The golf world has seen a lot of excitement mixed with controversy as the date for the Ryder Cup slowly creeps in. Moreover, the community saw themselves at the edge of their seats as the European team captain, Luke Donald, declared his picks for the squad, thereby joining his American counterpart in completing their 12-man teams. But what grabbed the attention of the golf community was the revelation made by a former Ryder Cup captain following the wildcard picks.

The ex-skipper was part of the team that lifted the cup at Oakland Hills in 2004. But what’s more, the European tour pro, in a surprise of sorts, divulged how a “different kind of fuel” was the cause of the record-breaking win that his team enjoyed two decades back. Let us take a closer look at his story.

European Ryder Cup captain discloses truth behind win

Paul McGinley was part of the European team that won the prestigious tournament in the years 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2014. The ex-professional was also named captain of the team in 2013 for a successful outing the following year. The Irish golfer recently came out to disclose a surprising truth behind the team’s record-breaking win in 2004.

In an interview after Donald’s selections, McGinley talked about how the golf world has changed as he recounts his experience of the event. He mentioned how there was “quite a bit of alcohol consumed” back in his day. One of the backroom staff informed them on Saturday, a day before the final round, how they had “consumed 72 bottles of wine already… and they had to go and re-order.”

The ex-skipper went ahead to clarify that the team wasn’t getting drunk every night but around 9-10 players out of the 12 had at least 3-4 glasses of wine. Moreover, he even termed the situation as a normal one. Paul then compared it to the year 2014 when he led the squad to victory. Brushing aside the current generation of players, the Irishman mentioned how the golfers are staunch in their beliefs when it comes to drinking as the athletes are of the opinion that they would not consume when they play.

Although questionable, the tactics definitely worked. Team Europe clinched the tournament by a record margin of 18.5 to 9.5 points. It turned out to be the biggest win by a European team since 1981, when the team won by the same margin.

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One can’t help but hope that the upcoming event will produce such a performance by one of the teams as they compete against each other at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Now let us take a look at the final European squad that was confirmed, not too long ago, to play the field at the biennial event.

The European team roster for the Ryder Cup

The golf world saw Luke Donald get his squad ready for the battle with the American team as he declared his picks for the final 6 spots a while back. The top six spots were already fixed with the likes of  Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Robert MacIntyre, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, and Matt Fitzpatrick automatically qualifying for the team.

The final six spots were announced as the captain’s picks which included golfers such as Shane Lowry, Nicolai Hojgaard, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, and Ludvig Aberg. Although the lineup has garnered some reactions, both good and otherwise, from the community, one can hope that they will be able to pull off another magnificent win like that in 2004.

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