Cold Tubs, Gluten-Free Food and, Please, No Garlic: Ryder Cup Captain Duties Go Far Beyond Pairings

Long before the competition begins, Ryder Cup captains handle a number of requests from players—some are simple, while others can get complicated.

“I’m in cahoots with a cold-plunge company,” says U.S. captain Zach Johnson, speaking almost two months ahead of his Ryder Cup team’s charter flight to Rome.

But why is Johnson—a two-time major champion and five-time Ryder Cup team member—calling up Plunge.com to ship fiberglass tubs to Italy?

Of the 12 Americans on Johnson’s squad, a few are particularly meticulous about their ice baths. This year’s venue, Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, is a monstrous, hilly walk. Access to cold will be imperative for pre- and post-round rehab.

“The captain’s duties aren’t all about figuring out who’s going to be paired up with who,” says Davis Love III, a two-time U.S. captain and one of Johnson’s five designated vice captains this year.

Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson (right) and past captain Davis Love III have handled duties far beyond golf in preparation for the matches.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

In the months leading up to the biennial event, much of the team leader’s role might not actually involve golf. The Ryder Cup is a team-format event comprised of 24 individual athletes. There can be a bit of culture shock when players suddenly have to operate as a cohesive unit with 11 other guys. With the help of the resourceful PGA of America staff, captains have learned to prioritize familiarity, accessibility and communication to ease the transition. Johnson wants his players to be as comfortable as possible from sunup to sundown.

“These guys are good because they’re very systematic and routine-oriented,” Johnson says. “I want to give them everything they normally have access to. It’s an uncomfortable week, because it’s different. The tournament doesn’t start until Friday; there are obligatory meet-and-greets, media and dinners.”

Johnson is describing what Brooks Koepka was criticized for vocalizing in a 2021 interview with Golf Digest. In the cover story, Koepka called his Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup experiences “different” and “odd.” Sometimes Koepka just wants to watch SportsCenter or take a nap. The five-time major champion felt like he couldn’t fit in that sort of “decompression” in a team environment.

“I just said it’s different,” the LIV golfer said in 2021. “That doesn’t mean it’s bad. Y’all spun it that way.”

It appears that Johnson and most of the U.S. team organization would agree. The structure of the Ryder Cup is different. That’s why it often falls on the captain to take care of seemingly mundane player requests. It’s their responsibility to make the adjustment as seamless as possible. The hassle is worth it if the results follow—especially when you haven’t won on European soil in 30 years.

“Brooks got beat up for saying he couldn’t take a nap,” Love says. “What he was really trying to say was, ‘I can’t do what I normally do, O.K.?’ Brooks usually plays late or early, hits some balls, decompresses for a little bit. But you can’t do that at the Ryder Cup because it’s so busy. That’s why the little things are so important.”

It’s all in the details. The captains stress that, and apparently the players do, too. When Love captained the Presidents Cup last fall, he surveyed his team to learn what they needed for the week in Charlotte. Justin Thomas responded with clear-cut instructions.

“He sent me a picture of him and Michael Phelps doing a podcast or something, and they’re both sitting in tubs full of ice,” Love said. “Justin wrote, ‘It’s real simple, captain. We just need a horse trough.’”

It’s going to be vital for Johnson’s team to rejuvenate their bodies in Rome, but it’s arguably just as important to properly fuel up. With dietary restrictions getting tighter by the day, the captains must ensure overseas food options are satisfactory, particularly for the first-timers.

“Since I’m a rookie, I didn’t want to ask for much,” says Wyndham Clark. “I don’t eat gluten, so I just asked for gluten-free options.”

With the help of a private chef, Johnson has made sure his players have food access at both the hotel and the golf course at all times in Rome. “There’s no rhyme or reason when they might eat,” the captain says. But the dining options weren’t always so easy to customize.

In 2012, captains quickly realized that garlic had to be completely banned from the Ryder Cup gala dinner menu, as Tiger Woods is highly allergic to the herb. In 2003, the 15-time major winner missed two PGA Tour events when he mistakenly ate garlic in a pasta dish.

“There was no garlic anywhere near Superman,” Love jokes.

Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson, pictured in 2012 at Medinah, each had their own specific needs at Ryder Cups.

Imago

At the 2018 Cup, captain Jim Furyk had to politely address the hotel kitchen staff in Paris about the dinner options. “He said to them, ‘We’re not saying your food isn’t good. We’re just a sports team that eats a little bit differently than your hotel guests,” Love says. Another year, Bubba Watson told the captains that he was on a protein shake kick, so they provided the proper supplies.

The captain’s responsibilities don’t stop at requests around food, recovery and fitness. Scheduling is a constant effort. Some players take one hour to warm up before they play, others need at least three. And some guys simply forget where they need to be and when. “I love that Dustin Johnson would just call me up on a Thursday night and go, ‘Hey captain, what time are we supposed to be downstairs for dinner?” Love says.

Then there are the team uniforms and fittings, which would require an entirely separate story. Every year there seems to be one player who needs a personal tailor on tap.

Of course, the U.S. Ryder Cup captains wouldn’t be able to wrangle these issues without the support of the behind-the-scenes Ryder Cup staff—Julius Mason, Kerry Haigh, Susan Martin and Bob Jeffrey have been pivotal over the years.

But it is certainly true that the captain's role has expanded with time. In 1993, Tom Watson only brought his friend and mentor, Stan Thirsk, on the Concorde to the Belfry. Now each team captain has five elected vice captains. And those assistants even have assistants to help drive the team golf carts. The diversified duties of a Ryder Cup captain are simply a product of the event becoming a bigger deal every time it’s played.

“There’s a lot of arrows being shot at these guys,” Johnson says. “It’s my role and the role of my vice captains to shoot those down. They’re the best players in America. Let’s let them do what they do.”