PLAYING NICE: U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and European captain Jose Maria Olazabal pose with the Ryder Cup trophy outside of the clubhouse at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois, yesterday. (
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MEDINAH, Ill. — What makes a good Ryder Cup captain?
The answer is not short nor is it simple.
Every two years, when the U.S. takes on Europe, the behavior of the Ryder Cup captains provides a fascinating look into both how personality and strategy affect the players they are trying to lead and into their respective legacies in the game.
How this week’s competition plays out between U.S. captain Davis Love III and his European counterpart Jose Maria Olazabal will provide one of the most intriguing subplots to the story — and neither man will hit a shot.
When it’s over on Sunday night, the winning captain will undoubtedly be lauded for his brilliance in working with his players and strategizing. The losing captain is often subject to criticism over how he handled his team or whether he whiffed on strategy.
Both Love and Olazabal made their Ryder Cup week debut yesterday as they convened for the first time at Medinah for three days of practice leading to Friday’s opening matches.
As expected, niceties were exchanged between the two with sportsmanship and grace at high priority.
Once the first balls are struck and results become the main focus, the tenor to the week could change as the pressure to win builds. The end result and how the teams get to it will shape the legacy of both captains.
“This is a huge week for our game; it’s been a long wait, but the time has come,’’ Olazabal said yesterday. “The most important thing is the passion. You have to make your players believe that you’re playing for something really special, that this is a really unique moment. You try to pass that on to the players.’’
Love said: “These guys are going to have moments out there this week that will change their careers and that they will remember the rest of their lives.’’
So, too, will Love and Olazabal, whose legacies in the game likely will be altered one way or another, because this is what happens with Ryder Cup captains.
Two years ago in the Americans’ loss to Europe, Corey Pavin was ridiculed by many for having his wife so involved in the process and, when the team’s rain suits that his wife had designed sprung leaks in the soggy Wales weather, Pavin’s credibility came into question.
Four years ago, when Paul Azinger captained the U.S. to a win over Nick Faldo and the Europeans, it was Azinger who rose to a pedestal for being a brilliant tactician when he divided his team up into “pods’’ to help it be more familiar with each other’s games, personalities and psyches.
Faldo, meanwhile, saw his reputation as a cold and calculating player obliterated when he came off as a bumbling and emotionally erratic captain and he actually become a sympathetic figure to the European press that generally takes pleasure in skewering him.
At each Ryder Cup, the captains become stories.
Few will forget Ben Crenshaw’s Saturday night speech to his players in ’99 at Brookline when the Americans faced a huge deficit entering the singles and he implored to them that he had “a feeling’’ they were going to overcome it and win.
Hal Sutton is still lampooned for his awkward pairing of rivals Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in a 2004 foursome match — a match that went badly, played into the hands of the Europeans and was seen as a catalyst to the Euros drubbing of the Americans 18 1/2 to 9 1/2.
In 2006, Tom Lehman did all the right things before and during the matches — gathering the team together at the K Club in advance of the matches for a couple days of bonding — and he still lost.
So, what makes a good Ryder Cup captain?
“Create the best environment for the players and massage each guy according to who they are and get input from the players,’’ Azinger said. “Other than that, get out of the way. If you make it about you as a captain you’re going to get crushed. Faldo made it about himself. Pavin made it all about him and wife.
“If [the Americans] win I think Davis will go down as one of best captains of all time. I think he’s going to do a great job. He’s the consummate gentleman. Everyone likes him.’’
Let’s see if that holds true by week’s end when the Ryder Cup is hoisted.