Bloomfield Township, Mich. ? The Americans have run out of explanations, but not excuses.

It should no longer be a mystery — nor an upset, for that matter — when the Europeans go home with the Ryder Cup, because that’s what they have done seven out of the last 10 matches.

Just never like this.

For the first time, Europe won every format over three days at Oakland Hills — alternate shot (41/2-3 1/2), better ball (61/2-11/2) and singles (71/2-41/2) — and wound up handing the Americans their worst loss (181/2-9 1/2) since this friendly little exhibition began in 1927.

The United States was gracious in defeat until someone mentioned the Presidents Cup.

“It’s harder on us, playing it every year,” Davis Love III said.

“It does take a lot out of you,” Tiger Woods added. “As the Europeans said, if they had to do this every year, it would be very difficult.”

Funny, but that’s what the Americans said in 1998 after getting drubbed Down Under at the Presidents Cup. It has become a convenient excuse for them to complain about playing in these team events every year — against Europe in the Ryder Cup, then against everyone but Europe in the Presidents Cup.

The arrival of the Presidents Cup coincided with the Americans’ slump in the Ryder Cup; they are 1-4 since 1994. Against a stronger International team, they are 3-1-1 in the Presidents Cup.

They can handle Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Mike Weir and Retief Goosen, four of the top seven players in the world with nine major championships among them. They get badly beaten by Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia.

Does anyone really think doing away with the Presidents Cup will help the Americans in the Ryder Cup? If anything, they should see the Presidents Cup as a solution. It is more like a working vacation. The Americans are far more relaxed, and it brings out the best in their golf.

Woods is 8-7-0 in the Presidents Cup, while he has never had a winning record in any of the four Ryder Cup matches he has played.

So what’s wrong? Woods and the rest of the Americans were wound so tight at the start of this Ryder Cup that it took five shots on the opening hole of the better-ball matches before someone (Stewart Cink) found the fairway.

As far as Hal Sutton’s decisions as captain … sure, the Woods-Phil Mickelson pairing was a bust and gave Europe early momentum. But who could have guessed David Toms and Jim Furyk would lose in the first session? And who thought Jay Haas and Chris DiMarco would be the U.S.’s top alternate-shot pairing?

Sutton made some keen observations after his team fell five points behind after the first day. During the eight hours he spent on the course Friday, he saw the Americans gritting their teeth and Europeans smiling.

“It looked like they were trying to make something happen,” Sutton said. “And it looked like we were trying to make sure we didn’t have anything bad happen.”

Europe saw opportunity for success. The United States saw the potential for failure. And Oakland Hills is no place to act scared.