There’ll be none of this nonsense at the Ryder Cup
CLARKE: I’LL UPHOLD SPIRIT OF THE GAME
There will be no repeat of the Solheim Cup nonsense during the ryder Cup at hazeltine next year; Darren Clarke is sure of that.
In an exclusive interview at the Minnesota venue where the match will be staged exactly a year from now, europe’s ryder Cup captain revealed he and opposite number Davis Love have spoken already about the unsavoury incident, in which Norway’s Suzann Pettersen claimed the 17th hole of a foursomes match after the American Alison Lee mistakenly believed a 16-inch putt had been conceded.
‘Suzann got it spot-on in terms of the rule and Carin Koch (europe’s captain) did nothing wrong, either,’ said Clarke of the recent incident at St Leon-rot, Germany.
‘But did they act within the spirit of the game? Suzann got it wrong in that regard.
‘What would I have done if I’d been captain? I’d have told my players to play one shot off the 18th tee and then concede the hole. Just pick the golf balls up and let’s go.
‘Davis and I have talked already about this and we agreed that’s how we want the matches to be played.’
A few months into the role of skipper, Clarke’s pride in being asked to lead is obvious. On this day he’s pulled here, there and everywhere ywhere fulfill fulfilling sponsorship obligations and even being asked to sign about 500 ryder Cup flags on top of it all is accepted with good nature.
‘Come on, let’s go and grab a beer,’ he says. Funnily enough, when Golf Monthly asked its readers from which player they’d like to receive just such an invitation, the convivial Clarke was the overwhelming choice.
he’s always been one of the most respected men on tour as well and a clue as to why comes with the revelation that when he took over as captain he wrote to ever every player, not just on the regular tour but the Challenge Tour as well, telling them this was their time, that places in the european team were open to all.
he plans to write to the membership again following this ‘Year to Go’ jamboree, telling them of events that have gone on here in negotiations between the sides.
‘I just think it’s important to involve everybody who is a member and let them feel like they have a stake in it, which they do because it’s such an important event for the health of our tour,’ he said. ‘I want them to know they all have the same opportunity to make the team.’
One man who might not have the opportunity is Paul Casey. how does the captain feel about the possibility of the current world No 23 not rejoining the tour and therefore being ineligible for the ryder Cup?
‘You’d certainly want him on the team the way he’s playing,’ he said. ‘You’d be stupid as captain to feel any other way, because he’s a brilliant talent. I know he’s got a meeting with Keith Pelley (the tour’s new chief executive) and I hope they come to an agreement. But Paul has to do what he feels is right for him and his young family. We all know there’s more to life than the ryder Cup.’
Clarke and Love learned this in the most painful ways imaginable. When the former lost his first wife heather to cancer in 2006 it was the latter, whose father (also a golf pro) died in a plane crash in 1988, who provided some of the most valued counsel.
‘I’d go so far as to say Davis is the leading gentleman in our game,’ said Clarke. ‘I made my ryder Cup debut in a fourballs match against him in 1997 and we just hit it off straight away.
‘he’s a good man who’s been very supportive of me for a long time. he waited at the back of the 18th green when I won The Open at royal St George’s and when Alison ( Clarke’s second wife) came into my life, he and his wife robin, who had been a good friend of heather’s, couldn’t have made it any clearer how happy they were for me.
‘So now you’ve got two men who will want to kick each other’s butt so badly but who also respect one another so much.
‘I know Davis will be ramping up the crowd to play their part and it’s going to be so loud and noisy, but I also know he wouldn’t want me looking at him thinking it’s all gone too far.
‘We know something will happen to test our friendship but we also know we’ll sort it out with a quiet word in one another’s ear.’
One year to go, then. Two proud men can hardly wait.