- Title: UK-RYDER CUP CAPTAINS Ryder Cup captains ready for the challenge
- Date: 22nd September 2014
- Summary: GLENEAGLES, SCOTLAND, UK (SEPTEMBER 22, 2014) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EUROPE RYDER CUP CAPTAIN PAUL MCGINLEY (ON LEFT) AND UNITED STATES CAPTAIN TOM WATSON SHAKING HANDS BEHIND THE RYDER CUP MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOM WATSON SAYING: "There's a part of me, when I chose the captain's pick, it was about chemistry. Obviously, Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson, they have a very good chemistry; Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson have great chemistry; it's shown in the past. You have to kind of back on past experiences though, so that part of it, but also the way they are playing is a big factor as well. There is no one factor, it's a combination of factors to me." (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAUL MCGINLEY SAYING: "Yes, again it's similar. I picked two players very experienced, Lee (Westwood) and Ian Poulter, and then I've gone with Stephen Gallacher who was the hottest player who wasn't in the team, he just missed out, so, a bit like Tom, it's a mixture and three guys you know would fit into the team, that you know could be easily paired." MCGINLEY AND WATSON (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAUL MCGINLEY SAYING: "I think we are slight favourites, but not overwhelming favourites. We are slight favourites, but we have been favourites before in Ryder Cups, it's not like this is the first time ever. I think our players have deserved it and I think it's a situation if we are going to be favourites to embrace it, not something to be afraid of or ashamed of. The guys have worked very hard to be in the position they are. But, having said that, I did a little bit of a calculation myself when the two teams were formulated, and Tom's team average ranking position was 16 and ours was 18, so this is not a weak American team. We might be slight favourites with the bookies, but the two teams are very well balanced, very close together, so we know that it is going to be a very tough contest ahead of us." (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOM WATSON SAYING: "As favourites are concerned, the media, the people that look at the teams, they look at Rory McIlroy, they look at Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, the European team is loaded, but when the matches start at 7.35 on Friday morning, there's going to be a quality of play going on. We will just see who wins. I know our team is totally committed to bring the Cup back, I know that. I'm going to do everything in my power to help them do that, set the stage for them." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOM WATSON SAYING: "I think I've made very clear to them - this trip is a redemption trip. Those players who played in that team, many of them are on this team, it's time to make amends. Try to redeem yourselves from what happened in 2012. I think it's a motivation, rather than a negative." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAUL MCGINLEY SAYING: "Medinah was a big learning curve for me personally. We were really getting a walloping the first two days, and that was the first time I was in that situation, and I learned a lot from Jose-Maria (Olazabal). I learned a lot from him how the decisions he made and the structures he put in place, to give us the best chance of getting out of the hole we were in, so it was a big learning curve for us and looking back on it now, it was a great experience." MCGINLEY AND WATSON (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOM WATSON SAYING: "One of the thing I want to tell my team is that, no matter how far you are down - I'm sure Paul does the same thing, and they had a good record of it in 2012 at Medinah - no matter how far you're down, you can win, and don't ever give up on a single shot." MEDIA MCGINLEY AND WATSON SHAKING HANDS
- Embargoed: 7th October 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAEOVTS3NYT0L8C3RMNZ97YJSTU
- Story Text: Europe' Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley will be hoping that his team can live up to their billing as bookmakers' favourites when they take on the United States at Gleneagles, Scotland, UK later this week.
Tom Watson, who is captaining the United States for a second time after leading them to victory in 1993, does not have the services of former world number one Tiger Woods following injury problems, and has chosen Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley and Hunter Mahan to complete his 12-man team.
"There's a part of me, when I chose the captain's pick, it was about chemistry. Obviously, Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson, they have a very good chemistry; Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson have great chemistry; it's shown in the past. You have to kind of back on past experiences though, so that part of it, but also the way they are playing is a big factor as well. There is no one factor, it's a combination of factors to me," said Watson at the first captains' press conference held at Gleneagles on Monday (September 22).
McGinley went for a blend of experience - Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter - and the player in form on the European Tour, Stephen Gallacher, nephew of Bernard Gallacher who captained Europe three times including victory in 1995.
"I picked two players very experienced, Lee (Westwood) and Ian Poulter, and then I've gone with Stephen Gallacher who was the hottest player who wasn't in the team, he just missed out, so, a bit like Tom, it's a mixture and three guys you know would fit into the team, that you know could be easily paired," said McGinley.
The Irishman rates his Ryder Cup team as one of the strongest assembled by Europe but he will be mindful this week of the special influence rival captain Tom Watson can exert on his United States side.
Holders Europe are considered the favourites to win the 40th edition of the biennial team event especially as they boast four of the top six players in the world rankings and have won seven of the last nine Ryder Cups.
McGinley, however, sounded a cautionary note to his 12 players.
"I think we are slight favourites, but not overwhelming favourites," said McGinley. "We are slight favourites, but we have been favourites before in Ryder Cups, it's not like this is the first time ever. I think our players have deserved it and I think it's a situation if we are going to be favourites to embrace it, not something to be afraid of or ashamed of. The guys have worked very hard to be in the position they are. But, having said that, I did a little bit of a calculation myself when the two teams were formulated, and Tom's team average ranking position was 16 and ours was 18, so this is not a weak American team. We might be slight favourites with the bookies, but the two teams are very well balanced, very close together, so we know that it is going to be a very tough contest ahead of us."
Watson knows that Europe's team includes world number one Rory McIlroy who won the British Open and the USPGA Championship this year, but he said his team is totally committed to bringing the Cup back.
"As favourites are concerned, the media, the people that look at the teams, they look at Rory McIlroy, they look at Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, the European team is loaded, but when the matches start at 7.35 on Friday morning, there's going to be a quality of play going on. We will just see who wins. I know our team is totally committed to bring the Cup back, I know that. I'm going to do everything in my power to help them do that, set the stage for them," he said.
Watson added that the trip to the Home of Golf represented an opportunity for the Americans to banish the memory of their capitulation two years ago.
Europe trailed 10-6 going into the final-day singles but staged a remarkable fightback to win by 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2 in a match now known as the 'Miracle in Medinah'.
"I think I've made very clear to them - this trip is a redemption trip. Those players who played in that team, many of them are on this team, it's time to make amends. Try to redeem yourselves from what happened in 2012. I think it's a motivation, rather than a negative," said Watson.
McGinley, who was one of the vice-captains for Jose-Maria Olazabal in Medinah, said that he had learnt a lot from that experience.
"Medinah was a big learning curve for me personally. We were really getting a walloping the first two days, and that was the first time I was in that situation, and I learned a lot from Jose-Maria (Olazabal). I learned a lot from him how the decisions he made and the structures he put in place, to give us the best chance of getting out of the hole we were in, so it was a big learning curve for us and looking back on it now, it was a great experience," said McGinley.
Watson said that Europe's comeback in 2012 proved that no cause is ever lost, however bad it may seem.
"One of the thing I want to tell my team is that, no matter how far you are down - I'm sure Paul does the same thing, and they had a good record of it in 2012 at Medina - no matter how far you're down, you can win, and don't ever give up on a single shot," said Watson.
The Ryder Cup starts on Friday (September 26) and concludes on Sunday (September 28).
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None