Caddyshack

Darren teamed up with Paul McGinley at Oakland Hills and the K Club. Now he sets his eyes on the 37th Ryder Cup at Valhalla. Steve Gaisford caught up with him this week......

Posted Sep 12, 2008 - 8:01 PM by Darren Reynolds

 

Steve: So then, Darren, a strong line-up for Europe, as proved by pretty difficult wild card selections for Nick Faldo.  Do you think he’s got it right?

Darren: I was a little bit surprised with Poulter getting picked.  You know, Darren Clarke has played great.  He’s won twice this season – of late, almost two weeks before the deadline cut-off.  So, I thought he was hard done by, but Paul can bring a lot to the team anyway, you know.  I think the two picks, in hearts and head, are good picks – solid players.  Both [have] played in Ryder Cups and, obviously, Casey has played great the last six weeks.  He’s had a couple of top tens and he’s proven a good match.  He’s won one World Match Play at Wentworth, which is no mean feat (certainly with Poulter, we all know Poulter is full of confidence anyway) and I think the two of them will prove him right in the end, probably.

Steve:  What can we expect from the course at Valhalla, a stern test?

Darren:  It’s going to be very difficult – the old cliché of the home team setting up the course.  I don’t know if that can be much of an advantage any more, with the top twenty-four players in the world there that particular week, anyway.  Obviously, in America, the greens are going to be extremely, extremely fast, rough, (lots of rough) around the greens and a bit different to what we would have set up in Europe, but I don’t think that will matter much to the players on the given day.  I mean, they’re all, every one of the players there are solid.  It’s obviously a big-hitting golf course.

Steve:  What’s it like being a caddie at a Ryder Cup?  Is it a bit of a party atmosphere?

Darren:  Absolutely.  It’s a very different event down there [to] any other tour event that we do week to week.  A great bit of camaraderie.  Obviously, twelve players, twelve caddies; certainly the caddies will stick together.  Certainly the Europeans, every (my previous two) Ryder Cups, we’ve all decided that every single evening we’ll eat together.  All twelve of us in different restaurants to have, you know, a bit of team spirit going on – have a bit of a ‘craic’ – in the evening and not necessarily let your hair down, but enjoy it.

It’s a very special week to be part of and I think the players do their own thing in the evening, but they all stick together, they have their own team rooms, have their dinners and a bit of a ‘craic’ in the evening and I think, you know, that snowballs through the whole team if the caddies do the same as them and keep the team spirit going amongst the twenty-four players that are there. 

Steve:  A number of Ryder Cup rookies to look out for!  How heavily will these guys rely on the experience of their caddies?

Darren:  Yeah, they will – they’ll all rely heavily on it.  Certainly with Graeme McDowell; first of all, he’s had a great season and his caddie, Ken, has been there.  He’s a very experienced caddie – won a lot of tournaments with different players; I think with Graeme, a couple of times this year.  I don’t think he’ll be fazed at all by the big event.  He’s an unbelievable short gamer and he’s a real good match player.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pitched up in with Padraig Harrington in one or two of the early games. 

Then you’ve got Oliver Wilson.  Again, he’s had a great season.  Hasn’t won which is surprising; to make the Ryder Cup team without winning, but I think he’ll be a good.  I can see him going in there, probably playing with Casey in the foursome.  Unbelievable short game and he’s going to make lots of birdies, that’s what you’d want in the Ryder Cup events. 

Søren Hansen played with him in Sweden two weeks ago.  Probably no one on the European team strikes the ball better than [Hansen].  Unbelievable ball striker!  Not the greatest putter in the world, but I think he’ll admit that himself.  But when you hit so many shots as close as he does, it doesn’t really matter.  So obviously, on the bag there, he’s got Scotchy.  Scotchy has probably got more Ryder Cups then all of our caddies put together and he’ll be great.  He’ll get him through the event and they’ll be fantastic too.

Steve:  You worked alongside Paul (McGinley) at Oakland Hills and then at the K Club.  What’s it like to be part of a Ryder Cup?

Darren:  Yeah, Oakland Hills was obviously my first one.  It was special in America.  The support we had over there was fantastic and you go there, I’d say the same to a rookie caddie: “Go there with your eyes open and enjoy every minute of it because you can’t be guaranteed to go back there again in two years’ time”.  That was a special week.  You’ve got to lap it all up, really. 

Then the second one, in Ireland, was probably the greatest Ryder Cup that will probably ever be staged.  I’d be a little bit biased to say it as an Irishman caddying for an Irishman over there.  But I’ll never forget playing against the Tiger and Jim Furyk in the foursomes, Padraig Harrington and McGinley playing together:  Two Irish Dubliners and two Dublin Caddies out in the same booth, with me and Ronan, you know, and forty thousand people there urging them on.  It was a bit special.  They’re great memories to look back on, and when you’re there, you enjoy every bit of it.

Steve: And finally, Darren, are you expecting victory for Europe?

Darren:  Yeah, I think so.  It’s a little bit different, this one and the last one.  They’ve gone in, surprisingly, as favourites.  But I think, from a betting point of view, they deserved that title because, you know, they’re unbeaten in the last four, or whatever it is, so he’s got twelve guys going there and they’re all unbelievably solid players.  So, a lot of pressure on the Americans, in their back yard, to perform again.  You know, they’ve got a lot of rookies in their team too, but I think Europe will sneak it again, yeah.