European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance has called on footballing managers Alex Ferguson and Sven-Goran Eriksson for help as he prepares for this weekend's tournament at The Belfry. The Scot has spoken to both the Manchester United and England managers in the hope of giving his side the edge as they seek to regain the trophy they lost under controversial circumstances three years ago.
"I can tell you it was very useful but I can't tell you what it was they told me," Torrance revealed at a press conference. "Alex was just telling me about what it's like to manage a team and I spent a couple of hours with Sven-Goran Eriksson and picked his brain for a while. I've never captained a team like this before and I wondered if there were any secrets there. And there were, but I'm not telling you."
However, Torrance was not alone in calling in outside help. American captain Curtis Strange revealed he has had a word with an old friend. "I was talking to Dave Odom, the former football coach at Wake Forest (where Strange went to college). He doesn't play golf at all but he said, 'These guys have all the money and trophies they will ever want or need. Where else in professional sport do you have a chance to play for more than that, to play for your flag, to play for the experience and something that you will remember more than those trophies and the money and everything else?'It really hit home because it was true. That's how I felt about my five Ryder Cups," he explained.
Both captains agree that they would like to play all of their 12 players before Sunday's singles but Strange admitted yesterday that a loss of form, illness or injury could hamper that plan and Torrance echoed those sentiments.
"I think it would help if everybody has played, but if somebody isn't playing well I'm not giving points away just so they can have a game," pointed out the European captain.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
