By Amy Tennery
FARMINGDALE, New York (Reuters) -The U.S. Ryder Cup team’s rookies are accomplished players who will be able to handle the pressure when they tackle the fearsome Bethpage Black Course, their teammates said on Tuesday as the rowdy New York fans look for big things from the hosts.
Rookies make up a third of the U.S. team, with four new faces playing in the biennial match play competition – J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Ben Griffin and Cameron Young – compared to one newcomer on Team Europe, Dane Rasmus Hojgaard.
Twice major champion Xander Schauffele, asked what advice he would offer the rookies on the team, quipped: “I’m just trying to get some advice from them.
“They’ve been kicking my ass all year and playing unbelievable golf,” he told reporters. “If they have any questions, (I’ll) try to help them. But they are very accomplished, and I’m not too worried about them.”
The 35-year-old Spaun is fresh off his breakthrough major win at the U.S. Open in June, while fellow qualifier Henley comes with team experience after helping the Americans to a 10th consecutive Presidents Cup title last year.
“The common theme is everyone is very nervous, so if you feel nervous don’t worry,” said Spaun, who got a confidence boost from teammate Justin Thomas. “He’s like, you earned your spot on this team; don’t feel like this is a handout or a pick.
“You have a major that a lot of us are very jealous of and you deserve to be on this team. I think hearing that has helped me feel like I fit in more as a core player than a rookie.”
Captain Keegan Bradley, who has played in two Ryder Cups, resisted picking himself for the U.S. team as he named Young and Griffin among his wildcards and he has put an emphasis on team bonding after the Americans’ dreadful 2023 campaign.
“They performed at the highest level when they needed to make the team,” Bradley told reporters. “Coming down the stretch of the playoffs at the end of the PGA Tour trying to make the team, being a bubble guy, I think is the hardest amount of pressure that I’ve ever played under.
“These guys went out in the last month or two of the season when if they didn’t play the way they did they wouldn’t be here. If you can go out there and play under those conditions and win under those conditions, you can play well anywhere.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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