happened to be putting together one of the greatest rounds of his career as well.

While Mickelson’s performance Wednesday in the press room where he harshly criticized 2004 Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton through his Saturday morning foursomes loss was questionable at best, there is no question Lefty turned it on when the American side needed him most.

Brooks Koepka: A

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Record: 3-1-0

Rookie nerves were nonexistent for Koepka as he and Brandt Snedeker demolished the European pairing of Kaymer and Willett in their Friday afternoon four-ball match.

Koepka and Snedeker then carried their momentum into Saturday morning’s foursomes match where they took control on the back nine and handed a 3-and-2 defeat to Stenson and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Koepka continued his strong play into Saturday afternoon when he was paired with Dustin Johnson in a four-ball match against McIlroy and Pieters.

Although Koepka and Johnson would wind up dropping the match 3 and 1, they in no way handed the match over to the Europeans; a McIlroy/Pieters pairing that made a combined nine birdies and an eagle through 17 holes simply steamrolled them.

Koepka made four birdies on his own ball Saturday afternoon, including an important birdie at the par-five 16th to extend the match, although he and Johnson were ultimately closed out on the following hole.

And just when it appeared Koepka may finally have begun wobbling under Ryder Cup pressure after going down by one after the first two holes of his singles match, he stepped on the accelerator and completely demolished Willett 5 and 4.

Koepka's record of 3-1-0 for the week is extremely impressive for a rookie.

Brandt Snedeker: A

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Record: 3-0-0

Snedeker spent the week doing exactly what was expected of him—making putts from every corner of Minnesota.

Snedeker and Koepka demolished Kaymer and Willett in their foursomes match on Friday afternoon and carried that momentum into the next morning where they defeated Henrik Stenson and Matt Fitzpatrick 3 and 2 to give the American side its only full point of the session.

The 35-year-old native of Nashville, Tennessee, then finished off an extremely strong week with a 3-and-1 victory over European Ryder Cup rookie Andy Sullivan in his Sunday afternoon singles match that brought Snedeker’s record to an undefeated 3-0-0 for the event.

There is not much more American Captain Davis Love III could have possibly asked of Snedeker this week at Hazeltine.

Patrick Reed: A+

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Record: 3-1-1

Reed put together arguably the greatest performance in American Ryder Cup history this week at Hazeltine.

His only hiccup came on Friday afternoon where both he and Spieth struggled through a 5-and-4 loss to Rose and Stenson.

But as Spieth’s struggles continued into Saturday, the 26-year old Texan took the bull by the horns and never let go.

Reed made an incredible seven birdies and an eagle during Saturday afternoon’s four-ball match to almost single-handedly defeat the same Rose and Stenson pairing they had lost to the previous afternoon. This included a mind-boggling stretch of golf where Reed played four holes (fifth through eighth) in five under par.

Reed then took the best McIlroy could throw at him on Sunday and still came out with a full point, which sent a dagger right into the heart of the European team.

Reed has become the American version of Ian Poulter. The only difference is, while Poulter was a bit of a late bloomer in Ryder Cup play, Reed is only 26 years old and has an opportunity to dominate this competition for many years to come.