By Art Spander
Special to NewsdayNEWPORT, Wales -- It's golf's version of Super Bowl week, a long buildup to a short tournament. The Ryder Cup will be played Friday though Sunday at Celtic Manor, just across the Severn River from England, but the hype started on a Monday so gloomy and chilled it seemed more like February than September.
The biennial matches between 12-man teams from the United States and Europe have the potential to be captivating, the Americans trying to win on this side of the Atlantic for the first time since 1993 and the Euros attempting to regain the Cup that they lost in 2008.
But until the first shot is struck on what forecasters predict will be a morning of rain, there's not much substance. The two captains, Colin Montgomerie of the Europe and Corey Pavin of America, have asked their players not to tweet or post anything on Facebook. And Montgomerie said he didn't set up the Manor for "a so-called home-course advantage." He wants the best team to win.
Golf isn't exactly the paragon of a group competition. Years ago, when he was at Wake Forest and criticized for "not being a team player," Lanny Wadkins asked justifiably, "What did they want me to do, pass the ball around?"
What Pavin neatly did Monday, not long after the U.S. team charter landed at nearby Newport airport, was bypass any controversy about Tiger Woods, one of his four captain's picks.
When a Brit asked Pavin whether he wanted Tiger to be a leader or "one of the guys trying to fit in," he responded with an intentionally bland comment. "Every player has a role to play," he said, "and all 12 guys have their own individual abilities and personalities."
Pavin was feeling a bit smug because of the way his alma mater, UCLA, pummeled Texas in football on Saturday. "I watched it," he said, "and enjoyed it."
What Montgomerie didn't enjoy was a tabloid story insisting he would not have selected Woods, who during his year that included revelations of infidelity and a divorce, did not win a tournament.
"I've always said Tiger is the best player in the world and in my opinion, the best player to ever play the game," Montgomerie said. "Of course he'd be in my team."
Because he is on Pavin's team, the question was what Tiger's role would be. The answer was noncommittal.
"Well," Pavin said, "I just hope he's just going to go out and play well and win some points. That's the role I would like him to play, just like everybody else on the team."
Woods hasn't played well in the Ryder Cup with a career record of 10 wins, 13 losses and two halves.
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