Leonard's memory pleasant

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It's hard to believe, given his stature as a major championship winner who has triumphed 11 other times on the PGA Tour, but Justin Leonard is back in the Ryder Cup for just the third time in his career and first since 1999.

Surely you remember 1999? Leonard certainly does. Even if he wanted to put it behind him, he couldn't. Take his recent appearance at the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston.

"I heard [about 1999] at least once a hole," said Leonard. "So that was a very fun week."

So much about 1999 is a fond memory, of course, because the Americans rallied from a 10-6 deficit to dominate the singles, 8 1/2-3 1/2, and win the competition at The Country Club, and Leonard was a huge part. Four down at one point to Jose Maria Olazabal, the gritty Texan stormed back to halve the match, earning the half-point that proved to be the clincher.

Special stuff, said Leonard, though he concedes how things unfolded aren't quite so memorable.

"I would have done it differently. But I think you have to keep in mind there was so much emotion that day and we had so much momentum going," he said. "Unfortunately, that spilled over."

The reference was to his 45-foot putt at the 17th hole that somehow found the bottom of the cup for an improbable birdie. Immediately, a handful of wives who sat greenside charged toward Leonard, who was walking around the green with his arms over his head. Teammates followed the wives, and soon there was a small crowd on the green, not far from where Olazabal patiently waited for the chance to knock down a putt that would keep their match tied.

It took several minutes to restore order and allow Olazabal the time to study his putt, but when the Spaniard went wide with his roll, Leonard had a 1-up lead. Since he could do no worse than lose the 18th hole (which he did) and halve the match, the party was officially on.

The controversy, however, has dragged on for nine years. To this day, the moment is used as a lightning rod for the contentious side to the Ryder Cup that always percolates. For that, Leonard and his colleagues have always apologized. But he will never let it spoil the accomplishment.

"I know for myself and for anybody who was on that team, [the celebration] didn't take away from our victory at all," he said. "[It's just that] we all would have done some things differently."

That match is perhaps as close as Leonard has come to winning a point in the Ryder Cup; he's 0-3-5 in his eight matches. He'll waste no time in getting a chance to change that, because he'll go out this morning alongside Hunter Mahan in the second foursomes match against Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey.

Emotional moments

For the second time in two days, players had the opportunity to meet the legendary Muhammad Ali. "The Greatest" made an appearance at Wednesday night's gala and, as a bonus, he was at the 10th tee yesterday to greet the Americans as they went off on their final practice round. Later he moved to the front to be with the Europeans. Surprisingly, the one who seemed to be moved the most was not an American, but Englishman Nick Faldo. "It was just an incredible moment, as you can tell," said Faldo, referencing the watery eyes. "I thought it was really special. Really was." . . . Jim Furyk cut short his work in yesterday's practice round because his wife, Tabitha, was brought to a local hospital because of a bulging disk that has plagued her for a year. "That's not going to be a problem at all," said US captain Paul Azinger. "Jim was hitting it great. He knows the golf course, so he just felt that he was useless the next five holes and that he would rather go see her, give her a big hug, and them come back to the opening ceremonies."

Spin city

Ian Poulter gets plenty of mileage out of his friendship with a fellow who goes by the name of DJ Spoony, one of Britain's more popular disc jockeys. They have joined forces to supply plenty of music for the team locker room. "We have a jukebox with 20,000 songs, so I think everybody is having their input on what they want played in the team room," said Poulter. And what about the Americans? What has been their musical pleasure? "Banjo?" said Stewart Cink, but when the laughter subsided, the four-time Ryder Cupper explained that his side was no match for Poulter and Spoony. "As far as I know, we have no musical instruments. We do have karaoke. It's a pretty sad show, but we do have karaoke."

He gets his kicks

You apparently better have some serious talent if you want to challenge Azinger in foosball. "Every night, I own everybody [in the locker room] to the point that they won't gamble with me," he said. "So I've generated zero revenue for my children's college fund." How passionate is Azinger about foosball? He knows there's a website, www.foosball.com, that lists cities and where you can find foosball games, and he found one such gathering when he got to Louisville Saturday night. Sure enough, he found the place, deserted as it seemed to be. "It was like a crack house for foosball players," he said. "There wasn't a stick of furniture in this house. It was a little bit like 'Silence of the Lambs,' walking in the basement to play foosball." Azinger said he played for nearly two hours. "I am a total foosball junkie."