You’d wonder if American players in contention for the Ryder Cup would have learned something.
You’d wonder if American players in contention for the Ryder Cup would have learned something.
The 2018 Ryder Cup was played at the National Golf Club of France, and the DP World Tour scheduled the French Open there. Seven members of the European Ryder Cup team played in that tournament. One American player competed, Justin Thomas.
Europe won going away by seven points. Thomas was the lone bright spot for the Americans with a 4-1 record, including a 1-up singles victory over Rory McIlroy in the first match out of the gate on Sunday.
The Italian Open is next week at Marco Simone, the site of the year’s Ryder Cup. However, no American players are entered, since the Wells Fargo Championship the same week is a designated event, with a $20 million purse.
The U.S. team is made up of the top six eligible players in the points rankings with six captain’s picks. The European team includes the top three eligible players from each of the European Points List and World Points List, plus six captain’s picks.
Europe golfer Francesco Molinari celebrates with Europe golfer Tommy Fleetwood after winning their match during the 2018 Ryder Cup Friday afternoon matches at Le Golf National. Mandatory Credit: Ian Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Among the European Ryder Cup contenders in the field are Victor Perez, Thorbjorn Olesen, Robert MacIntyre and Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard.
U.S. captain Zach Johnson said he’s not concerned and has trips planned for U.S. players to visit the course later this summer.
“The more times you can get your feet on the site, great,” he told the Associated Press. “But I’ve got some plans in store that will allow the team to get used to a golf course that they’re not familiar with.”
Johnson selected Davis Love III to serve as a vice captain for the 2023 matches, which are slated for Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Love’s Ryder Cup resume includes two stints as captain (2012, 2016) and six appearances as a player.
“The Ryder Cup is one of the truly special events in all of sports, and I am so honored to be named a Vice Captain in Italy in 2023,” said Love in a release. “Zach has worked tirelessly since he was named Captain, and I’m ready to do whatever it takes to help Zach and the entire U.S. Team to win in September.”
“I love it all. Anything to do with the Cup, I love it.”
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — It’s too early to tell what kind of Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson will be in 2023 when the U.S. meets Europe Sept. 28-Oct. 1 at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome.
That answer usually comes after the matches and fair or unfair, is almost always linked to whether a captain’s team won or lost.
But two-time Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III offered a hint.
“He’s already ahead of the game,” Love said. “He’s on it.”
Love was referring to the myriad of organizational details that a captain and his wife have to plow through in the year or so before the matches: uniforms for the players, outfits for the wives, golf bags, practice rounds, travel, corporate functions with sponsors and meetings upon meetings with the PGA of America, the governing body for the Ryder Cup.
“I love it all,” said Johnson, who has lived on St. Simons Island since 2006. “Anything to do with the Cup, I love it.”
And the captain also has an important job, especially in recent years: make sure the preparation and attending to detail is so exhaustive that the 12-man team can show up that week and focus on golf — and hopefully keep any soap operas to a minimum.
“I’m a guy that I can’t stand drama, so it’s going to be my goal to avoid that,” Johnson said during a news conference Wednesday at the Sea Island Club, the site of this week’s RSM Classic. “It’s not always easy, it’s not always practical, it’s not always going to happen. That’s No. 1. No. 2 would be I just want to give the guys the ability to enter the most uncomfortable week in a very comfortable manner.”
Team Captains Luke Donald of England and Zach Johnson of The United States pose for a photograph with the Ryder Cup Trophy at the Colosseum during the Ryder Cup 2023 Year to Go Media Event on October 04, 2022, in Rome. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Breaking a 30-year road drought
Love and 2021 captain Steve Stricker have guided the U.S. to victories in two of the last three Ryder Cups, breaking a European domination in which that continent won three in a row, and six of seven.
But Johnson has another tall task: winning a road game. The U.S. last won in Europe in 1993 at The Belfry in England. When Europe won in 2018 in France, it was its sixth victory in a row on home soil.
The odds are that Johnson will have much the same star-packed team that won 19-9 at Whistling Straits in 2021.
Unless some kind of compromise is reached with LIV Golf, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau won’t be eligible, but Johnson likely will have veterans such as Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa and Tony Finau.
But he may also have the 2021 Ryder Cup rookie foursome of Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Harris English and Daniel Berger, which combined to go 8-3-1, and some players who have yet to make a team but are racking up points, such as Will Zalatoris and Cameron Young.
Johnson said the PGA of America’s Ryder Cup “Task Force,” which established a list of best practices and a more consistent leadership process after the 2014 Ryder Cup loss under Tom Watson, has yielded results with the victories under Love and Stricker. He sees no reason to change.
“We have a system. … a template,” Johnson said. “The system for Team USA is really, really good right now. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to win … but it’s good and it can take on the personality year in and year out of that leader so you can stay on the same road and just have a different bus driver.”
Johnson should be well-prepared. He’s played in five Ryder Cups and has been a vice-captain for the last two, under Stricker and Jim Furyk.
Considering one of his St. Simons Island neighbors is Love, Johnson has an experienced guide through the minefields of the coming year.
Johnson’s first goal: Playing captain
Job one for Johnson is that he wants to be a Ryder Cup player. The last playing captain was Arnold Palmer in 1963 when he went 4-2 and led the U.S. to a 23-9 victory over Great Britain & Ireland at East Lake in Atlanta.
“I’m going to try to make the team,” he said. “That may be kind of smart alec-like, but it’s a Ryder Cup year, that’s always been one of my goals, right? The best things I’ve been associated with in this game have been those teams. Is that realistic? I have no idea.”
Johnson last made the Tour Championship in 2015, the year he won the second of his two major championships, the British Open at St. Andrews. He is making only his second start of the season this week.
“There were two tournaments I would have liked to have played this fall but I couldn’t play and that’s okay,” he said of Ryder Cup-related issues. “If that’s a problem, it’s a great problem. It just means I have to be really efficient in my practice.”
But in the process of still playing on the PGA Tour, he can remain close to prospective players on his team, not just practice rounds and range sessions, but trying to beat them.
“I’m kind of in that bridge between some of the youth and then some of the non-youth of the game,” he said of his age of 46. “I’m in a good position. I think it’s a smart thing to have somebody in my age group to lead the team at some point.”
Johnson will be the first Ryder Cup captain under 50 years old since Paul Azinger in 2008, and when the matches begin, will be the youngest since Tom Lehman in 2006.
“The beauty of me being captain is that I’m still around these guys almost on a weekly basis,” Johnson said. “For the most part, I’m playing a fairly full schedule, given some limitations.”
Team USA captain Davis Love III, Zach Johnson of the United States, Brandt Snedeker of the United States and Jimmy Walker of the United States watch on the 14th hole during the afternoon four-ball matches in the 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Photo: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Players back Johnson
Prospective players are eager to make the team and have the chance to work with Johnson.
“He’s just got so much passion about him,” English said. “He’s very positive and just a great guy. He’s going to keep it light in there. He’s been on a lot of Ryder Cup teams, kind of seen the good and the bad and he’s going to take all the good stuff and lean on guys like Davis, lean on guys like Stricker to help him out. He’s going to be an unbelievable captain to play for.”
Brian Harman touched on Johnson’s inner fire, the intensity that stamped out two major titles and 12 PGA Tour victories despite being among the shortest hitters on Tour in an era of bombers.
“He’s a bulldog,” Harman said. “He’s a fighter and I think that’s the kind of captain that you need, especially playing that tournament overseas. You need a hard-nosed guy that cares more about winning than he does about the style points and I think he’s going to be fantastic.”
Love said Johnson has a mind for organizational details.
“He’s really good at time management, he’s really good at using his team to set up a game plan,” Love said. “We have someone smart and organized as a captain.”
Johnson said that above all, he will be himself.
“I hope I’m the same dude,” he said. “I don’t have to deviate away from being myself. The best captains I’ve ever had led by being themselves. That’s what I’m going to try to do.”
Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter
“I wish they could play, but it doesn’t look good.”
LIV Golf has torn the game apart at the seams.
A clear example came at last month’s Presidents Cup, where International Captain Trevor Immelman had to pick up the pieces after two of his stalwarts, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann, left for the Saudi Arabia-funded circuit.
Although they fought until the end, the International squad didn’t have nearly enough to compete with the Americans — a team that would have included Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka if they, too, didn’t sign with Greg Norman.
The next team event on the schedule is the 2023 Ryder Cup set to be staged at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy, from September 29 to October 1.
Several players from the 2021 European team that was dismantled at Whistling Straits — Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Bernd Wiesberger — are now banished from the PGA Tour.
Although beyond their prime, experience in team competitions can’t be overstated (although it didn’t seem to work in ’21).
With the apparent loss of these veterans, European Captain Luke Donald will need to find new blood to fill the open roster spots.
What could the ’23 Ryder Cup teams look like?:U.S. | Europe
“We’re still a little bit in limbo. We don’t know what’s going to happen with the lawsuit, so I’m trying to not really put too much energy into it. Once we get a clearer picture, I can give you better answers,” Donald said last month at the BMW PGA Championship.
On Saturday, Jon Rahm told The Telegraph how he feels about allowing LIV members to play in the biennial event.
“The Ryder Cup is not the PGA Tour and European Tour against LIV – it’s Europe versus the US, period,” Rahm said. “The best of each against the other, and for me the Ryder Cup is above all. I wish they could play, but it doesn’t look good.”
He’s not the only highly-ranked European star to feel this way. Matt Fitzpatrick, world No. 10, spoke freely last month at the DS Automobiles Italian Open, an event played at Marco Simone.
“I just want to win the Ryder Cup… I want the 11 best guys we can get. I’m not really too bothered about where they are going to come from,” he said.
“I have said it once I’ve said it a hundred times, I don’t think any of those guys should be on the Ryder Cup team,” he said in Italy.
“I think the European Team has a core of six or seven guys that I think we all know are pretty much going to be on that team, and then it’s up to some of the younger guys to maybe step up.
“But I think we were in need of a rebuild, anyway,” McIlroy continued. “It was sort of, we did well with the same guys for a very long time but again as I just said, everything comes to an end at some point. I think Whistling Straits is a good sort of demarcation, I guess.”
Team Europe players (clockwise from top left) Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry, Ian Poulter, and Rory McIlroy laugh while posing for a team photo during a practice round for the 43rd Ryder Cup golf competition at Whistling Straits. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
All three — Rahm, McIlroy and Fitzpatrick — are expected to be in Rome next year.
In the end, if LIV players aren’t allowed to participate, Europe will have to turn to young names such as Robert MacIntyre and the Hojggard twins. MacIntyre is currently the third and last automatic qualifier for captain Donald.
The Europeans won the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris and haven’t lost on home soil since 1993 at The Belfry.
“It was a very memorable experience and the honor wasn’t lost on us,” said Johnson.
Being a Ryder Cup captain has its perks and benefits, especially when Italy is the host nation of the biennial bash.
As the Americans and Europeans prepare to square off at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, September 29 – October 1, 2023, U.S. captain Zach Johnson and European captain Luke Donald took part in the Ryder Cup Year to Go Celebrations that included a visit to the Colosseum, hitting shots at the Temple of Venus and Roma, a gala dinner at the exclusive Palazzo Colonna, and oh yeah, they met the pope.
“It was a very memorable experience and the honor wasn’t lost on us,” said Johnson. “Clearly today was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Pope Francis was beyond gracious, warm and welcoming. (Wife Kim) and I will never forget our Vatican morning.”
Donald and Johnson held a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican and gifted him an inscribed replica Ryder Cup: “Presented to His Holiness The Pope By Ryder Cup Captains Luke Donald and Zach Johnson.” Among countless world-famous paintings and sculptures, the captains’ names will live on forever on the cup in the Vatican.
“As Ryder Cup Captain I am fortunate to be able to do many special things, but having a private audience with Pope Francis was certainly a memory that myself and (wife Diane) will always cherish,” added Donald.
The U.S. currently holds the Ryder Cup after its dominant 19-9 win at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in 2021. Italy will host for the first time next fall when the Americans will look to win for the first time on foreign soil since 1993 at The Belfry.
The American captain said Woods is “very much a part of Team USA.”
Ryder Cup captains Zach Johnson and Luke Donald gathered for a joint press conference and unsurprisingly enough it took just two questions before Tiger Woods and his status for the upcoming competition was put to question.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next September, but you can rest assured that he will be in constant communication with our team,” Johnson said on Tuesday at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy, the host for next fall’s biennial bash between the United States Europe, September 29–October 1. Whether as a player or captain, Johnson confirmed Woods “will be a part of this team in some capacity.”
“I can’t put this mildly: He loves the Ryder Cup,” added Johnson, who represented Team USA five times as a player and will make his debut as captain in Italy. “He has made it a priority of his, and certainly Team USA. He wants to be a part of it as best he can. Obviously he’s gone through some things as of late that make it difficult whether it’s travel or what-have-you. But he and I will be in constant communication. I will welcome that. He has great ideas. Has great encouragement.”
“But he’s very much a part of Team USA.”
U.S. Ryder Cup player Tiger Woods (L) watches as team mate Zach Johnson plays his tee shot from the fourth during a Ryde Cup practice session at Celtic Manor golf course in Newport, Wales on September 28, 2010. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
The 15-time major champion has competed in eight Ryder Cups, most recently in Paris in 2018. Woods is 13-21-3 in the competition, with a 4-2-2 record in singles. He was not officially involved in last year’s American rout of the Europeans at Whistling Straits, 19-9. In fact, the last time golf fans saw Woods as a member of Team USA, he was a playing captain at the 2019 Presidents Cup, going a perfect 3-0-0 to lead the U.S. over the Internationals 16-14.
Navigating Marco Simone’s hilly terrain on foot would make for quite the challenge for Woods, who continues to recover from multiple leg injuries sustained in a single-car accident in February 2021. Riding in a golf cart as a vice-captain, however, is a different story.
“I get punched but I punch back and the birdies coming in were massive and thankfully I got one in the playoff.”
Roman golf fans will be treated to the best of the best next fall when the 2023 Ryder Cup descends on the city, and they got an early taste of what to expect from this week’s Italian Open.
Robert MacIntyre shot a 7-under 64 on Sunday to match 54-hole leader Matt Fitzpatrick at 14 under and force a playoff at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, which will play host for the biennial bout between the United States and Europe. Both Fitzpatrick and MacIntyre are poised to feature for Luke Donald’s European side, and it was the latter who left with the trophy for his second DP World Tour victory.
On the first playoff hole, MacIntyre’s tee shot found the fairway on the par-5 18th while Fitzpatrick’s sliced into the thick rough left of the fairway. From there the 26-year-old Scot just missed the green with his approach but got up-and-down for birdie to beat Fitzpatrick, who had to scramble for par.
In his post-round interview, MacIntyre said he, “was down and out two, three months ago, I didn’t know what I was doing, I didn’t know where to go,” before he praised his caddie, coaches, family and friends for supporting him through his struggles. After a pair of bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15, MacIntyre could hear the roars of the crowd as Fitzpatrick made a move, but he wasn’t deterred. Instead, he birdied Nos. 16 and 18 to force the playoff.
“We dug in. I’ve got a dogged attitude, never give up,” MacIntyre said. “I get punched but I punch back and the birdies coming in were massive and thankfully I got one in the playoff.”
MacIntyre was viewed as a snub for the last Ryder Cup matches in 2021 after veterans Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter were selected despite ranking 10 and 14 spots lower on the European points list, respectively.
“It’s my only goal for the next year,” MacIntyre said of making the European Ryder Cup squad. When it comes to team selection, with the future status of players on the LIV Golf series in question for the event, this week is a big step forward for MacIntyre and his 2023 goals.
The Europeans, now headed by Henrik Stenson, are transitioning, but the Swede is not intimidated.
You would be hard pressed to find a restaurant that serves decent pickled herring or that has a selection of aquavit in Des Moines, Iowa, but the Hawkeye state’s favorite golfing son, Zach Johnson, the newly-named U.S. Ryder Cup captain, is going to get familiar with Swedish style over the next two years. And we’re not talking Ikea.
Two weeks after the PGA of America announced that Johnson will be the captain of the 2023 team that competes at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy, it was announced that Sweden’s Henrik Stenson will be leading the European Ryder Cup team.
Stenson, 45, won the 2016 British Open at Royal Troon in an epic battle over Phil Mickelson and was the winner at the 2009 Players Championship. He has competed in five Ryder Cups as a player and in his most-recent appearance went 3-0-0 at Le Golf National in Paris to help Europe win in 2018. His career record is 10-7-2, he played on three winning teams and was a vice captain last September for Padraig Harrington.
The start of the Ryder Cup is still 564 days away, but as Sir Nick Faldo, the losing European Ryder Cup captain from 2008, pointed out, Stenson’s job will likely be harder than a Viking winter.
Henrik Stenson is a great guy with one of the best dry wits around, but he has a really tough job on his hands as Ryder Cup captain.
Half the team will probably be the old school, the backbone with maybe six unknown-ish rookies.
It is far too early to project who will be on the team, but it’s safe to say that Stenson will be relying on Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland. They are the only three European players currently ranked in the top 10 on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Tyrrell Hatton is 15th, Paul Casey is 24th, Shane Lowry is 36th and Tommy Fleetwood is 47th. Sergio Garcia, a bright spot for the Euros at Whistling Straits when he went 3-1, is currently No. 49.
Henrik Stenson celebrates a victory during Foursomes at the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National. (Photo: David Davies/PA Wire via AP Images)
The Americans won the last Ryder Cup by a record margin, 19-9, and it is deep with young talent. Compared to Stenson, Zach Johnson will likely be able to blend a team to suit the course and conditions from an abundance of riches.
Dustin Johnson, who went 5-0-0 at Whistling Straits, is ranked No. 10 in the world and will be 39 when the next Ryder Cup is contested, but Justin Thomas (ranked 8th), Jordan Spieth (ranked 14th) and Xander Schauffele (ranked 9th) will only be 30. Those three players won a combined seven points for the U.S. team in Wisconsin.
Scottie Scheffler, ranked No. 5, has won twice on the PGA Tour since going 2-0-1 at the 2021 Ryder Cup, and Collin Morikawa, ranked 2nd, has won two majors and went 3-0-1 at Whistling Straits. They will only be 27 when the next Ryder Cup is played. The reigning FedEx Cup champion, Patrick Cantlay is ranked 4th, will be 31, and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka will be 33.
Among the players who were not at Whistling Straits but who might be blended into a team are putting and short-game specialist Kevin Kisner, the top-ranked ballstriker on the PGA Tour in Will Zalatoris, and rising star Max Homa.
Stenson said that the European team will decide at a later time how many captain’s picks he will have. Johnson has already said he will have six picks.
Regardless, the reverberations from the 2021 Ryder Cup are unmistakable. The United States has a deep, talented team that appears to be filled with players who are excited about playing and winning cups. The Europeans, now headed by Stenson, are transitioning, but the Swede is not intimidated.
“I know my players are going to be up for a challenge,” he said. “We saw a very strong American team at Whistling Straits. But we also saw that coming into Paris.”
