John Huggan: American captain Corey Pavin has his problems, but choosing which sizzling-hot players to leave out of his wildcard picks isn't one of them

Published on Friday 3 September 2010 13:21

The contrast could hardly be more marked.

Where, last Sunday, European Ryder Cup skipper Colin Montgomerie had possible picks aplenty, two days hence the Scot's American counterpart, Corey Pavin has only an embarrassment of poverty to choose from when he adds four wildcard choices to the eight automatic qualifiers - Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Jeff Overton and Steve Stricker - already in place for next month's matches at Celtic Manor.

The big talking point, of course, is the so-far-at-least absence of Tiger Woods from the US line-up. Not that anyone is expecting such a state of affairs to last beyond Tuesday. The world No.1 has already intimated to captain Pavin that he is willing, able and indeed keen to take part in what will be his sixth Ryder Cup. So, in other words, he'll be playing. It is difficult, if not impossible, to imagine the 14-time major champion being passed over for selection to a side that, on paper, will hardly be striking much fear into the hearts of Monty's men.

"I'm sure Tiger's situation was probably the thing weighing most on Corey's mind," says Curtis Strange, who led the US to a three-point defeat at the Belfry in 2002. "But it's an easy decision. I mean, how do you leave Tiger Woods off any team? If he is willing to play, you play him. The only way he wouldn't be on the side is if he himself had decided he wanted to bow out this year.

"Now Corey has to just go down the list and look at who is playing the best golf and whom he thinks is going to help the team. It's that simple. I don't think he needs to get into personalities that much. I think he just needs to pick the best four players who haven't made the team."

Eight years ago, Strange's initial philosophy was that he would find it hard to go past the men who finished ninth and tenth on the qualifying list (he had only two picks to make that year). But he ended up doing so, for two different reasons.

Tom Lehman was the man in ninth place, but the former Open champion had missed six cuts in succession just prior to the cut-off date. So Strange went for Paul Azinger instead, a decision that provoked a strained and resentful silence between Lehman and himself, one that currently shows no sign of ending.Strange's other choice, Scott Verplank, was more tactical in nature.

"I ended up with a team full of good four-ball players," explains the former US Open champion. "So I picked Scott for one reason and one reason only - to play in the alternate-shot matches. And he did that very well. I told him when I picked him, 'go home and practise playing alternate-shot with your buddy Bob Tway because that is the only matches you are going to play'.

"I also picked Azinger. He was playing well. He had experience in the Ryder Cup. And he's a tough guy. The bottom line is that I looked at my team and picked the two players I thought would add most to what I already had. And that will be on Corey's mind too, I would think."

The consensus view across the pond - at least amongst the golfing media - seems to be that there are five names in the pot for the four spots available. Woods gets one and so does former Masters champion Zach Johnson. Thereafter, Pavin picks two from the trio of Stewart Cink, Sean O'Hair and Rickie Fowler. "Of those not on the team right now, the two names who stick out for me are Cink and O'Hair," confirms Strange. "Although Fowler would not hurt the team and in fact would be a big help, it will be hard for Corey to justify picking a rookie over guys higher on the list. Especially those with Ryder Cup experience. I think you have to earn your first spot, your right to be there. So I would stay away from Rickie. But that's an old guy talking. I'm old school in that I believe you have to earn your stripes.

"Having said that, I wasn't that worried about having rookies in my team. Being a rookie is overplayed these days. These guys are world-class players and can handle most things. In fact, when I picked Verplank, he was a rookie and he did well. These guys have all won tournaments. So even though the Ryder Cup is a big occasion, they can deal with it."

Indeed, Strange's willingness to bend his own rules only underlines the fact that self-imposed restrictions are hardly ever a good idea in the esoteric world of Ryder Cup captaincy.

"This picking business isn't as complicated as everybody thinks, even if you can make it as complicated as you want," continues Strange, who played in five Ryder Cups, compiling a record of six wins, 12 losses and two halves. "When I was captain, (1997) Tom Kite told me he had all the statistics. And he did. He had the numbers on what happened when a guy played his first match, how he did in his second outing and how guys tend to do when they play all four times before the singles. And so on. I told him not to waste my fax paper. I didn't want any of that crap. It would have made no difference to me.

"Of course, that was the way Tom played golf. And we both ended up losing as captains. So who was right and who was wrong?"

As to just which quartet Pavin will actually select come Tuesday, Strange is reluctant to make a definitive prognosis.He knows better than most that the Ryder Cup is an endlessly unpredictable beast.

"People have been asking me if the European team is as good as people have been saying and they've been asking if the American side is as bad as many seem to believe," he reveals. "All I say is, 'that's why we play the game; we'll find out'. You never know what is going to happen in match play.

"I mean, look at all the times we were favourites on paper and then lost. We were favourites because we were better in stroke play events. But Europe kept winning. Stroke play and match play are very different animals.

"Indeed, you do have to wonder why we use a series of 72-hole stroke play tournaments to determine the best 12 players for a match play event. Over the years, we've seen that success in one format doesn't necessarily translate into the same success in the other. All the Ryder Cup has proved over the years is that European golfers play match play golf quite well."

That much is certainly true. But this column is braver than Strange when it comes to crystal ball gazing. I predict Pavin will play safe and go for the experience of Woods, Johnson and the out-of-form Cink and, if he has the guts, the birdie-machine that is the youthful Fowler. Don't hold your breath on that last one though.