NAPA, Calif. — Scottie Scheffler says he’s never been to Napa. Nor is he much of an imbiber of its biggest attraction.
“Don’t really drink wine,” he admitted.
And yet here he is, in the heart of Wine Country, where vineyards and their respective vines are bountiful. And here are nine other U.S. Ryder Cuppers who play on the PGA Tour. And a Ryder Cupper who plays on the LIV Golf circuit. And their captain. And their vice captains. Why? To explain it in about the time it takes to uncork a bottle, the Americans were throttled 16.5-11.5 by Europe two years ago in the previous Ryder Cup and U.S. preparation was questioned — just three out of 12 Americans had played in the two-week lead-up, compared to all dozen Euros — so this year’s captain, Keegan Bradley, commandeered 10 members of his squad to play the PGA Tour’s Procore Championship, which is two weeks before the Ryder Cup starts at Bethpage Black.
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Tuesday, Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin and Harris English, along with three vice captains, played practice rounds together. Tuesday night, they ate together at a nearby house, along with Bryson DeChambeau, a teammate whose LIV membership blocks him from Tour events. On Thursday and Friday at the Procore — and perhaps Saturday and Sunday — they’ll play together again. Xander Schauffele, another American, will watch from home, after he and his wife recently welcomed a child to their family.
The question, though, is why?
Why are they here?
Why has the previous American prep been so dissected?
Why is Ryder Cup victory heavenly and Ryder Cup defeat pure hell?
Why is the Ryder Cup so important to a U.S. player?
Assuming it is, of course.
The question looms here. Inhale the answer, and you may win. Exhale it, and you probably don’t. Bradley knows it. He’s spoken to his team about his meaning. To him, it starts with team. Then there’s country. Then there’s the rarity; it’s played biennially. So there’s some existentialism there. Play today, but it might be gone tomorrow.
Bradley knows that well. In 2012, he played in his first Ryder Cup. In 2014, he played in his second.
He waits for his third. While he could’ve named himself to the team, he’s chosen to focus solely on his captaincy.
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“When you’re a part of it,” Bradley said, “it really, it changes you forever, it really does. It changes the way you prepare, it changes the way you set your goals for the year, for your career. In golf, you’re so alone all the time in this process. Then when you’re in a team room or even just having dinner last night and you’re looking around at the guys and they’re all in this together. You’re looking at guys from J.J. Spaun to Ben Griffin to Scottie Scheffler and all of a sudden we’re all on the same team here. It’s really such a special feeling to be a part of because it’s so rare.
“What I’ve been telling the team as well is you never know when your last Ryder Cup is. My last Ryder Cup was the deciding point with Jamie Donaldson and I certainly didn’t think that was my last shot in a Ryder Cup. You really want to enjoy every second of these because you never know when it’s done.”
Has his team responded to that message?
“They get it because we’ve got — you know, at some point this is going to end for all of us,” Bradley said. “It’s going to end for Scottie. I tell them it ended for Jack Nicklaus, guys like that, best player, one of the Mount Rushmore players ever. You have to enjoy these moments because you never know when it’s done. You never know when it’s your last dinner like last night, you never know when it’s your last time hanging in the team room with the guys, so you have to cherish every second.”
For Scheffler and Morikawa, memories of the loss two years ago have stuck. After a 9-and-7 defeat in one match, Scheffler cried. Morikawa said the plane ride back from Marco Simone golf course in Italy “sucked.” Two years before that, in Scheffler and Morikawa’s Ryder Cup debuts, things were different. The U.S. won. There was joy. There was Dustin Johnson talking about how he’d drink everyone under the table on Sunday night.
But why?
Country, Scheffler said. He admitted he’s struggled to word that, though. But he thought other tears could explain. Last year, after he won the Olympic tournament and “The Star-Spangled Banner” played, he cried then, too.
“We’re wearing a much bigger shirt and heart on our sleeves than I am, say, this week,” Morikawa said. “Like this week I’m fighting for myself and I want to go out and win it for my team and everyone, but I’m out there to beat these other 143 other guys, right?
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“The times I’ve been able to wear the red, white and blue, you just can’t take that lightly. … Essentially you’re playing an entire continent, right, like you have to go up and step to the plate and show up. And when you don’t like I did two years ago, you just, it eats at you because it sucks, it’s a terrible feeling.”
Morikawa said bonds form. Vice captain Webb Simpson said he’s experienced that. He said there’s a rivalry with Europe, too. “I think in my career, of everything I’ve had the blessing of being a part of, the most rewarding feeling in golf is when you win a point for your team,” said Simpson, who’s played on three Ryder Cup teams. “And I would say the hardest thing in golf is when you lose your match.”
Maybe an answer can also be found from someone who’s been on a U.S. Ryder Cup team and now isn’t. But Max Homa’s 1st tee memories from two years ago are fresh. There were nerves. But he didn’t care.
He just looked around. He was at the top.
“The advice would be just take it all in,” Homa said. “You’re going to be nervous, no reason to shy away from it. Just trust yourself and go play. You could hit the worst shot ever on that hole and you’re one down, that’s it. Head to 2. So yeah, whether you hit the best shot ever or the worst, it just turns into a story so you might as well enjoy it. Look around, laugh a little with your partner. You hear all those great stories these days.
“Yeah, so I think it’s just fun. You’ll look back on it regardless of how it goes and just appreciate it because it’s truly unlike anything you’ll do.”
Of course, these are all words. They sound weighty. They also might have been throwaway lines in an attempt to return to a sunny California afternoon.
Their validity will be learned in two weeks.
Those who were earnest will likely be drinking another style of wine.
Champagne.
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