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Captains Choice as Ryder Cup Nears
Rankings No Use in Ryder Cup, McIlroy Says
Wild Card Pair Set for Ryder Cup Test
Experience The Key for Westwood
Ryder Cup Rookie Snedeker Shoots from The Hip
US Vet Mickelson Knows How to Pick His Spots
Captains Choice as Ryder Cup Nears
CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept 26, 2012 (AFP) - Ryder Cup captains Davis Love and Jose Maria Olazabal were putting the final touches to their Ryder Cup teams on Wednesday seeking the magic formulae that would bring glory on Sunday.
The US team, led by Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but with four rookies adding a note of uncertainty, will start as slight favourites as golf's most spectacular tournament comes to Chicago for the first time.
With the exception of the veteran Jim Furyk, all the US players are in the world top 20.
But Europe have recent history on their side, having won six out of the last eight contests dating back to 1995 and four out of the last five.
World No.1 Rory McIlroy is the undoubted European star, but three others - Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Justin Rose are in the top five.
Eight out of the 12-strong European team have winning records in the Ryder Cup, none of the Americans do so.
Davis Love has taken a leaf out of the booklet of Paul Azinger, who captained the last US victory at Valhalla, Kentucky four years ago, in choosing a birdie-friendly course that can fire up the Chicago crowds, while trying to instill a free-wheeling sense of fun and derring-do in his players.
Mickelson, who will set a new US record of nine Ryder Cup appearances, is convinced Love has got it just right.
"I think that over the years, looking back, we have not played our best when we have focused on trying to win the Ryder Cup," he said.
"We've played our best when we've had fun, enjoyed each other's company, and enjoyed the competition, embraced the gallery and felt the momentum kind of like in 2008 with Zinger (Paul Azinger).
"And I think for us to do well, we've got to feel the presence of the crowd here in Chicago. We need the support. We need that momentum. We need that energy that they provide for us to play our best golf, and I think that the environment here and the electricity that people bring is going to help us play well."
The European approach has been mainly low-key, in keeping with Spanish captain Olazabal, a player respected around the globe for his honesty and integrity.
With a more estabished line-up, containing just the one rookie in Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts, Olazabal's task in picking partners to play together has looked reasonably straightforward.
Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia are a fearsome foursome partnership unbeaten in four previous matches, Northern Irishmen McIlroy and Graeme McDowell have been seemingly joined at the hip since McIlroy made his cup debut two years ago at Celtic Manor and Englishmen Ian Poulter and Justin Rose are great friends, who have made it clear they would love to play together again on Friday.
That just leaves who to put out with the most experienced player in the European line-up Lee Westwood with in-form Scot Paul Lawrie looking the likeliest to start with.
Much has been made of the fact that this will be the first Ryder Cup since the death from cancer of Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros and his old playing partner Olazabal has evoked his memory on several occasions this week.
As a sign of respect, the European players will have a silhouette image of Ballesteros' famous clenched-fist celebration at the 18th hole of the 1984 Open at St Andrews on the front section of their bags.
"He has meant a lot to me and to the team, and I wanted to have something that was present to each and every player," said Olazabal.
"We came up with the idea that it would be nice to have Seve's silhouette, and so every time somebody gets to grab a club or something from the bag he can see the silhouette."
The buildup has been almost unfailingly polite, but there were signs of some growing tensions on Wednesday as the crowds watching the practice sessions grew in size and intensity.
Self-styled Ryder Cup fanatic Ian Poulter raised a few eyebrows by saying that although he personally got on well with all of his American rivals, all he wanted to do come Friday was "to kill them in the Ryder Cup."
Not to be outdone, US wildcard rookie Brandt Snedeker said that when he got onto the first tee, his intention would be "to beat their brains in as bad as I can."
Whether all that will remains just trash talk or boils over into something more nasty at the weekend when the Medinah Country Club plays hosts to over 40,000, mainly American, golf fans remains to be seen.
But one thing that looks certain is that there will be no repeat of the atrocious weather that nearly wrecked the contest in Celtic Manor two years ago.
The forecast is for perfect autumnal conditions throughout the week in the Chicago area with little if any rain, negligible wind and plenty sunny skies.
Rankings No Use in Ryder Cup, McIlroy Says
CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept 26, 2012 (AFP) - Being the top ranking player in the world will mean nothing when the action gets underway in the 39th Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club on Friday, Rory McIlroy believes.
The 23-year-old Northern Irishman goes into what will be his second appearance in the biennial team clash between Europe and the United States having been branded by Jim Furyk as "a marked man."
That stems from his status as the new king of world golf, sealed in a tremendous last few weeks by winning three out of four tournaments, including his second major at the US PGA Championship.
Taking his (curly mop) scalp in the foursomes and fourballs (where he is expected to be paired once more with Graeme McDowell) or in Sunday's closing singles, would be a huge boost for US hopes.
But, asked if higher expectations should be placed on him due to his ranking, McIlroy was in no doubt.
"No, not at all," he said.
"This week I'm not the No. 1 player in the world; I'm one person in a 12 man team, and that's it. It's a team effort. There's 12 guys all striving towards the same goal. I'm just part of that."
McIlroy is aware, however that things have moved on in no small manner since he made his Ryder Cup debut at Celtic Manor in Wales two years ago.
On that occasion he was a 21-year-old rookie, without a major win to his name, and looking for all the help he could get from his captain, his fellow-players and from the fans.
The end result was positive in the sense that Europe regained the trophy, and mixed on an individual note as he chalked up one win and one loss with two halves for two points out of four.
This time around, he has won two majors, both by eight strokes, and left an impression on the golf world unmatched since Tiger Woods first burst onto the international scene 15 years ago. Much more is now expected of him at Medinah.
Asked how best he could contribute to the Europe team effort - in the team room and out on the course - McIlroy said he would let his golf speak for him.
"I think there's leaders on our team that will lead with experience," said the youngest member of the European side.
"I feel like with the way I've played the last couple of years, I don't think my role is a leader in the team room. I think it's more a leader out on the course and trying to lead in that way. Try to put points on the board and try to get my point."
McIroy also knows that the popularity he enjoys in the United States, where his eight-stroke victory in the US Open in Washington DC last year came like a thunderbolt, is unlikely to be replicated in Chicago.
Two years ago in Wales, the crowds were behind him all the way, but this week he is prepared for anything that comes his way - even a bout of heckling.
"There's not much you can do about it," he said.
"As I said, emotions run high here, and obviously the majority of the crowd are going to be pulling for the American team.
"But I feel like even yesterday on the course, it's very respectful. They are going to cheer very loud for their team, which we expect. Of course it would be the same over in Europe.
"You've just got to get on with it. I expect it to be loud. I expect them to cheer for them. Hopefully I won't get heckled, but if I do, then you've just got to stay calm and be focused on the golf and just get on with it."
Wild Card Pair Set for Ryder Cup Test
CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept 26, 2012 (AFP) - Europe's Ryder Cup wild cards Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts are a contrast in styles and character, but both could be crucial to their team's hopes of retaining the trophy this week. 
Whereas Poulter is the epitomy of Ryder Cup passion and a veteran of three previous appearances, Colsaerts is all wide-eyed and hushed tones as he makes his first appearance in the tournament.
Englishman Poulter, who has won eight out of his 11 Ryder Cup games and has yet to share a point, was spitting fire when he attended his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday.
It may not be war, he agreed, but come Friday the battle-lines, albeit temporarily, will be drawn.
"This event is unique," he said.
"I mean, I hate to say we don't get on for three days, but there is that divide, and it's not that we don't like each other.
"We are all good friends, both sides of the pond. But there's something about the Ryder Cup which kind of intrigues me how you can be great mates with somebody, but, boy, do you want to kill them in Ryder Cup.
"It's great, I mean, it's passion like I've never seen before. I love it."
Poulter has been in this situation before, four years ago in Valhalla, Kentucky when Nick Faldo chose him as a wild card to take on the Americans.
It was a controversial choice to select the Englishman ahead of cup stalwarts Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke, but Faldo was vindicated as Poulter finished the top individual points scorer from either side with four wins and one loss, playing in every session.
The result of course was a different matter with the United States winning, but Poulter made the team by rights two years ago and he contributed greatly once again with three wins and one loss, including a crucial 5 and 4 thumping of Matt Kuchar in the singles.
If Poulter was a shoo-in for a wild card berth, Colsaerts was less so with many feeling three-time major winner and Ryder Cup hero Padraig Harrington should have got the nod from captain Jose Maria Olazabal.
But the Spaniard has been impressed with the progress made by the Belgian over the last two years after half a dozen years of struggling to fulfill his potential in the lower divisions of European golf.
"When you look back and you see where I was like three years ago, I'm just the perfect example that if you want something really bad and you put your work into it, if you've got the heart and the passion, anything is achievable," the 29-year-old from Brussels said.
"It's funny, because I thought about it, I don't know if it was last night or this morning - it's almost like I feel like I've come back from the dead, which is a bit of a weapon.
"We all go through different phases in our lives, especially when you're an athlete. You don't really have a lot of examples that everything goes according to plan. I'm certainly not one of them, but I'm kind of proud of my story."
Colsaerts will be the first Belgian to play in the Ryder Cup and he believes that his country's location at the crossroads of western Europe makes him a good "hybrid" fit for the Ryder Cup.
"We speak a different couple languages in our country. We've got different types of people back home, you know, Flemish side, French speaking side," he said.
"I've traveled the world since I was 15, so I was always, in a way, mixed up with a lot of different nationalities, because I traveled on my own and I had to find people to talk with.
"It's pretty easy for me to get along with a lot of different personalities, different nationalities, and different sense of humors."
Experience The Key for Westwood
CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept 26, 2012 (AFP) - With the exception of Phil Mickelson, no-one at Medinah Country club this week has more experience of Ryder Cup play than Lee Westwood.
The 39-year-old Englishman made his debut alongside Nick Faldo at Valderrama, Spain in 1997 and since then he has been an ever-present, chalking up an impressive overall record of 16 wins, 11 losses and six halves in seven appearances.
That makes him a virtual certainty to be a Ryder Cup skipper of the future and installs him as an undoubted leader in the present team, both in the locker room and out on the course.
Westwood says it is a role he feels he is ideally placed to fill.
"You know, this is my eighth Ryder Cup and eighth different captain, so I've experienced more than any other player I think in Ryder Cup history, different captains at different Ryder Cups, and seen the way different captains do it," he said.
"The way they do it right and maybe make some mistakes that captains make because everybody makes mistakes. You're not going to get it right all the time.
"If I'm asked my opinion, then I'll give it. You know, it will be considered and I won't say it's educated, but I'd have a fair amount of background and knowledge on the experience."
Westwood has always revelled in the Ryder Cup atmosphere and although his singles record is not the best, with only two wins against five losses, his strength lies in the foursomes and fourballs.
Over the years he has formed strong partnerships with the likes of Faldo, Darren Clarke and Sergio Garcia, while there is talk now of him being paired again with Luke Donald.
The English duo played the final fourballs at Celtic Manor two years ago and their resounding 6 and 5 win over Tiger Woods was one of the top performances of the week.
That pairing could come up in Friday's opening foursomes, a session that Westwood believes could be crucial in setting the tone for the weekend.
"The first session is quite important. You don't want to get too far behind," he said.
"And with it being foursomes, if you don't get momentum going in foursomes, it's very difficult to turn it around and get going in the right direction.
"So foursomes is a tricky format and it's important to get your combinations right.
"Over the last few years, we've been quite successful in foursomes, so maybe that's a bit of an advantage to us for it to be foursomes in the morning."
Ryder Cup Rookie Snedeker Shoots from The Hip
CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept 26, 2012 (AFP) - Ryder Cup rookie Brandt Snedeker has played his PGA Tour career in the shadow of superstars like Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods but he's certainly not in awe of his American teammates.
The free-spirited Snedeker says he teases the two USA golfing icons all the time about getting special favours because of who they are.
"I just have a fun time giving people a hard time, especially guys like Phil and Tiger, some of the best guys in the world," Snedeker said Wednesday after his practice round for the Ryder Cup.
"I feel like sometimes they get a hall pass (special favour) because they are who they are and I want to make sure they don't get a hall pass.
"And I don't care. So I give them a hard time and they give it right back and I take it."
Snedeker is in a good mood this week as he prepares for Friday's opening day of the 39th Ryder Cup.
That's because he has over 10,000 million reasons to smile after winning the Tour Championship on Sunday where he collected $1.4 million for the tournament and $10 million bonus for capturing the FedEx Cup playoff title.
He's playing "the best golf of his career", and with his confidence soaring he fired the first salvo Wednesday from the US side in the lead up to the matches against the Europeans saying he didn't want to just win, he wants to "beat their brains in".
"I definitely have an edge," Snedeker said. "Anybody that knows me really well knows that I am not afraid to tell people what I really think and tell people how I really feel.
"I am very, very competitive. People don't get that because I am polite. But I tee it up on Friday here, I'm trying to ... I'm going to try to beat their brains in as bad as I can."
The 31-year-old Snedeker, who was the PGA Tour's rookie of the year five years ago, is in his first Ryder Cup.
He finished third in the 2008 Masters and this year's Open, where his 66-64 start equalled the major record.
Davis Love made Snedeker, of Nashville, Tennessee, one of his captain's picks for team USA.
"It has been a crazy couple of days," said Snedeker of the reaction to his winning the PGA playoff jackpot. "My confidence right now is obviously at an all-time high.
"I am playing the best golf of my career and I backed it up with taking the lead into Sunday last week and winning with the lead for the first time.
"I beat some of the best players in the world. My game is exactly where it needs to be."
US Vet Mickelson Knows How to Pick His Spots
CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept 26, 2012 (AFP) - Phil Mickelson hopes to create another chapter in his lengthy Ryder Cup career and erase any notion that the US teams don't bond together as solidly as their European counterparts.
The 40-year-old Mickelson is making his ninth consecutive Ryder Cup appearance, a record for a US player.
"It would be a great misperception to think that the US team didn't gel or get along and that led to poor play," Mickelson said after his practice round on Wednesday.
Europe has won or retained nine of the last 13 Ryder Cups, including the last one in 2010 at Celtic Manor, Wales.
"I think the veterans need to feed off the younger players as much as the young players need a little bit of guidance from the experienced players," Mickelson said.
"Our highlights, our moments that we look back on in the Ryder Cup are '99 and '08, the two times we have won. We want to create another memory, another special week."
While the pairings aren't official yet, Mickelson says he expects to be partnered with last year's PGA Tour rookie of the year Keegan Bradley.
"I am going to be playing a lot with Keegan Bradley," Mickelson said. "It is no secret here. It is fun playing with Keegan because this is his first event and first team event.
"He is so excited and that exuberance and energy that he brings, you feed off it."
Like his American teammates, Mickelson does not have a winning record in Ryder Cup. In 34 matches, he has 11 wins, six halves and 17 losses.
US skipper Davis Love says he has a seen a change in Mickelson's approach to the event over the years. Love likes the leadership that Mickelson brings to the team but also says Mickelson has now learned to pick his spots.
"He's a lot like Tiger," Love said. "They both came to the teams trying to win a whole bunch of points and they thought that was what they were supposed to do and now they just want to win.
"I think the difference with a veteran is that Phil gets it. He knows what to say at the right time. He knows when to be serious and when to make a joke and have fun."
Mickelson says the Ryder Cup practice rounds this week are quite different than practising for a PGA Tour because of all the variables involved in a team event.
"There's more to it than just seeing the course and developing a game plan. In a Ryder Cup you are trying to find out which partner would be best to help bring your best golf out," Mickelson said.
"Then you're talking about what tees you'll tee off on and how you want to attack the golf course in alternate-shot or foursomes, and then you're talking about strategy with golf balls and equipment that may be a factor.
"So there's a little bit more to it than just a major championship where you're trying to decide how to play a course."