US confident as Lefty discounts recent form

GIVEN the amount of prominence Tiger Woods’ seemingly new-found leadership and bonding skills have been getting this week, it has been noticeable how little Phil Mickelson has featured in the fevered pre-Ryder Cup debate.

That all changed yesterday as Lefty emerged into the media glare with both his cheeky humour and his steely eye intact, a fact he underlined with his answer to the very first question on the issue of the relative lack of experience in the US team.

“Well, we’re hoping for a different outcome,” he rattled back rapier-like.

“It is certainly awkward for some of us not to have the likes of Davis Love or Fred Couples or Justin Leonard here. They are mainstay Ryder Cup names and they didn’t make it. It’s awkward, we’re used to having those guys. But we also have some great new guys who are terrific assets to the team.”

Asked about his own form coming into this week, Mickelson said he was not concerned one way or another about that.

“The only thing that matters is the performance this week. Past weeks do not factor in and I’m not worried as long as I’m playing well and getting ready.”

The 36-year-old denied outright that the experience of playing – and failing – with Tiger Woods in the last Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills had a bad effect on him, or that the top-ranked duo had never wanted to play together two years ago.

“That’s not true,” he said. “We had wanted to play together. We wanted to try it. We knew well in advance, but we just didn’t play well.

“You learn by trial and error and we thought it was going to come out very positive. We thought we were going to come out and get some points and lead us on and it obviously didn’t turn out that way.

“You learn by trial and error and if you don’t take risks then you never know. You have to be willing to take risks and be willing to fail at times and at other times learn to succeed.”

He said that while “Captain Lehman” was indeed an inspirational leader for the team, that in itself did not guarantee success.

“We’ve had some terrific captains in the past. We played well for one in Ben Crenshaw’s team in ‘99 but we have played our best and come close for some other captains. We are hoping to put forward out best performance for Captain Lehman because he deserves it. We are trying to play well, not just for Captain Lehman but for ourselves and our fellow team members and the people we respect back in the United States.”

This was a theme picked up by David Toms, another of America’s most experienced players. “It’s hard for all twelve guys to be (teaming up) in one week. It doesn’t happen any other time, so why now. It’s very difficult for everyone to be playing great, but a good start will be very important.

“We have some great players and guys who can take on the golf course in other ways. Some have great length and others have the ability to make lots of birdies. If we pair our teams right, we will do well. I believe that.”

Rookie Zack Johnson did not betray any nerves yesterday, and reckoned his fellow debutants – JJ Henry, Vaughn Taylor and Brett Wetterich – are equally prepared.

“We have fitted in really well so far and, while we’re definitely Ryder Cup rookies, we are not rookies on the PGA Tour. We are on this team and we’re going to play hard.”

Johnson’s fairly “juiced” at the prospect of Ryder Cup play and admitted he would not shirk if the pressure was on him to secure the putt that regain the Cup.

“I feel like the guy sitting on the bench with just so many seconds to go in the game and I just want the coach to put me in and give me the ball. I can take whatever comes.”

From most experienced to least experienced then, the Americans are not short on confidence. That may always be the case, but this time they have an added ingredient – belief.