Ryder Cup notes: Mild surprises in the pairings
By PATRICK McMANAMON
Scripps Howard News Service
SOTOGRANDE, Spain -- Good friends Davis Love III and Fred Couples
will not be a pair, but buddies Mark O'Meara and Tiger Woods will
when Friday morning's fourball matches start play in the 1997
Ryder Cup at Valderrama.
U.S. captain Tom Kite put Love and Phil Mickelson together
for the group that will open play against Jose Maria Olazabal
and Constantino Rocca in best-ball competition.
Couples will follow with Brad Faxon -- against Nick Faldo and
Cup rookie Lee Westwood. The third group has Tom Lehman and Jim
Furyk against Swedes Jesper Parnevik and Per-Ulrik Johansson.
The final morning group could be the most intriguing. European
captain Seve Ballesteros has two powers, Colin Montgomerie and
Bernhard Langer, against Woods and O'Meara.
The most significant U.S. absence was Justin Leonard, the British
Open champ.
"I had to leave four (players) out," Kite said. "I
felt that for best ball this is a pretty outstanding lineup."
Kite said he split Love and Couples because of Couples' past
experience with Faxon.
"They've played together quite a bit and they've played
very well together," Kite said.
Kite was accommodating to Woods and O'Meara. The two had asked
to be paired together. However, Kite left open the possibility
that Woods and Phil Mickelson will be teamed in the afternoon
foursomes (alternating shot).
"We have four of these (pairings) coming up and you don't
have to use the same ones every day," Kite said.
EUROPEAN SURPRISE -- Ballesteros surprised many when he paired
Montgomerie and Langer. They are two of Europe's best, but Montgomerie
is a fast player and Langer is painfully slow.
"I always thought that if we put Langer in the first match
at 9 o'clock in the morning, we'd all probably miss lunch,"
Ballesteros said. "Colin has to walk a little slower."
Kite said he expected Montgomerie to play with Darren Clarke,
but added "there are three more matches to do that."
AFTERNOON PLANS -- Kite said he knew his pairings two days
ago. Ballesteros decided when he woke up at 4:30 in the morning
Thursday. Kite said he knew who his afternoon teams would be in
the foursome competition, but would not reveal them.
Ballesteros said he probably would decide when he woke up at
4:30 a.m. Friday morning. His only clue was when he said he wanted
every one of his players to have at least one match before Sunday's
singles.
CHIP SHOTS -- A Spanish choir and Andalusian horses were featured
in the opening ceremony, where King Juan Carlos officially opened
the competition. Also in attendance were Queen Sofia, and George
and Barbara Bush. The former president is a member at Valderrama.
... Lehman, O'Meara and Woods were given extra sleep time after
they told Kite they were worn out by the trip and the demands.
All got in 18 holes of practice, but arrived at the course after
their teammates. ... Ballesteros picked two rookies, Westwood
and Parnevik, because "they transmit the most confidence
to me." Furyk and Woods will be making their first Ryder
Cup appearances for the United States. ... Traffic into Valderrama
was disrupted by a demonstration by Spanish police, who want better
pay. "They may be right," Ballesteros said. "But
I think it's an error to do this because the Ryder Cup is an important
event and is going to mean a lot to Spain. ... I'd ask them to
reconsider and try to act on this at some other time, because
this is like throwing stones on your own roof."
(Pat McManamon is the national sportswriter for Scripps Howard
News Service.)
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