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Europe’s Ryder Cup team has an array of seasoned competitors and a question mark—who exactly is Victor Dubuisson. |
The Ryder Cup rookie from France is very much the mystery man in the European dozen to face the United States from Friday, and has been the source of some probing of teammates and captain Paul McGinley in Gleneagles.
“It’s very difficult to know what to make of Victor,” Britain’s Ryder Cup veteran Lee Westwood admitted yesterday.
Teammate Graeme McDowell said of the Ryder Cup new boy: “And then you’ve got Victor, who, you know, I’ve heard described as an enigma, and just a tough guy to kind of get your head around (as to) kind of what he’s thinking.”
However both Westwood, playing his ninth Ryder Cup, and McDowell, in his fourth, are certain the 24-year-old Dubuisson will be a key player and potential match-winner in the high-pressured three-day matchplay showdown.
After winning the 2013 Turkish Airlines Open, Dubuisson showed his matchplay skills by finishing second to Jason Day in a thrilling final of this year’s Match Play Championship in Marana, Arizona in February.
His performance led to comparisons of his short game with the great Severiano Ballesteros. Dubuisson continued his consistent form by finishing ninth at the Open and seventh at the PGA Championship, and has qualified directly to represent Europe at the Ryder Cup.
“He’s quite shy. He’s quite unpredictable,” Westwood said. “He’s got a lot of flair. He’s got tons of game. He’s obviously good at match play as he proved in Arizona at the start of the year.
“I think he’ll settle into it well. I think he will be a good team man and he’ll be a spark of energy, I think, as well.”
McDowell wouldn’t mind being the experienced partner alongside the “talented kid” who turned pro in 2010.
“His sort of relaxed mood, personality, could be confused with maybe intimidation and nervousness,” McDowell said. “I’ve kind of being trying to get close to him the last few months and spend a little time with him. He’s a great guy.”
McGinley admitted bringing an apparently shy player into the group dynamic was “a challenge” but said he had made it his business to get to know Dubuisson over the last six months. He likes what he sees.
“He’s a really great guy.” he said. “I like him. I think he’s got flair. I think he’s got charisma. I think he’s got Hollywood looks. He could do just as well in Hollywood as he would on the golf course. There’s something special about him and I kind of like that fact that he’s different.”
Dubuisson said he believed he was no different to other players in valuing his privacy.
However, the Cannes-born player who lives in Antibes was left nonplussed by a question referring to a description of him as “the Greta Garbo of golf”, a reference to the Hollywood actress who shunned publicity after her retirement.
“I would describe myself on the golf course as probably a quiet and humble person,” he said.
“But then everybody has two different... I think, when you are at your work and when you are outside with your friends, it’s very different.
“Honestly you can ask the other players. I’m very funny and cool guy, but on the course, I’m not shy. Just I prefer to be quiet and humble than the opposite.”