Body works: what makes the perfect Ryder Cup player?
Mix these ingredients together and you would have a points machine, writes James Corrigan
Billy Casper’s eyes
An incredible Ryder Cup player who recorded 23½ points in just eight matches. Casper’s record stood until Sir Nick Faldo broke it in 1997. Casper never played on a losing team, his perfect run only denied by the halved match in 1969. His greatness was built on his short game.
Jack Nicklaus’s legs
The 18-time major champion swears he was more concerned with the legacy of friendship than winning. Tell that to those poor British and Irish players who got in his way. A wrecking machine off the tee, generating such power with his legs that Gary Player described it as “scary”.
Ian Poulter’s brain
Not only did Poulter use his brain to control that eye-popping, fistpumping celebration which drove Americans to distraction, but his psyche was so tough that his run of winning 11 points from a possible 12 from 2008-12 seemed inexorable. Wound up the opposition by declaring, “I will deliver my point”, and survived the pressure of his own brashness with chilling clinicalness.
Rory McIlroy’s shoulder and arms
McIlroy has still to prove himself a great in Ryder Cup terms but he possesses attributes which each and every competitor would envy. He possesses an incredible ability to produce length off the tee, but it is what he can do with his fairway woods and long irons which make him stand out. Hits the ball so high he can make towering three and four-irons land like linen.
Seve Ballesteros’s heart
Seve remains the heart of the Ryder Cup, his soul lives on in the intensity of the competition, the passion of the play still beats to his pulse. Without Ballesteros, the Ryder Cup would not have become golf’s greatest event. Stretched gamesmanship to its breaking point but nobody can deny that a few ugly scenes were eclipsed by the beauty which he brought.
Sir Nick Faldo’s constitution
Faldo proved that a lone wolf could flourish in the team environment and did so because of a remarkable constitution which was built to survive the pressures involved in winning. Never better was it summed up than when he pitched out sideways on the 18th at Oak Hill in 1995, before hitting his wedge to a few feet to break Curtis Strange’s heart. Unbreakable.