Opposing View

The one player who has near-universal support as a captain's selection is Parnevik, who is an ideal mix of youth, experience and good form. His commitment to the U.S. Tour had left him a distant 34th in the standings heading into the Scandanavian Masters, but Parnevik was still talking about qualifying for the team. "I want to make it easier for Mark" he said before play got under way in Malm�, "so I'll win here, win the PGA, and then I'm in." For a while it looked as if he might accomplish the former, as he made the turn last Saturday in second place, just two back of Montgomerie. Alas, Parnevik couldn't keep up with Monty, although he did hold on to second and jump to 18th place on the points list.

No one has taken a larger step backward than Garcia, the teen phenom whose self-immolation at the British Open may have cost him a shot at being a captain's selection. "That was the biggest tournament of his career," says one top European, "and the way he lost it out there doesn't give James confidence." Says Karlsson, speaking for the others, "He has to play his way in. We have too many rookies already and I plan on being one of them."

So, too, does Coltart, although it appears that he may go into labor before his wife does. The Scandinavian Masters—in which his third-round 75 led to a 45th-place finish—was his seventh straight week on this Ryder Cup death march, and the pressure is beginning to show. Ordinarily among the most courtly of golfing gentlemen Coltart blew his stack following the first round. "I have no trouble blocking out all the Ryder CUD nonsense when I'm on the course but every time I step off of it a guy like you wants to talk about it," he said. "I understand it's a big deal but it's tough to deal with when you're the one going through it.

Hey, Andy, at least we know you care. "You're right about that, mate."