The USA are bidding to win the Ryder Cup on European soil for the first time since they won at The Belfry back in 1993 and they will never have a better opportunity to end that 25-year drought than in France later this month.
The American team heading to Le Golf National is formidable. They can boast the world's top-three ranked players in their side and none of the team are ranked outside of the top-30 after captain Jim Furyk confirmed Bryson DeChambeau, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson would be his wildcard picks. Tony Finau, the world number 17, is favourite to be confirmed as the fourth and final captain's pick next week.
Bookmakers go 5/6 for USA to win the Ryder Cup for a second tournament running - and for only the sixth time in the last seventeen attempts - and it is surprising that they aren't shorter than that...
The average world ranking of this current American team is 11.6 (it goes up to 12.08 with Finau) and they are the best USA team rankings-wise since 1999, when a line-up with an average world ranking of 11.83 won at Brookline. It is worth noting that this is the most experienced American team to play the Ryder Cup since that last victory on European soil in 1993 as they have played 139 Ryder Cup matches between them, although that statistic is skewed by the 78 matches that Mickelson and Woods have acquired between them.
The experience of the mellowing Woods and Mickelson could prove vital as they pass their knowledge down to an exciting younger generation, who could be a force to be reckoned with in the Ryder Cup for years to come.
The top American players have already established themselves as the dominant force in world golf as Brooks Koepka has won three of the past five majors alone, whilst the likes of Jordan Spieth (three majors), Patrick Reed, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson have all tasted success in at least one of the four major events. American players have won six of the eight major titles since the start of 2016.
In fact, this American Ryder Cup team can lay claim to 31 major wins between them.
It bodes well that Koepka won three of his four Ryder Cup matches during the victory at Hazeltine in 2016, while Reed is fast becoming 'Mr Ryder Cup' for his country and Spieth has a winning percentage of 55.96% in this format.
The problem for the USA in the past has been trying to get talented individuals to function together as a team and, worryingly for Europe, it doesn't seem as if that will be a major issue this time around. Woods is perhaps less insular than in days gone by and enjoys a good friendship with Mickelson, while even the notoriously spiky Bubba Watson admitted that he learned a great deal from his time as a vice-captain two years ago.
This might not be a case of whether USA win but rather an issue of how many they win by. The biggest margin of victory remains 18.5-9.5, a feat achieved by USA in 1981 and twice by Europe in 2004 and 2006. The 2018 edition could get ugly for Europe.
