THERE was a time, a generation ago, when a trip to Britain for an American Ryder Cup player was an agreeable vacation: attend a couple of cocktail parties, encourage the wife to go shopping, beat the British and Irish yet again and fly home, first-class.
Conversely, for the British and Irish, the match represented an uncomfortable confirmation of inferiority. The Americans dressed like millionaires, played like millionaires and were millionaires. And they didn’t really care about the Ryder Cup.
How times have changed. After losing seven of the past nine matches, the Americans are very sore and very motivated. Now that the captains have made their final choices, appointing three wild cards each as well as their vice-captains, the likely nature of the match in prospect at Gleneagles in less than three weeks’ time has begun to become clear.
Tom Watson’s picks were especially instructive. His three wild cards all have a point to prove. Keegan Bradley, who could hardly have been more energised and committed in his first match, at Medinah, played a vital part in establishing a 10-6 lead for the United States after two days of foursomes and fourballs. He was mortified to lose his singles match against Rory McIlroy and sickened to see his team’s lead drain away as Europe pulled off their most unlikely victory.
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Hunter Mahan, who was not chosen for Medinah despite being next in line on the US points list, is equally embittered. In his first Ryder Cup match, at Valhalla, he was unbeaten in five games. But at Celtic Manor he lost the critical singles match to Graeme McDowell, contributing to his own wretchedness with a duffed chip on the 17th hole when the stakes were at their highest.
“Losing lingers,” Mahan said after he learnt that he had been chosen by Watson. “It’s been four years but it feels like yesterday. I remember walking off the green and everyone was having a big party and I felt like I was walking by myself for 600 yards to the clubhouse.”
As for Webb Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion formed an effective partnership at Medinah with Bubba Watson, winning both their fourball matches by big margins. That did a big favour to the captain, Davis Love III, as the maverick Watson had looked hard to match as part of a pair. But Simpson was unable to dampen Ian Poulter’s fire in the singles.
All three, as well as most of their fellow team members, have unfinished business, and the Americans have already begun to talk about “redemption”. That is a word we will hear much too often in the weeks to come but it gives an idea of the seriousness of their campaign.
Paul McGinley’s task in selecting his three wild cards was equally agonising but more straightforward. Poulter could not be left out after single-handedly igniting the miracle at Medinah. Stephen Gallacher proved his mettle with a stirring and brilliant performance at the Italian Open when he was under the most intense scrutiny. That left a choice between the out-of-form Ryder Cup stalwart and former world number one Lee Westwood or the out-of-form Ryder Cup stalwart and former world number one Luke Donald.
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Strangely enough, it did not help Donald that he is a good friend of McGinley and publicly endorsed his candidature to be captain. Nor did it help him that he managed to get to the second round of the FedEx Cup series, which merely reminded McGinley that his game was not quite right. Westwood, who supported McGinley’s rival for the captaincy, Darren Clarke, failed to get through to the FedEx second round and stayed at home, which turned out to be the safest place to be.
The choice of Westwood removed any notion of personal favouritism but was such a close call that it cannot be deemed wrong. In any case, as McGinley pointed out, he has a roster of stellar quality, including four of the top five players in the world and the best of all, by a margin, in McIlroy. That strength at the top of Europe’s team, along with their recent record and their much-vaunted team bonding, makes them favourites. But since McGinley is statistically minded he will be well aware that it is only superficial analysis that puts Europe ahead on paper.
The Americans have no player in the top five of the rankings but nine in the top 20 to Europe’s six. Furthermore, the three participating players with the lowest rankings are all European: Gallacher, Poulter and Westwood.
With an average age of 32.5, as opposed to 34.9, the Americans are younger, too, despite having the two oldest players in Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk. Five of the Americans are in their twenties, against three of the Europeans.
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There has been criticism that Watson, who has just celebrated his 65th birthday, is out of touch, and that he was chosen as captain partly for his affinity with Scotland and his old-school charm. Wrong. He has been charged with winning back the cup. The PGA of America has become sick of coming second and Watson was the choice because as well as usually being charming, he has the unbending steel of a winner.
Watson is fortunate that Tiger Woods is absent; team spirit will be easier to forge without him. Watson will also be pleased to be playing away from home, as it will help him to promote the backs-to-the-wall mentality he will seek to foster. Metaphorically, he will tell his men that their ships have been burnt: it will be conquer or perish.
McGinley, who has already impressed with his intelligence and openness, knows all this. He knows that his primary task will be to stamp on any glimmer of complacency.
There is every sign that McGinley will make a superb captain, with just the right mix of rational decision-making and inspirational leadership. But the Americans under Watson will surely prove a formidable force. This time, they will come not for cocktails but to fight tough, like the Dirty Dozen.