United States golf remains disjointed as quarter century of European Ryder Cup dominance continues unabated

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- The Ryder Cup's greatest appeal isn't the United States competing against Europe, the wild crowds, the biennial cadence of the event or the world-famous golf tracks that host it.

The reason it stands out from the major championships, weekly PGA Tour schedule and Olympics is because golf, an individual sport -- perhaps the most individual sport of them all -- undergoes a paradigm shift into a team game under the Ryder Cup banner.

Once every two years, for three days, the rules change. The game transcends itself, requiring the collective skill and will of 12 men, not one, to enter the winner's circle.

You've heard it all before, but as the cheers of European supporters rang out across Long Island, long into Sunday night, there is no more poignant time to reiterate the