McGinley sees Hero Cup as key for Donald and Power in Ryder Cup year
SOUTHAMPTON, BERMUDA - OCTOBER 27: Luke Donald of England plays his shot from the tenth tee during the first round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course on October 27, 2022 in Southampton, . (Photo by Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)
Europe faces a massive challenge to win back the Ryder Cup in September, but Paul McGinley believes this week's Hero Cup will be key to turning things around.
Since 1979, when players from continental Europe were first included, Europe has won 11 Ryder Cups and tied another to retain the trophy to just nine wins for the US.
That record 19-9 defeat for Pádraig Harrington's troops to a hugely impressive young USA team at Whistling Straits in 2021 sent alarm bells ringing.
After all, Harrington was the first European captain to go into battle without the benefit of a warm-up match as skipper following the demise, not only of the Seve Trophy in 2013 but also of the EurAsia Cup in 2018.
Nobody knows better than McGinley the benefits of a dry run as team captain and while Luke Donald will only be overseeing the Hero Cup match between Tommy Fleetwood's Great Britain and Ireland and Francesco Molinari's Continental Europe team at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, it should prove an invaluable exercise ahead of September's Ryder Cup match in Rome.
"I worked hard behind the scenes to re-introduce this event as I felt it was a big miss during Covid and an important opportunity to trial ideas as well as laying foundations for the younger players in particular as well as caddies," said McGinley, who joins another winning Ryder Cup captain in José Maria Olazábal as a consultant to Donald and his vice-captains this week.
"I met him last week in Florida when he came to my house and we discussed a number of things that I've learned from playing and captaining in this event.”
McGinley credited his winning Seve Trophy captaincies in 2009 and 2011 as key to his success as Ryder Cup captain nine years ago and having last week stepped down from the DP World Tour board last week after two three-year stints to concentrate on his career as a TV analyst but also on his golf design projects, he's keen to do his bit for the Ryder Cup team.
"I'm only a consultant and won't be a vice-captain, but I am keen to be more of a support and a sounding board than anything to him and his vice-captains and to make sure he keeps his views wide."
Like Pádraig Harrington, who believes Donald's low-key personality hides a steely side to the former world number one, McGinley is a big admirer of the Englishman.
He sees this week's match as crucial as Europe looks to build a new team around established like Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry and this week's playing captains Molinari and Fleetwood.
"He's doing great so far and he's on top of everything," said McGinley, who describes Donald as "steely, organised and astute."
While Molinari will count on Ryder Cup players Alex Noren and Thomas Pieters in his Continental Europe side, he has huge potential in Thomas Detry, Nicolai Hojgaard (a late replacement for his injured twin brother Rasmus), Adrian Meronk, Guido Migliozzi, Victor Perez, Antoine Rozner and Sepp Straka.
It's an equally promising scenario for GB&I skipper Fleetwood, who is joined by Ryder Cup players Tyrrell Hatton and Lowry, Scots Ewen Ferguson and Robert MacIntyre, England's Richard Mansell, Callum Shinkin and Jordan Smith and West Waterford star Seamus Power.
"Séamus is off to such a flying start that it's likely he will be in Italy," McGinley said of the West Waterford man, who remained 29th in the world.
"And as a result, he's really important to Luke next week as he gets to know him better and he gets integrated into our culture with knowledge shared on some of the things we have successfully done in the past.
Power is due to arrive in Abu Dhabi at lunchtime today, and he'll be keen to knock some rust off his game after finishing tied 25th behind Jon Rahm in the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Sunday.
The Spaniard came from seven shots behind, carding a 10-under 63 to win by two shots from overnight leader Collin Morikawa, who choked down the stretch and shot 72
"Bit of a crazy day, I'm not gonna lie," said Rahm, who was nine shots behind when he bogeyed the first, and Morikawa made birdie.
"… I'm like, 'We're going to need a small miracle.' After bogeying one, I was going to need somewhat of a larger miracle.
Rahm remains fifth in the world, but while Rory McIlroy hangs on to the number one spot after Scottie Scheffler failed to finish in the top three at Kapalua, the Spaniard believes he's now top dog after winning for the third time in his last five starts.
"I feel like since August, I've been the best player in the world," said Rahm, who won the Spanish Open and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai at the end of last year. "Earlier in the year, clearly Scottie was that player, then Rory was that player, and I feel like right now it's been me."
Rahm topped the field for strokes gained putting, but while Power was eighth on the greens, he finished near the back of the field for iron play and driving accuracy and admits his game needs work.
"It was pretty poor all around, to be honest," said Power, who remains top of the FedExCup standings. "It's one of those courses where you can get away with it, so it doesn't look so bad. I actually putted pretty well, which is always nice to see after a break. The rest of it wasn't great. So a lot of work to do.
"I actually rolled it pretty nicely, so that's always nice to see. But I need to work on just about everything else, I'd say. So I have a bit of work to do, knocking off some rust and kind of figuring out what you've got.
"I am a bit aways from where I'd like it to be, so some work to do over the next couple weeks.”
