U.S. squad sets body clocks for Ryder Cup
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
SOTOGRANDE, Spain (AP) -- A bleary-eyed American team had its
first practice round at Valderrama Golf Club on Tuesday, but it
was mostly just a matter of adjusting body clocks.
"Certainly, coming over on the Concorde helped with the
jet lag," captain Tom Kite said. "They stayed up pretty
late last night and I'm sure some of those alarms went off a little
too early this morning."
Kite, who has not been forthcoming about the pairings for his
team, gave his first glimpse into possible teams Tuesday.
Although the 12 players went out in three foursomes, one tipoff
was who teamed up in the money matches. Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara
played Scott Hoch and Lee Janzen.
Davis Love III and Fred Couples, a successful pairing in both
the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup, were in the same foursome
but Love and Justin Leonard played Couples and Brad Faxon.
The third group had Tom Lehman and Phil Mickelson playing with
Jim Furyk and Jeff Maggert.
"I liked it a lot today," Lehman said when asked
his impressions of Valderrama. "I got paid. We (he and Mickelson)
took $120 off Furyk and Maggert."
Kite insists he still might change his mind about some pairings.
"Nothing is set in stone," he said. "I'll watch
them a little today, but I'll be paying closer attention tomorrow
and Thursday."
Kite also said he'll likely switch off teams for alternate-shot
and better-ball.
"I think there will be a number of teams that might be
great four-ball teams and not in foursomes," he said.
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TIGER TALE: Tiger Woods said his father's anger over not being
allowed on the team plane has passed and Earl Woods will be watching
the Ryder Cup on TV.
"Both mom and pop were upset because not many 21-year-olds
make the team, and they thought they could take the spot of my
spouse," Woods said. "But that's not the policy. Everything
is fine now."
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FLOP SHOT: European team captain Seve Ballesteros asked Kite
for permission to change the order of the alternate-shot and better-ball
matches on Friday and Saturday, and the U.S. captain agreed.
The four better-ball matches will be played first, followed
by the alternate-shot competition.
"That was my request, and Tom said yes," Ballesteros
said. "It's a risk, but I don't want to tell you why I asked."
It's most likely Ballesteros wants his young players to work
out their nerves in better-ball play, where they could be carried
by a teammate, rather than jump right into alternate-shot, where
they must hit every other shot.
The seven European team members with Ryder Cup experience have
a combined record of 33-17-5 in alternate-shot play and Ballesteros
will need to continue that domination to have a chance of beating
the Americans.
"I think I know why Seve wants to do that," Kite
said. "He thinks he'll get a better feel for how the players
are playing by watching them in the morning play their own ball."
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WISE WORDS: Four Americans are playing in their first Ryder
Cup and another five are playing for only the second time. Europe,
meanwhile, has five rookies on its team.
"Experience really helps if you are playing well,"
Kite said Tuesday, playing down the fact that his 12 players have
been in only a combined 14 Ryder Cups compared with 35 for the
Europeans.
"Experience doesn't help if you are hitting duck hooks,"
Kite said. "But in a close match, it can be the determining
factor."
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DIVOTS: The United States team will wear red shirts, khaki
slacks, tartan clad sweaters or white vests with white shoes and
tan caps for Friday's opening matches. The Europeans will wear
yellow shirts, light brown slacks, red sweaters and white shoes.
... The average TV ratings for the weekend at the Ryder Cup has
gone from 2.5 in 1991 to 3.8 in 1993 and 4.1 in 1995. NBC has
the Ryder Cup locked up through 2005. ... Kite on Valderrama:
"We are not playing golf courses that are nearly this tight
in tour." ... NBC announcer Johnny Miller on the Ryder Cup:
"The only thing I can guarantee is that it won't be a runaway
by the Europeans, but it might be a runaway by the Americans."
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