The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Sandy Jones: Have the Americans already wasted cup chance?
After their muchhyped task force helped assembled the best team ever, our American friends have heaped all the pressure on themselves for the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.
It’s great news for Darren Clarke and his European team, who have been able to go about their preparations under the radar.
I’m sure Davis Love is already regretting his boast the Americans have the best ever assembled, but it is just one of a few own goals I think they have made.
For a start I wonder if Davis has too many big egos in his backroom team. His vice-captains – Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Steve Stricker, Tom Lehman and Jim Furyk – aren’t scared to voice their opinion.
I’m not sure Davis has got the balance right and I particularly wonder about the impact Tiger will have.
If he is walking down the fairway monitoring a game, there will be more people watching him than the golf and it could be a negative influence.
It is the complete opposite when looking at the people Darren Clarke has selected as his deputies – Thomas Bjorn, Padraig Harrington, Paul Lawrie, Sam Torrance and Ian Poulter.
They are all down-toearth men who will work very hard for the team.
The decision to leave it so late to make the final wildcard decision was also a risky move.
After losing out in a play-off against Rory McIlroy at the Tour Championship, Ryan Moore was getting ready to fly home to his family in Las Vegas when he got the call to head to Hazeltine instead.
How is he going to be in the right mindset to play? The setup of the Hazeltine course has also surprised me.
It is very long and wide open – there is pretty much no rough – so expect plenty of birdies this week.
When I was here a year ago I played the course twice and I thought there were a couple of really good holes.
But there were also a lot of long and slightly bland ones. However, now the grandstands are in place, the holes suddenly become much more dramatic.
A lot of people think an American victory is a foregone conclusion – I don’t see it that way at all.
If we are to win we need our best players such as Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson to lead the charge.
But the rookies will have to play their part.
I flew over with the European team and, on the flight, I spoke to Rafael Cabrera-Bello and Thomas Pieters.
They didn’t talk like men who were going to play in the Ryder Cup for the first time. They appeared confident and ready for the challenge. Of course, I am the eternal optimist and the Americans are favourites for a reason. If they storm to victory then I am sure they will put it all down to the task force. But if they lose again then they will be devastated and searching for answers. I’ll be happy if it finishes 14-14 and we retain the trophy with a draw. Even a narrow defeat wouldn’t be too bad because our six rookies would all be better prepared for the next match. But I think we can win and hopefully I’m right.
“People think an American victory is a foregone conclusion – I don’t see it that way at all”