Seve fires salvo at Tiger
By PATRICK McMANAMON / Scripps Howard News Service
SOTOGRANDE, Spain -- European captain Seve Ballesteros, known
for his gamesmanship in Ryder Cup competitions, fired the first
salvo of the week at the U.S. team on Tuesday. And he aimed it
directly at the Americans' most famous player -- Tiger Woods.
"Tiger Woods is a sensational player with great potential,"
Ballesteros said as the teams started to practice for the Ryder
Cup matches that begin Friday. "We're all happy he's here
at the Ryder Cup
"Of course we have 12 players who can beat Tiger Woods.
So ..."
So, according to Captain Seve, Ignacio Garrido and Darren Clarke
and Jesper Parnevik and Per-Ulrik Johannson and Thomas Bjorn and
Lee Westwood are all capable of beating Tiger Woods.
Woods simply shrugged it off.
"It's true," he said. "They do have 12 players
who can beat me. But we have 12 guys who can beat any of his 12
guys too."
The Captain wasn't the only European to fire a shot at Woods,
though. Colin Montgomerie, humbled by Woods in the Masters, said
that "Valderrama isn't Augusta. It isn't a course that suits
him."
Let's be honest here: Woods may be the anchor of the U.S. team.
He's a 21-year-old Ryder rookie but led the U.S. team in points
despite playing only one year on the PGA Tour. More important,
Woods is a grizzled veteran in the match-play style Ryder Cup
demands.
Woods won three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles, which are
match play, and in doing so won 18 straight matches. He also took
part in last year's Walker Cup, and played in a junior event in
France at 14 that has the same format as the Ryder Cup's foursomes
(partners alternating shots), fourball (better of two balls) and
match play.
"I've played enough match play where I should be OK,"
Woods said. "I've always preferred match over medal play."
Match play also allows Woods to turn his game loose. A double-bogey
in a tournament might cost him dearly. But in match play it's
just one lost hole. On the next, he can still be aggressive and
take a chance.
"It takes more courage to play match play than stroke
play," Woods said.
U.S. captain Tom Kite has cautioned that Woods has not played
matches with this kind of pressure and this kind of competition
before. He also said it's only natural for the Europeans to want
"to have a chance to take a shot at him." The old saying
about wanting to beat the best comes to mind.
But the bottom line is nobody expects Woods to play a small
role this weekend.
"How Tiger fares will have a lot to do with the Americans'
success," said Roger Maltbie, a former Tour player who will
work the matches for NBC. "I believe the European team will
be watching his matches very closely. If they beat Tiger, I think
they will take a tremendous lift from that."
Maltbie, though, might have taken a different tack on Tiger
had he known the issue of watching Woods would become so contentious.
Earl Woods, Tiger's father, blasted the PGA of America and
Ryder Cup officials this week after both groups refused to fly
him in to watch his son, even though wives and girlfriends of
players are flown in.
"I can unequivocally state that I'm more responsible for
Tiger being where he is today and have a bigger contribution to
the team than all the wives and girlfriends combined," Earl
Woods was quoted as saying.
Woods explained his father wanted to help his son, who is not
married and is "as single as it gets."
"There are not too many 21-year-olds who get to the Ryder
Cup team, and I'm a guy with no spouse and no girlfriend,"
Woods said. "My dad asked if he or my mom, one of them, could
take the spot. My dad thought that would be fair. ...It would
be nice to have someone that you can vent to and look to for support.
That was all my dad cared about."
(Pat McManamon is the national sportswriter for Scripps Howard
News Service.)
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