The formula that the United States is looking for so that two giants coexist peacefully

It happens in any workgroup: How do you check the leader so that two people who hate each other can step up and produce for the team? Of course sport is full of these stories. One current example is the US Ryder Cup team, which in less than a month will face its classic challenge against Europe in Whistling Streets, Wisconsin. The urgent issue that must be addressed is how superstars Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are In recent months they have revealed their mutual hatred with sarcastic words.

North American captain Steve Straker is clear on two issues: that he needs to empower both and that he cannot hope to reconcile his players in the short term. In recent times their silent task has been to order a truce and make it clear to them You will not tolerate these checks, whether public or in networks, before or during the competition. They assured me that the national team and the country are their top priority. They said it wouldn’t be a problem and I believe them. I trust them. And as far as I’m concerned, this case has been dropped,” Straker said.

Steve Stryker, the captain of the United States who will have to strike a lot of balance to put the team together in the Ryder Cup

There are those who doubt that bitterness among the winners of major disciplines has its true strength. Some believe the conflict was fueled by both on purpose, after the PGA Tour implemented a $40 million bounty for the 10 players with the most popular ratings in a year, an algorithm-based account according to Google searches. It measures the player’s attractiveness as a brand. Regardless of whether there is media use, Stryker feels an initial peace between them: “We haven’t heard Brooks say anything about Bryson lately. This Ryder Cup means a lot to these guys. Neither of them wants to be the root of the problem. They both understand that.”

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The Ryder Cup suggests a four-ball format, where each player in a duos plays with their own ball, and a four-ball format – one ball per pair – which requires more understanding and chemistry hole-by-hole. In addition, Stricker pleads for harmony, he rules out grouping them together in matches because he feels that mutual cooperation on the field would be futile. “I won’t tell you that there will be no possibility, but I don’t see it happening. I don’t think they want to play together,” he admitted. The captain remembers well the wrong decision made by Hal Sutton at the 2004 event, when he joined Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the rounds on Friday and lost both games, knowing that their relationship wasn’t the best.

ABU DHABI, UAE – JANUARY 14: Brooks Koepka and Bryson Deschamps attend the launch of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA at Masdar City, the UAE’s unique ‘city of the future’ on January 14, 2020 in Abu Dhabi. , The United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) (EN/)

“I spoke to Strick for 25 minutes last week and we spent half of that time talking about Brooks and Bryson,” revealed Paul Azinger, Captain America at the 2008 Ryder Cup. With Tiger and Phil – there’s a chance these two guys will make the biggest rallying cry ever, or it could all turn into a real headache.”

Straker also had a chat with 2018 captain Jim Forek, who will be one of his three Whistling Straits lieutenants and whose stale nature would leave no room for encouraging unnecessary interference. I personally don’t see [la disputa] as a problem. I think it’s a funny situation, to be honest. I love all the talk, all the noise, everything that happens outside.”

No one on Team USA has enough delusions to believe that they will befriend each other during competition; They just want that animosity born in January 2019, when Koepka criticized DeChambeau for his slow game, not escalation, an issue that prompted R&A to include a rule later so players don’t take more than 40 seconds to prepare for a hit. . The feud escalated in January of last year, when the 27-year-old California man, known for his gym fanaticism and protein-packed diet, mocked Koepka’s physique after producing an ESPN Body Issue. “Did you see his body? He doesn’t have abs. I have.” The comment prompted Koepka to respond with four of his majors in which none of the scholars has yet won. And this year, the conflict finally erupted after an interview on The Golf Channel that ultimately didn’t air, in which DeChambeau passed behind Koepka and retracted a comment about his poor reading of the greens.

“It’s only a week,” said the four-time champion at the last British Open. “I can put it aside to work. If we’re going to be on the same team, I can handle anyone in the world for a week. I wouldn’t play with him. I’m sure we wouldn’t be a double, that’s clear,” Koepka noted. Meanwhile, Deschamps has said a little over the past month: He boycotted all post-tour interviews as he was heavily criticized for saying, having tested positive for Covid before Tokyo 2020, he wouldn’t get the vaccine because he wanted to save the vaccine for him. Someone, and he needs it more than he needs. “I am young enough,” he said, with this innate ability to always spark new controversy in the golf scene.

It would be hard work for Stricker, especially in the privacy of the group. Also, it will be necessary to know what role the rest of the team players will play in order to prefer a good climate and no spark. The Ryder Cup is synonymous with pressure cooker and boiling cycle; It is the date when golf unleashes the greatest passion of the public, who will surely set their eyes on the two.