You'd think this thing meant something
By PATRICK REUSSE
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
SOTOGRANDE, Spain -- The captains face the most complex strategic
decisions since Patton and Rommel sent their tanks into action
in North Africa. The players involved are facing more pressure
than the occupants of the space-station MIR.
Those were the impressions the Ryder Cup participants tried
to pass along in the hours leading to the 1997 U.S.-Europe matches.
For instance, there are five newcomers among Europe's dozen and
this is the way Nick Faldo sees his role when paired with a rookie:
"You have to put them under your wing, shield them from
the bullets, let them go play and be themselves. You want to take
a little pressure off and set them free."
The responsibility that Ryder Cup veterans felt to prevent
rookies from suffering emotional breakdowns on the first tee was
only one issue that underwent intense media scrutiny in the pre-match
buildup.
There were also the questions of how Spain's Severiano Ballesteros
and Texas' Tom Kite would handle those vital duties as captain.
If you think Rick Pitino has big responsibilities with the Boston
Celtics, or Timberwolves GM Kevin McHale faces a lot of pressure
in trying to get Kevin Garnett signed, consider this:
First, a Ryder Cup captain must flesh out his 12-player squad
with two -- or in Seve's case, three -- optional choices! Then,
the captain must decide how to team these all-stars in 16 pairs
matches! Finally, he must plot non-stop to come up with a batting
order for the final day's 12 single matches!
"I have a large problem," Ballestoros said Thursday.
"Everyone on my team is playing fantastic."
The Ryder Cup is an opportunity to bring 24 of the world's
best golfers together on a biennial basis and have them compete
in a unique format. Two years ago, watching Ballesteros' miraculous
work to stay with Tom Lehman in their singles match was more fun
than going to the circus.
That's what we have here -- more fun than your average golf
tournament. All this stuff about overwhelming pressure, the vital
role of the captain, national pride and teamwork has become way
overdone.
This is Europe we're playing here, folks. This isn't Herbie
Brook's red-white-and-blue taking on Communism in the 1980 Lake
Placid Olympics. The European fans walking Valderrama's rough
today through Sunday will not be waving flags that contain a hammer
and cycle.
It wasn't too tough to get worked up 17 years ago when our
amateurs beat a bunch of guys named Viktor and Sergei on a hockey
rink. It's a bit more difficult to look at a partnership of Jesper
Parnevik and Per-Ulrik Johansson, a couple of Swedes, as a threat
to all that we stand for.
Thursday, Kite went through his four teams for today's foursome
(low-ball) matches: Davis Love III-Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples-Brad
Faxon, Lehman-Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods-Mark O'Meara. Kite finished,
then received the reaction that he had suspected would take place.
"The press room is abuzz," said Kite, smirking.
The buzz was based on the absence of Justin Leonard, 25, British
Open champion and PGA Championship runnerup, from the list. Woods,
21, is the best player in the world at the moment, and Leonard
is probably second. The addition of two such phenoms is the reason
the United States rates as a 2-1 favorite in London's betting
shops to take back the Ryder Cup.
Kite shrugged off Leonard's absence with the usual captain's
answer: "I had to leave four off. This is only the first
round of matches."
After Kite's interview session, media types participated in
much analysis of Kite's decision to pass on Leonard, a fellow
Texan. This seemed rather futile in the case of the U.S. sportswriters,
since the first match -- Love-Mickelson vs. Jose Maria Olazabal-Constantino
Rocca -- was scheduled for 3 a.m. East Coast time.
Leonard will be on Valderrama for an afternoon foursome (alternate-shot)
match by the time most Americans back out of the garage on the
way to work this morning.
For a time Thursday, it appeared that Lehman's health -- not
Leonard's first-round benching -- would be the major pre-match
story. Eleven Yankees teed off in four groups for their final
practice rounds. Lehman was a no-show.
"There were rumors on the course that Lehman had the flu
and we didn't know if he was going to be ready to play,"
Kite said. "Nothing to it.
"We had three players Tiger, Mark O'Meara and Tom -- ask
if they could sleep in this morning. I said yes. There's nothing
wrong with him. Tom's feeling fine."
Lehman arrived at Vaderrama at mid-morning, caught the last
group of teammates and played the back nine. This inward nine
includes Valderrama's infamous No. 17. It is a spectacular, 517-yard
par-5 that was redesigned by Ballesteros for Valderrama owner
Jimmy Patino.
The 17th takes a right turn at about 250 yards. Twenty yards
after that, a wide patch of thick rough dissects the fairway.
There is a huge pond guarding the front of a shallow of green.
The green's backstop is a slope with three large sand traps cut
into it.
"It's one of the worst holes we play on the European Tour,"
Scotland's Colin Montgomerie has said.
Thursday, Lehman wound up in the first cut of rough on the
right. The wind was buffeting off the Mediterranean and was at
his back. Lehman knocked it onto that shallow green with a 3-wood
from, oh, 265 yards.
Yes, Tom's feeling fine.
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