15 September 2023 , 18:34
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Xander Schauffele has sent a brutal message to his European Ryder Cup rivals, insisting it will take "nothing special" to defend the title the Americans secured in convincing fashion two years ago.
Team USA's class of 2021 wrote themselves into the Ryder Cup history books at Whistling Straits with a record-breaking 19-9 win over Padraig Harrington's European team. Two years on, though, the U.S. team is set for a much more difficult test away from home. Despite boasting some of the world's greatest golfers in their ranks over recent years, the Americans are without a win on European soil in 30 years, with their last victory coming way back in 1993 at The Belfry.
Schauffele played his role in the hammering victory last time out and has no concerns about his nation's torrid record across the pond. Quizzed on what he thinks it will take to end the 30-year drought in Rome, he told Sports Illustrated: "Nothing special. It may sound weird, but we didn’t do anything special at Whistling Straits.
"All the boys who were there are aware of that, and we have quite a few repeat guys on the team. We’ll stick behind our stats, our team leaders and our captains and go do our thing. We’re not really tainted by that sort of talk. People told me we haven’t won since before I was born. I think that’s great, because I don’t really care. I don’t think anyone really cares. No one has talked about it, because of course, no one likes talking about losing. It isn’t really something that’s been brought up a lot to us.
"I’m not on social media a crazy amount, so I haven’t really seen it. But none of us are talking about anything of that nature. We’re looking forward to the week and bringing that thing back." Schauffele's fighting talk will no doubt serve as motivation for European captain Luke Donald, who leads a new-look Ryder Cup team to Rome.
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Xander Schauffele played his role in Team USA's record win in 2021 (Getty Images)Donald has four rookies in his squad, with Robert MacIntyre, Nicolai Hojgaard, Sepp Straka and Ludvig Aberg all making their debuts in the matchplay event. It is the latter in Aberg who many believe could well be Europe's secret weapon in their quest for Ryder Cup redemption.
Labelling the Swedish starlet a 'generational talent' Donald told Sky Sports: "We obviously knew what he was doing in the college scene. You look at what he did in those four years and the only comparables really were Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm. "He is that good... I really do have a lot of faith and belief in Ludvig. He is a generational player, he’s going to be around a long time and he’s going to do amazing things."