You Da Man!

Not Irwin? "I felt that Lee was just as hot and playing the regular Tour," said Kite.

Not Kite? "If I had qualified for the team, or maybe been 11th, I would have played. But if we lost I would've second-guessed myself: Did I do as good a job of captaining as I could have? Did I miss something?"

He hasn't missed much so far. Looking back, it was a splendiferous week for Captain Insomnia. Start with the fact that players had to earn almost 200 more points to qualify for his team than they did in '95. Then figure that he gets Love at his peak, bumps a kid with no experience (Tolles) for a solid, heat-glazed pro (Maggert), maybe catches Janzen in one of his streaks, grabs Freddy when his back is right (and even if it goes Kite can replace him with, say, Irwin, free of charge) and ends up with a young, live-wired, U.S. Steel of a team. Even Kite's two wild cards can't possibly cause much controversy (see Lanny Wadkins picks Curtis Strange, 1995.)

"Look at this team," says Love. "I mean, you put Woods and Mickelson on a team, and I'd feel like I'm 2 down when I walk to the 1st tee." On paper this has the makings of Bush versus Dukakis. Says Tom Lehman, "This team looks like the future of golf."

But Kite had heard too much. "It does look awesome," he says, "but you know how it'll be."

We know. Grueling. Tense. Ulcer-making. But easier than last week.