The Absolutely Massive Ryder Cup Preview | The bunkered Podcast
It’s that time again! The 44th Ryder Cup is almost upon us – but who’s going to leave Bethpage with the trophy?
Michael, James and Lewis discuss that and much more on this week’s episode of The bunkered Podcast.
As well as picking a winner, the guys also try to predict who some of the pairings may be and weigh up exactly just how abusive the home fans might be.
Elsewhere, Michael has launched the Hole In None Club and there’s a chance to win limited-edition clothing from Under Armour.
Tune-in now!
#rydercup #thebunkeredpodcast #rydercup2025 #golfpodcast #pgatour #keeganbradley #lukedonald #bethpageblack #teamusa #teameurope #rydercupbethpage2025 #rydercuppredictions #rydercupexplained #rorymcilroy
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[Music] Hello everyone. Welcome to the latest episode of the Bunkered Podcast in association with Callaway Bag Bunker Podcast. Today it is the Rider Cup preview. After all the chat, all the buildup, all the nonsense, the shenanigans, the speculation and all that stuff, it’s finally time to have a chat because the match is taking place, frankly, in a few days time in real terms. So, yep, it is Monday the 15th of September. Michael Mchuan here. I am joined by our performance editor, Lewis Fraser, and our gear editor, James Tate, to look ahead to next week’s match. Just before I get into that and welcome the chaps on board, we’ll add that we will be doing our daily commute podcasts live from Beth Page. Our senior writer Ben Parsons and I are heading out there. We’ll be flying a week today to the Big Apple. So yeah, from next week every single day there will be daily commutes live from the RDER Cup. So you can look forward to those. This however is a bit of a scene setter, a bit of a flavor of what to expect, what we’re predicting, what we’re hoping for frankly. And there is quite a lot to get into. So no apologies. This is a RDER Cupheavy episode and let’s see what they have to say for themselves. James Lewis, good morning. How we doing chaps? Good morning. Doing well, Michael. How are you? Awful. Awful. Okay. Football. Oh god. Oh no. Let’s not talk about football. Awful. I mean, you’re a Man United fan, James, as well. Yeah. Coming from St. Andrews, of course you’re a Man United fan. Well, we’ve we’ve had a bad weekend, you and I. Yeah. It’s not been It’s not been great, has it? I think the display of football has just been I don’t think poor is if it was poor that would be probably quite good to be honest, but it’s below par. Diabolical is the word that I would use. S it may have been the word I used at Ibro at full time as well. We were using different words. The most articulate of the fans that was there. This is diabolical other stuff, but this is significantly below P Russell. We had higher expectations than this. You have to thoroughly disappointed us. Words to that effect. Words to that effect. But listen, it’s football. I’m not going to let it define me or my life or whatever else. It is what it is. I was just happy Josh Le was on mute this morning. He was a Man City fan. Yeah. Josh and our team. Big big city civil and couldn’t get his microphone to work. So, thank goodness. Yeah. probably for the best. In the interest of inter team relations for the best. Anyone play any golf at the weekend? No, actually I went to the driving range yesterday though. Yeah, ground weather for that was horrible. That’s why I went to the range and play golf. It was kind of trying to come in sideways like at Great Western Golf. I was up in the top level and the wind was sort of blowing in towards me. So every time I’d hit a shot, I’m like ducking back under to try and get away from it. Not nice. Up in the top level. take any extra elevation? Absolutely. Few extra yards there. My wedge is between 130. Did you carry any drives? 200. No. No. Not even close. No. Like I said, I was into the winds. I’ got no chance. 150. Uh, yeah, between 150 and 200. Cold wind. I notic you’ve got a badge on your lapel here. Talk about it’s under embargo, but I’ll let everyone else zoom in on it. Completely forgot I had it on, but you’ll be hearing more about that in the coming weeks. Okay, James, I was talking about big hitters. Lewis ain’t that. But you are you are leaving us on Wednesday to fly to America for your own your own big event. Ryder Cup, Schmidder Cup for the World Dongs. It’s It’s finally here. This thing we’ve been talking about all year. The World Championships are finally upon us. Yeah. So, um, how’s the mood? How’s the feelings? Um, yeah, good. I I just can’t wait to to head out there and just, you know, it’s been a really, I would say, successful season so far. I don’t think it could have gone any better. Uh along with the training, um I’ve had a maybe a little bit of a blip last week just with a little stomach bug, but we’re getting back to full fitness. I know. Uh just the strength is not quite there, but it will be by so weak. Well, when you’re going up against Kyle Barkshire, you need to make sure you’re all uh Well, this is the thing. It’s all the big boys next week. So, yeah, exactly. There’s no there’s no pushovers. You’re against the, you know, top 100 boys in the world that can scalp it. And there’s not it’s not it’s not the days where, you know, you were able to kind of get all the way to the final with 110 mph ball speed. You’ve got to be 220. It’s a bit of shame throwing at the I can harder than that. Um, look at this guy. You can’t though. Well, yeah. Come on. you you just sit there and let let the big boys talk. I’ll just bring me in when you’re ready. I know. But but now it’s like when you’re getting right down to the nitty-gritty, if you’re not if you’re not above 220 m per hour ball speed, you’re not really going to be in the conversation at all. And remind the listeners, where’s your ball speed right now? Um so we’re kind of averaging at the minute 225, but that should be closer to 230 by the the start of the middle of next week once you get over. So yeah. So yeah, exactly. So um yeah it’s trending nicely shall we say. So really looking forwardly confident which is really good. So look best of luck. We are gen we are genuinely very excited for you. How many other golf media companies or podcasts can sit here and say that we’ve got a guy going legitimately to be the best in the world at what he does. Not many. So unless there’s a Scottish Heffler podcast out there but I haven’t heard it. So best of luck James excited for you. And next time we speak, hopefully you’ll be wearing a brand new belt. I do love the fact that it’s like a WWE style belt that you get if you win. I’m going to come in with like two cans of beer and just smash them together like Stone Cold Steve Austin. Seen a lot of stuff that made no sense to me. Stone Cold was after my time. If you want a a reference that’s a bit more relevant to me, Stone Cold was after your time. After my time, I was all about Hogan, Warrior, Million-Dollar Man, Big Boss Man, Undertaker was still there. Obviously, Tatanka was just showing up. Undertaker, he’s still going now, I think, isn’t he? British Bulldog. Undertaker. Yeah, probably. I can’t believe Mr. 316 was after your time. I know. There you go. There you go. Before you age me any further, I’m going to move us on chat last week. You remember we had a chat about my wife’s cousin’s son, Adam, had his first ever hole in one. Yes. Balmore. Yeah. Adam absolutely delighted to get a shout out in the bunker podcast as he should be. Yeah. Not just anyone gets a shout out in this show, but I was a little bit miffed as you know. I’m delighted for him. Pissed off for me because I’ve not had one, right? And it was then one of my wife’s other cousins, Dean. Dean’s based out in Canada. Top man. Love Dean to bits. He’s brilliant. Always Dean’s always happy and he always listens to the podcast so I have to say nice things. But Dean sent me a message saying, “Great shout out to Adam.” And he goes on, “Don’t ruin my day.” Oh my goodness. That is a That’s not a message. That’s good messages. That’s a novel. He sends good messages. He says, “It’s funny. Hol’s one of those things that’s kind of like winning the lottery.” Yeah, I’ve not done that either. Thanks, Steve. You’ve seen my house. You are happy for the person you know that won, but you’re still quite disappointed that it wasn’t yourself. Correct. Yeah, true. He goes on, “The fellow I golf with the most over here has a great story. We’ll come back to using golf as a verb. You don’t It’s not to golf, but never mind. Play golf. Mhm. He put his grandson into a summer golf academy. Eight years old. You can see where this is going. Yeah. He was the very first one to hit in the course after practice swings. He got a hole in one on an 86yard par three. He said to my friend Rick, “It’s pretty easy, Grandpa. You just have to aim it at the hole. I think I’m going to try for another one tomorrow. He’s a golfer for life. So Dean hasn’t said who the young lad in question is, what his name is, but it sounds like it’s Rick’s grandson. So Rick’s 8-year-old grandson. Congratulations. I mean, it’s under a 100red yards, so there’s got to be some jubility. No, writing a one down in the scorecard. Doesn’t matter how long it is. I He’s He’s eight. Yeah, he’s also 80. That’s at 8 years old. That 86yd par three is playing like a 200 yard at least. 220 if you’re loose at least. Yeah. You can’t even get there a driver. No. Lay up. Make a So I’ve decided this is getting too much. We’ve got cousins that have just started playing golf fairly recently and we’ve now got eight-year-old distant acquaintances that are having holes in one and I’m still sitting here on zero. So I’m going to start an alternative to hole-in-one club. I’m going to call it the whole nun club. Right. Okay. See what I’ve done? None as in zero. N O N E, not N, not as in sister. So Holl and Nun Club. If you are like me and you’ve been playing golf for a number of years and you have not yet had a hole in one, I’m going to shout you out. I want you to get in touch. Tell me how long you’ve been playing. So I’m looking for I’m not looking for like I’ve been playing for two years and still not over. It’s exactly there’s a 10ear bar. If you’ve been playing golf for a minimum of 10 years, let me know. Let me know how many times a week you play and all that sort of stuff. Give us the details. Slide into our DMs or email us letters atbunker.co.uk and you will get the shoutouts going forward. No more of these 8-year-old prodigies. Their time will come. They will get their moment in the sun. I’m looking for people like me to join my hole and nun club. So get in touch and you will get a shout out. The more years the better. Se never had a hole in one did he? Shut up. What? I don’t believe he did. I don’t believe that for a se ballast. Yeah. Honest. I’m sure that was never had a hole in one. I believe don’t believe he did. So he’s in your club. So it’s me and Sevy so far. Hi comfy. Anyone cares? James is verifying this. He’s typing away at the laptop. This could be completely made up and we’ll just need to cut this out. Pretty good. He’s right. I’m right. Se never had a hole in one. Well, there you go. So, you’re in good company. I’m in very good company. Excellent. You’ve had a hole in one, Louis. Have you? I’ve had two. Yeah. I said, “Have you had one?” You didn’t need to go to [ __ ] Multiple. Just give you You’ve had some, haven’t you? I’ve had a couple. Yeah. Yeah, I’ve had a couple. Producer Dex numbers shaking his head. So, it’s me, Dex, and Seb at the moment. Get in touch. I’m deadly serious. Hole and Nun Club, join us. Me, Sebie, producer Dex, and you give us the details. Right, on that note on that. Is that what the badge is for? The whole 9:00. Get a badge. Join us. Oh dear me. Right, that’s enough of that nonsense. It’s time to talk Rder Cup. The Bunkered Podcast brought to you by the new Elite Driver from Callaway. Thank you, Callaway. Appreciate your ongoing support. Cannot wait for you to have a world champion in your roster next week. How big is the driver head that you got sent last week? Four and a half degrees, was it? Four and a half degrees. Yeah. Dialed down to two and a half. I might stick it to three and a half. It just depends because there’s that altitude in in Colorado. So, of course. Yeah. So, I might want to keep it in the air a little bit longer, but we’ll play around with that. But yeah, more than on your putter. Next time you look down at your putter, just realize my driver loft is less than that. So, in theory, putter is easier to get in the air. What a thought. Anyway, right, enough of that. Thank you, Callie. Big question this week, gentlemen. The big question is dead simple, and I want just a name from you both to begin with. Who is going to win the Rider Cup? It’s that simple. James, Europe, Lewis, USA, and I am in the USA camp as well, ever so slightly. And it’s changing all the time. That’s how close I think it’s going to be. So Lewis, you seem a little bit shamefaced, but a little bit more sure in saying the US. I get that. James, you you were wrestling with saying Europe. Yeah. Where’s your head at? I think um Yeah, I think just off of the the the weekend’s performances. I’m a little bit worried with or how the players played at W. Okay. Like um like Raasmus and Bob both missing the cut. I think I’m a little bit like that’s not great. And then also your vice captain then winning the BMW as well. I’m like can we can we make a substitution here and Rasmus Rasmus out and uh Norin in. So that’s kind of where my kind of concern is a little bit. You’re worried about the form of the European. Yeah, I think so. And and you look at obviously what the Americans did over the weekend as well. Scotty winning again and then Ben Griffin second. Yeah, the Americans are definitely better prepared than they were two years ago. Took a month off. So they they’ve learned that lesson there. There’s not going to be any any pushovers, I think, in that kind of first day like there was last year. Um so yeah, I’m mildly concerned, but I’m always going to back the Europeans tomorrow a lot. So is it a case that your heart’s saying Europe and your head saying US? Yes, one of those. Okay, Lewis, I think I’m in the the same boat as James, but my head is overriding my heart in this case. Like you’re right, shameface is the word because I want Europe to win. Of course I do. But you look at the record for matches over in the USA recent years and you take out 2012 from that and it’s really really tough reading for the Europeans. Factor that in with a USA team that has incredible players on it playing really well. Like you mentioned Sheffler is probably going to play four or five matches. That’s potentially four or five points on the board there already. I just think for the Europeans going over there, something special really has to happen to to overturn that home advantage that’s been so strong for over a decade now. Really, I just think it’s going to be too much unfortunately. I think it’ll be close because we’re really well prepared. James was talking about form last week like thought most of the guys actually played well. Rory looks in a good good place. So does Ram. Patton was playing well. Even like Bob and Rasmus, not too worried about those guys because they’re not kind of they’re not players that are probably gonna play every session. True. But having said all that, yeah, the USA team is just so strong. I think it’s it’s going to be a big ask for us. Yeah, I think it is is interesting when you compare the fortunes at Wentworth from the two years ago to this year. Two years ago, our our 12 players finished second, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, 10th. So, and tied in 10. One, two, three, four, five, six. Seven of our 12 finished in the top 10 in ties at Wentworth two years ago. Then you had Shane Lowry and Matt Fitzpatrick in the top 20. Justin Rose was 36. Bob Mack and Nikolai Boygard were 45th and 64th respectively. So compare that to this year. You only have three of your players in the top 10 in ties at Wentworth. That’s Hatton, Hovindland, Fitzpatrick. Three more three more in the top 20. John Ram Oberg and Rory. Then you’ve got Lowry Fleetwood in a tie for 46. Rose tags, sorry, outright 61st. Bob Mack and Raasmas Hoygard like we said missing the cut. So if Wentworth was purely and solely the the bar, and it shouldn’t be, it just shouldn’t be, then the Europeans are going in a little bit less well-cooked than they did two years ago. But I don’t believe that. I I don’t believe for a second that our players are worse prepared or you know that they’re collectively not in good enough form. I I genuinely think that this European team going over there is as strong as it’s been for an away match for a very very long time. It’s 11 and a half of the same 12 players that played two years ago. So they know what to expect and they’ve got crucially they’ve got the same captain and mostly the same backroom staff as well. The reason that I’m edging more towards the Americans is purely the home advantage factor. I I think that player for player, I would argue we have a stronger team. There’s a lot of unknowns in that American team. Like how will Ben Griffin cope with it? He may well step up. He may well be the top point scorer. We’ve seen this happen before when rookies come in. Max Homer two years ago, hello. You know, rookies can come in and they can totally light it up. Or it can go the opposite way, you know, bit of stage fright. Cam Young, a rookie. Well, how will he get on? You know, people like Russell Henley, for example. I I look at the European team on paper and I go, “Oh, slightly fancy us.” But that home advantage is the thing that tips it. It’s too big. And that New York crowd is going to be all up in their faces. Mhm. The thing for me, you mentioned the crowd and you’re right about them being up in their face and that kind of factor, but I feel like a crowd can influence momentum so much in a match. Like we always hear about how important that is. And if you hit a good shot into a green that’s 20 feet away and you get absolutely nothing back from the crowd, you think, “Oh, that’s not very good.” But then when your opponent hits it to the same distance and the crowd’s going mental, you think, “Oh [ __ ] I’m kind of something’s not right here.” And when that’s going around the whole golf course, then you think, “Oh god, like I’m trying to push water up a hill kind of thing.” I think that’s that’s something that is hard to quantify, but when you’re out there, that’s got to play like a huge a huge part in how it’s got to be worth at least half a shot per round. Yeah. Mental toughness as well. They’re literally going to be push their limits with this crowd, aren’t they? Because with, as we know, New York, massive sports town, those fans are not going to back down at all. You can see even even if you’re uh going to a New York Knicks uh basketball game for example, you can see all the celebrities even round like courtside giving the players [ __ ] the whole time as well and you’re just like well if that’s it’s relentless. Yeah. If that’s happening beside the court, imagine what the fans are doing in the nose bleeds and what they’re showing. Yeah, exactly. It’s relentless. It’s unfiltered. It’s inappropriate half the time. But we kind we kind of know what to expect. I I I think Europe’s prep’s been very interesting cuz Rory, after finishing up at Wentworth, told reporters that Luke Donald has given all the players virtual reality headsets last week that’s pre-programmed with the sights and the noise and very personalized abuse that they’re going to get. It’s almost simulate exactly what they’re going to have to to put up with. You know, they were asked apparently, “How far do you want this to go?” And and Rory said, “Go as far as you want.” Yeah, you know, all to simulate, I say, those sights, the sounds, the noise, the stuff that they’re going to have to deal with. It’s all with a a view of trying to desensitize them before they show up. I mean, it’s not quite the same, though, is it? Nothing is quite the same as having a real person, flesh and bone, standing there spitting vitrial in your face from, you know, a distance of a couple yards. Yeah, you can simulate it all you want with virtual reality, but it’s a whole other matter when it’s somebody right there in front of you. I get the idea of this, but I’m kind of skeptical, like you say, as to whether it’s going to work or not, cuz you know, you’ve got those big stupid goggles on your face and whatever else. Like, it’s just not the same, is it? It could be counterproductive as as well in a sense because it could like overwhelm them too much before they’re even on the first. I was saying this to Louis. We were talking about this in the office. Like they could end up just grabbing like both the handles and just start like like throwing hands. Start throwing hands at people. It’s like you don’t want that. Imagine turtle hating. You wouldn’t stop. Yeah. Be hilarious. I mean, I think Rory was quite sensible with what he said. You know, nothing can really prepare you until you’re actually in that. You can wear all the VR headsets you want and do all the different things we’ve been trying to do to get ourselves ready, but once the first tea comes in Friday, it’s real and we just have to deal with whatever’s given. There has been so much talk for a very very long time. I’m talking years years and years of buildup about what to expect from the the home crowd and what they’re going to be saying and the type of abuse. We’re anticipating the absolute worst. We’ve seen and heard some bad stuff, but I think this is going to be the real litmus test for just how far fans are prepared to go. I really hope it doesn’t dominate the match. I hope it doesn’t become a thing that we’re all discussing, you know, all day Friday. Even the practice rounds, I’m sure it’s going to start then, but then all day Friday and all day Saturday. I really, really, really hope that this doesn’t become the story. It is just now. It has been for the buildup. At some point, I just hope that I don’t know how they do it either, but I hope that PG of America is prepared and ready to deal with people who cross the line. Do you think it’ll be that bad? Yeah. Like, absolutely. I mean, no doubt. Uhhuh. Really? I mean, if it was bad at Hazeline in 2016 where Rory was having to square up to people, Tom Layman, one of the vice captains getting involved and right up in fans faces. That’s in Minnesota. Yeah, it’s just how bad is it going to be in New York? Like James said, huge sports town. I’ve been to, let me see, I saw the Giants play the Jets in an NFL match at Metife 10 years ago. Going on 10 years ago, that would have been awesome. It was great, but the fans were diabolical. Yeah. Abs. Oh, just horrific. Shout. I mean, again, you’re talking about the nosebleleeds. That’s where my wife and I were sitting for the game because those were the cheapest tickets at $300 a pop. Goodness me. But right up there in the nosebleleeds, some of the stuff that was being said. Oh, really? I could not possibly even conceive of repeating it on this show. It was that bad. Uh, like I said, I’ve been to IBRS at the weekend. That’s bad stuff. I was going to say is that for for comparison nowhere near. Okay. Ibro is like going to pets at home by comparison. Goodness me. Wow. That’s a high bar. I was listening to the radio. It sounded pretty bad in Saturdays. Yeah. It’s totally different. Totally different. But it’s just culturally different. And I think that, you know, New Yorkers, some New Yorkers are sensible enough, they’ll go, “Yeah, that’s that’s not on.” But for others, it’s no, this is just how we deal with sport. M. So, it is going to be bad. It It’s It is going to make some stories. It’s going to make some headlines. I just hope the PG of America cuz they’ve had long enough to think about this. Yeah. That they’ve basically established where they think the line is for appropriate and inappropriate and that they have measures in place to deal with it. The thing is, what do you do though? Do you like chuck people out of chuck everyone out though? That’s the Well, not everyone’s going to not everyone’s going to act like an absolutely that’s the thing. You find the most vocal ones and you toss them out and you make it seen and heard. No one is going to want to be tossed out the rider cup ruined, especially when they’ve spent what, $750 on a ticket. That’s a good point. Some won’t want to, but won’t be able to resist the urge to shout something awful. Yeah. But I think once it’s seen that people are at the start of the week and practice rounds even being turfed, Yeah. then I think that might do something. But it’s not going to be enough. I mean, no matter Like you said, you can’t throw everyone out. You can’t stop every [ __ ] But there’s going to be one ring leader though that’s going to influence it though, isn’t it? And that’s the person you need to chuck first. And it it will be the usual thing. It’s like the US RDER Cup cappo kind. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. But it’s the usual thing. It It’ll be fueled by alcohol as well. And you It’s not like they’re not going to sell drink. No. Exact. Exactly. And they’re not going to put a stop to that. Yeah. So the Yeah. They’re just going to have to really just be on it. But who knows? They might even let it go for a little bit before it’s like and then it’s like, right, okay, that’s enough. We’ll see. I hope they don’t let it go because that’ll just it’s harder to rein it back. Exactly. First sign of it, the first example of it, deal with it and set the tone for the week. But we’ll see. Lewis, you talked about Europe’s record in America in recent RDER Cups. So, what do you think they need to do differently if they’re going to come away with a trophy this time? Singles is kind of where we we seem to fall apart. Um, you look at like every RDER Cup really and we’ve been quite close like up until Sunday and then out there we just completely capitulate really like you look at 2021 USA won the singles 84 and then 2016 it was 7 and a half to four and a half to the USA. 2012 is very different, but even you look at 2023 like 66. Yeah, it was six and six. Ethan, we won that comfortably, but still like we’ve not been able to beat the USA in the singles. I just don’t know like what you do differently in that sense. We seem to do better in team formats like Walker Cup’s the same. Europeans seem to just gel better as a team. And you can kind of take that from preparation and getting the pairings right and the order of the team that you put players out in. But to win singles, you just need to be better like playing your own ball. And at the moment, we just can’t seem to to figure that out, especially out there. I don’t know what the solution is to that, unfortunately. A massive lead going into Sunday. Yeah, that’s it. That is the thing. You need to you need to really do what you’re good at well and take a big lead into Sunday or just come out absolutely firing in in the singles and get points on the board early like we did in Madina. But that’s so difficult to do. So yeah, take a big lead like we did in Rome. Mhm. Before 4nil up after the first session be great. That that would be but that that’s the thing like the record that we have in singles at the moment. If we don’t go into Sunday with a big lead then you just fancy the USA to to turn us over. I don’t know why that is or how to stop that but that’s just the trend that we’ve had in recent years. Yeah. The whole thing about you know us being better at the team element of it. The four balls and forsomes. We talk a lot about how that’s a a cultural difference in terms of that’s what our players grow up playing, you know, whether it’s Eisenhower trophies or European amateurs or all the other amateur golf that they play. Less there’s always been the suspicion there’s less so in the states. I’m not sure if there is. I mean, I think that the the big players in big colleges tend to play an awful lot of match play golf. Yeah. But is it more a case that our players just enjoy playing alongside one another and having a teammate more than the Americans do, James? Are the Americans just 12 lone wolves who try and just suffer through the first couple of days and then stamp their authority because that’s what they prefer on Sundays? Yeah, I think there’s definitely an element of that. If you look in the past uh the past kind of American teams, it would definitely definitely looks that way in my opinion. I think um what the Americans do do very well is they are very good with their own ball though. So like even in even when it comes down to the four balls they normally do pretty well and their true is pretty neck and neck. For whatever reason though four sims they’re not not quite as well they’re just not as good as the Europeans pure and simple. And like you look at 2023 that you know first session 4-0il they were absolutely gubbed. Um but then they kind of came back in the afternoon obviously with uh one and a half points to two and a half and then they kind of slowly were like edging back and then like Louis said 66 in the afternoon in the singles which is where they seem to seem to shine. So yeah, when the Americans are playing their own ball, they’re def definitely a lot better. But I for whatever reason, I do think this time round, like I think this group of America, these group of Americans, I think it’s just going to be different this year. And I think the only thing to do to try and give well if you’re Europe the only thing to do is put your put your starting four that that you had last year and just put them out again like exactly the same and just hopefully they go out and deliver that that first session like you want them to do. So we’ll talk more about pairings and potential pairings in part two. Mhm. Lewis James mentioned just the the Americans playing better on their own ball and they are coming into this in uh a bit of form as well. For the start like we mentioned the prep’s different. They have actually been playing competitive golf in September which they didn’t two years ago but they they played at the weekend most of them in the PGA tour event the procore championship. Scottish Heffler won because of course he did. Obviously I didn’t even know he was in contention until I saw this morning he’d won it. I I feel like my my daughter’s seven and I feel like I know Bennett Sheffller better than I know my daughter. I just see him being good. We’re getting to see him grow up in real time. We are every Sunday night. Exactly. There’s no surprises. No, there’s not. You know, like Meredith I feel like I’ve now earned the right to call her mayor just like Scotty does because that’s that’s how much I see her. But yeah, Scotty won obviously. Well done. Another one, Ben Griffin, one of the rookies, like we mentioned, he was second. JJ Spawn and Cam Young, two other rookies, also in the top 10. So, they are bringing a little bit of form into this event that they didn’t two years ago. Can only be a bad thing from a European point of view, can it not? Yeah, it is a bad thing. And you look at that event, but you go further back the whole year, like the whole team’s playing so well. JJ Spawn, you mentioned him, had an incredible year. I think he’s going to do really well. Sheffller. It’s I think it’s easy to look at like lower names in the teams, I guess, like guys who are ranked lower, but Ryder Cups are won by your top players. Guys like Sheffler Spawn, uh, like Xander Schoffé who’s not had the best. Yeah. Patrick Handley, Justin Thomas, guys who are really well well equipped to deal with this environment. So yeah, it is bad news for the Europeans. If you’re going over there against 12 guys who all of them are playing really really good golf, it’s going to be so difficult for us to to go and turn them over, especially over three days where it’s it’s a big sample size. Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know how we’re going to deal with it, but it’s going to be tough. You’re right. Sheffller’s just had an incredible year. And as much we’re saying that every year now. We’re saying it every week. He doesn’t do anything wrong. As much as he’s maybe not set it a light in Ryder Cups before, that’s going to change at some point. And I do think it’s going to be this time around. I think he’s going to have a brilliant win. That spells trouble for us, unfortunately. Well, I mean, in Rome, he he he came in and then the youngsters absolutely battered him. So, and then everything changed. And then everything changed. So, and then he’s now since that point become one of the most unstoppable golfers on the planet. Ever since two Scandinavians made Scottish Heffler cry on TV, he’s been absolutely indomitable. Should have done that, should we? Will he close that loop this time around? We we will see. Tell you what, though, watching that that event of the weekend, there is one guy who finished very well there who’s going to be in that RDER Cup team for the US at a dare in two years time and that is Jackson Kyven. He’s an amateur, finished tied fourth. He obviously played in the Walker Cup win last week. That boy is the absolute real deal. If he turns pro, if he does it this fall, autumn, whatever, fall. Whoops. Wow. If he does it in the coming weeks and months, then I I will. You’re team America. [ __ ] yeah. The lingo. Um, yeah, if if he turns professional soon, I would be not even remotely surprised if he’s in Ireland representing Team USA. Yes, he’s he is the full package. Yeah. Listen, we’re going to throw it to the break just there. We’re going to talk about pairings in a little bit more detail the other side of the break. But before we do, asked and answered this week, if the answer is 1979, what is the question? I had so so many people saying, “Is it the last time a Russell Martin won a football match?” Yes, probably. But that’s not the answer that we are looking for. So, gents, what have you got for me? That’s exactly what happened. When was Scottish Sheffler actually born? Oh. Oh, good one. That would make him 46. Yeah, cuz he looks 46. Oh, you know what? Going to need that birth certificate. Yeah. No, you’re both wrong. You’re both wrong. I will reveal what the correct question is the other side of this commercial break. Tea off with our exclusive hot Eagle breaks at McDonald’s Golf Hotels and Resorts, including Spay Valley Avimmore and Cardona Resort in Peeles, both recent hosts of the Tartan Pro Tour with stunning locations and a championship golf course featured at both four-star hotels. One night golf breaks from only £95 per person at Cardona and £115 per person at Spay Valley. Be flexible on date and get the best rate, but be an early birdie. Limited space is available. Search McDonald Hot Eagle Breaks for more. Welcome back. Part two of this week’s Bunker podcast in association with Callaway, Michael, James, and Lewis. With you before the break, asked and answered, if the answer is 1979, what is the question? That is of course the year that the continental Europeans played in the Ryder Cup for the first ever time. Sevi Balisteros really sort of driving force behind that. Plus the fact that GB and I kept getting battered. absolutely humped 7946 years ago and it’s all been gravy ever since. It took a while for it to kind of turn though after that, didn’t it? 85 really, wasn’t it? 85 I think it was. So, okay. Well, not really then. They’re they’re oil tankers apparently, aren’t they? They take a long time to turn around. Or so Russell, I like my matcha in the morning. Martin would have you believe. Wow. Have you ever had a matcha? I have. Yeah, I had it a couple of actually about a month or so ago for the first time. Is it good? No, absolutely dreadful. Everyone says to me that they’re awful when I see folk drinking it. It’s the trendy thing to do because it’s bright green and everyone goes, “You’re drinking a green drink? You must be really interesting. It’s just an attentionseeking thing. People are pretending to like it. Like they pretend to like air fryers and and stuff like that. I like air fryers.” No, you don’t. You don’t. You don’t. Why not? They’re so handy. You just literally bang it in. You don’t need to do anything. You just turn it on and then it’s ready. It’s like an oven. Ah, ovens take ages compared to air fryers. Yeah, this is an air fryer. Yeah, not having it. All right. Matcha I had. So, I’m with you on the matcha. Yeah, matcha. We all agree. Obviously, lactose intolerant, so I have to be careful what I drink it with. I had it with a lemonade from a a well-known high street coffee shop. They were selling lemonade and matcha. And I was out with my wee girl and I thought, you know what? I’ll give that a shot. Mhm. No, never again. Okay. I’ve never had one. Or was that must No, no, no, no, no, no, no, not not that. It was It was what I imagined drinking Bull’s urine must be like. Oh, wow. I’ve never imagined that. So, yeah, your dreams are weird. So’s my coffee order. No, it was not good. Okay, so yeah, before we get into the RDER Cup pairings and all that sort of stuff, uh another quick plug for our Under Armour competition, remember we are giving away an Under Arour capsule collection warning collection. Yes. All linked to a certain team event that’s coming up that I shouldn’t say the name of in relation to this particular capsule collection, also known as a battle of death page, some Gotcha. Understood. We’re giving away a limited edition hoodie and polo shirt. Yes. to one lucky person who if you go to the bunker website bunker.co.uk/competitions, there’s a prompt there for it. You’ll need to fill in a very short form. And the answer that you need, James’s magic word is competition. There you go. Not very exciting, but that’s the word. Yeah. Going to make this Lewis’s magic word going forward. That’s fine. I’ll pick something a bit more exciting than competition. or competition. Any any word with such a wide vocabulary you can pick anything. I’ve got a wide vocabulary. You heard me. Barely. Yeah, I have. That’s the point. I’m surprised it’s not like title bell or something like that. Barely talk. Ball speed. Something like that. No. Peak height. Apex. Apex. None of that. He just goes smash competition. Anything. That’s like having a child and they’re like, “Oh, congratulations, Mr. Tate. It’s a boy. What you going to call it? Baby child. This is I’d like to introduce you to my new son, boy. Anyway, the word’s competition. The word is competition. You’re giving me too many ideas, Michael. Oh, DDB, the word is competition. Go to bunker.co.ukcompetitions with an S and you could win that swag. Right then, gentlemen. Yes. Before we give James any more baby name ideas, let’s talk pairings. There you go. Pairings. Perings. That would have been perfect. That’s a great name for a girl. Who would you like to see or a boy pairing? T the second try 25, you know. Oh god. It’s like he’s just seeing words now going. Yeah. Yeah. So, Europeans, who would you like to see? Lewis again. You’ve written the you’ve written notes for this uhhuh this week and you’ve written who would you like to see playing with each other for the Europeans. You’ve no idea how much resolve it is taking not to pursue that. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Explain. Um, well, yeah. Can I can I take a stab at this, Mike? Go for it, James. Thank you. Um, well, if you read between the lines, um, and you say, “Who would you like to see playing with each other?” Um, and think of it in maybe like a slightly dirty-minded way, then it could be misinterpreted somewhat. This a golf podcast. Terrible. Do you want me to Do you want me to change this real time? No, no, it’s okay. Did I Did I do do well there, Michael? Yeah. Was You have You’ve done very well. Who would you like to see playing adults with each other alongside one another for the Europeans? Well, that was your question, so I’m going to answer it. Right. Honestly, I know this will sound maybe both obvious and potentially dafted because the Americans know what they’re up against. Why would you change it from two years ago? That’s exactly what it ain’t broke. You know what I mean? I I think that there’s there’s no need to to reinvent the wheel or whatever they say. So yeah, I I would keep it as is. I don’t disagree. But then do you think the reason that worked so well is the Americans maybe didn’t quite know what was coming 2023? Is that is that a factor here? Don’t know. I mean, it’s it’s not driven by that though, is it? It’s driven by what the data says. And unless the data has changed massively in the last couple of years, and I suspect it hasn’t, then I would be really surprised if you don’t see the same guys out there. And the Americans have their own data team who aren’t just looking at American data. They are trying to predict who’s going to be paired together for the Europeans. Yeah. So, I mean, I’m looking at that opening morning just now. Bear in mind, this was Forsomes. Ramen Hatton. I just don’t see why you wouldn’t put those two together. They’re teammates on LIB. They play with each other all the time. Then you’ve got Oberg and Havland. Maybe a maybe somewhat of a question mark there, but not really. They won four and three. And then the next day they won nine and seven. So pretty good. I think they’re okay. Yep. Lowi and Straa Straa’s form and the extent to which he’s played of late is a little bit of a concern, but they look like a pretty pretty solid pairing. And then Mroy and Fleetwood, Fleetwood Mack, yes, just wouldn’t change that at all. You’re I guess the question is what pairings we doing? What would we do differently? Well, they won four nil in that session, the equivalent session two years ago. So, I wouldn’t change a thing really. You’d go exactly the same. I would maybe change the order they go out in. Okay. Because that’s where you can have a bit of fun and try and mess with people’s heads, but yeah, I I would keep those exact same eight players on the golf course. For me, I’m taking Lowry and Straka out of that for a start. Worries me slightly like guys form. Lowry hasn’t been incredible this year and I just don’t think putting Straka into the first session is wise considering the buildup that he’s had or lack of buildup I suppose and playing golf. Who would you put in there instead and Justin Rose? I’m putting Bob and Fitzpatrick in there. Really? Yeah. Um I think putting Bob has gone levels up since 2023 and I think putting him out in the first session is a no-brainer to be honest. someone who who I would really want to play horsesomes with as a player. It hits the ball Miles is a really good driver off it and I think that’s crucial in this format. And then Fitz just want him to get off off the mark in a sense. I know he’s won Rder Cup points but just try and get that monkey off the back and play them together. I think it’d be a good fit. And yeah, for me Larry and Straa is just a bit of a worry if we were going with the keep things exactly the same motto. I can kind of see maybe I can see the angle you’re coming in from and I would I would agree that Sepra should probably maybe Yeah, he probably should be subbed out and but I think someone like Justin Rose should go in instead. Okay. Who’s just pretty solid? I agree on that. He’s got a bag of experience as well. And I think he’s been playing incredibly well and very steady. And I think someone who’s got that experience that can steady the ship, especially maybe when Shane’s kind of head starts going a little bit, I think they would actually be a pretty good combination. But like Michael said, it’s like if you won four-0il in the morning and you keep keep those pairings, yes, the Americans are going to know what’s coming, but you might kind of maybe play around with the order, but you can’t you can’t not. In my opinion, I think it’s it’s a no-brainer, especially when you’ve won four zip and then you put those same guys and the Americans going to be like, “Right, here we go.” The reason that I say no need to change anything isn’t just the four-nil win on Friday morning, by the way. And bear in mind, it’s the same order in terms of format. Forsomes, four balls. Yep. Forsomes, four balls, then singles. It’s the exact same order that we had the two Forsome sessions that we had two years ago. We won them 71. Yeah. Now to your point, Lowry and Straas the sole defeat there. They lost 4-2 to Maxoma and Brian Harmon on the the second day. But it was also the exact it was the same eight players that went out in Friday morning went out in the Saturday morning. Mhm. So Bob didn’t get any forms experience in the DER cup. Yeah. Two years ago. Boyard benched in the morning and Friday morning for totally obvious reasons. He was a rookie. He’d do the same with his brother this time around. 100%. Let him go down to the first tea. get a sense of just what it’s like, frankly, how hostile it is and then send him out on his own ball in the afternoon. Yeah. Give him that luxury. So then you’ve got Fitz, who could well come in, but his RDER Cup record just spooks me. Yeah. Like one one point from seven or something like that, I think it is. Make him play his own ball. Make him play his own ball. Ease him into the the event. And then the other one there is Justin Rose that we’re benching in the morning. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have those three guys surrounded by Justin Rose. He can keep their spirits. I mean, vice captains are good and all that sort of stuff, but if the other player that you’re benched alongside is a guy like Justin Rose, who frankly has done almost everything in the game, major winner, world number one, Olympic gold medalist, won in both tours, all that sort of stuff. It’s a good guy to have sitting alongside you on the bench. That’s unreal. And then you let the eight players who did the force damage se to the tune of 71 in Rome, you let them do their thing again. I think you just mix up the order they go out in. Yeah, I don’t hate that at all. Is there sound fathered head here? Is there anything to be said for for looking at golf balls that players are using? Now this is something you can come in on James obviously gear editor but what strikes me is that Raasmus Hygard be coming in as a rookie playing the same ball as John Ram now does that lend itself to Forsome’s pairing at any point do you think maybe the Saturday morning session I wouldn’t even put Rasmusard in a conversation in a forsome honest I think he’s just too he’s just too uh inconsistent off hits a long way but he’s not going to hit the the fairways you want them to hit. Um, so to answer your question, no, I don’t think there is. Fair enough. I tried. I don’t think there is. I think, you know, John Ram and Tur have already played and whatever ball they’re going to choose or play. Sometimes they alternate each hole depending on good point on what they’re on what they’re using. if they’re hitting an iron off the tea, they might use a similar ball and maybe what John likes to kind of use on on his approach game. Um or like Rory and Tommy, obviously they’re both, you know, tailor made. So, one will be Roars and and one may even have, you know, the the picks on it on on one of the T- shots as well. So, you you just don’t know. Everyone’s different and everyone likes looking at something different off the tea. with the driver is where it would probably make the most difference. Um, and on those shorter shots, that’s what you got to take into consideration. So, Rory obviously with his TP5, he’ll want something that has the right amount of spin on those approach shots, but he’ll also want to make sure that whatever he’s using off the tee isn’t going to balloon so he’s able to maximize the most distance. So you’ll probably see some guys kind of like right Tommy will be using his ball because he’s driving off the f off the first tee or if Rory’s off the first te he’s going to be using his ball and then they’ll they’ll mix and match. I would have thought is how it would go which I also think is another reason why Justin Rose makes sense as a four balls guy as opposed to foroms guy because he’s so particular about the the specifics he looks for from his his golf ball. He’s he’s using the Pro 1X, isn’t he? because he likes the fact that it doesn’t do much radically different to his drives, but he gets a spin rate up with his iron shots, which means that he’s got complete control dropping and stopping. That’s not for everyone. I mean, he’s he’s so dialed into his golf ball that his equipment in general, we obviously look at the equipment he’s using every single week, it’s something, it’s a bit of everything. It’s different every single time we tease it up. Yeah. Well, if you remember um uh that the parents tournament on the PJ tour, the name escapes me. I think the classic I think. Yeah. When Rory and um Shane were playing with each other, um there was an interview at the end and they’re talking about the golf ball and how they were maybe using Shane’s ball and how um because it’s strict and it was kind of like wasn’t spinning the same way as what Rory’s ball. they’re finding difficulty sometimes with with yardages. So, you do have to kind of they are taking that into consideration on each shot. So, it’s it’s actually pretty technical when you start getting into the the nitty-gritty of it and start talking about spin rates and that kind of thing too. It is. Listen, forsomes is where the damage has to be done. I agree. And I think that is why if as I say, if it ain’t broke and it doesn’t look like it is, I don’t see why you would go tinkering with that. The area to tinker is probably four balls. Mhm. And even at that, you know, two of the pairings that he put out featured in both sessions couple of years ago. So Donald doesn’t strike me as a sort of guy who likes to mess around with his plan too much. He’ll have a very clear plan and he’ll be sticking to that plan. Where there may be some scope to change things up a little is depending on how we get on that first morning. It’s very easy to throw the same eight players out for Saturday morning forms when you won the first session the previous day for zip. Yeah. So depending on how that goes, you may see some changes and I’m sure that there is a plan for what to do in that case. But I don’t think there’s going to be panic and I do think that I don’t think put let me put it this way. You’re not going to see all 12 Europeans play Forsomes. I just don’t think that’s going to happen. So I do agree. We’ll see. The American parents is probably much more nuanced because there is such a a a change in the the players who are playing this time around. You know, a lot of rookies in there. Yeah. Spawn, Henley, forgive me, Cam Young, Griffin. Then you’ve got Bryson back as well. So, there’s been more of a a churn. What to do with Bryson? Let him play his own ball. So, it’s it’s one of those that there’s been a bit more well significantly more churn for the the American team. Is there any two players put together that gives you guys as European fans sleepless nights? Yeah, Sheffller with any of them, but in particular like Henley, that’s someone that’s a pairing that just seems to work really well. I think Sheffller is a guy who it’s hard to quantify it but when he’s comfortable like with just by himself like he does well and Henley seems like someone gets on really well with same with Burns to be honest. Yeah, Sam Burns is the other one for they’re good friends. She’s spoken about how much he rates his game particularly his putting. We know that Sheffller’s putting has let him down in the past. So putting those two together would give me sleepless nights to be honest. Especially in Forsoms. Like let’s be honest. Sheffller’s going to play the first session. He’s probably going to play all five. I’d be surprised if he didn’t. You think he will? Yeah, I think he will. Like it makes sense. You know, he’s not someone who’s going to be exhausted playing Sunday because he’s played 72 holes over two days. Like it’s not alien to him. So it would be weird to me if he was dropped. We got got a little bit of a clue into some of the potential pairings at the President’s Cup a year ago. and Sheffler and Henley played together twice on that occasion, winning, let me see, I’m just catching up with myself here. Yeah, they won twice and they lost once. I think I’m right in saying they won on the opening day three and two. They then lost Friday’s Forsomes one up. Shepherd played with Moraba on the Saturday morning, excuse me, four balls. And then in the afternoon, Forsomes was back with Henley and they won three and two against Matsu Yaman. M. So yeah, clearly a pairing that Mhm. that works is yeah, that does work. They clearly like one another as well and it seems like they’d be compatible fors or four balls. Sam Burns is the other obvious one that comes in there. I’m going to go to your point though, James. You you you take the words right out of my mouth. Bryson, he’s he’s box office Bryson. He’s the big ticket item. Who’s he playing with? I tell you what, and Wayne for that matter. I I think Bryson will definitely play in both four balls. I think you put him and just let him blast driver. That’s what fans want to see. Play his own ball and and if he gets it going like that will just be electric and I think it will put a lot of pressure on the Europeans if he starts doing that. That would be my kind of strategy with him. You might stick him in maybe one of the afternoon forum groups just to kind of see how he fares. who you’d put him up up with. I don’t know. I’m kind of looking at maybe maybe a Justin Thomas because he’s not going to be paired with Jordan Spe this year. So, um he’s lost his buddy. So, I mean, he did play with Sheffller in 2021. Yeah, I know. I was thinking about that, but I think it could be it could be a good a good pairing potentially just to see how they do. But one and a half points and two, not bad. And four balls. Yeah, you’re warm into that. But I think yeah, I think look, whoever you put Bryson with, I mean, he’s I would say arguably maybe the second best player on that American team. Um, agree. He’s he’s just box office, but his strength, it’s a long course. He hits it miles and if he gets that crank driver going, he is going to be very hard to beat and those fans are going to be very hard to silence. So what’s interesting is looking back again two years when Bryson last played in Ryder Cup and he didn’t feature in Forsomes. Yeah. Now it was somewhat different at that point as well because remember he was that was when he was really going through the big body transformation and I think it would have been big quite unfair Augustus par 76 67 even 67 yeah 76 76 closer to that when I played yeah I was about to say still miles off but yeah I think at that time it would have been objectively unfair to give anyone Bryson as a forsomes partner. Yeah agree. Has that changed now Louis? Yeah, I think it has changed. James makes a good point about his driver. That’s his strength. Not only does he hit it miles, but he hits it straight as well most of the time. So, any of those guys who are good to their wedges, like you’re thinking you could pick any of them out, but someone like Cam Young or Patrick Kentley, those guys playing with Bryson Kley and Schaefle are going to be together. That’s not true. But I I could see Bryson and C and Young because they’re a good statistical fit in Forsomes and they both smash it as well. Cam Young, New York local. Bryson playing with the home crowd favorite. My god, that’s box office is it? And they’re they’re complete polar opposites, but I think that’s a good thing in that format and that Bryson’s like going to be getting the crowd going everything. Cam Young will just be laser focused. Laser focused just doing his own his own stuff. So yeah, I would see him in forms to be honest. And I think they play the same golf ball as well, which is good point important. So the the exact model escapes maybe one left dash there’s pluses dots and stuff in it and whatever else. So so so I think Cam Young actually uses the the the left the double left dot now. Yeah, one of them. What else? Um but but this is this is so I’m just going to jump in because I’m now thinking that I don’t think Bryson will actually be used for forums at all because he’s so particular with his golf ball. I’m pretty sure they use the same one, but if you let him use the ball, Cam Young can surely deal with that. They can work around it. I don’t know. I don’t know if he’s going to be that particular about it because you know what he’s like. But maybe maybe I think if it comes to playing or not playing, he’ll make some compensations. Yeah, Bryson will want to play all five sessions. They’ll be stunned if he didn’t want to. This is another thing like fatigue’s not going to set him for him. He will just go he could play five matches every day. He would be he wouldn’t be bothered. Yeah. So, it’ll be interesting to see what they do with him because he’s the the guy you’re looking at. He’s like the kind of enigma of the team. You don’t quite know what you’re going to get from him. You think there’s probably some people in that team secretly who don’t really want to get paired with flip it the other way then. Who is the hardest to pair in that US team? If you are Keegan Bradley, who are you most worried about going, “Oh, I just don’t know who I’m going to stick him with.” Maybe Ben Griffin, rookie. He seems affable and really good player at the moment. again you use a max fly golf ball so that’s an unknown quantity I can’t imagine there’s anyone so we’ll see you in the afternoon then yeah I would imagine just play your own ball I don’t think he’s gonna he’s going to go out in the first forsome session no and when was the last time a max fly golf ball was used in cup that’s I mean I back to your answered probably in the 70s that could that could have been a good answer for that I think he’s a good match for Justin Thomas and I’m basing that not there’s no stats here in terms of that. It’s purely in terms of do they seem like they’re a good match? Do they look like they would get on together? Could they bring out the best? Justin Thomas will bring the best out of Ben Griffin. He will also, I think, be the heat shield for them if they play alongside each other. Yeah. So, he’ll, you know, he’ll be the guy that’s engaging with the crowd and responding to the crowd and, you know, getting involved in the gamesmanship with the Europeans and he’ll just try and let Ben Griffin focus on playing his way into the the tournament. So yeah, I could see them playing together on the Friday afternoon. Yeah, it’s a good point that James makes about Justin Thomas not having speed there now because you do think who do you who’ you pair him with? One of the most one of the the the most paired pairings in the right. Yeah, exactly. So I think Ben Yeah, Ben Griffin is possibly a good shout for that. But in uh alternate shot, Justin Thomas, it’s an interesting one. Who do you who do you look to there? Spawn maybe. Spawn’s pretty solid to be fair. But again, it’s it’s a tough one. The thing with the American team is you look at them and there’s no like potentially bad pairings in my eyes because they all they all drive it so good. They’re all such good wedge players. That’s what we’re going to need. That’s what they’re going to need around Beth Paige. They hit it absolutely miles. So, it’s just about fine details and Keegan Bradley’s going to know that better than anyone else. I do think it comes down to things like what ball they’re using, if they played together in the past, how they’re playing that week. Just small things like that that’s going to it’s going to make the difference here. But I’m also not sure that you’ll see an old rookie pairing like we did on opening morning a couple years ago where yeah, Zack Johnson goes with Max Hman and Brian Harmon and they get handed at four and three in the second match out. I don’t think we’re going to see that. That was such a dumb thing to It was a strange I mean they obviously came good later in the in the event winning four and two the next day but and then two and one. So they did win two of their three matches together but to put them out first thing on the opening morning but they’ve never a couple it’s just a strange thing to do put them out in the afternoon with their own ball and let them ease into it would have been a smart ride. It would have made a bit more sense. I think Keegan will be wise enough to not do anything like that to be honest. Like he’s seems like he’s really got his head in in the game in that sense with pairings and the analytical side of things. So yeah, I don’t think we’re going to see two rookies going out on the first session. Just before we finish up because we sit here and talk and speculatively, but just on Keegan, I want to end the the chat there because he’s really the big part that we haven’t spoken about yet on this episode. was spoken about him a lot this year, but not so much on this episode. So, we know we know his role. He’s captain. He’s not a plane captain. He’s just the captain. He’s not been involved in a Ryder Cup for 11 years. 2014, Glenn Eagle’s last involvement in the match. His last involvement in the match of any note was shaking the hand of Jamie Donaldson to secure Europe’s victory. Y he hasn’t got any experience of being on a winning team yet. made his debut, a very impressive debut in 2012. He and Phil Mickelson lit the place up until they stopped playing on the Saturday afternoon fatigue or whatever it was. A lot of talk about Phil putting pressure on Davis Love to bench them and, you know, let them get something in the tank to go again on Sunday. Maybe a bit of complacency. They certainly dropped the ball momentum wise, but Keegan didn’t win in 2012 and he didn’t win in 2014. And he’s the guy that’s been tasked with leading. And it seems based on two things. one, Tiger didn’t want it, and two, he it mean the RDER Cup means something to him that you don’t see it meaning to many other American golfers. I guess the question is pretty pretty straightforward. How does Keegan Bradley get out of his own way and get the job done well? It’s so difficult. Um, you’ve just got to look past the the failures that he’s had and approach it with a a calm head, an analytical mind. I think he will do that. I think not playing is a huge part of that. If he’d gone in and we’re looking at who’s he going to play with, then that would have just completely messed with his head to be honest. I know you spoke about thinking that he should be playing. I said from I said from the start, I don’t think that’s the way to do it because the emotions would just get the better of him. We won’t be able to go into this with a a level head and look at things like we’re doing here and think, okay, who’s whose game is going to fit everyone else’s game? So, how does he get out of his own way? It’s tough. You’ve got to lean on your vice captains. I suppose that’s why they’re there and just make the best decisions and hope that it works out. thing like captains, we put so much into pairings and we talk about it, but you can send the two best golfers in the world out and they might just have an absolute nightmare and it doesn’t work and it’s not the captain’s fault necessarily. So you need a bit of luck in it, don’t you? The other thing is that his opposite number, well I’m saying Keegan’s a guy that has never won. Yeah, there’s no experience of winning the RDER Cup. His opposite number has no experience of losing in the RDER Cup. Luke Donald has been on the victorious side any time he’s been involved in the RDER Cup, player and captain. and he is the guy who captained his team to victory most recently in terms of tall orders across the bench. I mean Keegan couldn’t have asked for a a tougher opponent to go up against James like battle of mind and whatnot. Yeah, I mean, yeah, Luke Donald’s record kind of speaks for itself and you can you can look at Keegan’s as well. Uh, but I think, you know, Keegan’s probably leaning on his his vice captain’s homefield advantage. He’s got he’s got the right people in his ear as well. I think he’s going to approach it. Um, and he’s he’s definitely taking his time on making sure he’s got the right pairings and the right guys going up going out, but it’s not going to be an easy task for him. I mean, like you said earlier, like this is the best European team we’ve ever had going across to American soil. And it is a winning team. Same 11 bar bar one or a half you could say. And I think it’s just it’s going to be a a massive massive test. And I think you know in hindsight kind of like now looking like at the time I was thinking yeah Keegan should be in that team. and I think yeah he should but he’s taken the captain really well and he’s obviously really wanting to make a big dent and an impression uh on this captaincy and I think he’s going to do everything in his power to get his players in the best possible position to go out and succeed and especially on home field advantage and put a show for the fans. So to finish then we’ve spoken a lot about the tall task facing Europe because away matches are tough to win. I’m now talking myself round a little bit. Oh no, we knew this was going to happen. Could you make the case that the task facing a home team has never been steeper than the one that the American team’s going to face going up against a European team that bar one event two years ago. Has a captain has the same captain has won two years ago. Has largely the same backroom team. Has a captain who has never lost the RDER Cup. terms of tall orders and Everest to climb for a home team, I can’t ever remember it being so steeply. Yeah, I agree. It’s they’ve it’s going to be a really close match. That’s my one thing that I think here is You don’t think it’s going to be a blowout? No, I don’t think it will be at all. I think certainly up until singles, I think it’ll be really close. And I can see the Europeans taking a lead into the singles matches. But like I said at the very start, the history shows that the USA just beat us in the singles every time, especially over there. And it’s usually by a healthy margin. And I look down the list of players that the Americans are taking there. And I don’t see that changing unfortunately. And it doesn’t at the end of the day at that point like your captain can put out an order for singles matches, but no matter how good the captain is, if your players can’t beat who’s in front of them, then you’re really struggling. So yeah, you’re right. Like the Europeans are going over there like the best that they’ve been. Mhm. For as long as I can remember. So going back, we we’ve spoken for an hour. Going to ask you the big question once again. Who’s going to win the RDER Cup? You standing by it or you change your minds? I’m standing by it. You’re you’re saying USA. I’m standing by it. The more I’ve spoken about it, the more I feel quietly confident that we could actually like you said just just on on that being such a a big mountain for the Americans to kind of like they’ve got to perform like there’s such big expectation kind of Europeans just come in with that that win already and that experience and just kind of like slide in under the radar and just kind of really put a big well their foot down and make a marks. early doors. USA, Europe. I’m going to change. I’m going to say Thai and Europe retains. Okay. Yeah, I can see that. Can see a tie. I like it. So, we’ll find out what’s going to happen when we get there. Like I mentioned at the top of the show, we will be doing daily podcast. We’ll be bringing you all the insight from both camps, the European team and the US team live from Beth Page. Really looking forward to to getting out there. So, stay tuned for that. Before we finish up very very quickly, gentlemen, Pod of Merit, last week was the BMW PT Championship. Didn’t miss a cut, though. You didn’t miss a cup. Ryan Fox made the cut. Ryan Fox made the cut. Well done. Finished in the tie for 46. We’ll come back to that. Lewis, you picked John Ram. Yeah, we finished in the tie for 13th. As I say, Ryan Fox for me, tied 46. And James, you went for Tommy Fleetwood, tied 46th. So Lewis, two points for you, another two for the tally. The question is who gets the point between James and I? And we are sticking with our I don’t know when we wrote in this bylaw to ponder of merit, but we did it at some point. Listen, the rules aren’t very well established. Okay. Not to be taken too seriously. Steve the ref can take it seriously. Keep us in I actually have a vague memory of Steve sending us a DM saying, “You’ve got your scores wrong.” Michael’s actually got a point. No, for this series. No. Yeah, for this series. We’re this deep into it now, Steve, that we’re just going to persevere because it is what it is, right? So, both tied. Someone has to get the point. And it’s the deal is and will be henceforth who had the better final round and then we go back to the third round and second round so on if we need to. Ryan Fox closed with a 69. Good score. Yeah. Tommy Fleetwood closed with a 67. Better score. James, you get the point. So, as it stands, brilliant. Lewis, you’re on eight points. James, you’re on three. And I am Nula zero or maybe one according to Steve. Or maybe one according to Steve. Whatever. Listen, those are the scores. That’s the way it is. It’s my show. I get It’s my game, right? I’m on zero. So, anyway, listen. The the I’m a loser. The what is it? They say the comeback’s greater than the There’s an explanation, isn’t there? Come back’s greater than the set back. Okay. So, I’ve got a lot I’ve got a lot of ground to make up, but you know, it’s fine. Mhm. We’ll see where we go. Open to France this week. Lewis, you go first. Who are you picking? I’m picking Christopher Wright. Very good. Just on account of a tremendous beard that he’s got. And the fact he’s absolutely flying this. Yeah, he might well be, but I just saw the photo of him with his beard and thought, “Yeah, I’m taking him.” So, sixth on the race to Dubai. Sixth. Yeah. No, he is. He is having a great season. Hits the ball. Uh he’s a big large human, so that’s going to play well for him. Yeah. Viking got that genius. He certainly does. Yeah. picking him this week. Okay, James, who are you going with? I’m going with the young up and cominging French superstar Martin Kubra. I like it. That is a really interesting shout. What do you like about him? I just I was I was watching the obviously the golf the weekend and I just love the way he he’s quite aggressive which I like and his iron play and the way he strikes the he strikes the ball just it’s so pure. Um and he rolls he rolls the putter really well. I think he’s going to be the tour package. I said this to my mom and when we were watching I was like give him like four years and he’s going to be in the Ryder Cup and I just think he’s going to love just playing on home soil. I love the idea of you sitting watching the golf with your mom. That feels like we should be doing a a goggle box style watch along. Just you and Mama Tate just get you on YouTube. He’s talking about young French golfers. Great hair. Martin Kubra by the way. Yeah. Yeah. Great hair. Yeah, Michael, who are you picking? So, who’s going to miss a cut this week? Something has to turn around for me, right? Ryan Fox, good step in the right direction. Not quite the step I was looking, or rather the leap I was looking to take, but progress is progress. Yep. I’m now going to go with a fellow Scott and a fellow Rangers fan who is suffering every bit as much as I am at the moment, but he’s also playing great golf. had a good week at Wentworth and that is Euan Ferguson. Yeah, big fan of Yuan. He’s he’s a great lad in any case, you know, never mind his football is that just helps. But he is a a good lad. He’s playing great golf. And if there’s one thing I’ve seen with Yuan, it’s that when he is on, he sustains that for several weeks and months. So yeah, just you know what? Just get me one more good week out of your please. Please for one more week bear to bear. Please just give me a point. It’s all I ask. This could have ruined his his chance of making a You know what? If you missed the cut you It’s my fault. It’s not the caddy. It’s not the coach. It’s not the gear. And it’s most certainly not you. It’s the muan curse. Hopefully not. Hopefully not. Yeah. Martin Kubra, you Ferguson and Christopher Wright. Christopher Viking. Writing the Viking. The Viking. Excellent. We’ll see how that goes. We will pick up Pod of Merit in two weeks time when we are back from the Rider Cup. So, don’t expect any Poder updates during the commutes. And by that point, hopefully this man to my left, Mr. James Tape, will be wearing a big new belt. You’ll need to like because no one will see it on the the stream if you’re wearing it around your wall. Yeah, we’ll find someone. So yeah, James, one more time from me, Lewis, producer Dex, everyone at Bunker, and I’m sure all of you watching and listening along at home. Very best of luck. I appreciate everyone. Looking forward to following your progress. Lewis, thank you for your time. Enjoy the Cup when it comes along. I will do and you enjoy your time out there. Enjoy it. I’ll I’ll try my best. Look forward to seeing all the all the reels buzzing. [Music] That’s a good point actually. Yeah, make sure you stay across the Bunkered social media channels. Instagram. What else is there? There’s Tik Tok. There’s Facebook. Facebook. There’s Twitter. There Oh, sorry. X. There’s LinkedIn. Uh, Blue Sky, Vibo, MySpace, all of those we’ll be covering YouTube. Every single part of the RDER Cup. And if you want to get all the latest news in your inbox every single morning, bear in mind we will be there. So when you’re asleep, we’ll be working. If you want to make sure that you’re getting the most informed and upto-date opinions, analysis, and news, then sign up for our free daily newsletter. That way, when you wake up, and I know the first thing you do is you grab your phone and you’re bleeding and you’re like, “Oh, turn off that [ __ ] alarm.” And then open your email inbox. There’s the latest Rder Cup news right there. So, make sure you sign up. Otherwise, you’ll just be disappointed when you get to work. People will laugh at you. You won’t know as much as they do. Don’t be that guy. Don’t be like us. Yeah. Just make sure you uh listen to the podcast. Exactly. Yeah. Tune into those every single morning. The next time that you hear from me, I will be in NYC, baby. So until then, thank you very much for listening. Thank you, Callaway, for your continued support. And Ole Olay, Olay. Come on, Europe. Bye-bye for now.
