You won five Ryder Cups as a player and again as captain at Celtic Manor in 2010. To win as a captain must be a very different feeling?
Oh, a very different feeling. When you're playing you've got others to blame'. You've got 11 other great players that you can rely on and look forward to bringing back points. But as a captain, there's no grey area - it's win or lose. The first time I really felt out of control was when I sent out my first group, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, and they came back with nothing. And I thought, "Oh no, I've lost control here," because we all want to be in control.
For two years I was in control of getting the team together and all the preparation, and then two years later I'd lost that control. It was up to them now to do their job and I let them go. It was a terrible position to find oneself in - like a manager of a football club I suppose. You put your team out, you think you've got the right team on the pitch and then they're 3-0 down at half time! And you think, "Come on, I've got to say something, do something." And we got the troops rallied and we managed to do it. But it was an awful three days - four days, wasn't it, because we were in Wales.
But it was an awful feeling until it was over, and then it was more relief than excitement or celebration. It was more relief when it was done just, by Graeme McDowell against Hunter Mahan. Hunter is still on my Christmas card list, but I'm not on his! That famous chip on 17 where he duffed it, you'd never wish it on anybody. But at that stage it was very, very welcome.
What was better-winning as a player or winning as a captain?
This story is from the October 2022 edition of Golf Monthly.
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This story is from the October 2022 edition of Golf Monthly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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