Thomas Bjørn would always care far more about winning the Ryder Cup than having the last laugh. Still, it was impossible to ignore the proving of people wrong when Europe’s successful captain pinpointed a key reason behind Sunday’s victory in Paris. “The picks,” said Bjørn immediately on Monday morning.
The selection of that quartet – Paul Casey, Sergio García, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson – led to allegations of an old pals’ act on the part of the captain, specifically in the case of the out-of-form García. The delivery of a combined 9½ points, the best aggregate in Ryder Cup history, meant there was more substance to the process than Bjørn had earlier been given credit for. “They delivered,” he said. “That was not down to me; it was down to them. They wanted to deliver.”
The Dane, now rightly heralded among Europe’s finest captains, revealed his wildcards had no cause to be surprised when their places were confirmed. “I put plans together with them,” he explained. “It was so much easier for me to put plans together with them because I know them so well. I could have conversations with them and know how they work, what they do, what makes them tick, what makes them do the right things coming into it, so we could out-lay plans for them and then go with that. That’s more to Henrik and Sergio than the other two. Paul, when he decided to come back and play in Europe, played in our EurAsia Cup team. That week I spent with him there did so much for him and for me in the way that I knew that he could fit into a team in a really good way.”
Bjørn added: “I told Henrik: ‘Be prepared to play two foursomes. You might play more but be prepared to play two foursomes.’ He goes and delivers three points out of three at 42. It’s a pretty impressive thing to do when you’ve not had the greatest of seasons. With Sergio I felt if I could give him a pick, then that would boost him to go on and do things. I was pushing him. I kept pushing him to making him feel like he needed to do the work.
“You’ve got to remember, he’s now the all-time leading points scorer for Europe. Even if he had not won any points here, he’s still won a lot of Ryder Cup points. That takes some doing because we’ve had some really good players that’s won a lot of Ryder Cups. It says a lot about him. I think this will kick him on to do great things next season.”
There was no denying Europe’s star man. Francesco Molinari, the Open champion, showed his single-mindedness when opting to play in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic rather than in Europe immediately before his triumph at Carnoustie. “I was a bit like, is this the right move?” Bjørn recalled. “I spoke to him about it and he was like: ‘Well, I have to do this for how my year’s planning out,’ so I said to him: ‘I’m a little bit worried about it because I really want you to be on this team.’ I really did on this golf course because I thought it suited him perfectly. For me it would be a perfect foursomes opportunity on this golf course.
“I had the conversation with him and he said: ‘For me I have to do this but I promise you I will make the team.’ I got a message on the Sunday night after the Open saying: ‘Is this good enough?’
“He’s just gone on from strength to strength since. He’s such an underrated player and he has been for a long time. Now that he’s got the confidence that he has as a golfer, he can do anything. He showed that this week. He’s phenomenal. He took on the best players in the world – he is one of the best players in the world – and he showed he’s equal to the task.”
There was far more to Bjørn’s expert planning. Conscious that the Ryder Cup could be decided by the final singles matches, he played video messages from Colin Montgomerie, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer to his team. That quartet secured the Ryder Cup from late Sunday positions in 1997, 2002, 2010 and 2012 respectively. “Those guys told the story about what they experienced,” Bjørn added.
Sports science and medical strategy was put in place to a fresh, detailed level. “If you had tried that in 2002, the nutritionist wouldn’t have got far,” said the captain with a smile.Bjørn is perfectly happy to admit a 17.5 to 10.5 thumping by Europe was beyond his wildest dreams. “If you sit and home and think that’s a score, that would be borderline arrogant against that team,” he said. “There was a time on Sunday where it looked like 14.5 to 13.5 on the prediction.
“Once it kind of pans out that we have won it, it goes a bit flat for the Americans. I thought it was tight and I thought it was going to be really tight. We knew we had to be at our best to win it.”
As further evidence of disharmony within the United States camp appeared, pictures emerged of a typically boisterous scene at a European victory party, where Nick Grimshaw delivered a DJ set. Earlier Bjørn’s team members had formed a WhatsApp group to exchange motivational messages; an image of Justin Thomas wearing a T-shirt with ‘Beat Europe’ emblazoned across the front is known to have featured.
Bjørn is not yet clear what the future holds, such was his commitment to this cause. “I’m going to enjoy the next two months,” he said. “I might have to wait until we get into 2019 to make any concrete decisions on what I’m doing next but right now I just want to go and lie on a bed for a few weeks.”
