The quest for perfect balance in Ryder Cup preparation

Preparation is key.

When it comes to the Ryder Cup, that old adage is a truth that applies to so many facets of both the week itself and the two-year lead-up to the biennial contest. And no stone is left unturned.

For the Captain, it’s something that starts as soon as he is chosen. From that moment on, he begins to engage with a committee and formulate what the next two years will mean. It’s a well-considered process that is so much more than choosing Vice Captains and deciding how many, and who, will form his picks or his pairings.

They become masters of scheduling: for practice groups throughout the calendar year, for uniform fittings and for how the week itself will be organised in terms of practice sessions and groups. They also become masters of man-to-man management; getting to know the players and handling any requests they might have to give them the best opportunity to play well this week. Whether it’s ice baths, food requests or just areas to chill out, all those things fall under the role of the Captain. As does the responsibility of trying to cultivate relationships between the players in their teams. After all, it’s no secret that one of the biggest keys to Europe’s success this century has been referenced time and time again as the relationship between the players in their team room.

Captains are also known to borrow and build on what they feel have been successes of previous leaders of their team, and this year that has filtered through to both teams in a way that feels will now become a piece of necessary scheduled preparation for years to come.

In 2021, Steve Stricker took his entire team to Whistling Straits ahead of the Ryder Cup to help familiarise them with the course and with each other. He felt that in Europe's victory in 2018, the home team's knowledge and experience of Le Golf National, combined with limited practice rounds for his troops, put them on the back foot from the beginning and decided to approach the idea of practice and preparation differently.

Zach Johnson embraced that idea. European Team Captain Luke Donald did too.

The majority of the U.S. Team flew to Rome a couple of weeks ago, and Max Homa highlighted in his press conference why that could be invaluable preparation for their team by the end of this week.

"I'd say basically it felt like a lot to come here, especially because myself, Justin and Zach were playing Napa," he said. "So it felt like a lot at the time. We play new golf courses four times a year typically or three times a year for the Majors, and usually you get to know them pretty quickly.

"But I will say when we were here, the first day we played, mostly all of us hit the wrong clubs on quite a few tees, and then the next day I thought I went out and played the golf course so much better because I not so much knew where I was going but more so knew I had to club down a bit on the third hole and little things like that.

"At the very least I saved myself an entire day of prep. I think that was a big advantage, considering it is all the way over here and it made the trip feel completely worth it because I feel like it saved us all day of yesterday, and little things like that can go a long way."

A day later, Team Europe arrived. Many in the team already came armed with plenty of experience around Marco Simone, with Rookies Robert MacIntyre and Nicolai Højgaard champions of the Italian Open in two of the last three years - but it was the first time the team had purposefully come together in this way prior to Ryder Cup week.

Rory McIlroy, who is playing in his seventh Ryder Cup this year, echoed how important it was but was surprised that it took their team this long to do it.

"It was amazing," he had said in the immediate aftermath.

"I'm sort of surprised it's the first time we'd ever really done it. There's a few new faces on the team and I thought it was a great exercise in terms of getting to know one another a little bit better. I had an opportunity to play with Ludvig for the first time on Monday, which I was excited about. I told him, 'I said I've been looking forward to this for a while'.

"But yeah, so it's just been - not that I need to get anymore excited about an upcoming Ryder Cup - but that trip definitely got the juices flowing."

"I feel like the Ryder Cup as a team started a couple of weeks ago," echoed Justin Rose.

"We did come over for a practice trip the Monday of Wentworth. It was a worthwhile experience from a team bonding point of view and I think that made the whole week at Wentworth feel like a little bit of a soft continuation of that team spirit and team bonding."

The 12-man European team then all teed up and made the cut in the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour, while Homa, Johnson and Thomas flew to Napa to play on the PGA TOUR. Others dispersed to engage in other preparations in their own ways.

As McIlroy put it, they come together as a team, but to do that they individually need to go and do what's best for them to get ready to play in Rome.

"Even though, you know, we are trying to create this really good team environment, at the end of the day, we are individual sports people," he added.

"We all need to do what's best for us to get ourselves ready to play in Rome."

The individual aspect is an important one.

When it comes to the Majors, most players sit on one side of the court of opinion over whether playing the week before, or taking the week off, is the best way to prepare. But when it comes to this week’s Ryder Cup, there is no steadfast rule or easy parallels to be drawn between the U.S. Team and Team Europe. Instead, what ensues is a plethora of different strategies that end with one common goal: come to the Ryder Cup as best prepared as you can, whatever way that is.

For McIlroy, that meant a week off competitive golf, where he went to a friend's stag do in Greece and then joined Shane Lowry at the Rugby World Cup. Ludvig Åberg went to support Team Europe at the Solheim Cup. Matt Fitzpatrick went to watch football before flying out, and Robert MacIntyre played in the Cazoo Open de France with Vice Captains Edoardo Molinari and Nicolas Colsaerts.

With the break in the PGA TOUR schedule making it impossible for most players on the U.S. Team to tee it up, Brooks Koepka was the only player on that side playing competitively last week. For everyone else on the American team, a lot of laying low, and a lot of on-course practice.

“I took two weeks off, got my mind right and refreshed," said Wyndham Clark.

"Then kind of really got into grind mode, practised and played quite a bit, worked on my equipment in San Diego with Titleist, made sure that was all good. Then last week played a lot of money games at Whisper Rock with a lot of good players, and then Max [Homa] and I played best ball and alternate shot multiple days against other good players.”

For Champion Golfer of the Year and Ryder Cup Rookie Brian Harman, the key for him was relaxing after the end of the regular PGA TOUR season before turning up the practice sessions in the last two weeks.

“A lot of it is resting up,” said Harman. "Not enough gets made, our bodies take kind of a beating all year. So getting done at the TOUR Championship, pretty much just a week of nothing, practised a little bit, came over here, and then two weeks of just grinding on my game, just trying to get as ready as I can.

“I feel like I owe it to - it's a different sort of feeling being on a team. Like you don't want to overprepare. You don't want to get yourself too psyched out about it but, at the same time, you really feel like... man, I want to play great for this team. I've been really focused on that.

"Just been trying to kind of lay low and not do a whole lot. I've just been grinding. Resting and grinding."

That individual aspect is especially important to have right ahead of the week, because the week itself is unlike any other in golf.

Add schedules, dinners, media and the Opening Ceremony to a mix of occasions unique to a Ryder Cup week, and the balance of trying to keep 12 players happy that they are being given the best opportunity to perform becomes more important to get right. For the U.S. team, that means a toned-back approach to strict structure of years past.

"You've got to figure out what works," Brooks Koepka said in his press conference.

"Different group of guys each time, so you've got to figure out what works for the majority or what works for most, and I think they've done a really good job this week of letting us be us and do what makes us play well.

"I think from when I was on the team in '16, it was very structured of there's a lot more things we had to do off the golf course, but they've definitely toned it back a little bit. It's honestly probably one of the most tiring weeks with practice rounds, a lot of media, a lot of functions, different things like that. It can be late nights, early mornings, especially if you're going to go play 36-36 or whatever the case may be.

"Even when you've got the afternoon off or the morning off, to me, I like going to watch some of the guys, so I'll go watch them for nine holes. You end up walking a whole lot more than what you normally would, so just trying to rest as much as you can."

This year, official practice rounds consisted of 18 holes on Tuesday, nine holes on Wednesday and nine holes on Thursday. There was a Gala Dinner on Wednesday, and several other Team events on other evenings.

The resulting environment can be an overwhelming one for Rookies.

When Rory McIlroy (2010) and Jon Rahm (2018) made their debuts, they were both the Number One player in the Official World Golf Ranking, yet didn't feel like they had a voice in the team room. This year, they are both trying to lead by making the the team room environment one that encourages the younger players to ask questions.

"My first Ryder Cup I didn't ask one single question, I was about as quiet as one can be," he said.

"I'm very shy and introverted by nature, so everything -- the whole week seemed a little daunting at first. And you're going into a locker room where people have been sharing for 15 to 20 years, so it's very hard to -- at least it was very hard for me to fit in right away like that. A lot easier the second time, though."

"I always tell them it's very easy to really be in your mind and your feelings because you don't really know how to process a week like this so ask as many questions as you can from anybody. There's no such thing as a stupid question. Just that curiosity is going to get you somewhere.

"At the same time, I understand that they're here wanting to prove why they're here and make their mark as rookies, but there's always something to learn from some of the great players.

"I don't necessarily mean golf-wise, it's just how they process, how they deal with a week like this. I think that curiosity is very, very important."

It's leadership like that which could well make a difference to how prepared a Rookie might feel, which is one of several nuances to consider when it comes to what it takes to make a team as prepared as they can be come that opening tee shot.

By the time the Opening Ceremony comes round the only thing left to do is announce the pairings, which this time around will be led out by the opening match of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton against Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns.

And now that the pairings for those opening foursomes matches have been announced, captain’s and their players will just have to hope that all the work they’ve put will be enough.