RYDER CUP CAPTAINCy: I WAS UNLUCKY, SAYS FALDO, OLAZABAL WAS LUCKY

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By JAMES CORRIGAN 
There are lucky Ryder Cup captains and unlucky Ryder Cup captains. Of this Sir Nick Faldo has no doubt. But he is not sure if there are good captains and bad captains. 
Many will believe Faldo (pictured) would think that, considering his standing as the only Europe captain to lose this century. 
That defeat in Kentucky dares to stand out on a CV which features six majors and a longer successive spell at world No 1 than all but Tiger Woods With every passing blue and gold glory, the sole loss in six matches inevitably gains more notoriety. 
It is fair enough to say Faldo has endured enough of the light swinging above his head. 
“I do get sick about the ongoing inquisition,” he said. “It’s four years ago, it’s gone. The bottom line is we went there and played and were outplayed and got beaten. It was about professional golfers competing. But no, it was all my fault.” 
To Faldo it is fairly simple. His top three players did not perform. 
“When Sergio [Garcia] says to me after the first day, ‘Excuse me ladies, I’m f----- , I don’t want to play any more,’ that’s a belter for a captain. ‘Uh, you’re one of my main guys and you don’t want to play? Terrific, great, thanks’. 
"How do you deal with that one? 
"Then I had [Padraig] Harrington exhausted and [Lee] Westwood, who was in a different place. They were my top three players and gave me 1½ points. It’s pretty tough to do anything with that. That’s the fact, but as a captain you get walloped with other stuff.” So there was the lack of assistant captains, the lack of inspirational speeches and poor communication-management skills. 
As one of British sport’s most self-driven of champions, Faldo plainly is baffled by the criticisms from certain players on his team.
 “As a golfer you go there to compete and all that matters is playing the match,” he said. “So it’s hard work for a captain when you get all sorts of things blamed on you afterwards. 
"But then I did pick [Poulter], which I also got slaughtered for when I named him. And he went on to win four points out of five, which was then the best return for any wild card. Hey, my claim to fame. The only decent thing I did all week.” 
Faldo does sarcasm well. It has helped him earn millions as one of American TV’s premier golf analysts. He was there at Medinah six weeks ago when Jose Maria Olazabal’s men pulled off the greatest comeback in the event’s history. And he recognises the absurdity in the captain’s narrative.
 In the background, Peter Hanson was furious for playing only once, while Paul Lawrie complained about the lack of information being handed down from management. 
“Look at Ollie on the Friday and Saturday,” said Faldo. “Ollie was p----- off and told them they were not playing to their expectations. There was an awful lot going on. America had totally outplayed us. They were 10-6 up and if Poulter hadn’t have saved us it could have been a dreadful whitewash. 
"Ollie would have been labelled a terrible captain and rightly he would have said, ‘No I’m not taking all the blame’. 
"To some things, you have to put your hand up and say we could have done differently. But essentially it comes down to moments from individuals on the course.” 
And yes, Faldo does believe fortune plays a heavy hand in those three days when golf enters the spotlight of the Premier League or NFL. 
“Talk about lucky. Imagine if Rory [McIlroy] hadn’t made it to the first tee in the singles, if that police car he had to jump into hadn’t been there. It turned into a joke when he got there with 10 minutes to go, but if he hadn’t and everything had have unfolded the way it did, Rory would have cost Europe the Ryder Cup 
"Just think of the outcry. Rory would have been scarred for life and the finger would also have been pointed at the leadership and organisation. The whole thing would have been a disaster.” 
It turned out to be exactly that for America and for their captain, Davis Love. 
"But if Davis had put his arm around Phil Mickelson on the Saturday and said, ‘I know we said you’d only play four matches but we’ve got them on the ropes’ and persuaded him to play in the afternoon and they’d got a half then it would have been all over. It’s easy to discuss that now with hindsight. And it did help to make brilliant TV.” 
Didn’t it just. Not only on the Sunday but on the Saturday, too. While Europe slept on Poulter’s five finishing birdies which gave the visitors that most alluring of sniffs, Faldo held court in entertaining fashion on the Golf Channel. 
“We had a great night discussing how the impossible had suddenly become possible. David Feherty [Faldo’s former Ryder Cup team-mate who is also an analyst] came up with a fantastic line saying that after Poulter’s win the teams ‘were tied at 10-6’.
"We were sitting in a studio with a full moon behind us and during an ad break I asked the stats man, ‘When’s the last time there was a full moon during the Ryder Cup’? He looked it up and said, ‘You won’t believe this – it was in 1999 at Brookline [when America came from 10-6 down to win]’. So I went with this, saying, 
‘There’s something going on, there’s something in the air’. We could all feel it that night and we laid out what would have to happen. And it all did, just as we said. Incredible.”
Faldo is never shy to put himself into the story. Why should he be? He has appeared in more Ryder Cups than any other player (11), has won more Ryder Cup points than any other player (25) and since the war (the first one, that is) Faldo has won more majors than any other player from his continent.
And as the last player to win a major under the flag of St George he will remain central to England’s golfing story until the likes of Westwood, Poulter, Luke Donald or Justin Rose follow his example.
At least one of this quartet has sought him out for advice. 
“Luke came to me in the summer. He’d been torturing himself with his schedule and basically I told him to spend more time at the major venues. Did Luke do as I advised? No, he did he opposite. It was so funny,” said Faldo, with a laugh.
“1. I said don’t tell anyone you’ve been to see me – he did.
“2. You’re world No 1, don’t do 20 interviews saying you’re going to do this and that – he did.
“3. Get to Olympic [Club, venue for the US Open] as soon as possible, go for two days on a recce – he didn’t.
“4. With strategy on the golf course, par will be your friend, find a way to make a par and don’t hit it at the flag – he misses the cut.
“Luke was just lost with it all. I think he realised his preparation wasn’t right. He did a bit more at Lytham and I hope he does more again. He’s so good.”
Certainly Faldo would be interested in talking more with Donald. He would be happy to counsel any of the Europeans trying to break their major ducks.
“I’d love to do it. It’s more than just coaching. It’s not just bits of a swing – it’s the walking bits in the middle. You can talk all very well on the range, but unless you’ve stood there in a fairway you don’t know what it’s like when your guts are churning, your head is spinning, you have no saliva and you have to make a decision. I think I could help guys with that. They’ve got my number.”
For the amateurs, there is his book A Swing For Life, first published in 1995 but now updated. Faldo has knowledge to impart and clearly wants to, whether it is in his TV role, through literature or as a mentor. The game still fascinates him and although he is 55 he has not yet given up completely.
“I’m playing in a father-and-son event with Matthew in December and some of my academy coaches said can we train you properly. It’s been kind of fun. I’ve been getting into some old positions and it’s like ‘oh blimey’. We’re treating it seriously like real golfers and the competitive juices are starting to flow again.”
Enough to make an emotional return at next year’s Open at Muirfield, venue for his first major 25 years ago? “If this inspires me, you never know. But more as a journey, not as a mission. For the love of the game, if you like.”
A Swing For Life by Nick Faldo is published by Simon and Schuster, £19.99