Passionate Crenshaw Aims High

Gentle Ben, he isn’t.

Justin Leonard knew it when Ben Crenshaw spent five minutes ranting over a cell phone about how much he liked the huevos rancheros in front of him.

His own Ryder Cup teammates saw it in 1987, when Crenshaw played the last 12 holes of his singles match without a putter after snapping it in anger over his foot

And if America’s Ryder Cup play-for-pay dissidents had any doubts, they were erased when Crenshaw publicly dressed them down for daring to suggest that something less than national pride might be at stake against Europe at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

“The only thing gentle about him is his putting,” Leonard said. “He’s pretty fiery.”

The man the PGA of America picked to win the Cup back from Europe may not stalk the course and cheer them to victory as Seve Ballesteros did for Europe at Valderrama two years ago. If anything, the selection of a shy historian of the game surprised many.

But Crenshaw has been steadfastly single-minded in his bid to win the Cup back. It’s a passion he has attempted to pass off to his mostly millionaire charges, with only limited success.

Captain Ben wants to win. And he’s not afraid to show it.

“I’m from a different generation where the Ryder Cup means a lot to us,” Crenshaw said. “I’m upset people aren’t jumping over the moon about it.”

Crenshaw might never convince David Duval and Tiger Woods that the Ryder Cup is more than an exhibition or a glorified corporate outing. But after his outburst at the PGA Championship last month, his players had no doubt how he feels about a team he has played on four times.

“Obviously, he’s got a little fire in the belly,” Mark O’Meara said. “Don’t think you get to a level of Ben Crenshaw without getting ticked off when things don’t go your way.”

That was easy to see when Crenshaw blasted O’Meara, Woods, Duval and Phil Mickelson for suggesting, among other things, that the Ryder Cup was merely an exhibition and that players should have a say in where the millions of dollars in profits go.

The day before the PGA began, Crenshaw delivered an emotional speech to the media, saying he was disappointed and that it “burns the hell out of me to listen to some of their viewpoints.”

A day later, he tried to play down the outburst but did not back off.

“If he was a soft captain, he wouldn’t have let go with what happened at the PGA Championship,” O’Meara said.

Crenshaw’s enthusiasm for his new role was evident right away, when he went to The Country Club a few weeks after his appointment and spent more than three hours touring the course by golf cart to study its subtleties.

His own game has suffered since, with Crenshaw missing every cut and failing to cash a paycheck in 13 tournaments this year.

“I said right after I was named that there is a sense of urgency for the Americans,” Crenshaw said. “I’m intent in trying to do our best job that we can do to win the Cup.”

If what Crenshaw had to say at the PGA shocked some players, he’s not done talking to his team. A string in which the United States has won only two of the last seven Ryder Cups has made an impression on him.

“The Europeans have done a very, very fine job and they have shown a team effort. That’s what gets it done in the Ryder Cup,” Crenshaw said. “It’s not about individuals, it’s about team. So I have a lot to speak to them about.”

That’s something European captain Mark James also figures to be doing, especially with a team that includes seven rookies.

James remembers his own rookie Ryder Cup in 1977, when he was paired in foursomes on the first day with Tommy Horton. Their opponents? Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, who rolled to an easy win.

“I think if big Jack could have broken a leg earlier, we might have had half a chance, but I’m not sure,” James said. “I was a bit nervous, but I was more stunned having to play against Nicklaus and Watson.”

James, who played in seven Ryder Cups, will have a tough act to follow in Ballesteros, who some believe may have simply willed the Europeans to victory at Valderrama.

“I think I’ll be talking to the players probably more, and I may be jumping up and down a bit less in the fairway,” James said. “Seve did a heck of a job last time. I’ll be looking at what he did.”

Some remember James as a rebel who refused to wear team uniforms and skipped meetings at the 1979 Ryder Cup, although he is well liked now on the European Tour and widely respected as chairman of the tour’s player committee.

In the end, though, neither captain may have anything to do with his team’s fate. Either the putts go in, or they don’t.

“Golf has a bit of fate to it,” Crenshaw said. “The ball has to roll for you in some ways.”