Zach Johnson faces criticism despite player support as Team USA falters against Europe in 2023 Ryder Cup

Zach Johnson has received criticism from almost all around the world as the Americans faltered against Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup. Although his team players supported him, sports journalists and golf fans criticized him for his pairing at the tournament.

People said that if the USA pairing failed to perform better on the first day, Johnson should make changes to the team on the second day.

For three decades, Team USA failed to bring home the trophy of the Ryder Cup from foreign soil and the tradition continued in 2023.

Golf fans took to social media to blame Zach Johnson for the US team's defeat at the biennial tournament.

"The PGA of America continues to find US Captains who are so overmatched like Zach Johnson. Why the fuck hasn’t Fred Couples ever been selected? The next Captain better be Tiger Woods at Bethpage!!" one user wrote.

"#RyderCup wrong team selection to begin with by #ZachJohnson Not giving LIV players such as #PatrickReed #BrysonDeChambeau the opportunity to play is wrong. Outclassed, outplayed, outwitted by #TeamEurope #LukeDonald," commented another fan.

"This is the worst #RyderCupUSA team performance I have ever witnessed. Now I wish I would have just gone to bed. Not sure why #ZachJohnson didn’t switch it up on day 2. Was the 4-0 ass beating we took yesterday not enough?" another user wrote.

Here are more comments about Zach Johnson's captaincy at the 2023 Ryder Cup:

"We're going to learn from this"- Zach Johnson on US team's performance at the 2023 Ryder Cup

Zach Johnson opened up about his team's disappointing performance at the 2023 Ryder Cup. They lost all of their four-some matches on Friday.

However, at least, the team scored some points on the next two days and finished with a score of 11.5.

Speaking about his team, Johnson said ahead of the Sunday finals(via Irish Examiner):

"We're going to learn from this. That's what Team USA does. We reflect, diagnose and try to figure out what we can do better to make it more efficient. It's not anything other than that."

Below are the US Team pairings for the first two days at the 2023 Ryder Cup:

Friday foursome

Rahm & Hatton (Europe) 4&3 over Scheffler & Burns (U.S.)
Hovland & Aberg (Europe) 4&3 over Homa & Harman(U.S.)
Lowry & Straka (Europe) 2&1 over Morikawa & Fowler (U.S.)
McIlroy & Fleetwood (Europe) 2&1 over Cantlay & Schauffele(U.S.)

Friday four-ball

Spieth & Thomas (U.S.) TIED Hovland & Hatton (Europe)
Koepka & Spieth (U.S.) TIED Rahm & Hojgaard (Europe)
Homa & Clark (U.S.) TIED Rose & MacIntyre (Europe)
McIlroy & Fitzpatrick (Europe) 5&3 over Schauffele & Morikawa (U.S.)

Saturday's foursome

Rory Mcllroy & Tommy Fleetwood (Europe) def. Jordan Speith & Justin Thomas (U.S.) by 2&1
Viktor Hovland & Ludvig Aberg (Europe) def. Scottie Scheffler & Brooks Koepka (U.S.) by 9&7
Max Homa & Brain Harman(U.S.) def. Shane Lowry & Sepp Straka (Europe) by 4&2
Jon Rahm & Tyrrell Hatton (Europe) def, Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele (U.S.) by 2&1

Saturday's four-ball

Sam Burns/Collin Morikawa (U.S.) def. Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Åberg (Europe), 4 and 3
Max Homa/Brian Harman (U.S.) def. Tommy Fleetwood/Nicolai Højgaard (Europe), 2 and 1
Justin Rose/Robert MacIntyre (Europe) def. Justin Thomas/Jordan Spieth (U.S.), 3 and 2
Patrick Cantlay/Wyndham Clark (U.S.) def. Matt Fitzpatrick/Rory McIlroy (Europe), 1-up