Things must be looking up for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. At least that is my impression two weeks before the foray takes place at Ireland’s K Club on Sept. 22-24.
First of all, U.S. captain Tom Lehman is in a state of extreme calm, as he is taking the week off in Scottsdale to be with his wife, Melissa, and four kids – Rachel (16), Holly (13), Thomas (11) and Sean (3).
According to Lehman, it’s been a “typical week’’ of taking the kids to school and watching them swim in the pool. Asked if it was the calm before the storm, Lehman laughed.
“Well, Jay Leno called yesterday to line up a time (to be on the show) just in case we win,’’ Lehman reported. “If we lose, I guess (the appearance) will be canceled.’’
Speaking of cancellations, a team dinner scheduled for next weekend at the White House with President Bush and his wife, Laura, got nixed because Bush has urgent business at the United Nations.
“Apparently, there are more important things in the world than the Ryder Cup,’’ Lehman said, again laughing at the hype that engulfs the event.
Meanwhile, back in Europe things aren’t going so swimmingly for the favorites. While Lehman didn’t take a lot of flak over picking Stewart Cink and Scott Verplank over Davis Love III as his captain’s picks, European captain Ian Woosnam has been slammed lately over his choices.
The verbal volleys came from Thomas Bjorn, who was 13 th on the points list compared to Woosnam’s selections of Lee Westwood (No. 21) and Darren Clarke (No. 30). Bjorn got off a few zingers towards Woosy before he finally apologized on Tuesday.
“(Woosnam) never called me,’’ Bjorn said on Monday, a reference to the process that played out last week in Germany. “He came into the bar at the hotel and gave me 20 seconds about Lee having won twice at the K Club. In a bar – that kind of sums it up.’’
The last reference was to Woosy’s penchant for Guinness, and a well-publicized bar-room brawl in the past. That the word “barmy’’ came up, a British slang term meaning Woosnam’s brain is “fermenting,’’ wasn’t lost in translation.
Love could have stirred up the pot, too, as he was higher ranked than Verplank. But Davis has too much class, as well as respect for Lehman.
Chemistry-wise, this all bodes well for the Americans, who appear to be a tight unit under Lehman’s guidance. (Translated: So far, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are getting along.) Even more than that, said Captain America, “I think we’ve got the momentum going our way now.’’
Yeah, it looks pretty good, as Tiger, Lefty and Jim Furyk are 1-2 -3 in the world rankings, respectively. Obviously, Woods is a man on fire, having won five in a row. And while Mickelson could use an infusion of mojo, Furyk is almost as hot as Woods, with five top-four finishes in his last six outings.
Looking down the U.S. roster, David Toms’ ailing back is better and Chris DiMarco seems to have pulled out of his funk with a runner-up finish at the British Open. Same with Stewart Cink and J.J. Henry, who have been in the mix often during the past month.
Now if Chad Campbell, Vaughn Taylor, Zach Johnson, Brett Wetterich and Verplank don’t capsize the boat, Lehman has a chance to become a national hero.
“I’m trying not to get to carried away,’’ Lehman said of his role in attempting to turn around a team that is a dismal 1-4 in the past five Ryder Cups. “It’s kind of like (Sports Illustated columnist) Rick Reilly said; ‘Two billion Chinese don’t care who you pick for your Ryder Cup team.’
“And, really, those two billion Chinese are just the tip of the iceberg.’’
Lehman said he’ll fly to New York next week for one more major press conference with the media. Then on Sunday, Sept. 17 the team will all climb aboard its charter jet – no private planes, please -- and the giant leap across the pond for golf’s version of the Patriot Games.
“With the exception of this past week, it’s been nonstop,’’ Lehman said of his mission to regain the Ryder Cup, which was taken away quite handedly (18 ½-9 ½) two years ago on American soil.
“Hopefully, in three weeks, the excitement will still be there, and we’ll be talking about the big win. But eventually, life will settle down and get back to normal. I’m sure of it.’’
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