A reason to believe: Why the U.S. could win the Ryder Cup

I believe that we will win. I believe that we will win. I believe that we will win.

No, I’m not excitedly resurrecting the soccer chant that had Americans believing our 11 were better than the best teams in the world in Rio this past summer at the World Cup. I’m calmly trying to convince myself that the United States has a chance to win back the Ryder Cup on Sunday in Scotland. And I think this bit of self-hypnosis has worked.

However, believing is hard, particularly in the face of all the reasons not to have faith.

The Americans have lost seven of the last nine Ryder Cups. They’ve lost the last two matches in painstaking fashion, each by a 14.5-13.5 margin. The U.S. hasn’t won on the road in 21 years. Only three Americans (Furyk, Mickelson and Mahan) on the team have ever been on a winning Ryder Cup squad.

Then there’s the opponent. The Europeans have four of the top six players in the world on their team, including the double-major-winning world No. 1 Rory McIlroy.

The evidence seems to suggest another European win, but, on closer inspection, there’s some hope for the U.S. cause.

The last time the U.S. won the Ryder Cup in Europe back in 1993, Tom Watson was the captain. Fate?

In the last Ryder Cup, the Americans didn’t lose any of the two-man sessions. That hasn’t happened since continental Europe was added into the matches in 1979. The U.S. has learned how to play the team formats well.

The Americans have two pairs that work, and work well. Phil MIckelson and Keegan Bradley are undefeated together, while Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson had a quiet rhythm that worked to the tune of two points at Medinah in 2012.

Tiger Woods wasn’t on the last team to win the Ryder Cup (2008). That’s a stretch for optimism, but it’s true!

Americans can even look to a European who didn’t make the team for hope. Luke Donald, who has a 10-4-1 Ryder Cup record, didn’t make the team. Scot Stephen Gallacher, who will have a very partisan crowd rooting him on, did but has never played in a single Ryder Cup match.

It might seem like grasping at straws, but the U.S. is not as big of an underdog as they might appear. An American victory is not out of the question. Even if Watson’s charges lose the opening session on Friday morning, recent history shows that getting off to a hot start doesn’t say much about how a team will finish the Ryder Cup.

We’ll begin to learn how the story of the 2014 Ryder Cup will unfold in just a few hours. Do you believe?

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

Follow @RyanBallengee

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