Heat of Ryder Cup Rises All the Way to the Top

Now that the fallout from Curtis Strange’s captain’s picks has finally subsided, it’s probably a good idea to inspect what happened and ask why in the world the 11th and 12th players on the Ryder Cup team mean anything at all.

They shouldn’t, no offense to Scott Verplank and Paul Azinger, not if Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and David Duval carry the load they’re supposed to.

Verplank hasn’t played in the Ryder Cup and Azinger has a losing record, so it’s not fair to call them the keys anyway. No, the burden falls squarely on the shoulders of the top three players in the world, which is where it should.

Of the Big 3, only Mickelson has a winning record in Ryder Cup, going 6-3-2 and 3-0 in singles. Woods is 3-6-1 (1-3-0 in singles) and Duval is 1-2-1.

As for Strange’s picks, there was the usual second-guessing that some combination of Tom Lehman, Brad Faxon and Chris DiMarco should have been in the mix, especially Lehman.

A Ryder Cup warrior, Lehman not only has a winning record (5-3), he comes up big on Sundays, when he’s 3-0. Lehman, No. 11 on the points list, was essentially bumped in favor of Verplank (14th in points), who clearly has played better than Lehman the last year and a half, although his lack of Ryder Cup experience may turn out to be a larger factor than Strange says.

Lehman, although disappointed, has a good grasp of reality. He has missed three cuts in a row and is still grieving after his wife, Melissa, gave birth to a stillborn child in late July.

No Ryder Cup can make up for such a loss.

Lehman thought his Ryder Cup record and his position in the points race would sway Strange.

“At the same time, there are no guarantees if you don’t finish in the top 10, and I didn’t do that,” he said. “It’s a matter of who Curtis wanted.”

Strange also wanted Azinger, who hasn’t played Ryder Cup since 1993 but who is expected to play the Payne Stewart inspirational role in the locker room and may prove to be invaluable. Also, he’s a lock to be the captain at some point, either before or after Hal Sutton.

Sam Torrance, the European captain, thought Strange would have chosen Lehman and Faxon, so he’s 0-2 in second-guessing.

In the meantime, guess about this: Verplank, David Toms and Stewart Cink are Ryder Cup rookies; only three players out of 12 (Mickelson, Sutton, Scott Hoch) have winning records and the Ryder Cup record for everybody else is 36-38-15.

Stay tuned.

Tiger Update

Meanwhile, the Tiger watch continues. Check out what he does this week in the NEC Invitational at one of his favorite playgrounds, Firestone Country Club at Akron, Ohio, to measure whether he has turned his game around.

Last year Woods shot a 61 in the second round and went on to win by 11 shots. Two years ago, he had a third-round 62 on the same tough track and won by a shot over Mickelson.

According to Butch Harmon, Woods’ coach, Tiger is having trouble finding the right angle for the club head at the top of his swing. It’s called “getting stuck,” and it’s a problem Woods has fought since college.

Harmon also denied any friction with Woods, who hasn’t won since the Memorial the first week of June and nearly missed the cut at the PGA Championship.

Said Harmon: “The only truth is that Tiger’s not playing well. The scores speak for themselves.”

Father Knows Best

Earl Woods, who had an angioplasty Aug. 10 when doctors found a blockage in a blood vessel in his leg, says he is feeling better.

Said Tiger’s father: “Once I get back in shape, I’ll challenge Tiger to a match.”

In his opinion, Tiger’s recent performances are because of fatigue.

“He’s tired, he’s drained,” said Earl. “He’s made the same mistake two years in a row, scheduling too many events in too many weeks.”

Tiger is in the second week of a seven-week stretch in which he plays six times. Last fall, Woods played seven consecutive weeks.

He’s the Champ

News item: Toms says the crowd yelled “You wimp” when he chose to lay up on the 18th hole on the last day of the PGA Championship instead of going for the green because of a bad lie in the rough.

Reaction: The crowd is dumb. The pros can get up and down from anywhere. Besides that, it worked.

Class Move

The first player to call Toms after his victory to congratulate him was ... Duval.

Phil Up

As for Mickelson, he’ll move on and there will be another day when he has a shot to win his first major.

Mickelson clearly distinguished himself on the course, although he tripped up after he left with a lame comment that sounded very much like an alibi.

Mickelson three-putted the 16th green for a bogey, running his birdie try eight feet past the hole, to give Toms his one-shot margin of victory.

Afterward, Mickelson said he had an unexpected problem once he reached the green.

“I’ve got five people in the gallery ... telling me how slow it is and I tried to block it out of my mind, but it hit my subconscious .... It’s disappointing that I was not able to block that out because I’ve been focusing very well all week.

“I’ve been able not to let distractions interfere with my train of thought and on that putt, what was said kind of crept in....”

It’s hard to believe that Mickelson would even hear anyone talking to him on the green, harder still to think he’d use that as an excuse.

More Phil

Mickelson also took what could be interpreted as a sideways shot at Woods, saying his disappointment over not winning the PGA Championship included the notion that a victory would have made him player of the year.

And not Woods?

A victory would have been Mickelson’s third this year (with eight other top-five finishes), one major and about $4.6 million in prize money.

Woods has four victories (three other top-fives), one major and about $4.5 million.

Inside Edition

The lowdown on Shingo Katayama, according to the Japanese reporters who cover him regularly, is his cowboy hat has nothing to do with making his face look slimmer, as he says, and everything to do with his hair loss.

Ty One On

News item: High school junior Ty Tyron, 17, from Orlando, Fla., says he will turn pro after the U.S. Amateur.

Reaction: Then it’s probably going to take four years to have a beer and make a cut.

Call Bob Barker

What do you get for that golf nut who has everything?

If you don’t have Walter Hagen’s pipe, Gene Sarazen’s knickers or Bobby Jones’ comb, now you can try for something else that might fill in the gaps--the starter’s hut next to the first tee at St. Andrews.

It’s for sale, on the Internet, of course, at www.standrews.org.uk. Don’t think of it as a 70-year-old brick and slate hut. The lucky winning bidder gets quite a load of memories . . . not to mention windows, doors, sign and official St. Andrews logo.

The St. Andrews Links Trust is raising money for junior golf through the sale. St. Andrews is doing some work at the first tee and extending the putting green, so the old hut has to go and a new one will be built a few feet away.

The winning bidder must pay for the deconstruction of the hut and for moving the 10-foot-square, 141/2-foot tall building.

Sid Matthew, a golf historian and author, said the hut was patterned after the turn-of-the-century swimsuit changing rooms on the beach at St. Andrews. He said it’s a unique object, but probably not for everybody.

“I don’t think you have much room for a double bed in there,” Matthew said. “You might be able to get out of the rain in it, though.”

Initial bidding price is about $22,000, but Matthew says he wouldn’t be at all surprised if it goes for as much as $50,000.

By the way, it’s a condition of the sale that the logo has to remain on the hut. Bidding ends Sept. 10.

Not This Time

News item: Colin Montgomerie will defend his title in the Skins Game over Thanksgiving weekend.

Reaction: At least he won’t have to worry about signing an incorrect scorecard.

More Auction News

Want to play golf with Woods? Got about a quarter of a million bucks?

Woods and EBay are getting together and offering a round of golf for four with Tiger at his home course at Isleworth in Windermere, Fla.

The last time EBay had that item up for bids, it went for $200,000. Bidding begins Sept. 27 for 10 days. The event benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Money News

It didn’t take long for Bryce Molder to break in. Molder, a four-time All-American from Georgia Tech, signed a multiyear deal with Nike for clubs, clothes, shoes, bag, hat, eyewear and the TW Tour Accuracy ball. Molder, 22, debuts as a pro today in the Reno-Tahoe Open.