Flying start to help my Ryder Cup stars

Following many calls and Zoom meetings with Ryder Cup officials it has been agreed that I can travel to the US to coach all my players: Brooks Koepka from the US camp, and Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter as well as assisting my Coach buddy Mike Walker with Matt Fitzpatrick, all from Europe.

Covid-19 protocol meant the entire European Ryder Cup party of around 200 on the charter were required to take all the PCR tests and wait anxiously for four hours for the test results.

It seems we all came through safely, even the 70-year-old coach, and we leave now from Heathrow Airport for the US.

Not all the players nor all the caddies are on the flight, as many are already based in the US and we will all catch up together when we arrive in Wisconsin.

I spoke to Team Europe captain Padraig Harrington last night, and he was not saying much about the golf course set-up.

A note to all be aware of is, that the home captain — Steve Stricker in this case — has the right to set up the Ryder Cup course as he sees fit to make it more ‘advantageous’ for his team of 12.

The Straits Course at Whistling Straits, designed by Pete and Alice Dye, opened in 1998, has played host to three US PGA Championships in 2004, 2010 and 2015. It is a par-72 layout that can stretch to a very long 7,790 yards from the tips.

Harrington has played in all three majors hosted at Whistling Straits, as has Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia as well as vice-captains Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald, and we all remember Martin Kaymer’s famous victory in the 2010 edition with the Dustin Johnson ‘bunker’ incident on the 72nd hole.

From the US side, vice-captains Phil Mickelson, David Love III and Zach Johnson have played all three.