Swingin’ in the rain will favour our players, says Woosie

LIKE most everyone else here in Kildare and throughout the country, the weather was top of the agenda yesterday for Ryder Cup team captains Tom Lehman and Ian Woosnam.

Topics such as preferred lies, trying to keep the ball under the wind, mushy fairways and downed trees, were batted back and forth with abandon, as was the small matter of which team would be most favoured, by the widespread inclemency.

Woosnam was of the opinion that the weather will favour his team, but he reckoned he has always believed that if someone has a great golf swing, then they can cope with anything.

“Even so, I think it’s favourable for us because we’ve played much more in these conditions than the Americans would do. The air is much heavier here and when the ball moves, whether you hit it with a slice or a draw, it moves twice as much as it does in America.”

His opposite number was not of the same opinion; while he conceded the Europeans will be more used to blustery conditions, he felt it would not upset his team unduly.

“I’m certain Europe play in this sort of thing more often than we do, but we do get conditions like this too. We do get some nasty weather. I’ve played in some terrible weather in Pebble Beach and San Diego, and I remember the North Course there where you tee off normally with a three iron and I had to play driver, driver, three-wood.

“So, it’s not like we don’t get bad weather, and a lot of our guys have grown accustomed to it. It may be that the PGA Tour follows the sun, but during the course of guys’ lives and golfing history, it’s not something that’s unusual. Our guys can handle it.”

The American captain also noted that his team, for various reasons — away turf and Ryder Cup form being the most prominent — were probably the underdogs here this week, but he reckons that both teams are now fighting for the underdog tag.

“Everybody is fighting for the low ground right now, it’s pretty amazing. But I can understand that. The underdog seems to have the ‘we have nothing to lose’ mentality versus the guys that are expected to win.”

For his part, Woosnam is not willing to accept either a favourite or underdog tag and is more worried about getting his selections right.

Asked to comment about Colin Montgomerie’s assertion on Monday that he could draw the names froma hat, so talented are his side, heagreed he had a difficult task ahead of him.

“They are all playing great and they all get on great together and basically they could play with anybody. Who I put together depends on who I think is going to give us the best chance to win.”

He said he had given all his players the option of playing in yesterday’s blustery conditions and was delighted they had “all stood up”.

Similarly, Lehman said that his players were anxious to play as well, despite the wind and spitting rain.

Lehman is already pretty sure of his line-up.

“I said at the start of last week I was pretty much settled on my first round pairings and it is still the same as a week ago. I haven’t changed anything.”