Jordan Spieth unaffected by Team USA scars ahead of away Ryder Cup
Written by News on 27/09/2018
Jordan Spieth believes the majority of Team USA are unaffected by the “scar tissue” from America’s 25-year wait for an away Ryder Cup victory.
Jim Furyk’s side arrive at Le Golf National looking for back-to-back victories for the first time since their win at the Belfry in 1993, having lost their previous five Ryder Cups away from home.
“There’s only a couple guys that have any kind of scar tissue of playing on away soil, and those guys have won a combined 120-something times,” Spieth said on Wednesday. “We’re not worried about the two older guys [Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson] on the team that have scar tissue.
“The rest of us are simply here and looking at this week as an opportunity for us to show that the golfers from the United States can beat the golfers from Europe, and we can do it over here. That’s the goal.
“I’ve won one and lost one. So whether it’s here, there, the point is that whoever makes more putts, whoever shoots lower scores typically wins these matches.
“Our team is extremely solid and have been playing very well. So if we stay out of our own way and continue to play the way our team has been playing, we believe that will be good enough and take care of itself, and no other thought is anywhere else.”
Spieth made his maiden Ryder Cup appearance the last time the biennial contest was held in Europe in 2014, where he impressed when partnering fellow rookie Patrick Reed at Gleneagles.
“If anything, it can be advantageous to be a rookie,” Spieth added. “I don’t think there’s any disadvantage at all.
These are guys that have either won majors or had chances to win at the highest level, or certainly have won at the highest level. I don’t think a little extra noise, cheering for the other side will tone down their ability to be able to perform.
“I don’t see, based on my experience from 2014, being paired with another rookie, it seemed to light a fire for us. Once we got out there and loved kind of the way that camaraderie worked out, we were able to roll.”
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(c) Sky News 2018: Jordan Spieth unaffected by Team USA scars ahead of away Ryder Cup
