The first tee at the Ryder Cup has become an extravaganza, almost separate from the contest itself. Froth and hysteria add to the spectacle of what is now known as the hardest shot in golf.
These days, fans queue for a seat long before dawn to sing songs and sample a bucket-list moment. The first-tee grandstands have expanded over time, with three sides of double-tiered seating now engulfing a beautifully trimmed rectangle.
There is a year to go until the 2027 Ryder Cup is played at Adare Manor. How impressive the first-tee experience has become a benchmark of the contest; a gauge of how seriously a host is taking its responsibilities. Adare may take the first tee to a new level, as so many venues have done before, but it can be argued that the atmosphere on the opening morning of the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club will forever remain unique.
It is 20 years since the entire Irish nation seemingly got soaked to the skin watching Europe trounce the USA in what was then record fashion. Yet what the contest will forever be remembered for is the performance of Darren Clarke, who provided some of the Ryder Cup’s most emotional moments.
His Sunday singles victory over Zach Johnson, when the tears flooded out on the 16th green just one month after the death of his wife Heather, will live long in the memory. But it is the reception he received on the first tee on Friday morning that still echoes.
“It was incredible,” said 2006 Team Europe captain Ian Woosnam. “The emotion. When he walked on to that first tee and the banging started, I was welling up. We almost made it perfect – Darren looked set to be the last player to win and win the Ryder Cup – but Henrik Stenson just played a little too well and sealed it about ten minutes before. There was so much emotion, and it was easier to get the guys more revved up to win it for Darren and his wife.
“Just before he won his match, I had a little cry in the trees. I was welling up when I saw Darren. I told him it was destiny.
“At the time I couldn’t work out the score, but at the end of the day I was a little annoyed with Paul McGinley for giving JJ Henry a 40-footer on the last green, because it would have been a complete record.”
Clarke proved an inspired pick, banging his opening drive 320 yards down the middle and winning all three of his matches. His selection by Woosnam, who also picked Lee Westwood, was seen as controversial, with Thomas Björn the player left out of a captain’s pick.
But Woosnam said he had no doubts about Clarke’s ability to play in the contest.
“Darren Clarke was playing fantastic golf. We were in Ireland at the K Club. Unfortunately, his wife had passed away, and he had given up golf for a little while. As the Ryder Cup got closer, I really wanted him in the team – he was still playing fantastic golf. I asked him and he said he needed a couple of weeks to think about it. Eventually he said yes.
“I only had two other players on my mind: Thomas Björn and Lee Westwood. I went into the press room in Germany not knowing who I was going to pick. When they asked me, I said Lee Westwood. He has always been very close to Darren, and if anyone was going to be right by his side emotionally, it would be Lee. Thomas wasn’t very happy about it, but that’s the trouble when you’re captain – you have to pick someone.”
Billy Foster was caddying for Clarke that week at the K Club. Despite having been on the bag for Seve Ballesteros earlier in his career and later helping Matt Fitzpatrick win the US Open in 2022, it is the 2006 Ryder Cup that stands out for him as a career highlight.
“In the space of six weeks I went to Heather’s funeral. Clarkie was left with two young kids. Then about three weeks later he called me and said Woosie – the captain – had just asked him if he would accept a wildcard for the Ryder Cup. I told him, ‘These are unbelievably traumatic circumstances. If you’re asking me whether your game is good enough, you’re still playing great golf. But the one thing I’ll say is that you’ve got to get ready for this incredible atmosphere and the unbelievable emotion. It’s what Heather would want. She’d want you to play and win it for her. I’ll leave you with that.’
“I’m sitting here 20 years later and it’s still giving me goosebumps,” he said. “The crowd were all standing up, stamping their feet, singing ‘Olé, Olé, Olé’. It was like Wembley Stadium. I just thought, ‘Oh my God, how is he going to hit this tee shot?’ I had visions of myself hitting a foot behind the ball. But he bombed it 310 yards, made birdie, and then birdied the last hole to win the match against Chris DiMarco and Phil Mickelson.”
Playing alongside Lee Westwood again in the Saturday fourball session, Foster recalled that Clarke struggled while Westwood carried the pair before Clarke chipped in on the 16th to secure a 3&2 win over Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. With the good of the team in mind, Foster caught assistant captain Peter Baker’s eye and whispered that Clarke was out of sorts, which led to Clarke being left out of the afternoon session.
Clarke became aware of Foster’s intervention and was livid, refusing to speak to his caddie for the rest of the day.
“I said to him, ‘Clarkie, I’m sorry for what I did yesterday, but I did it for the good of the team and for you. If you want to sack me, sack me. But let’s get out there, beat Zach Johnson and win the Ryder Cup for Heather. Then you can sack me.’
“Four hours later he had done all those things, and I was hugging him in tears on the 16th green as he won the Ryder Cup for Heather. That would be my most special memory in golf even if I caddied until I was 80.”
Although he only took the reins once – unlike Europe’s current multi-year model – Woosnam is one of Europe’s great captains. An eight-time Ryder Cup player, the Welshman took something from each of the captains he played under, but paid particular heed to the influence of Tony Jacklin, who captained Europe from 1983 to 1989.
“We’re all there for one thing: to beat the Americans. When I was captain in 2006, I sat the guys down and said, ‘There are no superstars in this room. You are all exactly the same. We are all here to do the same thing – to win the Ryder Cup.’
“Tony Jacklin was such a huge influence on all of us. He made us think about the clothing and where we travelled. We all had our own voices. He would ask me who I wanted to play with, and if we didn’t agree he would make sure he explained why he was pairing me with someone else.
“When I took the captaincy, I remembered everything he did so I could move forward in the same way.”
Luke Donald is set for a third term next year. The Englishman recently held a training camp at Adare Manor with most of the current team, while some potential rookies were invited to show their capabilities.
This is not a revolutionary idea. Woosnam also took his players on a scouting trip to the K Club before the 2006 contest.
“As the players got longer off the tee and the ball went further, you had to learn to set the golf course up correctly as well. We took the guys to the K Club to play it, and I moved some trees and bunkers. The Americans were a bit longer than us and I wanted to make it more difficult for them. Did we want longer grass around the greens so they could play flop shots? No. We wanted the ball to roll away so we could play chip-and-runs and give ourselves more variety.”
The role of a Ryder Cup captain seems more complex these days, yet Woosnam’s account of preparing for the 2006 contest shows that the fundamentals have not changed a great deal in twenty years.
“There is more to a captain’s job than just putting the teams out and deciding what clothing and waterproofs you’ll wear. You have to give the guys everything they need so they can perform at their best.
“Getting the partnerships right is vital – you want the players to flow. What we do very well is putting rookies with experienced players who can show them the ropes. We make them feel part of the team, not just there for one week.
“You get all these statistics now. We relied more on gut feeling, and it seemed to work out pretty well. Luke asked me how you win in Ireland and I said, ‘Just beat the Americans.’”
Ireland has a strong record of hosting elite golf tournaments, and the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor will be the highlight of a superb few years that have already included the Walker Cup and The Open Championship.
Woosnam expects next year’s contest to live long in the memory.
“The weather was pretty rough at the K Club. But Adare Manor – the way JP has set up the golf course is just incredible. I played it in his Pro-Am and it was outstanding. Irish golf is something special, and when the Irish people get behind a player or a team the way they did at the K Club, it’s going to be incredible.”
Donald will be chasing history as he aims to become the first captain to lead Europe to three successive victories.
“I did it once and when they asked me if I wanted to do it again, I said no. I didn’t want to risk losing one. Luke knows what to do, and he will make history if he wins three in a row.”
Paul McGinley was one of three Irishmen in the team alongside Clarke and Pádraig Harrington. He contributed two half-points from his three matches.
A close friend and neighbour of Clarke and his late wife Heather, McGinley has bittersweet feelings when he looks back on the week twenty years later. Yet he acknowledges that Clarke’s selection had a galvanising effect on the side.
“It was a bittersweet week for us as a team because Darren’s wife Heather had died only a month beforehand,” said the 2014 Ryder Cup captain. “We were certainly galvanised by that. We played really well and won by a record margin. I don’t look back thinking, ‘Oh my God, that was amazing,’ because it was tinged with such sadness. They lived next door to me, so I was very close to both Darren and Heather. I don’t look back on it with the fondness I probably should, because of what happened.”
McGinley regards the K Club contest as a watershed for Ryder Cup hosting and infrastructure – a standard that has continued to rise. He believes European venues factor many external elements into their preparations and says Adare Manor could stage the best Ryder Cup yet.
“It was a fantastic event and took Ryder Cup hosting to another level. I think Adare is going to do the same again. When we host in Europe we do a terrific job compared with America. Anyone who was in Italy saw the excitement, how the crowds worked, the traffic flow, the build-out and the hospitality. Compare that with Bethpage – we were significantly better, and we are going to raise the bar again at Adare. We are very proud of our hosting.”
Having played in the Walker Cup at Portmarnock in 1991 and the Ryder Cup at the K Club in 2006, McGinley understands the pressure of trying to qualify for a home team event – a situation Shane Lowry and Tom McKibbin could face if they need a wildcard to represent Europe next year.
“It wasn’t quite the same for me at the K Club in 2006, but in 2004 and 2005 – arguably my best years on tour – making that team was a huge driving force. As much as there is pressure, it is also incredibly exciting to have the chance to play such a huge event in your own country in front of your own people.”