Thomas Bjorn’s tattoo promise gave Europe extra motivation to win Ryder Cup, Ian Poulter reveals

Rory McIlroy joked: ‘There could be a visit to a tattoo parlour coming soon for Mr Bjorn on his head’

Ed Malyon
Le Golf National
Sunday 30 September 2018 14:06 EDT
Comments
The Ryder Cup in numbers

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Europe’s Ryder Cup winners revealed that captain Thomas Bjorn’s promise to get a tattoo if they won helped motivate them on the way to a thumping 17.5-10.5 victory over the USA.

Bjorn’s wildcard picks racked up 9.5 points on their own and the Dane was universally praised by his players for the support team he assembled and the relaxed way in which he led them.

But it was another piece of motivation, revealed on the team’s WhatsApp group, which gave them that extra push, the players said.

“You might all see – I don’t know when it’s going to get done, but we had some extra motivation this week to make sure we put our hands back on that trophy,” Ian Poulter told a press conference.

“As little or big as that number is going to be; it will be a very interesting number to see.”

Sergio Garcia asked if it would be a “number or an image” to which Poulter responded “the score”. “We still have to work in the initials of the players,” added Garcia.

Europe captain Thomas Bjorn is doused in champagne (Getty Images)
Europe captain Thomas Bjorn is doused in champagne (Getty Images) (Getty)

Rory McIlroy joked: “There could be a visit to a tattoo parlour coming soon for Mr Bjorn on his head.”

Justin Rose added that the bald Dane had “plenty of real estate” for a tattoo artist to work with on his scalp but Bjorn himself suggested any ink would be somewhere far more private.

“Let me put it this way, it’s going to go on a part that only Grace will see,” he said. “I might have to send them a picture, well, then you’ll all see it as well, I guess.

“The worst decision I made all week.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in