After captaining the Europeans to a decisive victory at the Ryder Cup, it seems Thomas Bjorn's next stop could be a Parisian tattoo parlor.
The Dane has been largely stone-faced this week at Le Golf National, but even he cracked a grin when some of his players leaked during the celebratory news conference that their leader had agreed to get a tattoo of the final score in the event the Europeans came out on top.
"The worst decision I made all week," Bjorn said.
Alex Noren holed a 50-foot putt on the final hole to turn a likely draw with Bryson DeChambeau into a full point for the Europeans in the day's final match. It took the final tally to 17 ½ to 10 ½, and it also ensured that Bjorn's ink will now have to take up a bit more real estate than a 17-11 margin would have.
"We had some extra motivation this week to make sure we put our hands back on that trophy, as little or as big as that number is going to be," said Ian Poulter.
"We still have to work in the initials of the players," added Sergio Garcia.
Bjorn's players joked that the hairline-challenged captain should have to put the tattoo somewhere on his head, but it appears that the new addition will go somewhere below the belt line after Bjorn is done savoring one of the crowning achievements of his career.
"Let me put it this way. It's going to go on a part that only [girlfriend] Grace will see," Bjorn said. "I might have to send them a picture, but then you'll all see it as well, I guess."
Food for thought
The United States' 10-6 deficit through two days of the Ryder Cup prompted some second-guessing of captain Jim Furyk's decision-making late Saturday and early Sunday.
One of the biggest question marks entering the week was Furyk's choice to split up the productive pairing of Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, who had gone 8-1-3 together in team competition since 2014.
That decision had divisive results, with Spieth a rare bright spot for the Americans while going 3-1 alongside Justin Thomas. On the other hand, Reed Struggled in two losses with Tiger Woods while sitting out both foursomes sessions.
Debate about the split continued Saturday night on Twitter, with one user noting, "Reed doesn't want to play with Spieth unfortunately."
That comment caught the attention of a Twitter user named @JustineKReed, who tweeted for the first time in over a month to defend Reed -- and imply that the genesis of the shakeup came from Spieth.
"I can assure you- you're wrong,"@JustineKReed replied. "Patrick never said that he didn't want to play with Jordan. Maybe you should ask Jordan why he didn't want to play with Patrick. You don't have to love the people you work with- but when you have chemistry and success, you go with it for the TEAM."
Justine Reed, Patrick's wife, was approached by Golf.com on Sunday at Le Golf National and asked whether the account belonged to her.
"I can't really say. I don't know," she answered, per their report, before declining further comment.
Mr. Consistent
Find someone as consistent as Oakland Athletics slugger Khris Davis
Davis went 0-for-2 during Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Angels -- the final one of the regular season -- which brought his batting average to .247 for the 2018 season. According to Jane Lee of MLB.com, Davis has now hit .247 in four consecutive seasons.
Sports on 10/01/2018