PARIS WILL BE NO JOKE FOR RORY
When all the pre-tournament pranking is done, Friday will see game faces
RORY McILROY enjoyed ribbing Thomas Bjorn recently when he ‘phoned Europe’s Ryder Cup captain and wound him up about the benefits of cryotherapy chambers.
McIlroy cheekily suggested Bjorn get 12 of them installed for Paris this week, one for each of Europe’s players. ‘They cost around twenty grand each. Anything that can help,’ he said.
Bjorn had no idea he was being set-up, not even when McIlroy chipped in with the rider that the icy cavities are ‘good for weight loss too.’
The prank involving McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter and Tommy Fleetwood was part of a promo video for BMW.
McIlroy, who was driving, warned a bemused Fleetwood what to expect as a rookie in Paris, from cleaning shoes to fetching drinks and towels.
‘At least, you’ll definitely get a game on Sunday,’ joked Europe’s talisman.
Come Friday morning at Le Golf National in Paris, when the first shots in the 42nd Ryder Cup battle are fired at 7.10am Irish time, the mood will be less flippant.
For this is serious stag-rutting stuff for the leading pro golfers from either side of the Atlantic.
It’s not about money, titles or playing for yourself in 72-hole tournament but being part of a 12-man team which engages in 28 matches over three days of combat for a trophy and bragging rights.
For all his joshing of Bjorn, McIlroy treats the Ryder Cup more seriously than he did as a rookie pro when he made an unguarded comment about it being an exhibition.
Two years ago, passion seeped from every pore in his gripping singles match against Patrick Reed in Hazeltine. Losing by one hole was tough and McIlroy would love another crack at Reed on Sunday morning.
He may get it too as he will likely play number one in the singles, as he did in 2016, so Reed will know where to find him.
As a senior player, McIlroy can be expected to shepherd one of the five rookies in the European team, like he did with Pieters in Hazeltine where they won three out of three.
He gets on well with big-hitting Jon Rahm, who has shown great commitment to the Irish Open under McIlroy’s watch, and is aching to be unleashed on a course where he should have won the French Open in late June. They’d make a terrific pairing.
It’s a help that most of Bjorn’s rookies are established elite players. In Rahm, Fleetwoood and Alex Noren, Europe have three golfers inside the world’s top 15, who won’t be fazed by all the hoopla.
‘It’s up to the rookies to perform. If they are average, then America will win. The likes of Rahm Fleetwood and Noren are not the like rookies in some of the previous teams,’ observed Colin Montgomerie, the successful captain at Celtic Manor.
How Bjorn deals with the demands of captaincy could decide Europe’s fate.
The Dane said of Paul McGinley in Gleneagles 2014 that ‘he’s re-written how captaincy is supposed to be’ so there’s no reason why he should differ much from the doughty Dubliner’s template. By now, he should have an idea who is playing well, his pairings and how he intends to use his wild cards. He played safe by picking four Ryder Cup veterans when current form suggested Rafa Cabrera Bello and Matt Wallace had stronger claims. Two years ago, Darren Clarke picked Lee Westwood, who was past it, and Martin Kaymer as wild cards and they contributed one point from six matches between them as Europe were beaten. The Ryder Cup is often no place for old men, as Furyk (three defeats in four) and Bjorn (one half and two losses) painfully found out themselves in Gleneagles. And there is a nagging suspicion that Stenson (42), Poulter (42), Paul Casey (41) and Garcia (38) may be running out of Ryder Cup road. Their collective summer form was indifferent — none of them qualified for the Tour Championship in Atlanta this weekend — and age counts against them playing twice on Friday and Saturday.
As Bjorn finalises his preparations, he must avoid the cardinal error of Mark James in Brookline in ’99 where three players, all rookies, didn’t play until the final day’s singles.
Effectively, he threw Jarmo Sandelin, Jean Van de Velde and Andrew Coltart to the lions. They each lost by huge margins as Europe blew a 10-6 lead.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods were two of the US beneficiaries in Boston while Furyk, then in his prime, was a 4&3 winner over Garcia.
The American captain sat in an awkward silence when Mickelson publicly shafted Tom Watson at Gleneagles after the 16-and-a-half - 11-and-a-half loss to Europe.
Should Furyk falter this week, he can expect Lefty to lob a few grenades his way for whatever about handling a rejuvenated Woods, the runaway ego of Mickelson is a different animal.
Yet, Furyk is entitled to be as confident as any visiting captain has been since Watson — yes, that same Watson pilloried by Mickelson — oversaw an American win at The Belfry in 1993.
On form, the US hold the high ground as 11 of their team are involved in the 30-strong Tour Championship in Atlanta. Of those, two of them, Brooks Koepka and Reed picked off three of the four majors this year.
As a plus, their average world ranking is 12.3 compared to Europe’s 18.5 while Woods is finally getting along with the guys he’s playing with, rather than intimidating them.
In Europe’s favour is knowledge of a course they play each summer, coupled with the accepted benefit of home advantage.
But the Americans have performed more consistently at the top level all year.
Two years ago, as the joyous American team waited for the final singles match to finish in Hazeltine, Mickelson warned them to ‘get pumped up for the away game’ in Paris.
That game has arrived and for all that Bjorn will lean on Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Fleetwood, and McIlroy to perform, he lacks strength down the order.
The European ice, which has been impenetrable at home since the late Seve Ballesteros wept with joy at Valderrama in 1997, may finally be melted by American fire.