Ryder Cup Storylines In Rome: 30-Year Drought For U.S., Pressure On Rory McIlroy, New European Era

We say the same thing every other year when the Ryder Cup rolls around, but this year's event does have a legitimately different feel to it. Europe's stalwarts of Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood aren't involved this year leaving the U.S. with arguably the most cohesive group of the two sides, which is something nobody has been able to say in quite some time.

We'll have to wait and see how the tight-knit, yet still young American side fairs against the Europeans on foreign soil, which is among the many of the nearly endless numbers of questions there are surrounding the 2023 Ryder Cup before balls are even in the air.

There are five storylines every golf fan needs to get acquainted with prior to the start of the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup taking place at Marco Simone in Rome.

The U.S. Is Attempting To Snap A Three-Decade-Long Drought

The U.S. has not won a Ryder Cup on European soil, and you'll hear about the 30-year drought no fewer than 4,000 times throughout the week.

While the storyline is already getting old and stale, that doesn't mean it's insignificant. Six different American squads have traveled across the pond since 1993 in hopes of returning with the Ryder Cup in hand and all six have failed. To put that winless streak into perspective, of the 12 Americans on this year’s team, only six were alive when the U.S. last hoisted the cup in Europe.

The U.S. has not won a Ryder Cup on foreign soil since 1993. (Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)

Justin Thomas shared a level-headed outlook for this year's U.S. team as it looks to snap the streak.

“I’m confident but I’m not going to be the person telling you that it’s over, done or coming home. I obviously have all the faith in the world in whatever team we take over to Rome but again, we have had so many teams that statistically on paper are better than the European team but lost,” Thomas said earlier this month.

The Americans having self-belief, which plenty will label as arrogance, will be of the utmost importance on day one as they'll certainly be looking to get off to a quick start and make the Europeans play the role of chaser.

Rory McIlroy Is Facing The Most Pressure Of Any Player

Some would say that Justin Thomas has the most pressure of any player on either team heading into the event, but there's very real reason to believe that honor will be on Rory McIlroy at Marco Simone.

With the likes of Poulter, Garcia, and Westwood detached from the Ryder Cup, McIlroy now finds himself firmly sat next to Justin Rose as a veteran leader for the European side. He's long been a player his 11 teammates can look to as a veteran presence, but it's since been heightened as he's now set to tee it up in his seventh Ryder Cup.

Rory McIlroy will be depended on mightily at Marco Simone. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

McIlroy, who is 12-12-4 all time, also enters this week after a dreadful performance in 2021 going 1-3-0 on the week with his lone win coming during Sunday's singles matches when the cup was essentially already won by the Americans.

It gets a bit difficult to think of a scenario in which Europe wins back the cup without McIlroy posting a winning record for the week. He's unbeaten in singles matches played in Europe in his career, so European fans have that going for them.

Can We Get Some Drama On Sunday, Please?

While the Ryder Cup is appointment viewing for golf fans around the world, the last four have been complete duds.

Europe won in 2014 by the count of 16.5-11.5 and 17.5-10.5 in 2018. The Americans earned a 17-11 win in 2016 and throttled the Europeans 19-9 the last time out in 2021.

One would say by the simple law of average and the fact that these teams seem incredibly close on paper we're in store for a drama-filled finish, but that expectation was there in 2021 and 2018 as well.

Expectations are hardly ever met in sports - recent Ryder Cup history is exhibit A - but maybe we're in store for an exception this time around.

Expectations For Justin Thomas, The Last Man In

Justin Thomas has been the guy for the U.S. in his two previous Ryder Cup appearances with an overall record of 6-2-1 including an unbeaten record in singles, but enters this year's event fresh on the heels of his the worst PGA Tour season of his career.

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas will be a familiar duo in Rome. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

While sports fans having level-headed expectations is a rarity, I think oddly enough Thomas being out of form takes a bit of the pressure off of him to be the guaranteed point-earner for the U.S.

Captain Zach Johnson has all the confidence in the world in Thomas, hence his captain's pick selection, but surely understands the JT in Rome likely won't be the JT we saw go 2-1-1 at Whistling Straits during the 2021 Ryder Cup.

Thomas certainly can't go out and lay an egg if the U.S. wants to retain the cup, and momentum will play a huge role in what transpires.

If Thomas goes out and dominates alongside Jordan Spieth in their inevitable foursome match on Friday morning then Johnson will have no issue sending him back out. If frustration and inconsistency rear their ugly heads, Johnson won't have the pressure of sending him out during the fourball session in the afternoon.

A New European Squad Introducing Itself To The Rest Of The World

The European side this year features four Ryder Cup rookies with the group headlined by a guy who was playing college golf at Texas Tech earlier this year, Ludvig Aberg.

Along with Aberg, Sepp Straka, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Robert MacIntyre make up the new faces that the casual golf fan may not be all that familiar with on Team Europe.

While the U.S. team also features four rookies (Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Max Homa, and Sam Burns) most pairings are essentially set in stone while the Europeans have more questions when it comes to who will play with who.

European team captain Luke Donald has the tough task of pairing the right teammates together, but looking at it through a more optimistic lens he has a bit more freedom of plug-and-play certain players and mixing things up throughout the first two days.

The mystery of how certain players will play alongside one another may honestly be a luxury for Donald because if he gets things right he could look like a genius with the U.S. tabbed as favorites this week.

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