Some would argue that the writing was on the wall for the International team well before its five-point Presidents Cup defeat at Quail Hollow.
There is little debate, however, that at least two members of the American side are very superstitious.
Speaking recently on Fred Couples’ show on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, U.S. captain Davis Love III revealed two superstitions that may or may not have helped the Americans avoid a disastrous collapse.
The first involves Jordan Spieth, who, as Love tells it, had fallen 2 down through three holes to Cam Davis in singles.
"But really what happened is Jordan Spieth left his lucky ball markers in his locker," Love said. "They figured it out on 3. And Fred heard all this on the radio. They call and say Jordan needs his ball markers. Somebody says, ‘I'm on my way to the cabin.’ My caddie, Jeff Weber, who's helping the caddies goes, ‘I've already got them.’ And he got them to him before he got to the green on 4."
Spieth birdied that hole and then next one before ultimately beating Davis, 4 and 3, to earn his first career singles victory in eight Cups, Presidents or Ryder.
“He's 2 down, and he’s never won a [singles] match," Love went on, "and then he gets his lucky ball markers from the captains on the radio, and he missed maybe one putt the whole rest of the day.”
The second superstitious moment came on the sixth tee. Love had just finished watching all the matches come through when the Internationals started to grab some momentum.
"I've been wearing a white hat all week, but the team's wearing a blue hat and everybody's wearing the rope hat," Love said. "So I go, 'I can wear the blue rope hat. We're in a good position.’ When I left the sixth tee, where I was watching everybody go through, I go, 'Oh no, this is not good.' And I get in my cart and there's the white hat and I switched. So, basically I changed the whole momentum all by myself."
Love and Spieth believed in things they didn’t understand, but this time, the Americans didn’t suffer.