Captain Cool feels the heat as Faldo watches his plans ripped apart
Nick Faldo had a lot to think about on day one. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA
He started the day offering a fair impression of Captain Cool. He ended it sitting disconsolately in his buggy, surrounded by his downcast kids and presenting a group picture to the world that may only be described as The Glums. For Nick Faldo this was not how it had been planned.
Back in his playing days he would have described it as "a bad day at the office". He could have said the same yesterday but only if that office was Lehman Brothers. The man who loves detail, who devours stats, had a new set of figures to look at and the bad news was writ large on the leaderboards that decorate the course.
America, a team roundly criticised as their weakest yet, were in the ascendant and riding the momentum. Europe, so vividly superior in the old battle so far this century, were the ones needing to regroup. While the US captain, Paul Azinger, whooped and high-fived his way through the crowds, his great rival wore the weary look of a man who simply did not want to believe what was happening before his startled, weary eyes.
This morning he will be stressing that this Ryder Cup is not over yet. And he will be right. But suddenly it is harder than he wanted. If he is to emerge victorious then it will be as the result of a serious fightback. This is good news for the contest, not so good for a man whose whole life has been dedicated to winning.
All week Faldo has been accentuating the positive to his players. His mantra has been simple enough: "Be positive, think positive, play positive. We can win this thing." After an adult lifetime spent coldly in total control of his own destiny, Faldo has had to give himself up to others. For him these are strange days indeed.
Following all those years looking after No1, of denying the others and hugely irritating many of them, the Englishman seems to have discovered that it really can be better to give than to receive. In his case this giving takes the shape of arm-around support for his players. The guy who used to hold everyone off at arm's length is now suddenly in embracing mode.
Rising well before dawn and overdosing on adrenalin, he was here, there and everywhere when the matches began. "The atmosphere out there is great," he said during a rare pit-stop. "The crowds are really fair. Unfortunately they are outnumbering us pretty heavily but I warned the guys that would be the case."
As the matches embroidered their helter-skelter progress across Valhalla, Faldo started to pop up here, disappear and then re-emerge there. Beam me up captain. His job was to encourage, to inform and to work out if his plans for today needed to be changed. Plans, he is full of plans, but stuff happens, momentum shifts.
Already this week has reduced this coldly detached man to tears. Specifically, the tear-jerker was Muhammad Ali but there is a lot else playing out here for Faldo. His third ex-wife is beside him, surplus to requirements at home but voted in as queen of the European wives and girlfriends this week. His parents, George and Joyce are here too. This may be Ryder Cup week but it is also showtime for Nicholas Alexander Faldo.
From here on in, however, the screw tightens. In recent times captains like Seve Ballesteros and Ben Crenshaw have gone wonderfully barmy by the end of the second day. In Seve's case he started out quite nuts. Will Faldo? Well, the small signs of doolalliness are there if you look hard for them. Last night the European captain was just about clinging on to his sanity and preparing to go again today.
Posted by
Bill Elliott at Valhalla Saturday September 20 2008 00:06 BST
