U.S. Showing No Fear of Unknown

It might be a gamble or brilliant strategy, but Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton’s insistence that he isn’t going to tell any of his players their partners until today is a clear change in philosophy for the U.S. team.

Tiger Woods said that in the past he had known for months what his pairings might be.

“This is ... something I’ve never experienced,” Woods said. “So I think it is refreshing. We go out there and prepare like we always do for each and every tournament and when your name is called, you go out there and try and get a point.”

Jay Haas said he has no problem not knowing his partner.

“I don’t think it would affect me one way or the other, but I love the way Hal is handling everything so far,” Haas said. “I think he’s somebody who is not afraid to say things, to make a change, to call us out.”

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It wouldn’t be a Ryder Cup if the subject of Brookline in 1999 didn’t come up -- the U.S. team running across the green to celebrate Justin Leonard’s putt when Jose Maria Olazabal still had a chance to square the match.

When Sutton scolded a European journalist who asked about the incident this week, Colin Montgomerie was watching on television.

He said that Sutton, who voiced the opinion that the incident was long since done and shouldn’t invite any more apologies from the U.S. side, was completely correct.

“That’s been done and that’s a thing of the past,” Montgomerie said. “I think that Hal Sutton made a very good comment and answered the question very well.

“I don’t think that Brookline will appear again. I think the world is in a different place, a better place than then.”

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From Montgomerie, on Phil Mickelson’s equipment change: “It’s like cars now, really, I suppose. There’s very few bad cars made now.... Competition is so high and so strong that there’s very few bad anything put together. I think golf clubs and balls and equipment are the same ... “

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Darren Clarke and Miguel Angel Jimenez smoked cigars during their practice round Wednesday.

Jimenez, who has dyed his long hair orange and keeps it tied in the back, had a special request for the European team room: red wine, cigars and an espresso machine -- so it would feel like “home.”

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The opening ceremony today might last longer than that of the Athens Olympics, and with about the same number of performers. Besides music by Motown’s Funk Brothers, Macy Gray, Alison Krauss and Ben Taylor (James Taylor’s son), there will also be appearances by Samuel L. Jackson, Donald Trump, Michael Phelps, Angie Everhart, Kathy Ireland, plus Detroit Piston Coach Larry Brown and Detroit Red Wing star Steve Yzerman.

Then, there’s a 24-piece bagpipe band and Celtic fiddler; soul, bluegrass, country and pop music; and more than 230 local performers.