Sports: Ryder postponement makes sense all around

Ryder postponement makes sense all around

By BOB HARIG

Colin Montgomerie is prone to picking up on the faintest of whispers, but the European star had plenty to listen to when the last Ryder Cup was played outside of Boston.

So bad was the heckling and abuse from American fans on the final day at the Country Club that reigning U.S. Open champion Payne Stewart went into the crowd looking for offenders. In a gesture of sportsmanship, Stewart conceded Montgomerie his birdie putt on the 18th hole, allowing the Scotsman to win his match, although the United States already had clinched.

"The crowd was real tough on Colin all day," Stewart said then. "We had already won the Cup. Why make him make that putt? He deserved it. It wasn't about me beating him."

That was also the Ryder Cup during which the Americans stormed the 17th green in celebration, a breach of golf etiquette that shook the golf world; where claims of gamesmanship abounded; where Sam Torrance wondered if Tom Lehman was a man of God.

All of it seems a bit silly now. The world has changed after last week's terrorist attacks. And perhaps so will the Ryder Cup.

While next week's postponed matches might have seemed like a good place to begin the healing, it would not have been that simple.

"I don't know that anybody wanted to leave the country right now to go play those matches," said Bradenton's Paul Azinger, one of Curtis Strange's captain's selections. "My wife and daughter didn't want me to go.

"From the European perspective, do you think they would have been motivated to beat the tar out of a bunch of Americans right now? Probably not."

In fact, the Ryder Cup would not have been nearly the same.

"People would not know who to support," Montgomerie said. "There is understandably so much sympathy for them that the spectators would almost be rooting for a draw in every match. How could a British or European crowd cheer against America? You can't."

NO CHANGES: It was a noble gesture, one made to keep intact the 2001 Ryder Cup, even though it won't be played for a year. The 12-man teams will remain the same.

Yet it is inevitable that some players from both sides will fall out of form, while others who can't be on the team will be playing well enough to be part of the competition.

Asked what guarantee he has that his team will remain as strong as it is now, Torrance said: "None whatsoever."

Some examples: Hal Sutton earned his spot on the U.S. team largely on finishes secured in 2000. Same for Stewart Cink, although he did have a hot stretch in June. In Europe, Sweden's Pierre Fulke made just seven of 13 cuts since finishing second at the Match Play Championship in January, where he earned enough points to make the team.

DQ'D: Matt Wills is probably among those not unhappy last week's Tampa Bay Classic was canceled, because it saved him a ton of embarrassment. Lost in the turmoil was Wills' disqualification. He seemingly made the field on Sept. 10 at Fox Hollow by shooting 65 in open qualifying. Trouble was, Wills shot 74, as reported by his on-course scorer. He apparently handed in an altered scorecard and even showed up at Innisbrook to register on Tuesday before officials caught up with his "error."

SENIOR SUCCESS: Jay Overton is getting this senior thing down. The former director of golf at Innisbrook qualified for his fifth senior event on Monday, shooting 68 to get into this weekend's SAS Championship in Cary, N.C. Overton, 50, failed to earn his card at the qualifying tournament, and had missed in several Monday qualifiers earlier this year.

"Where I am with it now is I know I can play out there," said Overton, who has earned more than $93,000 in just four events and is 91st on the money list. "I have thoroughly enjoyed it."

AROUND GOLF: Mark McCumber makes his Senior PGA Tour debut this week. ... Mike McCullough's streak of 177 straight senior events is ending. McCullough withdrew from the SAS Championship. ... The Ryder Cup will now be played in even-numbered years, which could be a blow to the LPGA's version, the Solheim Cup. Next year, the Solheim Cup will be in Minnesota, one week before the Ryder Cup.

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.