McDowell rules out fourball duty with McIlroy

A cool breeze brushed over the hillocks here at Gleneagles resort yesterday, almost as if it were blowing away the smokescreens that had formed around Team Europe and Team USA. As Paul McGinley came to terms with the difficulty of holding on to secrets, the dogs in the street learning that Alex Ferguson would deliver a motivational speech to his team, a greater clarity also materialised on the partnership – or not – of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.

Up-front and articulate, McDowell admitted that he would not be playing fourball with his fellow Ulsterman, although the possibility remained of renewing their foursomes alliance.

“I think tactically, Rory and I’s golf dynamic has changed (since first playing together in the 2009 Seve Trophy) . . . . the older brother/kind of younger brother leadership role I had with him, that’s changed. He’s the world number one player. He’s a four-time Major champion. The dynamic has changed forever, he would now be the leader of the two of us and perhaps the dynamic doesn’t work as well as it did in the past.”

So, there we had it. In a nutshell. Honest talk in a Ryder Cup. Who would have thought it? And yet it all seemed to row in wonderfully well with the style of leadership brought to this 40th edition of the Ryder Cup, where McGinley has put communication with his players to the fore and has seemingly created a very good atmosphere in the camp as he puts in place the strategy to retain the famous old trophy.

Yesterday’s first official day of practice brought with it a relatively relaxed introduction to a course set-up that has mirrored a typical European Tour event – with narrower fairways and slower greens than those found on the US Tour – although McGinley admitted the rough was a tad heavier than he had wanted or expected.

Too much

The Europeans went out in pods of three: McIlroy with

Martin Kaymer

and

Sergio Garcia

;

Ian Poulter

with

Justin Rose

and

Stephen Gallacher

;

Thomas Bjorn

with

Lee Westwood

and

Jamie Donaldson

; and, last but by no means least, McDowell with

Henrik Stenson

and

Victor Dubuisson

. “I wouldn’t read too much into (the threeballs),” said McGinley. “I’ve got an eye on potential partnerships, playing guys with guys they could be partnered with, but it won’t be anything unusual.”

Who will play with who in Friday’s opening session of fourballs is, of course, what these practice days are all about. How McGinley ultimately decides will only be divulged come tomorrow evening’s opening ceremony.

So, how will he decide?

“It’s a mixture. Statistics is a good sounding board, (but) it’s not the be all and end all. It’s a small percentage, 10 or 15 per cent maybe of the decision making. The big decision making is gut instinct, pairings that have worked well in the past, dynamics that have worked in the past and the course set-up is important when it comes to foursomes,” replied McGinley.

For sure, no stone has been left unturned by McGinley who yesterday dispatched his vice-captains – Sam Torrance, Des Smyth, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jose Maria Olazabal and Pádraig Harrington – to on-course duties to keep a watching brief on players.

And McGinley could even allow himself a smile after his secret plan to bring in Ferguson to talk to the players last night was let out of the bag.

Ferguson’s decision to actually turn up and watch some golf yesterday actually contributed to the secret escaping. McGinley first met the former Manchester United manager when he played in the JP McManus pro-am in Limerick back in 2000 and he seemed to the European captain as the obvious man to take into his inner sanctum.

Big fan

“He’s a guy I have seen now and again and, when I became captain, for a number of reasons, I asked him. He was more than willing to help . . . he’s asked me a lot of questions and I know he’s very keen. He’s a big fan of golf. This is not about him being a headmaster and coming in and preaching, it’s about fun,” said McGinley.

Bringing someone like Ferguson into the camp is keeping to a winning template established by previous captains. For example, Colin Montgomerie brought rugby legend Gareth Edwards in to speak to players at Celtic Manor in 2010. And, of course, George W Bush was invited by US captain Ben Crenshaw to speak to his troops at Brookline in 1999 where he delivered an address from the Battle of the Alamo.

If Watson has any plans to bring in someone to inspire this time around, he kept his cards close to his chest. Time will tell if anything emerges on that front. For yesterday, it was about sending out his men to get familiar with the course – in fourballs: Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth; Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Patrick Reed; and Keegan Bradley, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker – and to get over any effects of jet lag.