Both Ryder Cup captains stuck to their plans — and they were smart to do so

HAVEN, Wis. — The Hindsight Olympics — er, the Ryder Cup — got underway in absolutely classic fashion Friday at Whistling Straits. One team urged ahead 3-1, an extremely normal result, and then both teams set their lineups for the afternoon. 

After that, absolute pandemonium on Twitter. Whispers all throughout the course. Are we really sitting Collin Morikawa? How could Padraig Harrington break up the Spaniards? Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas? Really? 

Really. You know exactly why, now that they gutted out a halved match on 18. 

When the captains went to sleep last night in Kohler, they had their pairings set for both sessions. As a matter of fact, they’ve known the pairings for just about the entire week. When they woke up, no change. When Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia secured the first point, no change. When the Americans won the next three, no change. Exactly 14% of the Ryder Cup was finished. Does Bill Belichick deviate from script after two first-quarter drives? No need to panic. 

“We had a plan, we stuck to the plan,” Harrington said between sessions. The brevity is brilliant, cap.

And look at what we have now. Two teams that are content with their performance thus far. Stricker’s team is in front, and reminded constantly of its not-so-great history in this event. Harrington’s side is down but not even close to out. Just like baseball, six to two is no landslide. We’re at the 28% mark now, folks. Trust the process. Trust your captains. They’ve thought about this a good bit. Perhaps we should, too.

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I call it The Hindsight Olympics because every single thing can be (and has been) questioned, from the pairings down to the pin locations. Even the number of celebrities allowed to walk inside the ropes. And unlike many other sports, strategy is rarely more transparent than it is here. And therefore ripe for criticism. Did Phil Jackson explain why he sat or started every single player on the ’96 Bulls? Steve Stricker has to answer those questions with Team USA. Devils advocates love all of it. But this. But that. But, but, but … 

Collin Morikawa looked great this morning, but he’s been battling a twingey back the past few months. Viktor Hovland wasn’t completely dialed this morning, but he scraped out an important halved match this afternoon, against no one else but the 4th- and 6th-ranked golfers on the planet.

“You can’t just turn around and try to eat into a lead straightaway in one session,” Harrington said Friday evening. “It would be lovely if it happened, but you can’t think like that. You’ve got to do it slowly, one step at a time.”

We Ryder Cup fans revel in the optionality provided by this wicked format. What would you do with 12 of the best players in the world listening to every word you say? The potential for chaos is enticing. But chaos isn’t good in the team room. Things are chaotic enough as is. There’s a reason they appoint so many vice captains.

One of the best things a captain can do is instill as much comfort into this wacky process as possible. And no matter what they do, second guesses seep in. Tom Watson has regrets from 2014. Darren Clarke shared some of them in 2016. Jim Furyk knows where he could have done things differently three years ago. Regrets come with the territory. But they don’t matter until that Cup is handed out Sunday night.