As the Ryder Cup has grown into the sporting behemoth it is today, data has played a more and more significant role for captains when it comes to selecting their pairings. Each side’s leadership are now scrutinising their players games down to the smallest detail to inform their decisions and establish compatibility.
In the lead up to this year’s contest at Marco Simone, I have been hearing a lot of chatter around the importance of pairing players in foursomes who play the same model of golf ball. I decided to take a deeper look into this idea and see if it holds any merit.
The most prevalent memory in my mind of the golf ball model being an issue in Ryder Cup foursomes is back in 2014 at Gleneagles. Tom Watson, who was subsequently heavily criticised by his team for various decisions, made the late decision to pair Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan together in the afternoon foursomes after their strong showing in the morning fourballs. And when I say late, I mean late! The pair were only told of the decision at the end of their morning match and were left frantically testing to familiarise themselves with the others’ golf ball. Needless to say, the match did not go well for them, with the US pair going down 3&2 to Rory Mcilroy and Sergio Garcia.
Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan had to learn each others golf ball in a hurry at Gleneagles
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Another occasion when ball selection became an issue was at the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills where Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were infamously paired together by Hal Sutton in foursomes.
Woods, who played a particularly spinny ball, and Mickelson, who preferred a lower spinning model, now had a problem to solve. Ryder Cup rules did not permit them to switch between balls on each hole so they opted for Tiger‘s Nike ball because Woods simply could not get on with Mickelson’s Callaway ball.
The decision meant that Mickelson had to effectively ‘learn’ the new ball with just two days notice before the event… once again it didn’t go well.
Tiger and Phil struggled in the foursomes in 2004
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“I grabbed a couple dozen of his balls, I went off to the side, and tried to learn his golf…
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