Paul McGinley was a pioneering figure for Europe when it comes to the Ryder Cup.
Later this month, Team Europe will head to Bethpage Black looking to win their eighth Ryder Cup in the last 12 meetings with the United States.
McGinley played a key role for the Europeans in two of those – one as a player at the Belfry in 2002 and one as a captain at Gleneagles in 2014.
The Ryder Cup means absolutely everything to the Irishman, and he is still very involved with the tournament, albeit now in a media capacity.
McGinley backed Keegan Bradley to be a playing Ryder Cup captain, and he was one of the few in the media to do so.
However, he is obviously more interested in what the Europeans are doing heading into Bethpage.
And the in-depth analysis that currently goes into every single build-up to the Ryder Cup is partly down to him, certainly from a European perspective.
Paul McGinley shocked Ryder Cup Europe executive with one demand in 2014
McGinley was the first European captain to place so much importance on stats and analytical data, when he led his team to success at Gleneagles in 2014.
The Irishman spoke to the Golf Channel in America about the influence he had on that particular side of the game during his tenure as Ryder Cup captain.
He was asked his opinion on how important stats and data are in the modern game, specifically the Ryder Cup.
He said: “I remember talking behind the scenes to the executive of the Ryder Cup in Europe and asking them for a budget to hire these guys that were going to do statistics.
“They thought I was off my tree and off my rocker, what was I doing getting these guys in.“
So it’s clear that McGinley’s impact on the European Ryder Cup team was groundbreaking – one which has lasted well beyond the end of his captaincy
Paul McGinley reveals ‘secret’ to Ryder cup success
McGinley worked tirelessly in the build-up to the 2014 Ryder Cup.
The Irishman led his team to a stunning 16.5-11.5 victory against a beleaguered American side.
And just two months ago, he revealed the ‘secret’ to his success.
He said: “I’ll let you in to a little secret here, you might have heard me say it before, my Ryder Cup captaincy was based on one thing more than anything else. It was a template. What had worked before in captains and Ryder Cup teams that I’d been involved in, and what I’d observed before. That was what was worked on.”
By template, he means how he used all of the different methods that worked for previous captains and combined them together.
However, McGinley was the one who placed so much emphasis on data and stats, and that approach has continued right up to the current day.
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