Ryder Cup: Wounded Warriors speech eases pressure on Team USA at Gleneagles
Thursday 25 September 2014 06:35, UK
Tom Watson believes that the pressure on the US Ryder Cup team has been eased by an inspirational talk from the Wounded Warriors Project.
Members of the charity, which helps US military veterans and their families, spent Tuesday night addressing the US players, coaches and caddies before taking questions in what was a very private affair.
Sergeant First Class Josh Olson lost his right leg and Sergeant Noah Galloway lost his left arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee during service with the US Army in Iraq, but both have gone on to produce inspirational sporting performances.
And Watson thinks that talking to people who risked their lives for the country has made his side put the Ryder Cup into perspective.
He said, “We had some men who suffered nearly the ultimate sacrifice for their country, and to be able to speak to the players, players and the caddies, as well, was a wonderful experience for everybody.
“It was a special night for people. The players, I think to a T, enjoyed the sobriety of the conversation; that, indeed, we are just playing a game, and that there are people out there doing work that very few other people will do in the world. That was the message.”
He added, “In this cauldron of pressure, it's great to have that kind of sobering, okay, it's not that big a deal.
Ryder Cup Golf
“We make it a big deal, but it's not that big a deal. It is The Ryder Cup; it is the event of golf. Yeah, there's pressure there. But you look in perspective of what those men did, what other people do, they work for a living.
“I like Hubert Green's comment, ‘I don't know what I'd do if I had to go work for a living,’ being a professional golfer. We're playing a game. We play a game for a living. What better thing can you do is playing a game for a living?
“You don't have to meet deadlines, really. You don't have to get your photographs in. If you screw up a flash card, no big deal. We're playing a game for a living. That's the message.”
When it comes to leadership on the course, Watson admits he will be looking to players like Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk for further inspiration.
He added: "Phil has been just a wonderful man in the locker room through the Ryder Cups.
"I've talked to all the past captains of the last four Ryder Cups, maybe five Ryder Cups, and Phil's been there and he's a leader. He's a leader. He's the guy that talks. He talks smack, he talks, you know, we're going to get -- he talks the way you're supposed to be talking in the locker room.
"He talks the locker room talk and he gets people talking back to him. That's what you have to do. There's a lot of pressure. As I said, it's a cauldron of pressure. We're not unique in The Ryder Cup. You look at the World Cup, the matches in the World Cup, and then rugby and the locker rooms before the finals.
"There's banter going back and forth, and there's always one guy, maybe two guys, who carry it, and they get everybody kind of lightened up, talking back and forth. And that's the role that Phil is playing.
"We also have a quiet veteran in Jim Furyk, and Jim is very good at that, as well. Very quietly goes about and says the right thing at the right time. He's a wonderful, wonderful motivator."
