Paul McGinley recalls drinking alcohol at the 2004 Ryder Cup: We drank 72 bottles!

• Golf

Paul McGinley is one of the most interesting faces on the golf scene. This popular golfer has had the opportunity to play in the Ryder Cup several times and is aware of what the Ryder Cup entails. Playing there is a dream come true!

However, there seems to be a huge difference between the Ryder Cup then and now, at least if you consider the golfers and their behavior. Paul was just talking about these differences in the interview with the media. The Irishman stressed that golfers now have much more money, but that there are many other differences as well.

“Is golf as fun as it was 15 years ago? I think they’re making three times the money we were making,” -Paul McGinley said on Golf Channel's Golf Today show, as per golfmonthly.com. “But the comradery we had in the game back then - and maybe it’s because we weren’t playing for as much money as they are now and we weren’t flying around everywhere in our private jets and there wasn’t 50 Netjets sitting at the airport to take players home every night”.

McGinley recalled the Ryder Cup 9 years ago when he was surprised by the behavior of the golfers. In just 9 years, a lot has changed. "I was amazed when I was [Ryder Cup] captain in 2014, 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. Back in our day, there was quite a bit of alcohol consumed, it’s fair to say, even during Ryder Cups."

Paul McGinley and his story about Ryder Cup: We had drank 72 bottles

Over the years, there have been huge changes in every sport, including golf.

In 2004, McGinley had the opportunity to play with golfers who were totally different than the situation now. In those moments, the emphasis was on unity and fun. It is interesting that McGinley and his team drank as many as 72 bottles of wine!

“When we won by a record margin in Oakland Hills under Bernhard Langer, I remember one of the backroom staff coming out and telling us - on the Saturday night, so this is before the Sunday - that we had drank 72 bottles of wine already, and that they had to go and re-up the order.

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 nine, 10 out of the 12 players would do that.

Obviously, it’s a changed atmosphere now on the course. When there’s alcohol involved, as you well know, there’s always a bit more craic involved”.