Carson Daly to Give Americans Pep Talk at Ryder Cup, This Thing Is Over
By Kyle Koster
The Ryder Cup begins on Friday and golf dads everywhere have laid out their best khakis and performance polos. Few things in sports get the juices flowing like Trans-Atlantic bad blood and a rowdy gallery. The Americans are desperate to right the wrongs of three years ago and avoid another embarrassing defeat to the upset-minded Europeans. Captain Steve Stricker has been closely monitoring every drive, chip, and putt on tour and believes he has the right combination of skills and personality to compete on the shores of Lake Michigan.
But there's an old saying in sports. It doesn't matter how many Brooks Koepkas or Bryson DeChambeaus you have. Titles are won on the margins on the backs of unexpected contributions. Savvy coaches know how to find every available angle, even if some of them may seem a little out there.
Flying in Carson Daly to give a pep talk, for instance. Which is apparently something that's going to happen.
Now, this isn't totally out of left field. Daly grew up caddying, went to college initially on a golf scholarship and remains one of the better celebrity players out there during Pro-Ams. He loves the event, as evidenced by this 2016 Today Show segment with Davis Love III. The circumstances then were very similar. The Europeans were reigning victors and Daly implored his countrymen to bring the trophy back to American soil. Clearly inspired, they did just that, posting a 17-11 rout in Minnesota.
Here's hoping history repeats itself. Funny to imagine Pádraig Harrington frantically calling Viktor Hovland to see if they can get the Norwegian equivalent to Daly at the last minute to do something similar. The timeless art of gamesmanship continues.