Nick Faldo - Ryder Cup Captaincy

Ryder Cup Captaincy

Faldo was selected as captain of the European Ryder Cup team in 2008. The 37th Ryder Cup was won 16½ – 11½ by Team USA to end the streak of three successive victories for Team Europe. This was Team USA's largest margin of victory since 1981, and the first time since 1979 the Americans had the lead after every session of play. It was held at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, which was a contributing factor in Faldo getting the captaincy; he had lived and worked in America for over a decade.

Faldo had made a bold move to pick Ian Poulter as his wild card ahead of the much favoured Darren Clarke. This decision, questioned by many, paid off when Poulter emerged as the top scorer in the tournament. Faldo's relationship with the media during the competition was very erratic. During practice, photographers had taken pictures of him holding a list of names, seemingly outlining the partnerships for the coming days. In the following press conference, he denied the list had any part in his tactics and seemed very irritated by continuing questions about it. Another controversial move was to play Sergio García and Lee Westwood, the two most experienced and successful Ryder cup players on his team, for only one session on the Saturday. His team selection was vindicated, however, as Europe finished the day 1 point ahead, closing the gap to 2 points behind the USA.

On the final day of the competition, Faldo decided to play a "bottom heavy" tactic, where the best players would start lower down the order, thus if it went to a close finish, Europe would have its best players in play. This tactic seemed to backfire, as the USA, leading by 2 at the start of the day, gained the 5 points they required by the eighth match rendering the last four irrelevant. This led to some severe criticism of Faldo's strategic skills. His cause was not helped by the poor performances of the three most experienced players on the European side, Pádraig Harrington, Sergio García, and Lee Westwood, who failed to win a single match between them.