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European Ryder Cup team ‘downed 72 bottles of wine’ and still won

02 October 2023 By James Evison

Europe has won back the Ryder Cup and after completing the job the wine flowed, but the same cannot be said of the 2004 team.

According to former Ryder Cup player Paul McGinley who was part of the record-breaking win in 2004 led by Bernhard Langer, the Europe team got stuck into the booze before the final day in Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan, USA, which they went on to win easily.

In an interview with the Golf Channel, McGinley, who would go on to become the 2014 Europe team captain, said that the competition wasn’t as “fun” nowadays.

Speaking about the 2004 incident, McGinley said: “I remember one of the backroom staff telling us on a Saturday night, we had consumed 72 bottles of wine already on Saturday night—and they had to go and reorder. And this is when matches were still on.

“It’s not like we were getting drunk every night, far from it. But everyone would have had one, two, maybe three glasses of wine at night and it was normal. And you know, nine, 10 out of the 12 players would do that. Obviously it’s a changed atmosphere now.”

McGinley become captain in 2014, but the drinking culture had changed by then, he said: “Nobody drank. I mean, nobody. I wasn’t like, ‘It’s a Ryder Cup I’m not going to drink.’ It was a case of, ‘No, I’m not drinking, I don’t drink when I play. It’s not even a question,” he said.

The news comes as the latest Europe team beat the USA yesterday at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia Montecelio, north of Rome, Italy.

Although it is unlikely that the current team got on the beers or wine before the final day this time, they certainly enjoyed opening the Champagne – the event is sponsored by Moet & Chandon – after winning, with numerous videos of wine being spilled on social media, including celebrations on the team bus, at the hotel and out on the course.