Nervous teension
USA star Webb still haunted by first-shot jitters at Gleneagles
WEBB SIMPSON can laugh at himself when he recalls the horror moment when he duffed the opening tee shot of the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
But he’ll not be in a rush to be given the chance to make amends this week, as he joked he’ll be nagging his foursomes partner to let him only tee off on the even numbered holes.
It’s the shot widely declared the most terrifying in golf by those who have braved the fearsome duty of leading off play tomorrow morning.
It’s a dubious honour granted to the visiting team and as Simpson discovered in the USA’s last away match in Scotland the potential for embarrassment in front of the eyes of the world is enormous.
But the important thing is the ability to laugh about it – and when asked to describe the moment the likeable North Carolinan’s response was brilliant.
Simpson said: “Are you referring to the pop-up? It’s even funnier to me, as that was a shot I had in my bag all year. It was like the fifth time I’d done it.
“I was losing my concentration a little bit and I teed it up a little too high, as I had done a few other times that year.”
The result was a nervous slash with his three wood that skied so high it should have come down with snow on it barely 200 yards ahead of him to the great amusement of the partisan home crowd four years ago.
Simpson said: “The funniest/most embarrassing part of it was the camera crews and probably a lot of the media guys had walked ahead to where we normally drive it. So suddenly the camera crew and everybody is coming back.
“I could still reach the green which was nice but I will say that – although Justin Rose might not admit it – he had a three wood out too. Then I looked over after my shot and he’d switched to his driver because that’s so much bigger a target to connect with. Maybe my shot affected him.”
So would he welcome the chance to make amends with another crack at the first ball in front of a grandstand with almost 7000 people?
He said: “We’re more nervous here than any other tournament but it’s a good thing. You want to play well for your team-mates, your captain, the assistant captains, your partner.
“And so it’s a good kind of pressure and everybody who made both teams can deal with pressure.
“But that first tee environment is a little more nervous than the second hole or third hole – and that’s why you might see me teeing off on the evens! I’m excited for the challenge. I’ve been playing well, finished off the year nicely in the last couple of events, and the golf course is good.
“It’s difficult, one of the hardest Ryder Cup courses I’ve seen. At Medinah and Gleneagles they were similar in the sense there was plenty of birdies to be made. This week, not so much.
“There’s going to be plenty of holes won in alternate shot with pars and there’s going to be holes won in fourballs with pars. If you miss fairways, it’s superpenal.”