Ryder Cup Shots Are Taken Early : Golf: Europeans say they’re not scared. Ballesteros won’t play in first set of alternate-shot matches.

The forecast for the first day of Ryder Cup? Cloudy skies and mild dislike.

The flags will be flying, the temperature will be dropping and the rain may be falling today when the 31st Ryder Cup competition opens at Oak Hill Country Club, where golfers from the United States and Europe match each other, shot for shot and attitude for attitude.

Since golf is supposedly a civilized activity, the players won’t walk 10 paces, turn and fire golf balls at one another, but even that might have been only slightly more entertaining than the way they figure to play on opening day.

Both Bernard Gallacher, the European captain, and player Colin Montgomerie managed to raise the eyebrows of U.S. captain Lanny Wadkins.

Gallacher had said that when he looked at the U.S. team, there was nothing that scared him.

“We know we’re going to win, but we don’t know by how many [points],” he said.

Montgomerie, who is paired with Nick Faldo as Europe’s No. 1 foursomes team, said the U.S. team isn’t as intimidating as in the past.

“There is no one on their side to fear,” he said. “Jay Haas is the only player they’ve got with a winning record in the Cup and he has not played in 12 years.”

If this were high school football, it would be bulletin board material. Since this is golf, it’s mostly amusing. Maybe the most interesting aspects of such candor is that Gallacher and Montgomerie are probably right and that the outspoken Wadkins wasn’t the one shooting his mouth off.

“I basically told our guys that with the press, I’d just as soon they do their talking with the clubs,” Wadkins said.

The U.S. team got a surprise Thursday when Gallacher named the European team for the morning format of foursomes, or alternate shot, and Seve Ballesteros wasn’t on it.

Ballesteros has been playing Ryder Cup since 1979 and this is the first time he has missed playing in foursomes. Since Ballesteros is 10-3-1 in the format, his absence is noteworthy, even if he hasn’t been playing that well lately.

The way Ballesteros was spraying golf balls around Oak Hill in his practice round Thursday, however, Gallacher might have thought he had no choice. Besides, Ballesteros’ regular partner, Spanish countryman Jose Maria Olazabal, had to withdraw because of an injury.

Gallacher said Ballesteros would play sometime during the weekend, at the right time. He also said Ballesteros had agreed to spend this morning on the sidelines.

The usually talkative Ballesteros was about as quiet as a plate of paella when asked about Gallacher’s comments.

“The captain has to choose the player he thinks is in the best form,” Ballesteros said. “Other than that, I have no comment.”

When competition starts, Corey Pavin and Tom Lehman will play Faldo and Montgomerie in the first foursomes match. Then Haas and Fred Couples will play Sam Torrance and Costantino Rocca, Davis Love III and Jeff Maggert will play Howard Clark and Mark James, and Ben Crenshaw and Curtis Strange will play Bernhard Langer and Per-Ulrik Johansson.

Lehman and Maggert are Ryder Cup rookies. Wadkins left three other first-timers on the sidelines for the morning play--Phil Mickelson, Brad Faxon and Loren Roberts.

Wadkins said it was a coincidence. He also said he was eager for his team to start playing, and for a good reason.

“A couple of them are getting close to over-baked,” said Wadkins, who limited Crenshaw, Strange, Love and Couples to nine holes in practice Thursday.

Oak Hill is a punishing par-70 layout with 10 par-four holes longer than 400 yards. The course has been the site of the U.S. Open in 1956, 1968 and 1989 and the 1980 PGA Championship.

There will be four more matches this afternoon, but in a best-ball format. Neither captain would reveal his pairings for the so-called four-ball competition.

The U.S. holds a 23-5-2 lead in Ryder Cup play and has held the trophy since 1991, when Raymond Floyd was captain. With Tom Watson serving as captain, the U.S. retained the Ryder Cup in 1993 with a 15-13 victory at the Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England.

Each match is worth a point. A halved match is worth half a point.

Europe needs 14 1/2 points to take the trophy and the United States needs 14 to hang on to it, since the Ryder Cup cannot exchange hands on a tie.

The Europeans took an early lead in the news-making category even before Olazabal withdrew and Ballesteros was benched.

Faldo’s wrist bothered him, but he said he’s all right now. Langer and Ballesteros had sore backs, and Faldo has endured stories in the London tabloids that his marriage is failing, a story he and his wife, Gill, have denied.

At a news conference Wednesday, Torrance became agitated when asked about the flap in 1993, when Watson refused to sign a menu at the teams’ dinner. Torrance muttered as he walked away from the news conference.

“Dinners, autographs, Faldo’s marriage,” Torrance said, adding an expletive.

The American side has been surprisingly free of conflict. And if Gallacher was short in his comments Thursday, Wadkins was expansive.

Asked why he had scheduled the Pavin-Lehman team first and saved Crenshaw-Strange for the last match, Wadkins said it was simple.

“Corey and Tom like to get up early and Ben and Curtis like to sleep in,” he cracked.

For both teams, the wake-up call already has been left on the first tee.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ryder Cup

A look at the biennial competition that begins today at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. The United States has held the Cup since 1991 and needs 14 points to retain it. Europe needs 14 1/2 points to regain the trophy.

THE TEAMS (WITH RYDER CUP RECORDS)

UNITED STATES

*--*

Player W L T Fred Couples 3 6 3 Ben Crenshaw 3 5 1 Brad Faxon 0 0 0 Jay Haas 2 1 1 Peter Jacobsen 1 2 0 Tom Lehman 0 0 0 Davis Love III 2 2 0 Jeff Maggert 0 0 0 Phil Mickelson 0 0 0 Corey Pavin 4 4 0 Loren Roberts 0 0 0 Curtis Strange 6 9 2

*--*

EUROPE

*--*

Player W L T Seve Ballesteros 19 10 5 Howard Clark 6 6 1 Nick Faldo 19 13 4 David Gilford 0 2 1 Mark James 7 14 1 Per-Ulrik Johansson 0 0 0 Bernhard Langer 13 11 5 Colin Montgomerie 4 2 2 Costantino Rocca 0 2 0 Sam Torrance 4 13 6 Philip Walton 0 0 0 Ian Woosnam 12 10 4

*--*

Nick Faldo, with 19, is tied for most Ryder Cup victories among this year’s participants.

FACTS AND FIGURES

* SITE: Oak Hill Country Club (6,902 yards, par 70), Rochester, N.Y.

* DATES: Today through Sunday.

* ERIES: U.S. leads, 23-5-2.

* RIZE MONEY: None.

* ORMAT: Eight alternate-shot matches, eight better-ball matches and 12 singles matches, each worth one point.

* V: Today, USA Network, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (delayed); Saturday, Channel 4, 5-9:30 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m.; Sunday, Channel 4, 6 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

All Times Pacific

TODAY’S PAIRINGS

The schedule for this morning’s alternate-shot matches:

* 5 a.m.--Nick Faldo, England, and Colin Montgomerie, Scotland, vs. Corey Pavin and Tom Lehman, United States.

* 5:12 a.m.--Sam Torrance, Scotland, and Costantino Rocca, Italy, vs. Jay Haas and Fred Couples, United States.

* 5:24 a.m.--Howard Clark, England, and Mark James, England, vs. Davis Love III and Jeff Maggert, United States.

* 5:36 a.m.--Bernhard Langer, Germany, and Per-Ulrik Johansson, Sweden, vs. Ben Crenshaw and Curtis Strange, United States.