Lineup a photo finish?
Long shot leaves Faldo irritated
LOUISVILLE - Was Nick Faldo caught showing his hand? He said no, that it was "the lunch list," but it appears that a cagey photographer with a long lens snapped a photograph of the European captain holding a piece of paper with his lineup for tomorrow's opening session of the 37th Ryder Cup.
If it is the European batting order, there are few surprises, save for Henrik Stenson being on the bench. Otherwise, Lee Westwood with Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington with Robert Karlsson, Justin Rose with Ian Poulter, and Paul Casey with Graeme McDowell represent pairings that could have been predicted. Besides Stenson, unheralded entries Oliver Wilson and Soren Hansen would be on the bench, along with Miguel Angel Jimenez.
"It had sandwich requests for the guys," said Faldo, who was told about the photograph. "Just making sure who wants the tuna, who wants the beef, who wants the ham."
There were laughs, but as the captain got pressed by an aggressive British press, he became clearly agitated.
"It's initials. I put my team down in initials. That was on the seventh tee. And if the photograph was on the 13th or 14th, it all changed, so it's all different now."
The captains by midday today will make official their pairings for tomorrow morning's foursomes session and while there's good reason to expect Faldo's "lunch list" to be it, equally as certain is the combo of Kentucky chaps Kenny Perry and J.B. Holmes going out for the US. Phil Mickelson with Anthony Kim is considered another good bet, as is Jim Furyk with Boo Weekley.
Home of 'The Greatest'
Louisville is the Kentucky Derby and the infamous "slugger," college basketball and classic bourbon. But most of all, it is the home of Muhammad Ali and players from both teams visited the museum that is dedicated to the boxing legend. "I know a little bit about him and picked up a few more things," said Stenson, a Swede who was born in 1976, when Ali was in the twilight of his career. No one met "The Greatest" at the museum, but he was at a gala last night . . . Earlier in the week, US captain Paul Azinger lined up former football coach Lou Holtz to offer a motivational speech to the Americans . . . American players are offered a large stipend that they can donate to charities and they invariably choose their college alma mater. So, to dress up a PR-type photo, PGA of America officials arranged for football helmets to be given to the players to represent their loyalties. Stewart Cink and Georgia Tech, Justin Leonard and University of Texas, Hunter Mahan and Oklahoma State, and on it went until we got to Weekley, whose allegiance is to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, which doesn't really have much of an athletic program, let alone football team, so he held up a pennant and hat emblazoned with ABAC . . . Tens of thousands of people are on hand for these practice rounds, but only 24 players. Good thing, then, that Tuesday's practice rounds stretched well over six hours. Azinger sent his squad out in three foursomes, but Stenson thinks Faldo outsmarted his counterpart - the Europeans went in four threesomes. It seemed to be an odd number, but the gentle Swede smiled. "We didn't have a match," he said. "[But] it got it down to only seven hours, so it might have been a good move." The Euros, like the Americans, went out in three foursomes for yesterday's practice session.