Both the skippers will be trying to stay out of the Cup’s ‘Hall of Shame’
Whatever the outcome a week today, one thing is for certain. Either Thomas Bjorn or Jim Furyk will be hailed both as a brilliant captain and vital part of their team’s victory. The man not drenched in champagne by his
adoring players, meanwhile, will be derided for making poor pairings and woeful wildcard selections and join the likes of Hal Sutton, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo and Darren Clarke in the captaincy ‘Hall of Shame’.
Such is the lot of the Ryder Cup captain, whose success or failure can come down to the 18th hole of the 28th match between 24 of the best players in the world, over whom they have no direct control – although the late Seve Ballesteros might care to disagree about that.
What they can control are those wildcard selections and pairings, with Bjorn opting for Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Henrik Stenson, while Furyk selected Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson Dechambeau and Tony Finau.
Bjorn courted controversy by selecting the out-of-form Garcia over England’s Matt Wallace, who had won the final qualifying event in front of the captain and twice more this season, while Furyk had an easier time picking players who finished ninth, 10th, 11th and 15th in qualifying.
In terms of pairings, only time will tell if either captain avoids the type of blunder committed by Sutton in 2004, when he insisted on sending out Woods and Mickelson – who were then not exactly the best of friends – in the opening match.
It was an error he repeated in the afternoon even after they had lost to Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington. They lost again and the experiment was over, Europe going on to claim a record nine-point win. The bookmakers are seldom wrong and make the United States odds-on favourites this time, but Europe always relish the underdog role and will not be lacking in motivation. “The Americans wanted it really badly and the crowd were right behind them in 2016,” Justin Rose said. “We want it back badly now. Losing it has made us all more hungry again, no doubt about it.”