Pressure builds at The Belfry as phoney war starts
The day may also have been significant or otherwise as the captains showed their hand for the first time with their practice pairings. Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke teamed up against Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood and lost the tidy sum of £200 sterling. They were followed by Niclas Fasth with Padraig Harrington and Pierre Fulke with Philip Price. Bringing up the rear were Sergio Garcia and Bernhard Langer against Paul McGinley and Jesper Parnevik.
And it was this last match that caused the ire of Woods and Mickelson. Woods was partnered by Mark Calcavecchia in a duel with Paul Azinger and Stuart Cink. Having completed only three holes, Woods and his party stormed off to the 8th tee claiming they were being constantly held up by the players immediately in front. The problem raised its head again when Mickelson, lining out with David Toms against David Duval and Davis Love III, arrived on the 10th tee only to be detained there again by the Langer-Garcia group.
Mickelson was heard to grumble words to the effect that “there are only six pairs on the course and we are being constantly held up”. Their sense of annoyance was also believed to be shared by the final group of Jim Furyk and Scott Hoch and Hal Sutton and Scott Verplank.
The Americans may have had a point for the Europeans did practice putt quite a lot but Garcia’s reaction appeared to carry a great deal more weight, especially considering the glorious sunshine and delightfully warm weather.
“We have all day, there’s no need to hurry”, he declared. “Let’s chill out, just enjoy the day, you’re not going to get many like this. I wasn’t aware that the American group behind got fed up waiting and went to the 8th and carried on from there. Maybe they don’t like those holes”.
The current edition of the American magazine GOLF carries an article headlined “The Weakest Links” and depicts Hal Sutton and Lee Westwood standing before the ferocious question mistress Anne Robinson. The cartoon and article clearly refer to the difficult time that Sutton and Westwood have been going through this season. Neither, for instance, qualified for last week’s American Express World Championship at Mount Juliet and their world rankings have plummeted to embarrassing levels Sutton has gone from 36th at the beginning of the year to 125th and Westwood from 28th to 148th.
Accordingly, the satirical slant on the American article appears to have at least some basis and as the questioning opened on the subject, Westwood appeared to take it with good grace. You’ve been called many things in your time, it was suggested, but were you ever called the weakest link and portrayed in such a manner?
“I’ve seen worse, I’ve seen bigger ears and bigger teeth”, he quipped. “I make a horizontal shirt look good”. Pressed on what he thinks about such matters, Westwood snapped: “It’s the first time I’ve seen it”, and with that he flung the offending publication into the midst of the startled pressmen.
Sutton wasn’t quite as disparaging although he did claim: “I don’t read magazines and I don’t read newspapers unless it’s the business section. It’s the kind of stuff that sells newspapers and magazines. And I repeat again, this is 18 hole match play in which one bad shot needn’t make a whole lot of difference. I’ll be out there pumping my fist in the hope of holing a few putts and if I’m on the sideline I’ll be the best cheerleader any captain ever had”.
Lee Westwood echoed the words the previous day of Philip Price when admitting that all the comments about his form in the lead-up to the Ryder Cup have become more than a little trying.
“You get used to people asking you how you’re playing, with a tone in their voice that they expect you to say, ‘oh crap”, he commented. “That becomes a bit wearing after a while. It’s going to happen when there are a lot of people on the team whose form has dipped a bit. I’ve read that the Ryder Cup is regarded as the third biggest sporting event in the world after the Olympics and the World Cup. I enjoy it because it’s a different form of golf, team golf, with eleven other people and the captain and vice captain. There’s always a lot of camaraderie within the European camp and we have a good laugh”.
Westwood and Price are not the only Europeans feeling pressure imposed by a poor season. Jesper Parnevik, a keyman at Brookline in 1999, can hardly make a cut in the US and as a result, his anticipated partnership with Garcia has been thrown into some doubt.
“The fact that I was struggling with my game going into the last two Ryder Cups and was very nervous and still did very well has relaxed me a little”, said the enigmatic Swede. “When you step on a tee in the Ryder Cup, it really doesn’t matter what you’ve done beforehand, it’s more how you can cope with the crazy stuff that goes on at the Ryder Cup”.
There have been suggestions that Parnevik’s problems are being caused by the putting yips and he quite wisely avoided mentioning the dreaded word when addressing questions on the subject. He pointed out that he had worked really hard on his putting, adding:” to be honest with you, it seemed like the best part of my game today. It feels where I want it to be because in this event with all the pressure when you’re standing over putts, it’s the part of your game you really want to feel good about”.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
