Ryder Cup: Paul McGinley credits Europe players after comfortable victory at Gleneagles
Last Updated: 29/09/14 12:59pm
Victorious Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley has credited his Europe team for their attitude in securing success at Gleneagles, outclassing their American counterparts 16½-11½.
Several members of the winning team have already expressed their admiration for McGinley's leadership in the wake of the tournament but the Irishman was quick to redirect the praise back to his players for the way in which they coped with both the pressure and some unexpected decisions.
McGinley said: "It's all well and good putting the plan and strategy in place but these guys did the work. I was very lucky and I'm very appreciative to have those 12 guys to carry it out.
"That's six Ryder Cups I've been involved in and that's six wins so wow, do I feel lucky. It's been great. I had my phone in my hand at one stage during the night and a text message came in from (dropped former world No 1) Luke Donald, and that meant a lot.
"I had to make some tough calls. With Luke Donald, it eats away at me because he was so supportive of me as captain. He's been a great Ryder Cup player over the years. That was a tough call.
"There were tough calls during the week - Ian Poulter not playing on the second afternoon because I thought he was going to play and he thought he was going to play. Then, at the 11th hour, I decided Martin Kaymer would break up that dynamic. That was a big call and went down to the last minute.
McGinley was an outstanding captain and did a much better job of captaining than Watson. I’m not saying Tom was bad but McGinley was more in-tune and understood his team better.
Butch Harmon
"The way Ian Poulter accepted that decision... he came up to me on the golf course in the afternoon and was consoling me. That means more to me than Ian Poulter banging on the heart of what he did at Medinah, as great as that was. The acceptance of the big decision. What more can a captain ask for?
"I said in my opening ceremony speech that we come from diverse and different backgrounds but together we stand as one. From the bottom of Italy to the top of Sweden, from the west coast of Ireland right across to Turkey, we're all in this together and we all feel it.
"My feeling is the same as my first Ryder Cup when I was fortunate enough to hole the winning putt. It's not internal. It's for the pride of every single person within those parameters that I'm talking about."
By contrast, the American dissection of defeat has already begun in earnest, with senior player Phil Mickelson questioning the decision-making of captain Tom Watson and Watson returning fire by claiming Mickelson 'wanted to lead the team.'
But McGinley said of the US Team: "Although America don't go back across the Atlantic with the trophy, they've won in so many ways. I had a lot of other goals besides winning the Ryder Cup this week. The big one was I wanted the players to leave with a sense of bonding towards each other that will last a lifetime.
"I feel privileged to have been on this journey with Tom Watson, who's been a hero of mine throughout my life. Again, that was a win-win situation. There's no tougher competitor in the game of golf. He's very disappointed but Tom Watson is Tom Watson. He's a hard man but he's a fair man.
"I wasn't thinking ahead. I didn't feel under pressure at any stage. We were prepared for the Americans coming at us on Sunday morning. You're playing against the top players in the world - there's going to be some red on the board. You can go and shoot seven-under and still lose your match.
"Sir Alex Ferguson walked in last night and he said, in his own terms, thank you because he felt like he was back in the boiler room again this week. It's great that he felt that connection with the players. They were all up there having a drink with him and pulling his leg."
Ferguson, who delivered an inspirational speech to the European Team ahead of the tournament, said: "I think the man that did it was Paul McGinley. His attention to detail and preparation was fantastic.
"Rory McIlroy delivered in a fashion that great players can do. That's why he's the best in the world. He won four out of the first five and it was cruise control after that.
"The fans played a fantastic part because the players didn't want to let him down. It's creates an expectation that they want to live up to."
