Marco Simone guarantees a dramatic scene — and a hilly stroll.
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You could not but know a lot in regards to the setup for subsequent week’s Ryder Cup at Marco Simone. But know this: It’s going to be hilly.
“It’s a brutal walk,” U.S. captain Zach Johnson mentioned final week, after his workforce’s scouting journey.
“It’s so hilly and the temperature could be pretty hot, too, that I think guys are going to be happy to probably rest,” added assistant captain Stewart Cink. “There’s not going to be a lot of disappointment for not playing.”
On an NBC name previewing the Cup on Thursday, Paul Azinger known as it “a bit of an endurance test.”
“If somebody plays all five matches, I think it’s going to be tough on ’em,” his colleague Curt Byrum added.
You get the concept. Marco Simone is a straight-up hike.
But these guys are used to strolling. They’re used to warmth. And they’re used to hills. No massive deal, proper?
According to the captains, it really is one thing of a giant deal. The condensed nature of the occasion — two classes Friday, two classes Saturday, singles on Sunday — imply that high gamers might trek 5 full rounds in simply three days. Temperatures are anticipated to creep into the higher 80s in Rome subsequent week. And that is the Ryder Cup, which entails the next preparation-to-play ratio than every other occasion in skilled golf. Many of those guys not often have coaches at golf tournaments, in any case — now they’ve a captain plus a bevy of assistants to emphasize the small stuff.
So there are distinctive preparations underway.
Fred Couples revealed on his SiriusXM radio present on Thursday that Johnson launched a lighter, extra slender golf bag to the lineup in a nod to the calls for of Marco Simone.
“Zach has small bags for the caddies,” he mentioned. “That’s how hilly and tough this course can be.”
As for European captain Luke Donald? He’s been planning, too.
“It is a possibility that some guys who are used to playing five might not play five,” he mentioned on the BMW PGA Championship. “You want some freshness, it is going to be a tiring golf course, it could be quite warm. We’ll have to make those decisions based on play on Friday and Saturday. They all want to be out there and play as much as they can but they understand the rationale behind it.”
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That all is sensible. But he additionally hinted in the direction of one other idea we’ve not seen in my Ryder Cup reminiscence: pooled caddies. Some gamers may make the trek however their bagmen may want lodging.
“For the caddies, we have enough people there to fill in if someone can’t do 36 holes,” Donald informed the Express. “That has all been thought about.”
The course measures simply greater than 150 ft from its low level to excessive. The 18th gap alone drops greater than 100 ft from tee to inexperienced, which suggests you’ll have finished some climbing to get there. That’s a quantity that pales compared to Kapalua, the hardest stroll on the PGA Tour, the place the quantity is extra like 500. But almost half the holes function blind method pictures, which implies hill climbs to elevated greens. Add in lengthy tough, the additional stressors of match play and the X-factor of jet lag and also you’re speaking about stress-testing gamers’ legs.
U.S. gamers appeared to take carts throughout its scouting journey, which Wyndham Clark informed Sports Illustrated was “like college golf on steroids.” The European workforce was there, too, forward of the BMW PGA Championship. “It was amazing,” Rory McIlroy mentioned. “I’m sort of surprised it’s the first time we’d ever really done it.”
That doesn’t imply everybody was loopy in regards to the golf course.
“It’s very blind. And for a stroke-play event, I was not a big fan,” Viktor Hovland mentioned. “This time around when I played it, I still don’t think it’s an amazing stroke-play event, or golf course, but for match play, I think it’s going to be super-exciting because there’s a good mix of the holes that are easy that you can make birdies and you can make eagles, but there’s also some extremely difficult holes where if you make a par, you could win the hole.”
Win the outlet — and stroll to the following one.
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