Ruckus on horizon
Europe Ryder Cup captain
don’t feel you have a lot in reserve. In 2011 he knew he had a lot in reserve and I’ve seen that again. Why? I think meditation has helped him. He’s very comfortable at home with Erica [his wife]. He’s in a better place mentally.’’
It is the same with Woods. For years Woods has been the team enigma, the sport’s pre-eminent star but a square peg in the Ryder Cup hole. In Paris two years ago, he lost all four of his matches and has a desultory record of 13 wins from 37 attempts. Harrington says: ‘‘The dynamic in the US team room never worked because Phil [Mickelson] wants to be the leader but he can’t be because there’s a better golfer in the room. So Phil could not do the job he wanted to and Tiger wasn’t prepared to do it. Now he has matured – children do that to you – and he wants more out of life. If pro golf was only about playing golf for me then I’m burnt out, I’m done. If it’s about trying hard and enjoying everything else that’s different. I see that in Tiger too and it makes him more dangerous than ever – because now he is prepared to give more of himself.’’
Harrington is proud that the Ryder Cup now matters so much to Woods and co. ‘‘We made them care about it,’’ he says. His debut at Brookline in 1999 came amid a row about whether American players should be paid. By the end it clearly
Paul McGinley believes Rory McIlroy has proved that he deserves to be world No 1 and feels his countryman’s return to the top of the rankings after a near five-year absence will be a milestone on his journey to resuming winning majors.
It was confirmed this week that McIlroy was back at the summit for the first time since September,
2015, as he leapfrogged Brooks Koepka. Inevitably, there have been a few eyebrows raised at McIlroy, who has not won a major for almost six years, displacing the American, who has won four majors in the past three seasons.
Yet in the 26 events in which he has appeared since the start of 2019, McIlroy, 30, has won four titles, finishing in the top five on 12 occasions and in the top 10 a remarkable 20 times.
‘‘If you ask me who the best player in the world is now, I will say Rory, every day of the week,’’ McGinley said. ‘‘I wouldn’t have 18 months ago. Yeah, he had those years of winning four majors, but the underlying stats tell me he is in the form of his life. On the PGA Tour last season, he was first on the strokes gained, tee-to-green charts and in the strokes gained, putting list he was up from 159th two years before to 24th. That is formidable. Now he’s world No 1 again. For Rory, this will be a box ticked on the road to being where he wants to be – with the Masters win he needs for the career grand slam and more majors in his locker.’’
In his down years – which would be considered anything but to most professional golfers – McIlroy fell to 13th as Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas and, most recently for almost a year, Koepka had their turns in the hot seat. There were moments when McIlroy seemed almost lost. McGinley believes Brad Faxon has guided the Northern Irishman to the point of discovery.
‘‘I’m amazed why more isn’t made of Faxon’s influence,’’ McGinley said. ‘‘I truly think Faxon [the former US Ryder Cup player] was the instigator of Rory finding this good place. I recently spent a bit of time with him talking about Rory. Faxon unshackled him, unburdened him, let the talent come through again, allowed him to become more instinctive. Brad was the line in sand. Rory has started reading books which are all about freeing himself. This new
‘‘The dynamic in the US team room never worked because Phil [Mickelson] wants to be the leader but he can’t be because there’s a better golfer in the room.’’ Padraig Harrington
mattered as the US players celebrated prematurely and Sam Torrance, Europe’s vice-captain, railed: ‘‘And Tom Lehman calls himself a man of God.’’ That was tepid stuff compared with the 1969 duel when the police and Lord Derby, the PGA president, were called to dampen the ire. Brian Huggett, now Europe’s oldest captain at 83, remembers players shouting at each other across the fairways. ‘‘We were feisty buggers and so were they,’’ he told The Times in 2018.
In 1999 Harrington had never met half the American side, but today’s players are friendlier, even neighbours. Home advantage may also be negated this year. ‘‘The set-up has become too big an issue at the Ryder Cup,’’ Harrington says. ‘‘We have certainly used it to our advantage and so do they, but the US players are not happy about the venue. They would rather have a typical US course – no rough, fast greens, a birdie-fest. It really was a miracle winning at Medinah. But this is not a stereotypical US course. It’s links-style. That will help us.’’
McGinley’s poster-child captaincy involved meeting Sir Alex Ferguson at an Alderley Edge Hotel. It was not just celeb-hunting for a gung-ho speech. McGinley wanted to know how to deal with stars like McIlroy. Ferguson said the trick was diluting Beckham and Ronaldo into the whole.