US Ryder Cup VC takes sly dig at Luke Donald
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One of Keegan Bradley’s assistant captains couldn’t resist having a little pop at Luke Donald after the European skipper’s comments in his Ryder Cup interview…
While the history books will forever record the result of the 45th Ryder Cup as a tight 15-13 affair, it was anything but as the European team ran riot in the first two days of pairs matches that saw them take a record seven-point lead into the singles.
It led to Keegan Bradley and his team of vice-captains being accused of not preparing the United States side properly. While their rivals headed straight to Bethpage after the BMW PGA Championship for a two-day reconnaissance, running the rule over every minute detail of the infamous Black course, the hosts waited until they were on the ground – by which point the adverse weather put paid to a lot of their practice plans.
It wasn’t just the build-up days, either. When asked why Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley switched their playing order from their Friday to Saturday foursomes matches, the World No.1 revealed it was actually the players’ caddies – Ted Scott and Andy Sanders – who suggested it.
“When we got done on Friday night, Teddy and Andy, when I went down to the team room to go cold tub, were sitting at the table and they had brought up the idea of us switching,” Scheffler explained. “The more they looked at it, we felt pretty strongly that would give us a better chance, and I think it did.
“It was more important for us to have a little bit more length off the tee, and then Russell, and with the way he hits his irons, we felt like we had a better chance of getting the ball in close.
“That was really all it came down to. It was just really seeing the golf course in competition as we were playing it.”
The stark admission – which happened during the US team’s losing press conference on Sunday evening – led to a wave of criticism from American fans and pundits alike, especially when compared to how European vice-captain Edoardo Molinari explained the amount of work that went into working out their pairings for each match.
Using the Rory McIlroy-Tommy Fleetwood foursomes partnership that has now delivered four points from four over the last two Ryder Cups as an example, statistician Molinari explained: “In foursomes, it’s a bit more complex, so I started to develop a system where we have, let’s say, Rory playing with Tommy, and if Rory hits the tee shot on the first, we know exactly how many times he is going to hit the fairway, and how far it’s going to be.
“So, from there, Tommy is going to hit the second shot, and we know his dispersion and strokes gained [numbers] from each range, and how many times he hits it inside 10 feet.
Speaking on the No Laying Up podcast, the Italian continued: “We made them play 18 holes on a simulation, and you get an expected score, and then you flip them so Tommy hits first and Rory hits second, and then you do the same for all combinations.
“We were looking at 25 to 30 players, and all of a sudden you were getting some players who were very good in foursomes for different reasons, like one player could be very good because he hits a lot of fairways, and one player could be very good because, say, on even holes it’s important to putt very well, so he could be a great foursomes player.
“For example, Ludvig [Aberg] was great because he is unbelievable off the tee and then, if he was playing even [holes] you could hide his weakness, which is his approach play.”
Donald, during his team’s post-victory press conference, was asked about the secrets behind his team’s success at Bethpage.
“I think when you prep these guys enough, and you communicate enough with these guys, and you give them a plan and an idea and a theme and a motivation, [that] causes the cohesion of the team,” the Englishman explained. “I was very fortunate to have 11 of the same guys from Rome.”
He added: “I really have committed myself to this job because I feel I owe it to the players and I owe it to the Ryder Cup which has been so special to me. I’ve had so many incredible experiences.
“So I’ve had to put my own game a little bit to the side, and every day I’m trying to think about things that could help us, and come up with different things that might just give us a little edge.
“We knew New York was not going to be easy. It was rough. It was brutal at times out there. It really was. It was nasty sometimes.
“My job is literally to give these guys a better chance to win. It can be as simple as some very small things. I’ll give you an example. At the hotel rooms this week, the doors to our hotel rooms had a big crack that let in light. We brought things that covered the light. We put different shampoos that had a better smell.”
“Le Labo, if anyone is wondering,” McIlroy chimed in, before Donald continued.
“We changed the bedding because the beds weren’t very good, and they just had sheets, and we created much nicer beds so guys could sleep and they could have more energy,” he added. “Those are just little things.
“I’m going into some really small details, [but] it’s just taking the time and having the care that you want to do everything you can to give these guys the best opportunity. You want to create an environment where they can succeed.
“These are 12 amazing players, we know that. You’re just trying to put them in a position where they feel comfortable.”
However, when Golf Digest‘s Jamie Kennedy shared this on social media, along with other details such as Donald asking players to stay on Eastern Time in the lead-up to the tournament and creating team uniforms inspired by previous European successes, one notable American took exception.
Yes, that is the Kevin Kisner – one of Bradley’s assistant captains at Bethpage – dishing out the sarcasm. (It is, at this point, worth pointing out that Donald was asked specifically for the details of, aside from talent, precisely what goes into making a successful Ryder Cup team.)
“Weird, we did all the same things, but don’t go advertising,” he wrote.
Perhaps, then, it really does just come down to whether to use a data expert or your caddies to decide your foursomes pairings…
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Kevin Kisner has reacted to Luke Donald listing the small details that went into ensuring Ryder Cup success at Bethpage Black.
