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Brexit will not change Europe’s Ryder Cup spirit, says Bjorn
Thomas Bjorn will take a break before deciding how to follow becoming a Ryder Cupwinning captain, but hearing him hold court on Brexit and Britain’s future place in Europe made one wonder if politics or the diplomatic service could be an option.
A simple 12-man golf team playing under the blue-and-gold European Union flag have become such a source of sporting unity every two years that there were those in Paris last weekend who wondered if it all might feel slightly different in Wisconsin two years from now.
“Never,” says Bjorn, who, having been part of four victories as player and captain, is convinced that an atmosphere and togetherness he first experienced under the captaincy of Seve Ballesteros in 1997 is being nurtured and perhaps even enhanced as the baton gradually passes through the generations.
“The players won’t allow it to feel different,” he says. “The one thing you have to remember about all these players is that we represent the European Tour and we live our lives together as a European Tour. The European Ryder Cup team is the boundaries of Europe – nothing to do with the political situation – and that will always carry on. We are bound together by our continent. This is our home, and that becomes one nation for the week.
“That doesn’t mean when we go back to football or another sport we don’t want to beat each other and, just because there is a situation at the moment that is very much a topic, the United Kingdom will always be part of Europe and always part of a European team. It’s not going to become its own continent. We have done so many great things together and we will continue to do that.”
This was the morning after the morning after the night before and, while Bjorn becomes most impassioned when dissecting Team Europe’s shared identity, his bleary eyes hint at what has been an intense, thrilling but sleepdeprived week. In front of him in the hotel room is a Ryder Cup trophy that was first presented almost 100 years ago and, just behind, is the bed in which he finally got some rest.
“In Paris, I found it was easy to fall asleep because you are tired, but then you wake up because your mind is constantly secondguessing yourself, thinking, ‘Am I making the right choices?’ You can have all the facts and figures but a lot is still gut feeling.”
The evidence of a 17½-10½ winning final scoreline suggests that he emphatically did get those decisions right. There has again been a huge focus on Europe’s team spirit, and the supposed contrast with the United States, for whom the previously successful partnership between Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed was acrimoniously broken up. Bjorn, though, believes that Europe’s success was also founded on something more: a huge change over recent years in the sports science surrounding the team and how a level of fitness and freshness was evident when it was most needed through the singles matches on Sunday afternoon.
“My first year on the tour was in 1996 and all the things that happen over 22 years make you the person you are,” says Bjorn. “I had Seve as a captain but also as a friend later – and what he did transforms your beliefs. It was the same going through all the captains. They form you as a person. Golfers weren’t generally athletes in the late 1990s. We were very good golfers. Today, they are also full-on athletes and you have to prepare for that. A lot of time and effort went into getting that environment right. You look after their recovery and their food. It was something they really appreciated.
“The players are also very different; some practise more, some spend more time in the gym, some want certain things in place. That is also what makes them the people they are.”
Alcohol simply played no part inside the team until the decisive putt had gone down on Sunday afternoon. “The three days of playing are really, really draining and emotionally tough,” says Bjorn. “If they are not on top of their energy, on top of their physical side, then they would fold on Sunday. Winning was the goal for everyone in the team, that was the only thing the focus was on. They were very determined as a group – they made it easy.”
After the recriminations that followed what was a seventh American defeat in the past nine Ryder Cups, Bjorn’s opposite number – Jim Furyk – is unlikely to feel quite so effusive about his own players. Bjorn, though, is adamant that he genuinely sensed no tension on the course and suggested that he would also have divided Reed and Spieth.
“They seemed very determined and focused – I didn’t feel like there was any unrest,” he says. “The losing team is always going to get dissected. It might have been us in this situation. I feel for Jim. I look and think he did pretty much everything right – and you can do that and still lose because the teams are so equally matched.”
Of Reed’s claim that Spieth did not want to play with him, Bjorn said: “Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are great childhood friends. It didn’t come as a big surprise when they came out together. From where I stand, it looked like Jim was doing everything right by his players.”
There have been some calls for Bjorn to continue, for Europe again to allow more than one term for each captain, but the 47-year-old does not think that would be fair. He has also already endorsed the credentials of Padraig Harrington, one of his vice-captains.
“Of course, you would love to do it again because it is so great but I don’t think it is right,” he says. “It is somebody else’s turn and that is how the system should work.”
Bjorn is also weighing up a serious return to playing. “By the start of 2019, I want to have a good plan,” he says. “I might want to play or do something different but I won’t rush into any decisions. I just wanted to put my mind 100 per cent on the Ryder Cup and do everything I could for those 12 guys.”
He then gazes back again at the old trophy. “It is the most unique thing in golf,” he says.” It creates something that is so amazing. It is an individual sport – the majors all carry their own rightful history – but, as an event, it is difficult to come up with anything that matches it.”
‘We have done so many great things together and we will continue to do that’