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Not playing up to par

A year after the teams were chosen, several players on each side are struggling to find their games for next month's Ryder Cup.

By BOB HARIG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 22, 2002

He doesn't need the money, but Hal Sutton did need the check that comes with making a cut in a tournament, if only for symbolic reasons. At the PGA Championship, Sutton finally played on the weekend for the first time since early June.

And Sutton remains a focal point in the debate over whether changes should have been made to the Ryder Cup teams.

When the 2001 competition was delayed a year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, officials decided almost immediately that the 12-man U.S. and European teams would remain the same, regardless of form. So the same qualifiers and captain's picks from a year ago will be at the Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England, on Sept. 27-29.

That decision has come under scrutiny, especially last week at the PGA Championship, where the final points usually are earned and the captains' selections announced. This year, with the teams set, there was little buzz about the Ryder Cup.

Instead, most of the questions surrounded the players who were not performing up to Ryder Cup standards. At one point U.S. captain Curtis Strange tried to steer the conversation away from Sutton, whose play has suffered most since making the team a year ago. David Duval also has struggled; the 2001 British Open champion didn't break 70 in a major championship this year.

"It's tough for world-class players, both of them, to go down and not play well for a while," Strange said. "It's a tough situation, both on and off the golf course. It wears on you. It's something that is part of the this game and people don't realize how tough it can be. From that respect, I hope they start playing better."

Sutton has made 8 of 22 cuts this year, his best finish a tie for 18th at the Buick Classic in June. That was the last time he made a cut before the PGA Championship. He has dropped to 107th in the world ranking.

Since winning the Houston Open in May 2001, Sutton has not had a top-10 finish. He also has endured injuries and been diagnosed with sleep apnea, a disorder that makes it difficult to rest. Duval also is struggling this year with one top 10 and a stretch of three straight missed cuts, a first in his career.

Coincidence or not, Strange played a practice round with Sutton and Duval before the PGA Championship, perhaps trying to assess the damage.

European captain Sam Torrance has deeper problems than Strange. Only two European players, Sergio Garcia and Darren Clarke, have won this year.

Ryder Cup veteran Lee Westwood's fall has been more severe than Sutton's. He has dropped to 144th in the world ranking. Three others are outside the top 50: Paul McGinley (65), Philip Price (90) and Pierre Fulke (87), who had a respectable PGA Championship, where he tied for 10th. Eight European team members missed the cut.

That said, Strange insists it would not have been right to alter the teams, especially after they were postponed because of Sept. 11.

Having done an outing in Colorado Springs, Colo., the day of the attacks, Strange drove cross country to his Virginia home. He had plenty of time to think about the situation. He chewed up cell phone minutes talking to his players and Torrance.

"How can you tell someone who has qualified for the team by right, 'Hey, you're out'?" Torrance said.

So when the matches were postponed, it was agreed the 2001 teams would compete in 2002, even though there might be players more deserving at the time.

Typically the teams would have been set this week. Rich Beem would have been good fodder for a captain's pick. Same with Justin Leonard. It was odd there was no such talk this year, part of the fallout. For the Europeans, Jose Maria Olazabal has won on both the European and U.S. tours this year but is not on the team. Justin Rose, 22, is the highest-ranked player from England but is not on the team.

"My answer to that is, 'When has the Ryder Cup ever been played with 24 of the best players in the world at that time?' " Strange said. "Probably never. Because you always have a six-week stretch between the PGA and the Ryder Cup matches (in regular years). You always have somebody who had made the team that made it predominantly on their play the year before and really is not playing well now. ... You never have, at that moment, the top 24 in the world.

"Will it take away from the matches? Absolutely not."

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