"It's not a home run that we're going to win at Adare"—McGinley on Europe's difficult Bethpage Black encore

Paul McGinley

Paul McGinley does not know who will captain Europe at Adare Manor, but he's certain that the famous Ryder Cup template is far from the finished item after September's nail-biting finale at Bethpage Black and that winning in Limerick will be a massive challenge.

While Luke Donald remains the favourite to lead Europe's bid for a hat-trick of wins in Co. Limerick in 2027, the Englishman will not make a decision until the New Year.

That US singles comeback at Bethpage has certainly given Europe food for thought, even after a phenomenal away performance.

"If you look at our scoring in Bethpage, even with the rough down, it was a difficult par-70 golf course with only two par fives, and we averaged five-under par in the foursomes for the eight games; that was phenomenal performance," McGinley said during the annual Terenure College RFC Corporate Lunch at Fitzwilliam Tennis Club.

"In the fourball matches, we averaged eight under par. Again, phenomenal. Bearing in mind that a lot of these games didn't go to the 18th, we played unbelievably in those eight sessions of fourballs and eight sessions of foursomes.

"But in the singles, we went back to even par."

In the end, Europe won just one of the 11 matches and a five-point lead became a narrow two-point win after halves for Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre and a lone win for Ludvig Aberg, got them over the line.

"So basically, the reason why America came back on Sunday is we dropped our levels," McGinley added. "So that's the learning that we take away from there. As much as we won, and as much as it was a relief, there are still a lot of lessons to be learned. The template is not complete."

The reasons for Europe's phenomenal away performance are myriad, but McGinley, who was a strategic advisor to the team, pointed out that analysing what went wrong at Hazeltine in 2016 and Whistling Straits in 2021, where the combined scoreline was 36-20 to the USA, was key.

Only Europe had won an away Ryder Cup in the previous nine editions — the miracle at Medinah in 2012 — and a new away strategy, designed to perform in a hostile environment, was required.

"Going into the stats, it was quite clear in Whistling Straits, where we lost by 10 points, that we performed terribly," McGinley revealed. "The weather was good for the three days, and yet our scoring averages were terrible against par on a course with four par-fives, all on in two, with two drivable par fours and benign weather conditions.

"That's why we lost by 10 points. It wasn't because we were just playing against an American team that was so good that we had no chance. That was bullshit.

"Bottom line is we were playing crap. Then we went back into Hazeltine and we looked again at how we played against the course and actually, we played quite crap against that golf course too.

"So why were we losing away from home? Well, because our performance levels were dropping. So why were our performance levels dropping? And it was quite clear there was one main reason.”

Europe had failed to deal with a hostile away crowd and at Bethpage, they had prepared for the worst and found themselves ready for all comers.

"As bad as the crowd behaviour was at Bethpage, we had prepared the team so well that it didn't seem as bad," McGinley explained.

"There's a great line from a Navy SEAL I read years ago. He was asked what do you do in a hostile environment, when you're in Afghanistan or Iraq and you get isolated from your team and you've got 20 people trying to shoot you and kill you?

"You're on your own. What do you do when it's a life-or-death situation? And his answer was, 'I dropped to the level of my training'. And I thought that was so insightful, and I've never forgotten it.

"I dropped to the level of my training. In other words, he trained to this level, and even life or death was only at this level. So basically, he's so well prepared to deal with the situation, and going into Bethpage, we were going to prepare the players for this incredibly difficult situation.

"And as difficult as it got, it wasn't quite as bad as what we had prepared the players to face. And I think that's why we saw a huge upturn in our performance."

As for the 2027 captaincy, McGinley reckons a decision will come early in the New Year.

"I honestly don't think that [Luke] knows what he wants to do yet," he said. "I spoke to him last week, and he's still so undecided as to what the future is. He's going to take Christmas and make a decision early in the New Year.

"We really need to appoint somebody by February or March next year. And there's no doubt that if he goes for three in a row, that will be an even better achievement. But it's going to be very, very difficult to try to win three in a row.

"I think Adare Manor will suit the Americans with the style of golf that they play. They like it down there.

"I think the crowd will behave well, which will help the American team. And we've got to correct a little bit of complacency that we had on the Sunday at Bethpage.

"Trying to win again for a third time is not easy for a team going in with expectations on your shoulders.

"Going back to Rory McIlroy (and dealing with expectations in Majors), one of the hardest things to do in golf is to have so much expectation and then still deliver in such a difficult game.

"So we have a lot of challenges going into Adare. It's not a home run that we're going to win by any stretch of imagination."