There is an ‘us and them’ mentality on sport’s international stage.
Intimate team alliances are abandoned to join a common goal and support a nation. It’s our best against their best.
This is partly why Germany’s Thomas Tuchel becoming England football manager was controversial and met with loud opposition from some quarters.
Not that it should’ve been. Reservations towards foreign coaches working for England’s set-up should’ve been eradicated after the Dutch Sarina Wiegman won her first of two European titles with the Lionesses in 2022.
I don’t think Duncan Fletcher or Andy Flower did the England cricket team any harm in their respective tenures, either.
Countless other examples have seen a coach from another country, unrelated to the club or the nation’s team, taste success.
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The nationality of coaches in many sports has proved irrelevant. Why should Ryder Cup captain nationality be any different?
It didn’t take long for the Chelsea faithful of West London to fall in love with Jose Mourinho of Setúbal in Portugal, nor with Arsenal fans and Arsene Wenger, born in Strasbourg but plucked from Nagoya Grampus Eight of Japan.
English club football has been frankly dominated by European coaches, dwarfing the talent and achievements of English coaches in the process. Fans soon abandon patriotism when they get their hands on silverware, though.
I’ll now tell you why this is relevant to the Ryder Cup.
NCG ran a survey before Ryder Cup week at Bethpage Black on Long Island, where Europe will look to retain the golden trophy against America.
NCG asked if Ryder Cup captains should always be from the country they represent, or could a non-national lead the team? Of over 2,000 respondents, over 93% said the captain must be from the country.
To be a Ryder Cup captain, you are essentially a coach. You select the team, you devise strategies, and you man-manage individuals.
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You must have a stellar career to look back on, you must be respected in the game, and you must have an intricate interest in how a team interacts and performs.
Now, someone tell me what that has got to do with where you’re from?
The Ryder Cup changed the Great Britain and Ireland team to Europe in 1979, for starters. The event has shape-shifted for the better in the past.
Could the American fans say to me that they’d have preferred Zach Johnson over Luke Donald as their captain in Rome at the 2023 Ryder Cup, just because he was American? Would Donald have given America a better chance of winning away from home for the first time since 1993? I think we all know the answer.
While I’m aware and you are too that golf isn’t football or any other sport that applies, the principle is the same.
One of my favourite people in golf is Trevor Immelman – the former Masters champion-turned broadcaster and world rankings board chairman, not to mention a former Presidents Cup captain for the Internationals.
He is a voice you listen to because of what he’s been and done. He’s respected and classy, and while he has no affiliation with Team Europe and Team USA, he has much to give with his knowledge and experience.
Adam Scott has earned the respect of his peers in his role with the PGA Tour’s policy board. Another man with an incredible career and a green jacket from Augusta, he will no doubt eventually captain multiple Presidents Cup sides.
If Scott went on to win a Presidents Cup or two as a captain against the US, surely Europe would love to have him on board?
I am a man shouting at a cloud. The people have spoken and indicate there’ll never be a foreign captaincy in the Ryder Cup.
But to ignore the idea is to be narrow-minded and entirely forget the most successful figures from other team sports – team sports that the Ryder Cup desperately tries to imitate for three days, might I add.
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