The Ryder Cup loss should teach the U.S. a few things

	Tom Lehman was praised for his pre-Ryder Cup preparation, but in the end, he couldn't deliver the win. Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

Forget the Europeans' impressive putting ability in the last six Ryder Cups. More telling of their mastery during that span are two lengthy putts on the American side.

One, of course, is Justin Leonard's 45-footer that fueled the U.S. rally at Brookline in 1999. If he doesn't roll in that miracle, then Europe likely retains the Cup, meaning Sunday's victory at the K Club in Ireland would be its sixth consecutive Ryder Cup win.

The other is J.J. Henry's 30-foot putt on Sunday that he never got to stroke, thanks to the (overly) generous nature of his singles competitor, Paul McGinley, who conceded the putt to halve their match after Europe had already clinched victory. If McGinley doesn't make that sporting gesture, then the Irishman probably wins the match, thus giving Europe a record-setting 19-9 win.

So take away those two putts and you have a) 11 years of uninterrupted European domination, with b) the gap continuing to widen. As it is, the five-out-of-six streak Europe currently is riding has some people wondering if the Ryder Cup has reverted back to the form of a few decades ago, when the U.S. won 13 straight between 1959 and '83, during which the competition grew so lopsided that a new format was introduced to allow Great Britain to use other players from Europe.

"That sounds a little insulting in some ways," U.S. captain Tom Lehman said when asked in a post-Cup news conference about such a reversal of fortune.

Well, you know what, Tom? It should be insulting. Having the world's top three golfers (and four others in the top 23) and still getting steamrollered isn't something you can scrub away with comments about how proud you were of your team's effort, heart and courage. Evidently, those things don't matter when it comes to winning the Ryder Cup. Maybe the next captain needs to focus on the things that do.

So what else did we learn from the results in Ireland?