The Europeans are favored by most everyone outside of this year’s Ryder Cup but ask the two captains and the 40th edition of the bi-annual golfing grudge match should be a nail-biter.
Captains Tom Watson and Paul McGinley held a joint press conference on Monday and the main theme was that this is going to be a very close matchup. The other noticeable story line is that Watson has and will continue to use redemption as a motivator after the last matchup at Medinah.
Watson acknowledged that the Europeans look strong on paper but didn’t give much more and he seems to feel that when the first tee goes into the ground Friday morning the sides will be pretty even.
“As favorites are concerned, the media, the people that look at the teams, they look at Rory McIlroy, they look at Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson; The European Team is loaded,” Watson said. “But when the matches start at 7:35 on Friday morning, there’s going to be quality of play going on. We’ll just see who wins.”
European captain Paul McGinley didn’t shy away from the favorite tag but he also talked about a slim margin for error in a matchup of what he sees as two pretty evenly matched teams. Europe has won five of the last six Ryder Cups but the last two were both 14 1/2 – 13 1/2 and could have gone either way. So while Europe appears to have a stranglehold on the competition lately, McGinley doesn’t feel his team can just show up and win.
“I think our players have deserved it, and I think it’s a situation, if we are going to be favorites, to embrace it. It’s not something to be afraid of or be ashamed of. The guys have worked very hard to be in the position they are,” McGinley said. “Having said that, I did a bit of calculation myself when the two teams were formulated, and Tom’s team’s average ranking position was 16 and ours was 18. So this is not a weak American Team. We might be slight favorites with the bookies, but the two teams are very well balanced and very close together. We know it’s going to be a very tough contest ahead of us.
The last time out at Medinah everything was going the U.S.’s way until Ian Poulter got hot on Saturday evening, sank every putt he looked at and gave the Europeans a glimmer of hope heading into Sunday singles. We all know what happened from there, the Euros got red-hot and the Americans couldn’t get out of their own way and when Martin Kaymer sank the clinging putt an improbable comeback was complete and Europe retained the cup.
Seven players on this year’s U.S. team were on the team at Medinah and Watson has not and will not be hesitant to use that failure as a tool to motivate his side.
“I know our team is totally committed to bringing the Cup back. I know that. And I’m going to do everything in my power to help them do that and set the stage for them,” Watson said. “I made it very clear to them that this trip is a redemption trip. Those players that played on that team, if any players are on this team, it’s time to make amends and try to redeem yourselves from what happened in 2012. I think it’s a motivation rather than a negative.”
Knowing he is facing a motivated American team with a captain beloved in Scotland, McGinley is doing his best to get across that the Europeans are not locks to win yet another Ryder Cup.
“The bottom line is, this is a very, very strong American Team. The favorite tag or not favorite tag is irrelevant as far as I’m concerned,” McGinley said. “We’re going to have to play really well to win this Ryder Cup. I certainly won’t be underestimating this American Team or Tom. If we’re going to win this Ryder Cup, we’ve got to be on it.”
