Proud Pavin pays tribute to America’s grit

FOR a man that earlier in the week brought in a military man to gee up his players, USA captain Corey Pavin cut an extraordinarily benign figure on the eve of today’s deciding Ryder Cup singles matches.

His team had just been trounced 5½-½ in the rain-delayed third session at Celtic Manor, losing a 6-4 lead to trail 9½ to 6½, and still needing 7½ to retain the Samuel Ryder trophy and take it back to the States.

Pavin’s reaction? “Things happen.”

USA had started the day at 1.30pm down to Colin Montgomerie’s fired-up Europeans in all six matches that had begun on Saturday night and though four of those were delicately poised, Pavin’s men failed to turn things around.

“I’d just like to say that I was really proud of the team today,” Pavin said. “Obviously we went to sleep last night down in every match. I watched 12 men out there that fought hard and held their heads high, played every shot hard, and we got a couple of matches to 18. I saw guys fighting and not getting quite the result that we were looking for, but we nearly did.”

Pavin was asked how his team could possibly recover from yesterday’s drubbing.

“Match play, anything can happen,” came the crux of his response, breaking type alarmingly from the man that wore a camouflage cap at Kiawah Island in 1991 and welcomed fighter pilot Major Dan Rooney into the US team room at Celtic Manor for an inspirational speech just days earlier.

We should really be thankful that he turned out this way and didn’t follow the example set by 1999 captain Ben Crenshaw, who had then-Governor George W Bush, a fellow Texan, address his team on the eve of the singles and who proceeded to read them William Travis’s letter from the Alamo.

Was there anything planned like that, Pavin was asked? Well, no. “I don’t think these guys need encouragement,” he said, thereby undermining the very role he was appointed to. “They have all of the motivation in the world to come out and play their best and try their hardest.”

So no speeches then?

“I could,” he said with a smile. “We’ll have a little chat. There’s not much to say. These guys know what they need to do. They have to go out and perform and play, and if they do, I think we have a chance.”