Gallacher predicts a revival in Rome after the woe of Wisconsin
In two years, the Ryder Cup will be coming back home to Europe.
That’s the positive assertion from former captain, Bernard Gallacher, in the wake of the humiliation at Whistling Straits.
The 19- 9 drubbing by Steve Stricker’s American team – the biggest-ever margin of victory in modern times – has led to questions being asked about Padraig Harrington’s leadership, the state of European golf, and whether the qualification process to make the team needs to be radically changed.
But while many want to rip everything up and start again, Gallacher is offering a voice of calm.
As a player and a captain, the Scot was on the end of heavy defeats to the Americans, and he knows how much the Irishman and his 12 players will be hurting.
Gallacher was in Wisconsin, and believes that it was virtually a mission impossible to retain the trophy when everything was in the Americans’ favour.
But he thinks it will be a different story for the 2023 match at the Marco Simone club outside Rome.
“With the way things are going in the Ryder Cup, home advantage is enormous,” said Gallacher.
“So I’m very confident we will win the cup back in Italy – whatever team the US send over.
“We will be on a course that our players will know, having played in a couple of Italian Opens there, and conditions will suit us.
“The lack of support for Europe at Whistling Straits probably didn’t affect the result, but it did affect the final margin.
“I was out on the course last Sunday, following Rory Mcilroy’s Singles match against Xander Schauffele.
“Rory hit his tee shot at the first, and there was barely a sound from the galleries. I thought he must be in trouble. When I got up there, his ball was almost on the green.
“About half- an- hour later, Bryson Dechambeau drove the green – and the crowd went mad.
“It got even worse when he holed his putt as the noise echoed around the course. That can be very dispiriting for the opposition.
“Support is so crucial in the Ryder Cup. Even at Medinah in 2012, when the local support was partisan, there were 5- 10,000 Europeans cheering the team on.
“And we saw what a difference the support made in Paris three years ago when you think of the grandstands at the first tee.
“The players were inspired, and we duly thrashed the Americans by seven points.
“A strong crowd can make you play much better. We see that every week in other sports.”
As captain, Harrington’s tenure will be defined by the record loss. But Gallacher thinks the Irishman was dealt a lousy hand.
“The circumstances were extremely unusual because of Covid, and contrived against Padraig,” says the three- time European captain.
“I wouldn’t have liked to have played the Americans without Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Francesco Molinari – all Major winners.
“Think of Molinari’s partnership with Tommy Fleetwood at Le Golf National, and the Italian winning five points out of five.
“The only thing I would have done differently from Padraig was not pair Rory and Ian Poulter together in the Foursomes.
“Rory needed someone who hits the ball a similar distance to himself, not 30 yards less.
“He summed it up in his emotional post-match interview. The players let Padraig down, but the only thing they can do now is not let the next captain down.
“I don’t think we need to tweak our system of qualifying. Nine automatics and three picks is still the right way to go.”
To emphasise their superiority, Stricker’s team did not lose a single session, and every player won at least one match.
It prompted the US captain to describe them as “the strongest team ever”.
But having lost to the Americans’ previous best in 1981 – 18.5- 9.5 at Walton Heath – Gallacher does not agree.
“There is no comparison between this team and that one,” he argues.
“Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Bill Rogers, Jerry Pate, Johnny Miller, Raymond Floyd, Larry Nelson, Hale Irwin and Bruce Lietzke.
“That is the finest team ever. “Steve Stricker is a nice guy, but what he said is just not true.
“And I don’t go along with this idea that it’s the start of a new era of American dominance. They are certainly not invincible.
“Let’s see them come over to Europe and win if they’re that good.
“Things change quickly in golf – look from Paris to now – and a lot of the US team may even not make the next one because the competition in America is so great.
“They could arrive in Rome with a whole new batch of rookies. It’s than a different ball game for them in alien conditions.”