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Darren Clarke keen on Jurgen Klopp helping Europes Ryder Cup bid

17th May 2016

Darren Clarke will captain the 2016 European Ryder Cup team

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is the latest football manager being considered to help Europes defence of the Ryder Cup this September.

The continents skipper Darren Clarke is proving just as meticulous as his predecessor Paul McGinley as he prepares to take on the United States at Hazeltine in Minnesota.

McGinley famously invited Sir Alex Ferguson to deliver words of inspiration to his team at Gleneagles two years ago, and Liverpool supporting Clarke can see a role for the man in charge of the team he follows.

"Jurgen Klopp is definitely one of the guys I want to speak to, especially as a Liverpool fan myself," Clarke revealed during a dinner with golf journalists in Florida last week.

"Hes an absolute livewire isnt he? Hes a bundle of energy, and that sort of thing can be infectious. Hes obviously very passionate and a terrific motivator so I want to pick his brains a bit."

Clarke will speak with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp

McGinleys use of Ferguson in Scotland was a masterstroke and his victorious team were thrilled and inspired by hearing from Britains most successful football manager.

"Kenny Dalglish is someone else Ill seek out, and Sir Alex Ferguson was such an inspirational figure at Gleneagles that Id love to have him on board again," Clarke added.

"Ill look into whether hes free that week, and check out the possibility of flying him over with us."

Whether Klopp can have a similar effect remains to be seen, but Clarke is seeking the opinions of successful figures from across the sporting world.

The skipper wants to harness the extra percentages of preparation to help secure Europes fourth win in a row.

"Ill be talking to a bunch of people over a whole range of sports. Sir Clive Woodward is another guy who would be very interesting on the team dynamic, and the former Ireland and Lions captain Paul OConnell is another one."

Clarke has already taken a line from the Ireland rugby anthem and "shoulder to shoulder" will become Europes team mantra when they head to Minneapolis in the autumn.

Darren Clarke is delighted to have been selected as Ryder Cup captain

Expertise of those who have excelled in other sports cannot do any harm but it will be Clarkes own golfing intuition that might make the biggest difference.

The 2011 Open Champion is already closely monitoring the performances of all the players in with a chance of qualifying for his 12-man team. Clarke has an app on his phone which provides statistical data on how they are performing.

Each component of a players game is broken down to show how they are performing, particularly in pressure situations. The information is shown in a spiders web style of graph - the wider the web the better the player is performing.

Already he has an intimate knowledge of each golfers game. He showed me the data for one player and commented that it was clear he was being too aggressive on par fives - this explained the dent in an otherwise impressive web.

Clarke expects the app will prove invaluable with his wildcard picks and in putting together foursomes and fourball pairings during the match itself.

Last week the captain had two sit down meals with all of the likely candidates who were on show at the Players Championship at Sawgrass and he must be relieved Jason Day is not a US player.

The data surrounding the Australian could not be more impressive as he stretched his lead at the top of the world rankings with his seventh win since finishing fourth at last years Open.

Days ruthless Players victory robbed the tournament of its usual final day drama but left no one in any doubt over the identity of the best player in the world at the moment.

Ferguson spoke to 2014 Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinleys players about the key to winning as favourites

How Rory McIlroy would love to regain Days winning touch. There are still too many unforced errors creeping onto the Ulstermans scorecard.

McIlroy is the only member of the worlds top five not to have won this year, despite five top six finishes. There is nothing wrong with his ball striking but he acknowledges that he is making too many mental errors.

"Its just knowing when to play the right shot at the right time," he commented after finishing tied for 12th at Sawgrass.

McIlroys charitable foundation hosts this weeks Irish Open at the K Club and he will be desperate to make up for last years missed cut in the same event.

"The last golf tournament I won was in Dubai in November, so it feels like a long time ago now," he acknowledged.

"But again, I need to stay patient because if I keep pushing and keep looking for the win, thats when these sloppy mistakes start to creep in.

"I just need to go out there and play my game and trust that Im playing well enough for the chips to fall my way sooner rather than later."

As an individual McIlroy doesnt need a statistical app or a football manager to tell him where he is going wrong. Within the team dynamic it might be a different story.

 

source: www.bbc.co.uk

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