The do’s and don’t’s of Cup captaincy
Make sure you do...
Go ‘Full Metal Jacket’ The shameless jingoism that helps define the modern Ryder Cup was no more evident than during the 1991 instalment at Kiawah Island – the ‘War on the Shore’. Corey Pavin even wore a camouflage cap, in a spectacularly unsubtle nod to the first Iraq War. “I stirred up a hornets’ nest, but I don’t care,” said US captain Dave Stockton.
Emphasise resilience “Be the rock when the storm comes” was Paul McGinley’s mantra in triumph at Gleneagles two years ago. He even put up a giant poster in Europe’s team room that showed giant waves battering against a cliff. This psychological strength would prove telling. Not even the screams of “C’mon!” by Patrick Reed could unsettle them.
Be a unifier If Phil Mickelson had his way, Paul Azinger would be the American captain in perpetuity. The hallmark of Azinger’s approach at Valhalla in 2008 was cohesion, as he broke his team into four-man pods to foster greater collective unity. It worked a dream, with Anthony Kim and Boo Weekley playing out of their skins.
... but definitely don’t
Try to be funny Sir Nick Faldo’s captaincy in 2008 stands as a monument to cringe-worthiness. The tonedeaf captain made a cheap Irishman joke in his opening ceremony speech about Padraig Harrington and matters hardly improved when he bizarrely invited DJ Spoony and Nicko McBrain, Iron Maiden’s drummer, into the team room.
Be smitten by superstardom Hal Sutton, the Americans’ field marshal at Oakland Hills in 2004, decided to pair Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Trouble was, these two had a thinly disguised mutual loathing. Barely talking to one another on the course, they lost 2 & 1 in fourballs on the first morning and promptly succumbed again in foursomes.
‘Back-load’ your singles line-up With the teams level at 8-8 on the final morning in 2002, US captain Curtis Strange decided – rather arrogantly – to put his best players, including Woods and Mickelson, out last. Sam Torrance, his opposite number, led off with Cup perennials such as Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer. Strange’s men took just 1½ points from the first six singles matches and lost 15½-12½.