The 34th Ryder Cup Preview I: the Matches
Following the PGA Championship last year, the build up to the 34th Ryder Cup matches was the talk of the golf world. Captains' picks from U.S. and Europe side were subject to much discussion-as had been the case in every Ryder Cup-and after the contentious nature in which the previous matches were won by Americans, the upcoming Ryder Cup promised to be a memorable one.
Then the disaster struck on September 11th, and golf retreated into the background of many people's minds. For a next little while, it just felt wrong to chase little white balls in the name of patriotism.
So the Ryder Cup was postponed, and here we are a full year later-my, how time flies-and, naturally, the atmosphere leading up to the event has been different. There just hasn't been usual hype about who should be captains' picks on both teams because they were already selected last September-Paul Azinger and Scott Verplank for U.S., and Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik for Europe.
Instead, as the players left out from both sides opened their 2002 seasons with torrid pace-Chris DiMarco, John Daly and Jerry Kelly of the U.S., and Europe's Justin Rose and Jose Maria Olazabal-many began suggesting that the captains, American Curtis Strange and Scotland's Sam Torrance, should each have an extra wild card selection.
Strange and Torrance remained adamant that the teams would not be altered barring injuries, but the argument for adding players and changing teams didn't disappear easily. Not only did the aforementioned golfers continue their strong play, but some of those already on the team began their precipitous freefall.
As of September 9th, all but two members of Europe's team-Garcia and Padraig Harrington-have gone backwards on the World Golf Rankings since the team was assembled. The most notable drop from either side has been endured by Lee Westwood, who won the Order of Merit as European Tour's top money winner in 2000 and who, as recently as last May, was ranked fourth in the world. Westwood is now at No. 133 and hasn't had a top-10 finish all year after winning six times two years ago.
Phillip Price, Pierre Fulke and Parnevik are also terribly out of form, and Parnevik, a stalwart from 1999 Ryder Cup, is said to have considered pulling out of the matches altogether. Colin Montgomerie, who is unbeaten in five singles matches, has had back problems all season long and withdrew from two of his last three tournaments. World's No. 8 Harrington will be expected to carry the burden of the European team, but he's been bothered by sore ankle and strained neck.
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