There’s one strange and specific skill that the European Ryder Cup team is light-years ahead of the U.S. team.
That skill is driving range gamesmanship.
What is driving range gamesmanship, you say? Well, as I said, it’s strange and specific, but the European teams have been dabbling in the dark arts for years.
Two years ago, in Rome, the European team organized the driving range so that the designated U.S. team area was right by a bridge, while the European team was off to the far side. This meant the visitors had to deal with constant foot traffic and cheers from the European crowd anytime one of the home team’s players walked past.
The U.S. team had to practice in front of the away crowd, too, while the Euros got a plum spot on the secluded site.
At Bethpage the European team weren’t in control of the driving range setup. That falls to the home U.S. team, who opted for no assigned spots. So what did the European team do this time?
On Wednesday they were assigned to arrive on the practice range at 9:30 a.m.—15 minutes before the U.S. team. And when they did, the European team parked themselves right in the middle of the driving range.
When the U.S. team arrived at their assigned time 15 minutes later, they were forced to choose to either cram all their 12 players, plus caddies and coaches, into a tight spot on the right side of the range, or to split up. Not a coincidence, one insider assured me.
If we’re going to get really in the weeds (too far in the weeds, probably), in military terms this is known as a frontal assualt. The goal is to penetrate the middle of the enemy’s lines to create a breakthrough, which therefore splits the opposition forces into two smaller, isolated units.
Does this stuff matter? Who knows. But it’s interesting! At least to me.
You can learn more about various gamesmanship tactics lurking beneath the Ryder Cup surface in Golf Digest’s most recent .
