U.S. Ryder Cup Team Bios
Posted: Mon September 22, 1997 at 11:57 a.m EDT
Team Captain
Tom Kite -- Seven-time Ryder Cup player who could have picked himself as
one of the two alternates this year without causing much
controversy; finished second at The Masters, fifth at the PGA
Championship and tied for 10th at the British Open this year; member
of the Ryder Cup team in 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989 and
1993; compiled a 15-9-4 record in all-time Ryder Cup play; 27th on
the money list this year with $627,222 in 20 events, his best year
since 1994; finished 19th on the Ryder Cup points list; will have to
be able to harness youth and energy of American squad against a
veteran European team.
The Players
Tiger Woods -- 21-year-old wonder who has meet the lofty expectations of his
first full year on the PGA Tour; winner of four events on the
Tour, including The Masters, but struggled in the other three majors;
making first Ryder Cup appearance, but excelled in match play as an
amateur, winning three consecutive U.S. Amateurs from 1994-96;
also won three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championships from
1991-93; has won a record $1,949,920 this year in just 18 events and
was the top finished in the United States Ryder Cup standings;
other wins this year came at the Mercedes Championship, Byron Nelson
Classic and Western Open; had glimpse of potential Ryder Cup play
when paired with Colin Montgomerie in the third round of Masters and
shot a 65 to Montgomerie's 74 en route to record 12-stroke victory at
The Masters.
Justin Leonard -- Also will be making his first Ryder Cup appearance;
25-year-old who nailed down his spot in Valderrama with a win at the
British Open in Royal Troon, overtaking European Ryder Cup player
Jesper Parnevik in the final round with a 6-under 65; also finished
second at the PGA Championship to Davis Love III, losing in essence,
in final-round match play after entering the final 18 holes tied; shot
a 71 to Love's 66; has only three PGA Tour victories, winning the 1996
Buick Open and this year's Kemper Open; finished second in the Ryder
Cup standings to Tiger Woods; currently second on the money list with
$1,463,531 in 27 events this year, nearly doubling his career
earnings.
Tom Lehman -- Making his second consecutive Ryder Cup appearance after going
2-1 in 1995 at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York; won his
singles match by defeating current European captain Seve Ballesteros
4 & 3 and split two foursomes paired with Corey Pavin; does not have
a victory on the PGA Tour this season but finished second at the
Mercedes Championship; has played well of late, posting a ninth-place
finish at the PGA Championship and a sixth-place at the World Series
of Golf; again held the lead after three rounds of the U.S. Open, but
finished third; also placed 12th at The Masters and 24th at the
British Open; stands 18th on the money list with $842,041 through 18
events; finished third in the Ryder Cup standings and the last of the
three players on the U.S. side to top 1,000 points.
Davis Love III -- Making his third consecutive Ryder Cup appearance and owns
a career record of 5-4; went 3-2 at Oak Hill in 1995, winning his
singles match against Costantino Rocca and splitting four team
matches with three different partners (Ben Crenshaw, Fred Couples and
Jeff Maggert); secured a spot for Valderrama with a win at the PGA
Championship at Winged Foot; defeated Justin Leonard in what turned out
to be an 18-hole match play in the final round, carding a 66 to
Leonard's 71; has played solid golf in tune-ups, including a tie for
ninth at the World Series of Golf and a tie for sixth at the Canadian
Open; currently eighth on the money list with $1,132,523 in 22 events
and has missed the cut just once; has played well in majors on the PGA
Tour this year, posting top-10 finishes at The Masters (tied for
seventh) and British Open (tied for 10th) and placed 16th at the U.S.
Open; finished fourth in the Ryder Cup standings.
Jim Furyk -- Another first-time Ryder Cup player for the United States, the
27-year-old Furyk placed in the top six in the final three majors after
a 28th-place finish at The Masters; tied for fifth at the U.S. Open,
fourth at the British Open and sixth at the PGA Championship; has not
won since the 1996 Hawaiian Open, but placed second there this year
and was also a runner-up at The Memorial this year; Ryder Cup marks
his first appearance on a national team of any sort; currently seventh
on the money list with $1,164,890 through 25 events; has unorthodox
swing and also putts cross-handed; finished fifth in the Ryder Cup
standings.
Phil Mickelson -- Making his second straight Ryder Cup appearance and will be
hard-pressed to top his first one; posted a 3-0 mark at Oak Hill
Country Club by defeating Per-Ulrik Johansson in singles and winning
four-ball matches with Jay Haas and Corey Pavin; is currently the
best American golfer not to win a major and failed to place in the top
10 of any major this year; also failed to make the cut at The Masters;
excelled in match play while attending Arizona State University and won
the 1990 U.S. Amateur Championship; has wins at Bay Hill and the
Sprint International this year and also finished second at The World
Series of Golf; has one of the best short games in golf; currently
ninth on the money list with $1,121,990 this year and finished sixth
in the Ryder Cup standings.
Jeff Maggert -- Also making his second consecutive Ryder Cup appearance; split
four matches at Oak Hill Country Club; winning a foursomes match with
Davis Love III and a four-ball ball with Loren Roberts and losing a
foursomes match with Love to Costantino Rocca and Sam Torrance and a
singles match to Mark James; has not won on the PGA Tour since the 1993
Oldsmobile Classic but placed second at the Buick Classic and Greater
Hartford Open; secured a spot on the U.S. team with a third-place
finish at the PGA Championship; also placed fourth at the U.S. Open;
missed the cut at the CVS Charity Classic last week and tied for 51st
at the Greater Vancouver Open in his event prior; currently 25th on
the money list with $735,549, nearly matching his total from last year;
finished seventh in the Ryder Cup standings.
Mark O'Meara -- Making his fourth Ryder Cup appearance and first since 1991;
has struggled in Ryder Cup play, compiling a 2-5-1 mark; split three
points in 1991, winning a foursome with Payne Stewart and halving a
four-ball with Lanny Wadkins before losing his singles match to Paul
Broadhurst; is 0-3 in singles play, but is 2-2-1 in foursome play;
won the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Buick Invitational in successive
weeks early this year but has struggled since; best finish in a major
this year was a tie for 12th at the PGA Championship; placed 30th,
36th and 38th at The Masters, U.S. Open and British Open, respectively;
has not finished in the top 10 since a ninth-place finish at the
Greater Greensboro Classic in late April; currently 12th on the money
list with $1,044,560 through 21 events and finished eighth in the Ryder
Cup standings.
Scott Hoch -- Making his first Ryder Cup appearance and looking to continue
hot play at Valderrama; won the Greater Milwaukee Open two weeks ago
for his lone win of the year and finished fifth at the PGA
Championship two weeks earlier to nail down a berth on the team;
has nine top-10 finishes in 19 events this year; finished 38th at
The Masters and 10th at the U.S. Open but did not play in the British
Open; most remembered for missing short putt at 1989 Masters that
allowed Nick Faldo to win in a playoff; placed fifth at the 1996
Masters and seventh at 1996 U.S. Open, picking up points for Ryder
Cup standings; sits fifth on the money list this year with $1,213,555
in 19 events and has topped $1 million in the last two years;
finished ninth in the Ryder Cup standings.
Brad Faxon -- Making his second consecutive Ryder Cup appearance but looking
for better results than at Oak Hill Country Club, where he went
1-2; won a four-ball match with Fred Couples and lost one with
Peter Jacobsen; lost a singles match to David Gilford; ended a winless
drought of almost five years with win at Freeport-McDermott Classic and
had second-place finishes at the MCI Classic and Greater Greensboro
Classic; struggled in majors this year, missing the cut at The Masters
and PGA Championship while placing 20th at the British Open and 65th
at the U.S. Open; aside from previous experience, may be the weakest
link among the 10 automatic qualifiers; currently 10th on the money
list this year with $1,093,505 in 22 events and finished 10th in the
Ryder Cup standings.
Lee Janzen -- One of captain Tom Kite's alternate picks; finished 15th in the
Ryder Cup standings; making second Ryder Cup appearance after missing
team in 1995; went 0-2 in 1993, losing a four-ball match with
Jim Gallagher, Jr. to Ian Woosnam and Peter Baker and a singles
match to Colin Montgomerie; has not won on the PGA Tour since the 1995
Sprint International but tied for second at the Buick Invitational and
BellSouth Classic this year; pushed into consideration after a
fourth-place finish at the PGA Championship; missed the cut at the
British Open and finished 26th at The Masters and 52nd at the U.S.
Open.
Fred Couples -- Captain Tom Kite's other alternate selection who will be
expected to provide veteran experience to the young American squad;
is appearing in his fifth consecutive Ryder Cup appearance and enters
with a 5-7-4 mark overall. Won 2 1/2 of a possible four points at
Oak Hill Country Club in 1995, winning four-balls with Davis
Love III and Brad Faxon, defeating Sam Torrance/Costantino Rocca and
Nick Faldo/Colin Montgomerie, respectively, losing a foursome match to
Torrance and Rocca when paired with Jay Haas and halving his singles
match with Ian Woosnam; Couples has struggled in foursome play,
winning just one of five matches; he is 3-2-2 in the four-ball format;
has played in only 13 tournaments on the PGA Tour this season but
has six top-10 finishes; placed seventh at The Masters and British
Open but was 31st at the PGA Championship and 51st at the U.S. Open;
currently 53rd on the money list but was 17th in Ryder Cup standings;
nagging back injury may prevent him from playing more than one
match each day.
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