Paul McGinley on winning the Ryder Cup his way
With Europe having won the last three competitions, the United States are leaving no stone unturned in their bid for glory on home soil Paul McGinley took a forensic approach to leading Europe, but it’s each to their own, he tells Nick Rodger
THE time hurtles by. It doesn’t seem that long ago since we were all working ourselves into an excited lather for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014. Now, here we are again, working ourselves into another excited lather for the 2016 match at Hazeltine.
“Excitement, it was excitement,” said Paul McGinley, the former European captain, when asked what his overriding emotion was this time two years ago as the clock ticked and tocked towards the duel in the Glen.
McGinley had plenty to be getting on with, of course. And we are not talking about pairings and tactics and all the golf-related things that form part of the Ryder Cup battle plan. With the kind of eye for detail that could have got him on an episode of that interior design caper Changing Rooms, McGinley took fixtures and fittings to a new level as he set about creating an inspiring, relaxing, atmospheric base for his 12 good men.
Amid pictures that had to be hung in just the right places and written messages of rousing encouragement that had to have the ideal level of prominence, McGinley cast his net wide as his meticulous methods even embraced a shoal of tropical fish in the blue and yellow colours of the European flag.
“The interior designer was looking at having a glass case with a fake Ryder Cup in it as a way of bridging one room into another,” McGinley said as he reflected on this fishy tale. “I said, ‘ What about if we had a big fish tank with goldfish?’ and he said, ‘What a great idea, let me see if we can do that, and let’s see if we can find some tropical fish in the right colours somewhere in Scotland’. It was a little bit of work but it evolved quite quickly. And I believe the fish are still all alive and living well up there at Gleneagles.”
By the end of the gathering in Scotland, it was Team USA who ended up with faces like bereaved cods as McGinley’s troops romped to victory to secure a third successive win. The captain’s armband has been handed over, of course, and it is Darren Clarke who is steering the ship this time. Every skipper brings his own traits to the role. McGinley was revered for his forensiclike approach. The likes of Seve Ballesteros stirred the more passionate, emotional side of the contest while Bernhard Langer’s whispering diligence brought plenty of acclaim.
As Clarke goes up against his American counterpart Davis Love III, McGinley will be keeping an intrigued eye on the approach of the respective captains in the heat of the frontline battle.
“I think Darren is certainly going to bring a lot of emotion to it, and bring a lot of personality to it. I think by all accounts he’s done a huge amount of work on statistics and pairings,” he said. “Davis, I think, is captaining very much by consensus. He’s not a lone ranger, he’s not a maverick, he’s working very closely with a number of top players on his team and vice-captains, and to an extent, he’s letting them decide who the picks are and will be. There are different ways of doing it. No-one is right and no-one is wrong. I gave my vice-captains a huge role and they made some big decisions for me, because they were reading the games and I was getting a snapshot.
“I didn’t see myself like a Seve, tearing around in a cart and trying to see as much of the golf and support the players as much as possible. I felt they were very strong on their own with their own caddies and didn’t need me interfering. That was just the way I saw it.
“Seve was a very different captain and a very successful one, and it will be interesting to see how Darren does it. Will he be front-line like Seve or a bit more withdrawn?”
In the fraught, bubbling environment of the Ryder Cup cauldron, there are usually players who emerge with the kind of eye-popping, vein-bursting adrenaline-charged histrionics that resemble Dr David Banner morphing into The Hulk. Only better dressed.
“Ian Poulter often typified this spirit with his fist-pumping, chestpounding antics, but McGinley is well aware that, on the course, leaders can come in different guises.
“They all bring very different dynamics to it, and just because somebody isn’t beating on their heart like Ian Poulter, doesn’t mean they aren’t a great Ryder Cup player or don’t bring something valuable to the team,” he said.
“Someone like Martin Kaymer, for example, is not an Ian Poulter, he’s a lot more quiet and withdrawn, but he contributes in such a different way. He’s a great guy because he’s open to any ideas that you have, and is willing to try anything. Obviously Rory [McIlroy] is going to have a big role as the highest-ranked player in the team. I’m looking forward to seeing what role he’s asked to play and how he plays it.”
McIlroy ended a 16-month drought on the PGA Tour a couple of weeks ago by winning the Deutsche Bank Championship and it provided a sizeable tonic to Team Europe. There had been quiet murmurings about the lack of form being shown by some members of the team, particularly the rookies, but in this fickle pursuit, fortunes can quickly change. Only last weekend, for instance, Masters champion Danny Willett produced his best result since May with second place at the Italian Open. In this game, it’s all about timing and McGinley is confident the Europeans will get theirs right.
“I think there’s no doubt America are going to be favourites for this Ryder Cup but one thing I love about the European team is that we’ve got tremendous form,” he said. “Henrik [Stenson], obviously, won The Open, Justin [Rose] won the gold medal at the Olympics, Sergio [Garcia] won in America this year and obviously you have Rory.
“Danny Willett may have been a little bit of a worry five or six weeks ago but played very well in Switzerland and followed up with another big, strong performance in Italy. You can focus a lot on the fact that there are six rookies in the team, but I really don’t think these guys are going to be afraid when it comes to the Ryder Cup.”