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Ryder Cup begins Friday
With six Americans making debut, the past will be easy to forget.
By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A recurring theme when Paul Azinger huddles with his U.S. team is to forget the past at the Ryder Cup.
He can be sure at least half of them get the message.
Ben Curtis was playing the mini-tours. Anthony Kim was still in college.
Boo Weekley?
He doesn’t watch much golf on TV, so he might have been in a deer stand with a rifle slung over his shoulder when Sergio Garcia provided most of the points in another record romp for Europe at The K Club.
They are among six rookies on the American team, the most in nearly 40 years, who have no Ryder Cup experience. Considering what happened the last three times — and eight of the last 11 dating to 1985 — they might be the Americans’ greatest asset.
“Not being a part of the last few U.S. teams is not necessarily a bad thing,” said Phil Mickelson.
It is an eclectic group, for sure.
Steve Stricker is a 41-year-old father of two with impeccable Midwestern manners who has been grinding away at golf for nearly two decades.
Kim is a 23-year-old who grew up in LA and walks with a swagger, assuming he is not weighed down by his garish “AK” belt buckles.
Kim played in a Walker Cup with J.B. Holmes, another rookie picked primarily for his roots (Kentucky) and his power.
The other rookie is Hunter Mahan, who made it through his first big test on Tuesday when the British press grilled him over his comments earlier this year in a magazine interview, in which he referred to the Ryder Cup as a moneymaking machine.
Europe had five rookies on its 2004 team, and captain Bernhard Langer kept three of them out of action until the second day. One of those rookies, Paul Casey, thought that was a smart move because it gave them time to get used to noise and the nerves.
Azinger doesn’t have that option. At least two of them will be in the opening lineup Friday morning.
“I wouldn’t have any trouble putting rookie and rookie together,” he said. “Sometimes, I think it’s more difficult to go out with an experienced player. I think sometimes the rookie feels like he has something to prove to that guy. But when you talk about rookies ... these guys all know that they’re equally as good as the guys who have played in the Ryder Cup before.”
Weekley and Curtis are probably the most inexperienced.
Weekley is soaking it all in, starting with his uniform. The guy who first joined the PGA Tour by wearing rain pants and tennis shoes found himself in some mighty fine threads during the first day of practice.
“I can tell you right now, these pants I’ve got on are probably the most expensive thing I’ve ever owned,” Weekley said. “These things here, they felt like a pair of silk underwear when you’re getting ready to go hunting. They’re unreal.”
More important than how they look is how they play — and how much they can put the last three Ryder Cups behind them.
He can be sure at least half of them get the message.
Ben Curtis was playing the mini-tours. Anthony Kim was still in college.
Boo Weekley?
He doesn’t watch much golf on TV, so he might have been in a deer stand with a rifle slung over his shoulder when Sergio Garcia provided most of the points in another record romp for Europe at The K Club.
They are among six rookies on the American team, the most in nearly 40 years, who have no Ryder Cup experience. Considering what happened the last three times — and eight of the last 11 dating to 1985 — they might be the Americans’ greatest asset.
“Not being a part of the last few U.S. teams is not necessarily a bad thing,” said Phil Mickelson.
It is an eclectic group, for sure.
Steve Stricker is a 41-year-old father of two with impeccable Midwestern manners who has been grinding away at golf for nearly two decades.
Kim is a 23-year-old who grew up in LA and walks with a swagger, assuming he is not weighed down by his garish “AK” belt buckles.
Kim played in a Walker Cup with J.B. Holmes, another rookie picked primarily for his roots (Kentucky) and his power.
The other rookie is Hunter Mahan, who made it through his first big test on Tuesday when the British press grilled him over his comments earlier this year in a magazine interview, in which he referred to the Ryder Cup as a moneymaking machine.
Europe had five rookies on its 2004 team, and captain Bernhard Langer kept three of them out of action until the second day. One of those rookies, Paul Casey, thought that was a smart move because it gave them time to get used to noise and the nerves.
Azinger doesn’t have that option. At least two of them will be in the opening lineup Friday morning.
“I wouldn’t have any trouble putting rookie and rookie together,” he said. “Sometimes, I think it’s more difficult to go out with an experienced player. I think sometimes the rookie feels like he has something to prove to that guy. But when you talk about rookies ... these guys all know that they’re equally as good as the guys who have played in the Ryder Cup before.”
Weekley and Curtis are probably the most inexperienced.
Weekley is soaking it all in, starting with his uniform. The guy who first joined the PGA Tour by wearing rain pants and tennis shoes found himself in some mighty fine threads during the first day of practice.
“I can tell you right now, these pants I’ve got on are probably the most expensive thing I’ve ever owned,” Weekley said. “These things here, they felt like a pair of silk underwear when you’re getting ready to go hunting. They’re unreal.”
More important than how they look is how they play — and how much they can put the last three Ryder Cups behind them.
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