Foursomes rookie Curtis daunted by the format

AMERICAN Ryder Cup rookie Ben Curtis could be facing a tough opening morning at Valhalla tomorrow as he gets to grips with foursomes golf.

The 2003 British Open champion has never played the alternate shot format and got his first taste of it during yesterday’s first official team practice session when United States team captain Paul Azinger paired him with Steve Stricker against Chad Campbell and Stewart Cink.

“We played nine holes on the front nine,” Curtis said yesterday. “Steve and I just played against Chad and Stewart just to get used to it, get the feel for it. We all hit a drive on each hole, but we kind of designated odds and evens before we started just to get experience for it, just to see what it’s like.

“Yeah, it’s very unique. It’s still not what it’s going to be like on Friday because we didn’t do a true alternate – we all hit tee balls, but I knew which hole was mine and which hole was his, so it was very unique.”

If he is selected by Azinger to be in one of the four pairings against Europe, the comments from Curtis suggested his initial brush with foursomes had left him with more questions than answers.

“I think it’s hard to get into a rhythm,” Curtis said.

“I could see where that could be an issue. You hit one drive and then you may not hit until the second shot on the next hole.

“So it could be you could go a half hour without swinging a golf club. It’s hard to keep that rhythm when you’re not – you’re used to hitting a shot on every hole, so it’s going to be different.”