{"id":289135,"date":"2023-09-26T22:34:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T22:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=289135"},"modified":"2023-09-26T22:34:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T22:34:01","slug":"europes-longest-surviving-captain-relives-ryder-cup-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/golf\/europes-longest-surviving-captain-relives-ryder-cup-tales\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe&apos;s longest-surviving captain relives Ryder Cup tales"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>EXCLUSIVE: Europe&#8217;s longest-surviving skipper Brian Huggett relives tales of petty insults, putts and police escorts ahead of the start of the 44th Ryder Cup<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Brian Huggett, now 86 86, is Europe&#8217;s longest-surviving Ryder Cup captain\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>He played in six Ryder Cups and was skipper at the competition&#8217;s 22nd edition<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The 44th edition of the Ryder Cup gets underway on Friday in Italy\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s a wild morning on the links of Royal Porthcawl. The lovely chap once known as the Welsh Bulldog is looking out from the pavilion at the younger men of the Senior Open when a realisation dawns on him.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You\u2019re here to make me feel old, aren\u2019t you?\u2019 he says, and to go by those who know Brian Huggett, it\u2019s the same glint he has in his eye now as then. He is partially right, because we are here to talk about the Ryder Cup and when it comes to one of sport\u2019s greatest events, he holds several lines of distinction. Not least of which is that at 86 he is Europe\u2019s longest surviving captain. \u2018I\u2019ve never been told but I assumed I must be,\u2019 he says. \u2018Well, you\u2019ve done it \u2014 now I do feel old!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s a cracking fella, Huggett \u2014 a birdie, an eagle and an albatross wrapped in a hole in one. He hasn\u2019t swung at a ball in a decade because it hurts to grip a club, but he could knock it around in scratch in his seventies.<\/p>\n<p>Now, he watches every chip and putt from his home in Ledbury. He is viewing an alien world. When he topped the European order of merit in 1968, his season\u2019s earnings were \u00a38,400, and his combined purses for finishing second and third at the Open in 1962 and 1965 were less than two grand. \u2018Not quite what the boys get now,\u2019 he says through the broadest of grins.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, for all that changes in these most confused of golfing times, much stays the same, and as we approach the 44th Ryder Cup, Huggett offers a fascinating window to an earlier era. His mind goes back to one particularly tetchy day in 1969\u2019s 18th edition.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/20\/75861849-12563087-image-a-1_1695755472271.jpg\" height=\"437\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Brian Huggett is Europe&#8217;s longest surviving skipper of the Ryder Cup at the age of 86 (seen holding a trophy he received for his captaincy)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/20\/75861823-12563087-image-a-2_1695755565749.jpg\" height=\"490\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Huggett played in six Ryder Cups between 1963 and 1975, and was a non-playing captain in 1977<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/20\/75861855-12563087-image-a-3_1695755595339.jpg\" height=\"455\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Huggett has relived past memories of the Ryder Cup with Mail Sport, including of petty insults, putts and police escorts\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That was his third of six as a player and eight years before he was captain in 1977, which in turn was a short while before he was a major part of a meeting that changed the course of the match as we know it.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018If you want to know about the competitiveness of the Cup back then, I\u2019ll tell you a story,\u2019 he says. \u2018What you will know is it wasn\u2019t close on the course but they still loved to give us a whacking, the buggers. But don\u2019t think that we weren\u2019t turning up to fight. It was Great Britain v the US then, not Europe. So we could usually call on six of our 12 to get a point, and I\u2019d count myself as one of those, and the other six might not. The US would have all the stars in their fancy trousers.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Now 1969 at Birkdale was interesting. We\u2019d been getting beaten heavily however many times in row (five defeats in succession) and in \u201869 it was different. That was the famous tie, 16-16, but I was paired with Bernard Gallacher and we were the most fiery of the British. And we were against Dave Hill and Ken Still \u2014 they were fiery too.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018On the first green I got a little agitated because they were standing so close when I was putting that if one of them wiggled a toe I\u2019d see. When we got to the seventh it all tipped over. They accused us of putting out of turn, the referee was called, and so were the captains, Eric Brown and Sam Snead, and we were rowing all the way to the eighth. By the time we were walking up the fairway there was a police escort in case the crowd joined in. I can tell you, wanting to win with a passion is not a new thing!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Another Ryder Cup makes my point. Lee Trevino came up to me on the first tee in St Louis (in 1971, also won by the US). He looked at what we were wearing, which might have been less colourful, and said, \u201cBrian, do you feel inferior wearing those dull colours?\u201d There might be more reason for those mind games now when it is close, but that was when we were getting hammered! I know you want to talk about 1977 and being captain but let\u2019s keep to 1969 a minute.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>We should, because that 1969 match has its place in history, both for the bickering and then the iconic moment of sportsmanship at its conclusion. Of course, the latter derives from Jack Nicklaus\u2019s concession of a 3ft putt on the 18th of the final singles against Tony Jacklin. By halving the hole, the Cup ended in a draw.<\/p>\n<p>Huggett is chuckling. \u2018There were Americans in that team who weren\u2019t happy about that \u2014 they didn\u2019t want to tie. I don\u2019t think Sam Snead was keen.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Huggett\u2019s place in that drama is less well documented. Playing against three-time major winner Billy Casper a couple of holes ahead of Nicklaus-Jacklin, it became clear that those two matches would determine if Britain would win the Cup for the first time since 1957.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/20\/75861847-12563087-Ryder_Cup_1969_team_1_Christy_O_Connor_2_Peter_Alliss_3_Bernard_-a-5_1695755758963.jpg\" height=\"568\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ryder Cup 1969 team (top row left to right)\u00a0 1 Christy O\u2019Connor, 2 Peter Alliss, 3 Bernard Hunt, 4 Brian Barnes, 5 Peter Butler, 6 Neil Coles, (bottom row left to right) 7 Maurice Bembridge, 8 Peter Townsend, 9 Tony Jacklin, 10 Eric Brown, 11 Bernard Gallacher, 12 Brian Huggett and 13 Alex Caygill at Royal Birkdale\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I was on the 18th, so just ahead of the other match, and I heard a huge roar,\u2019 Huggett says. \u2018It sounded like a victory roar, so I assumed Jacko had seen off Jack. But he hadn\u2019t \u2014 he had holed an eagle putt to pull level. Not knowing that, I stood over a four and a half footer thinking I had it to win the Ryder Cup.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I rolled it in and then I broke down and cried. It was only then I was told it was still going on behind us!\u2019 The Ryder Cup pumps through the veins of this old boy. He knows what it is to beat Palmer and Nicklaus twice apiece \u2014 \u2018not in singles, unfortunately!\u2019 \u2014 and in 1977 he lived in the furnace of captaincy. \u2018It wasn\u2019t a full-time job then like now, but it meant so much,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n<p>It was Huggett who gave Sir Nick Faldo his debut. \u2018I get a call in my room at 6.30am and it\u2019s Nick,\u2019 he says. \u2018He tells me he doesn\u2019t feel at all well. \u2018I said, \u201cWell, it\u2019s your first Ryder Cup \u2014 it\u2019s nerves\u201d. He shook it off.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He did \u2014 Faldo won three points from three, not that Huggett is the sort who ever bought into the vogue for motivational talks from decorated guests. Captains have called on George W Bush to Sir Alex Ferguson. \u2018You shouldn\u2019t need someone to do that,\u2019 Huggett says. \u2018If you can\u2019t get up for the Ryder Cup then you shouldn\u2019t be in the team.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It still sticks in his thoughts how he gave a pick to his close friend Jacklin, the winner of two majors but a long way out of form. Jacklin had a rough week and Huggett dropped him from the singles. \u2018I don\u2019t think we spoke properly again after that until the 2010 Ryder Cup,\u2019 he says.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/20\/75861863-12563087-image-m-7_1695755835462.jpg\" height=\"998\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Huggett played a part in the Ryder Cup changing to America against Europe<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/26\/20\/75861867-12563087-image-a-8_1695755871668.jpg\" height=\"995\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>When he topped the European order of merit in 1968, his season\u2019s earnings were just \u00a38,400<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps Huggett\u2019s greater legacy is in what he achieved in a meeting room away from the course. It was after that 1977 Cup, which ended in a 12.5-7.5 defeat for Britain and Ireland, that he travelled with Peter Butler and Lord Derby to Augusta to thrash out the future of a tournament which was too one-sided.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The Americans discussed a match against a \u201crest of the world\u201d team,\u2019 he says. \u2018I could be a bit more persuasive then and I told them it would have no identity, a washout. We suggested expanding it to Europe and that there could be magic in it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>There was and there is, especially now when so much of golf is lost in the chaos brought about fractured tours and greed.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The Ryder Cup is bigger than anything else in golf,\u2019 he says. \u2018It transcends the money and everything else. It\u2019s up there with the Olympics and the World Cup.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>With that, Huggett gets to his feet. From his bag, he removes a small replica of the trophy that he received for his captaincy and for a moment he cannot take his eyes off it. Then and now, some sporting events just mean more.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/golf\/article-12563087\/Europes-longest-surviving-skipper-Brian-Huggett-relives-tales-petty-insults-putts-police-escorts-ahead-start-44th-Ryder-Cup.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EXCLUSIVE: Europe&#8217;s longest-surviving skipper Brian Huggett relives tales of petty insults, putts and police escorts ahead of the start of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Europe&amp;apos;s longest-surviving captain relives Ryder Cup tales - Sports Love Me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/golf\/europes-longest-surviving-captain-relives-ryder-cup-tales\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Europe&amp;apos;s longest-surviving captain relives Ryder Cup tales - 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