It’s become a biennial cat-and-mouse game for Ryder Cup captains, to set up courses to maximize the home team’s strength while taking advantage of any of the visiting side’s weaknesses.
The 2018 matches at Le Golf National outside of Paris is the best example of this. The Europeans established narrow fairways and long rough that was groomed back toward each tee at around the 300-yard mark, benefitting the relatively shorter and straighter home team. The plan worked with a seven-point European victory.
“That's one nice thing about being a home captain, is you do have some control over how the course is set up,” European captain Luke Donald said on Tuesday.