SPECIAL SECTION / RYDER CUP : NOTES : Crenshaw, U.S. Team Looking for Love in All the Right Places

Davis Love III says he is 90% recovered, which means he expects to figure into Ben Crenshaw’s pairing plans as much as possible, even though he didn’t pick up a club for two weeks after injuring a nerve in his neck.

“There’s no way I’m not going to play,” Love said. “At the same time, I’ll do anything it takes to win, even if it means sitting down all four matches.”

Crenshaw sounded as if he is counting on Love.

“The team and I are elated over the way he feels,” Crenshaw said. “He feels wonderful. Obviously, I think all of us were just a little concerned having not played for a couple of weeks and also with the situation of a little nerve problem that could creep up again.”

Love said he is losing a little distance off the tee, but that seems to be the only negative left over from his injury.

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The U.S. team has spent most of the week downplaying the notion that it’s a must-win Ryder Cup. But that’s just what Tom Lehman says.

“In my opinion, there’s a very strong sense of urgency for this team to win. I think we need to win. That’s all there is to it.

“And I fully expect us to play our best golf and I expect us to win. . . . So I have full and complete confidence in the other 11 guys on this team and myself. And I think it’s a must-win for us.”

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From Jean Van de Velde, on what fellow Ryder Cup rookie Padraig Harrington probably would like to do this week: “I think he would like to sing with Celine Dion.”

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Van de Velde said one of the reasons the European players might have an edge in the togetherness factor is basically cultural.

“In Europe, you jump on the plane, you travel two hours and you’re on the other side of Europe,” he said. “So you get to meet different people. It’s a different way of life.

“If you want to learn from the others or be more open, then you have to be more open. You have to communicate a lot more. You have to do things differently. You’ve got to expect the people are not speaking the same language that you are. And it’s not going to be an easy life. And you’re going to find different hotels, different type of bed, different type of food, different everything.

“So I guess it helps you realize that you’re not the only people on this earth. And I’m not saying that in a bad way. It’s just that here, it’s a fantastic country and it’s a great tour. But it’s so big . . . it’s like you are within yourself a lot more.”

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Pairings for Friday’s opening matches don’t have to be turned in until 11 a.m. PDT today, but don’t be surprised if one of the pairings is Tiger Woods-David Duval. Then again, it could happen Saturday.

“It’s safe to say that both of them are going to play a lot,” Crenshaw said. “At this point in the very first match, I don’t know that that’s going to happen.”

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For the record, the fairways and greens at the Country Club are Bentgrass. There are 96 bunkers on the championship course and seven water hazards. The course has a slope rating of 139.

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Fans--and certainly NBC--would like to see a renewal of the rivalry formed between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia at the PGA Championship during the singles matchups Sunday.

However, it’s highly unlikely because the two team captains must submit their lineups in advance and in secrecy Saturday night.

“It would be nice if it happened, but if it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Woods said. “We have no control over that and neither do the captains.”

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This may not be as big a news story as Mark McGwire’s announcement that he stopped taking androstenedione, but the official Ryder Cup record book should note that Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik is not eating volcanic sand.

Parnevik’s belief in the cleansing powers of volcanic sand is one of the quirky aspects of his personality.

Ryder Cup teammate Jarmo Sandelin said he asked a shopkeeper if they really sold volcanic ash during a recent visit to Sweden. Sandelin said he was told he needed to take it for three months for it to be effective.

“No way,” Sandelin said. “Maybe I could do it for a week. So I have not tried it.”

To which Parnevik said, “So we’re both off the sand right now.”

Parnevik said his volcanic ash treatment has been blown out of proportion.

“That was a few years ago, I did that,” Parnevik said. “And then I happened to mention it at the press conference--at Doral, I think it was. And I still have to eat that story every week.”

That still sounds better than eating volcanic ash.