Harrington expects Ryder Cup players to be in peak condition after U.S. Open

The U.S. Open now precedes the Ryder Cup, not that captain Padraig Harrington fears for the conditioning of his Europe players.

Published : Apr 09, 2020 21:36 IST

Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington felt that rescheduled golf calendar can help Europe players.
Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington felt that rescheduled golf calendar can help Europe players.
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Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington felt that rescheduled golf calendar can help Europe players.

Europe captain Padraig Harrington views the rescheduled date for the U.S. Open as beneficial for the form of his Ryder Cup players.

This week the PGA Tour confirmed the U.S. Open would be moving from June to September as part of a rescheduled calendar which was released due to tournaments being postponed or cancelled by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. Open will now begin on September 17 at Winged Foot in New York and it will conclude five days prior to the first day of the Ryder Cup.

The 43rd clash between Europe and USA will take place at Whistling Straits and, rather than fear his players arriving in Wisconsin burned out from the U.S. Open, Harrington expects them to firing on all cylinders.

"It's well above my pay grade, deciding on the actual schedules," Harrington told Stats Perform.

"There was always a chance there would be a major that week when all this came out.

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"I think players will be in prime peak [condition] for that major - whatever they can do to be ready for the U.S. Open, that would be the biggest priority for the players.

"My experience is players often end up peaking the week after a major so that's not a bad thing.

"The major the week before will affect anyone who gets in contention, after that most of the players will be fine.

"When they get there for the Ryder Cup on Monday evening, they'll refocus, we'll assess who needs to rest and who doesn't."

Harrington explained he will not adopt a collective approach and will be willing to grant some players more time off if they feel they need it.

"Don't forget last time at the Paris National [in 2018], Justin Rose had just come in and he'd just come off so many big weeks, the FedEx Cup final, so he was like, 'Yeah, I need a bit more time' and we can do that," the Europe captain added.

"Gone are the days when I started out where everybody traipsed out and did the exact same thing for the three days, so individual things will be considered."

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