Europe captain reveals Ryder Cup secrets

After keeping his Ryder Cup pairings a secret for as long as possible, Europe skipper Nick Faldo may have finally revealed his plans for the start of the tournament after a TV gaffe. Faldo’s slip-up is being dubbed ‘Sandwichgate’ after he initially claimed that a list of players on a piece of paper spotted by photographers was about sandwich fillings.

The list featured Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, then Padraig Harrington and Robert Karlsson. Underneath them were the initials of Justin Rose, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Paul Casey, then on the next line Oliver Wilson, Soren Hansen and Miguel Angel Jimenez. Henrik Stenson’s name was absent.

Faldo’s son, Matthew, had to warn his father that the paper was visible as he talked to his players on the Valhalla course. He was eager to dismiss the list though. “It just had the lunch list. It had sandwich requests for the guys, just making sure who wants the tuna, what wants the beef, who wants the ham,” claimed Faldo. “So that’s all it was, sandwich list.”

He later seemed to admit that it was his pairings list when he simply said that at least his preferred order had not been revealed. Pressed about Stenson’s missing name, Faldo admitted it was his line-up for the final practice session today.

“He’s on the other side of the piece of paper. The Swedes do it the other way around. No, it’s tomorrow’s pairings,” the skipper said. “Okay, I’ve been caught - I learned a lesson. You know the pairings and we are going to play foursomes on the front nine.”

Whether the pairings are Faldo’s first-choice, only his practice picks or a double bluff remains to be seen.