Sunday, September 26, 1999
Ben Crenshaw should not shoulder blame for
Ryder woes
By Tim Cowlishaw
Dallas Morning News
(KRT)
BROOKLINE, Mass. - Payne Stewart had just choked a 4-foot putt,
and partner Justin Leonard, sharing in Stewart's Saturday morning
misery, stalked to the 13th tee. The gray-haired man beneath the
trees shouted, "Go get 'em, Justin," his stare begging
for eye contact.
Leonard walked on by, never looking up. There might be time
to chat with Gov. Bush later, but not now.
In fact, Bush even admitted he had no words of inspiration
for the gasping American Ryder Cup team.
"If they need someone to tell them how to putt,"
Bush said, "I ain't it."
The Americans need to make some putts. Lots of putts. They
trail Europe, 10-6, after failing to gain ground in what looked
to be a promising Saturday afternoon at the Country Club. Ben
Crenshaw's U.S. team has to beat Europe to win the Ryder Cup (a
tie goes to the defending champs) so the Americans need to capture
81/2 points out of a possible 12 on Sunday.
"We need a succession of wins up front," Crenshaw
said. "What happened today gives us a lot of confidence."
But when asked why Europe has mastered the team competition
of the Ryder Cup - the U.S. has led entering Sunday just once
in the past nine matches - Crenshaw shook his head. "I don't
know. We're still trying to figure that out," he said.
Bush has no answers, and neither does Crenshaw. But the U.S.
captain is coming under fire from critics for some of the choices
he has made in the first two days, particularly for replacing
Jeff Maggert with Justin Leonard on Saturday afternoon.
That's wrong.
Maggert, who with Hal Sutton had produced the American's only
two wins in the first 12 matches, suggested he could use a round
off in the afternoon. Phil Mickelson, after missing two crucial
putts Friday afternoon, asked out of the Saturday morning matches.
Do you think any of Europe's big guns would dream of asking
to sit out Ryder Cup competition?
It's that American absence of confidence (or genuine concern)
that Crenshaw is trying to overcome. David Duval, with his awful
performance Friday, played his way onto the American bench Saturday
morning before showing up with something closer to his regular
game in the afternoon. That's when he helped Davis Love III capture
a half point against the magical team of Sergio Garcia and Jesper
Parnevik.
The six points that the Garcia-Parnevik and Colin Montgomerie-Paul
Lawrie teams have produced out of a possible eight are the difference
in the Ryder Cup as it stands. Salute them along with Spain's
Miguel Angel Jimenez, but don't pin the Americans' deficit on
Crenshaw.
We spend too much time citing coaches for failure in team sports
where their play-calling actually can have a considerable impact.
But blaming the captain of a golf team?
Is it Crenshaw's fault that Tiger Woods, now 2-6-1 in Ryder
Cup play, made one birdie Saturday afternoon? Is it Crenshaw's
fault that Leonard, now 0-4-3 in the Ryder Cup, made one birdie
Saturday afternoon?
Crenshaw said he kept Leonard in the lineup for Saturday's
second round "on a hunch" which prompted NBC's Johnny
Miller to say, "I have a hunch Justin Leonard should be home
watching the Ryder Cup on TV."
Miller's sarcasm was mostly on target. In 34 holes Saturday,
Leonard's teams were even par. That won't cut it.
But with Maggert asking out, Crenshaw's other choices - Stewart,
Jim Furyk and Mark O'Meara - are not on top of their games, either.
They have combined for half a point in five matches.
The task that lies ahead for the U.S. is a daunting one even
if some of the pairings (Woods vs. Andrew Coltart, Mickelson vs.
Jarmo Sandelin, Love vs. Jean Van de Velde) are inviting.
They still have too many players struggling.
The Americans are working hard at this all-for-one thing that
comes so naturally to the Europeans. Sutton had his arm around
Leonard in the twilight Saturday, saying, "I have a great
partner right here, let me tell you. That putt he made on 15 was
all-world."
Unfortunately, that 7-foot par-saving putt on 15 by Leonard
merely helped produce a tie against a one-man team. Jimenez had
to virtually go it alone as Jose Maria Olazabal, wilder than ever,
never made a birdie.
That's the way it goes for this American squad. Love and Duval
roll in seven birdies for a best-ball 64 and all that earns is
half a point because they are playing Garcia and Parnevik.
Historically, the Americans fare better in the Sunday singles
matches. But you have to go back to 1979 to find the U.S. picking
up the 8 1/2 points that they will need.
If they don't make it, feel free to be disappointed. But, heaven
forbid, don't blame it on a helpless captain and the pairings
he has made.
Blame his hapless players and the putts they have missed.
(c) 1999, The Dallas Morning News.
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