Captains’ ink-lings on victory
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Thomas Bjorn, the 2018 European Ryder Cup captain, promised his players if they won that week he’d get a tattoo to commemorate the victory. The Euros won, and Bjorn got a tattoo on one of his butt cheeks.
Padraig Harrington, this year’s European captain, revealed on Wednesday that his players have asked the same of him, and he said he’d oblige.
“I am delighted that that’s all they ask for, but I’d have given up a lot more,’’ Harrington said. “So yes … if my team produces a winning week, I will be getting a tattoo to mark the occasion, and very comfortable that they only asked that much of me.
“I think it’s an unwritten rule, so it has come up, yes, in conversation. Definitely, it’s a given now in Europe. Captain has to get a tattoo. I don’t have any other tattoos at this stage, so it would be a new experience for me. Where on the body? I don’t know.’’
U.S. captain Steve Stricker was less definitive than Harrington, but he did say, “We’ve discussed tattoos in our room.’’
Stricker said his “players gave me an idea what I could put on there.’’
“I told them where I was going to put it. It was going to go right on my cheek,’’ he said, pointing to his derriere. “We’ll see what brings about that, but we may have a tattoo artist guy come in on Sunday night. One way or another, it may happen.’’
Both captains will announce their respective pairings for Friday morning’s foursomes (alternate shot) during Thursday’s opening ceremony. Here are some predictions on the pairings, based on history and practice-round groupings:
For the U.S., you can virtually bank on Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas paired together both foursomes and fourballs (best ball), and the same for Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Dustin Johnson and Daniel Berger may play foursomes together, the same for Tony Finau and Collin Morikawa.
For the Europeans, it looks like world No. 1 Jon Rahm will pair with rookie Viktor Hovland in both foursomes and fourballs. Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter will team up in foursomes, the same for Tommy Fleetwood and Sergio Garcia. Lee Westwood and fellow Brit Matthew Fitzpatrick look like they may play both together.