Much has modified within the golf world over the previous two years, due to the feud-turned-merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. But the professional recreation is totally unrecognizable to what it was like 15 years in the past. At least that’s the opinion of former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley.
Appearing on Golf Channel’s “GOLF Today,” McGinley dished on his view of the present Ryder Cup panorama with hosts Damon Hack and Eamon Lynch.
His main rivalry? Pro golf isn’t “fun” anymore. One signal of that decline in McGinley’s eyes is the shortage of alcohol consumption amongst teammates on the Ryder Cup.
“Back in our day, there was quite a bit of alcohol consumed,” McGinley stated, “even during Ryder Cups.”
The instance he used was his personal expertise as a vice captain on the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales. That yr, the European workforce walloped the Americans over the primary 4 classes of the competitors and headed into the ultimate singles matches with a three-point lead.
According to McGinley, he and his fellow European workforce members and workers downed a formidable quantity of wine the night time earlier than the singles matches.
“I remember one of the backroom staff telling us on a Saturday night … we had consumed 72 bottles of wine already on Saturday night,” McGinley stated on GOLF Today, “and they had to go and re-order.”
“It’s not like we were getting drunk every night — far from it,” McGinley continued. “But everyone would have had one, two, maybe three glasses of wine at night and it was normal. And nine, 10 out of the 12 players would do that.”
When McGinley took over the captain position in 2014, he observed a change among the many professionals.
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“I was amazed even when I was captain in 2014, nobody drank. I mean, nobody,” McGinley stated. “I wasn’t like, ‘It’s a Ryder Cup, I’m not going to drink.’ It was a case of, ‘No, I’m not drinking, I don’t drink when I play. It’s not even a question.’”
The 56-year-old with four-career DP World Tour wins advised that the shortage of alcohol consumption, along with the truth that professionals don’t journey collectively as they used to and make many thousands and thousands of {dollars} extra on the course, have mixed to drastically cut back “camaraderie” among the many gamers, implying that the change has negatively impacted the European workforce’s success within the Ryder Cup.
Although, if we take the 2010 occasion for example, as McGinley did, the information recommend that the European workforce’s early celebration didn’t assist them on the course. After beginning the ultimate session with a three-point lead, the Europeans watched because the Americans made a livid cost in singles matches.
While Team Europe nonetheless prevailed, their successful margin was sliced from three to 1, with Europe reclaiming the Ryder Cup, 14.5 to 13.5.
With McGinley within the captain’s chair on the 2014 Ryder Cup (and much much less booze downed), Europe trounced the U.S. 16.5-11.5.
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