A Year's Delay Puts Ryder Cup in Perspective

By PETER YOON

Aug. 22, 2002 12 AM PT

Now that the four major championships are complete, it’s time to shift attention to the Ryder Cup.

That’s right, this is a Ryder Cup year, no matter how little it feels like one.

The biennial buzz and media frenzy surrounding the Ryder Cup have been absent this year, making it easy to forget, but the matches will be played Sept. 27-29 at the Belfry in England.

The Ryder Cup, usually contested every two years, was canceled last year in the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedies. The teams had been announced before the cancellation and the PGA of America and the European Ryder Cup Board agreed to leave them intact for this year.

Without players jockeying for position in the points standings, and no opinions to be conveyed over who should be captain’s picks, there hasn’t been much to talk about leading up to this year’s event.

“Everything is different because of the delay,” U.S. Captain Curtis Strange said. “I think the first thing that came to mind was that there would not be the buzz for the players trying to make the team and for the two picks.... It’s great writing. It’s great bar-room talk for all of us. But it’s not this year, and that’s fair enough.”

The past few Ryder Cups have been marred by unruly crowds, animosity between teams and unbecoming conduct by the players. That win-at-all-costs mentality has lost its edge during the last year, resulting in a lower profile for the matches.

“Well, I think we all understand that the Ryder Cup might have been going a little too far--over the edge,” Tiger Woods said. “It’s not a blood bath. I think we as players, the media and the fans, we all lost sight of that. It’s terrible to say, but 9/11 reminded us all of that. It’s sad to say that it takes something like that to remind us that it is just a sport.”

Woods expects this to be a much more genteel version of the matches, one that he hopes will rekindle the original spirit of the competition.

“I think the matches will be conducted in the fashion it was designed, and that is a competitive atmosphere, but it is a gentlemanly sport,” Woods said. “We are going to enjoy it, but it’s not going to be the same. It’s not going over the top. We all understand it’s not life or death.”

Tiger Update

Woods heads to suburban Seattle for the NEC Invitational beginning today at Sahalee Country Club looking to win the tournament for the fourth consecutive time--a feat that hasn’t been done in 72 years.

Should Woods win, he will join Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen as the only players to win an event four consecutive times. Hagen won the PGA Championship in 1924-27; Sarazen won the Miami Open in 1926 and ‘28-’30. The Miami Open was not played in 1927.

It is the second opportunity this year for Woods to match Hagen and Sarazen. He finished 22nd in his bid to win a fourth consecutive Memorial in May. Should Woods falter this week, he can match the record next season. Woods won his third consecutive Bay Hill Invitational in March.

Major Stats

Sergio Garcia was the only player to finish in the top 10 in all four majors this year. David Duval did not break 70 in any of the four majors.

Future Is Now

Lorena Ochoa, Christina Kim and Miriam Nagl earned automatic exemptions for the 2003 LPGA Tour by finishing in the top three on the Futures Tour money list.

Ochoa, 20, turned professional in May after her sophomore year at Arizona. She won three times, had eight top-10 finishes and topped the money list despite playing only 10 events.

Locally

The Accenture Match Play Championship will return to La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad for four years beginning in February, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem announced Wednesday.... Ray Carrasco, 55, of Irvine, won the European Senior Tour Travis Perkins Senior Masters Sunday at Wentworth in England.... Paul Dietsche, the head pro at Arrowhead Country Club, won the Southern California PGA Section championship Wednesday. He receives automatic exemptions for the 2002 Buy.com Inland Empire Open and the 2003 PGA Tour Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Buick Invitational and Nissan Open.... Craig Steinberg of Oak Park defends his title in the Southern California Mid-Amateur championship Aug. 26-27 at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach.

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This Week

*--* WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS: NEC Invitational

*--*

When: Today-Sunday.

Where: Sahalee Country Club (6,961 yards, par 72), Sammamish, Wash.

TV: USA (Today-Friday, 2-6 p.m., delayed) and Channel 2 (Saturday-Sunday, noon-3 p.m.).

2001 winner: Tiger Woods.

*--* PGA TOUR: Reno-Tahoe Open

*--*

When: Today-Sunday.

Where: Montreux Golf and Country Club (7,472 yards, par 72), Reno.