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Sizing up the Ryder Cup teams
Posted: Friday May 04, 2001 12:18 PM
FROM A 19TH CENTURY FARMHOUSE IN THE MAGICAL MEDIEVAL TOWN OF SINTRA, Portugal -- As the loyal Sports Illustrated subscribers among you already know, the story I wrote from last week's Algarve Open de Portugal has a Ryder Cup spin, focusing on a couple of young hopefuls -- Ian Poulter and Justin Rose -- and the view from the captain, Sam Torrance. In reporting the story I spent a lot of time talking and thinking about the European Ryder Cup team and I've come to the conclusion that the Euros are going to reclaim the Cup this September. (Maybe.)
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I'd like to have stock in the company that supplies you with knee pads. You must go through a lot of them to land the travel gigs you get like your current European vacation.
—Jeff Watson, Houston
Yes, I've been getting some grief about the apparent cushiness of my current assignment, but if you're expecting me to feel any pangs of guilt, Jeff, you've definitely clicked on the wrong column. Sure, it's not torture staying at five-star resorts on the company dime, and, yeah, Portugal's coastline is spectacular, and, OK, OK, the cuisine is extraordinary, and, if truth be told, there has been a spare minute or two for the occasional side trip to the local castle/cathedral/palace/museum, but let's get one thing straight: The Kid is working here. In addition to banging out these arduous columns, I'm writing weekly deadline pieces for the mag as well as reporting two long features for future issues.
Beyond that, every day I'm expanding exponentially my knowledge of world golf. This little sport of ours has never been more global, and you can't cover it sitting in an office in Connecticut or Florida. Since this time last year I've chased stories to Australia ( Karrie Webb, Aaron Baddeley ), Scotland (British Open), Spain (AmEx Championships), Scotland (Solheim Cup), Argentina (EMC World Cup), Australia (Accenture Match Play) and now this current Spain-Portugal-France hat trick. I make these sacrifices so that you, the reader, can be both enlightened and entertained, and so that Sports Illustrated can remain the worldwide leader in all things sports. (That's how I sell these trips to the editors, anyway.) Besides, look at the public services I can provide:
Since you covered the Algarve Open de Portugal, could you please review a few of the local courses for me? I will be vacationing in the Algarve in mid-July, the week after the British Open. A review of the exotic local women also would be appreciated.
—Dee Patel, Vacaville, Calif.
Well, Dee, my review of the courses and the volunteers will be light on details for the same reason -- my wife is traveling with me. Still, I've done a little looking around for you. The Algarve is one of the premier golf destinations in the world, in the same league as the Monterey Peninsula, Bermuda, Cabo, Kiawah, St. Andrews and the like. The density of the courses is incredible, all built on wonderful rolling terrain, buffeted by sea breezes. The best course in the Algarve -- and one of the top three or four in all of Continental Europe -- is San Lorenzo. I was going to play it on Saturday but wound up instead at an outdoor ferria, dodging chickens and picking out ceramic plates. It's a sad, sad story. I did manage to walk a few of San Lorenzo's holes one morning with the Missus. The course sits astride a beautiful estuary, which is in play on a number of holes. There is also some great-looking parkland with serious elevation changes. San Lorenzo is priority numero uno for your itinerary.
You should also tee it up at Quinta do Lago, the site of the Open de Portugal. I walked it plenty last week, and it is a fantastic track, with an endless variety of holes and lovely views. I was going to play it on Monday but wound up instead lounging by the pool, where Frances and I ran up a staggering tab. (Like I said, this trip has been a lot of hard work.) There are literally dozens of other courses in the area. I'll let you explore those on your own. Ditto the toothsome locals.
LASTLY, SEVERAL eagle-eyed readers wrote in to complain that last week I misidentified Darren Clarke's home course as Portmarnock, when it should have been Royal Portrush. It's true that the big-boned Ulsterman grew up on Portrush, but he now officially plays out of Portmarnock, no doubt for a handsome sum. So nobody is wrong here. Still, just to clear up any lingering confusion, I think I'll have to visit both courses for a future On Tour column. After all, I so rarely get to go anywhere nice.
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This U.S. team is a monster, or so we've been told. Ever since the rousing comeback at The Country Club, followed by the demolition of a good International team at the '00 Presidents Cup, it's been a given that the Yanks will be the prohibitive favorites at the Belfry in September. There is no doubt the U.S. packs a punch at the top of its roster -- Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III and David Duval, the Fab Four. "That's as strong as it gets," Torrance told me last week in Portugal, "but I wouldn't trade 'em for my top four." That would be Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, José María Olazábal and Colin Montgomerie. (There is still a long way to go in the qualifying process, but it's pretty easy to guess who is going to fill out both squads.) Of course, Torrance has to say stuff like that, but the fact is that as good as Woods and Duval are in stroke play, neither has shown much aptitude or affinity for international team match-play competition (and let's be honest, the boondoggle that is the World Cup doesn't really count).
It's hard to pinpoint the worst moment of Tiger's golf career: Was it jacking his approach to the final hole OB to lose to somebody named Gary Wolstenholme in singles play at the 1995 Walker Cup? Or was it putting his ball off the green into a pond on the 17th hole at Valderrama to lose a key Friday fourball? Perhaps it was getting dusted by Costantino Rocca in a 1997 pivotal singles match (which dropped his Ryder record that year to 1-3-1)? In the '99 Ryder Cup Woods' struggles continued, as he lost both matches on Friday, contributing to the Americans' 6-2 deficit.
At Brookline, Duval -- playing in his first Ryder Cup -- was just as mediocre. He was sent out leadoff Friday morning with Mickelson and promptly laid an egg, getting blitzed by the Monty- Paul Lawrie pairing. After blowing another match that afternoon, this time with his buddy Tiger, Duval was benched Saturday morning, and that afternoon he could only manage a halve, for a sporty 0-2-1 record in partner play.
Love and Mickelson, meanwhile, have been terrific in the Ryder Cup, but their records are not quite as shiny as those of Montgomerie and Olazábal, who rank among the best Ryder Cup players of the modern era. To this point in their still evolving careers, Westwood and Clarke have shown more aptitude in Ryder Cup play than either Woods or Duval. In fact, the portly Euros teamed up to win two matches in '99.
As for the rest of the squads, this is where things get really interesting. Take the next set of four. Whom would you rather have: Jesper Parnevik-Thomas Bjorn-Padraig Harrington-Sergio García or Hal Sutton-Tom Lehman-Jim Furyk-Brad Faxon? Tough call, but I like the creativity and magical short games of the Euros. Sutton and Lehman are both warriors, but their combined age is creeping up on 90. In a grind like the Ryder Cup, young legs are handy. Faxon has cooled since his terrific start to the year, but more ominous is his 2-4 record in previous Ryder Cups, including an 0-2 mark in singles.
On the other side, Parnevik-García was the most electric team of the '99 match, and both Bjorn and Harrington have matured into world-class players since making their Ryder Cup debuts in '97 and '99, respectively. (And both were strong rookies, to boot: Bjorn was undefeated in two matches at Valderrama, while Harrington's final-hole comeback to slay Mark O'Meara in singles was one of the most clutch performances of the '99 match.)
Rounding up the final four guys on each side is a little more dodgy. For the Euros we already know that Pierre Fulke has clinched a spot. He could be a sleeper rookie, possessing an air-tight short game and much Satchell, which he displayed at the Accenture Match Play Championship in dispatching Ernie Els, Faxon and Michael Campbell. Miguel Angel Jimenez should also make the team (this preeminent ballstriker scored two points as a rookie in '99), and Torrance intimated to me that the ageless Bernhard Langer could be a captain's pick. Poulter is also in line to make the squad, and he's a cocky kid with big-time game, so who knows.
For the U.S. Mark Calcavecchia has all but clinched a spot, and this is not necessarily good news. True, Calc can go deep, especially in a fourball format, but his short putting remains shaky -- e.g., 2001 Honda Classic -- and he still carries the scars of the worst collapse in Ryder Cup history, during the War by the Shore in 1991. I like the games and personalities of Joe Durant and Loren Roberts (currently seventh and 11th in the standings), but they could just as easily be overtaken by the likes of -- yikes! -- Steve Lowery and Scott Verplank (12th and 13th).
One other X-factor to consider: the foreboding, dank, chilling, penal setting that is the Belfry. This nondescript track has been a nice home-field advantage for our friends across the Pond. In the last three matches staged at the Belfry, the Euros pulled off their epic victory in 1985, forged a tie in '89 (which was like a victory because they retained the Cup), and lost, by two points, in '93.
So, a thousand words later, my point remains the same: Don't overlook the Europeans come September, when most of the golf world already will have.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Alan Shipnuck periodically waxes about life
On Tour for CNNSI.com. Click here to send him a
question or a nice, friendly comment.
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