"Golf is very chancy’ - When Patrick Cantlay used a 'gin' analogy to explain Europe’s Ryder Cup recent dominance

Patrick Cantlay opened up about the dominance of the European team in the Ryder Cup when he made his debut in the biennial tournament in 2021. The American golfer, who started playing professionally in 2012, was part of the winning team of the Ryder Cup in 2021 and has since then played in 2023, but that year the US team lost the game.

The European team has been dominating in the Ryder Cup in the last two decades, and they won nine of the last 12 editions of the prestigious event before 2021. Patrick Cantlay explained the dominance of the team. He said (via Reuters):

"These matches are only played every two years, and golf is very chancy. So would it surprise you if the U.S. went on a similar run to what Europe has been on for the next 20 years. Wouldn't surprise me."

The American used the gin analogy to explain the things.

"So I've read a few gin books. Let's see if I get it right. If you play enough gin hands a one or two percent difference in skill translates to almost an assured win over many, many, many hands of gin," he said.

"But you could have a big difference between somebody, maybe a 60-to-40% skill level difference, and gin is still chancy enough to where you could play 10 hands and lose six or seven of the hands than someone that's much worse than you skill-wise," he added.

The European team has dominated in the Ryder Cup and won three back-to-back editions of the biennial tournament from 2002 to 2006. In 2008, the US team, which was led by Paul Azinger, finally managed to break the European team’s winning streak.

In the next three editions, the European team again won the event, but in 2016, the US team won it. The Europe team managed to secure victory in 2023 as well, and it would be interesting to see how things will unfold in 2025.

---

Patrick Cantlay becomes the captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup 2025

Patrick Cantlay (Image Source: Imagn)

Patrick Cantlay is gearing up to play in his third straight edition of the Ryder Cup in 2025. He settled in 15th place in automatic qualification standings but became the captain’s pick for the event.

US Ryder Cup skipper Keegan Bradley announced his roster for the event last month, and Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Ben Griffin, and Collin Morikawa will be joining the auto-qualifiers, which included Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley, Harris English, Xander Schauffele, and JJ Spaun.

The US team won the tournament when it was held on their home soil in 2021 and before that in 2016 when it was held in Minnesota. The 2025 edition will take place at Bethpage Black Course, and the US team will be looking forward to winning it again on their home soil.