If Luke Donald wants to relax the nerves of his European team before the final day of the Ryder Cup he could always take a leaf out of Paul McGinley’s book – not that too many people will be recommending it. The Irishman was part of Bernhard Langer’s successful 2004 side that inflicted a then-record 18.5-9.5 defeat on the USA in their own backyard at Oakland Hills.
After the first two days’ play, the visitors held a commanding 11-5 lead, humbling the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the process.
That lead would only be extended on the final day, but as McGinley recently revealed, Europe’s final day preparation was somewhat at odds with the standard approach of the modern sportsman.
Speaking to Golf Today earlier this month, McGinley confessed that along with his teammates, the team drank so much wine on the Saturday night that bar staff at Oakland Hills had to go out and order more booze for them.
“Also, the world has changed a bit too,” McGinley said. “I mean back in our day, there was quite a bit of alcohol consumed, I think it’s fair to say. Even during Ryder Cups!
“I was amazed when I was captain in ’14, nobody drank. I mean, nobody. It 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 was not even a question.
“Whereas I remember when we won by a record margin back at Oakland Hills under Bernhard Langer, I remember one of the backroom staff telling us on a Saturday night, so this was before the Sunday… we had consumed 72 bottles of wine already on Saturday night, and they had to go and re-order.
“It’s not like we were getting drunk every night — far from it. 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. Obviously, it’s a changed atmosphere now.”
McGinley’s boozy night at Oaklands did not have too much of an effect on how the European team performed as it turned out. The Irishman was last out of the traps, beating Stewart Cink 3 & 2 to round off an emphatic 18.5-9.5 win for Langer’s team.
But if Donald’s team get the job done on Sunday, then there is every chance that they could hit the bar heavy themselves at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. When in Rome, as they say.
