Team USA have not won an away-from-home Ryder Cup since 1993, while Europe have captured just three in that time frame.
A few of these have been blowouts and there have been some that were close to foregone conclusions before the beginning of the Sunday singles.
There are a number reasons for this: the partisan crowd, the less travel involved for the home side, and experience on certain types of courses.
The factor with the most influence, however, is that the home team are allowed to set up the course whatever way they like.
With the significant increase in data analytics in the sports over the last number of years, captains can more accurately and more easily tinker the course to favour their team.
Europe have been particularly good at this, with the common example from this year's competitions being the par 4 set-ups, which included a mix of drivable holes and very long ones, in order to limit the strength of Team USA's wedge game.
Graeme McDowell Suggests Intriguing Ryder Cup Change
4 October 2010; Graeme McDowell, Team Europe, watches his birdie putt drop into the hole at the 16th green during his singles match against Hunter Mahan, Team USA. The 2010 Ryder Cup, The Celtic Manor Resort, City of Newport, Wales. Picture credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
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Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell, who competed in four Ryder Cups, today suggested a radical idea to help counter the home course advantage that some see as detrimental to the competition.
While he made sure to mention, in his column for the Telegraph, that he was not advocating for this change, he did list some of the arguments for hosting the Ryder Cup at a neutral venue.
"The most radical solution would be to play at a completely neutral venue. Take golf’s Superbowl on tour. Take the Ryder Cup product around the world. Take it to Asia, or Australasia, or South America.
"I am not saying I would advocate for that. It would obviously hurt the European and US fans who want to attend. But it is one way to stop home advantage. I am sure all of these options will be debated in the coming weeks and months."
SEE ALSO: Jordan Spieth Calls For Major Change To Help USA In 2025 Ryder Cup
