Party's over; Ryder begins

US Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger (right) discusses matters with a member of his leadoff pairing, Phil Mickelson. (Shaun Best/Reuters)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Given the exorbitant sums spent for a stage and all its props that served only as further proof that if there's one thing we know how to do well, it's overdo to outrageous excess, it wasn't a surprise that the ferocity of the Ryder Cup came forth yesterday. Officials from the PGA of America and their counterparts from Europe wrestled one another for a share of the spotlight on a sun-splashed day at Valhalla Golf Club, though nary a shaped 5-iron nor 4-foot putt was part of the equation.

Rather, it was the biennial pomp, a 90-minute ordeal offering nothing of substance other than an endless line of brilliant suits, the combined costs of which could have been better used on behalf of thousands of area residents who have been standing in food lines in the aftermath of battering winds that created so much property damage Sunday.

Opening ceremonies? Better to call them the closing exercise, because with officials who won't swing a club or carry a bag smiling and waving to the crowd, what took place served as an exclamation point that the galas and dinners, the parties and festivities, the stuffy interviews and celebrity sightings are over.

Farewell to the red carpets and tuxedos, too.

Starting this morning, it's all about the golf.

"We're here," pronounced Paul Azinger, who two years ago was named US captain for the 37th Ryder Cup and for nearly every day since has been working to not only market the event, but figure out a way to stop an embarrassing stretch by his side.

The Americans have lost three straight, five of the last six, and long gone are memories of a competition they won without breaking a sweat. That was in another era, back when Great Britain and Ireland provided the competition and the United States was a ho-hum 19-3.

Call it golf's version of the Harlem Globetrotters and Washington Generals.

Jack Nicklaus didn't think it was a competition, and the icon was among those who said so. British officials agreed. So, in an effort to provide a challenge, the Ryder Cup altered its complexion in 1979. The Brits and Irish were still welcomed, but so were the Spaniards and Germans, the Swedes and Danes, and anyone else who lived beneath the European flag.

Four editions were all it took for the citizenry to have good reason to let loose with a European anthem of success: "Ole . . . ole, ole, ole . . . ." It provided a backdrop to the 1985 Ryder Cup and Europe's stunning victory.

Little did American golfers know at the time, but that scene would be repeated seven of the next 10 meetings. To jump-start a red, white, and blue effort Azinger hopes will silence the anthem, he has penciled the team's most experienced player, Phil Mickelson, into the leadoff position, paired with a flamboyant rookie, Anthony Kim, their opposition in this morning's first foursomes match provided by Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Sweden's Robert Karlsson.

Just the mention of this match brought a rush of adrenaline to both 12-man teams - not because of the players involved, but because it represents proof that golf finally has arrived after three days of gripping more Sharpies than clubs.

"I'm glad to get the event underway," said Stewart Cink, who was given Chad Campbell as a foursomes partner to take on Englishmen Justin Rose and Ian Poulter in Match 3. "It's time for the serious matter to get started."

Indeed it is, because after endless practice rounds that led Azinger and his counterpart, Nick Faldo, to guard their pairings like state secrets, the opening session of names was revealed.

No shock that Azinger paired Justin Leonard with Hunter Mahan in Match 2, nor that Faldo countered with Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey. And it wasn't the least bit surprising that Faldo put together Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood as his fourth pairing, because they are 4-1-1 as a team and 2-0 in foursomes. But putting out Jim Furyk alongside Kenny Perry in that match? A bit of a twist on Azinger's part, though it proves he's less enamored of crowd control than he is of golf ball control.

"I think Kenny and J.B. [Holmes] is a fantastic idea," said Azinger, referring to the team's Kentucky tandem, the pairing of whom he figured would be like setting a match to gasoline, they'd get the crowd so fired up.

But in foursomes (or alternate shot, if you prefer), where it's crucial to keep the ball in play, it appears Azinger realized Holmes is a risk, for he at times is challenged to keep it on the property. Plus, foursomes puts a premium on putting, a foreign aspect of the game to Holmes. So when all was considered, the rock-solid, no-nonsense, all-around talents of Perry and Furyk made for a more logical foursomes entry.

"That's a nice format for him," said Azinger, pointing to Furyk, and while logic would support the captain's assessment, there is this Ryder Cup thing hanging over the heads of his players that is impossible to shake.

Furyk, for instance, is a mind-boggling 3-11-1 in the team formats at the Ryder Cup, 2-5 in foursomes. More perplexing is this: Of the seven times he has stood on the tee and looked at Garcia or Westwood in team competition, Furyk has lost every time, including twice when those two were paired.

True, his partners have been a mixture (twice with Tiger Woods, once each with Cink, Mickelson, David Toms, Fred Funk, and Mark O'Meara) and there's a wide range of extenuating circumstances. But the fact is Furyk has been involved in just one winning Cup match against Garcia or Westwood in eight tries. So if the European victory anthem is to be silenced in Kentucky horse country, American thoroughbreds must seriously change some history.

The onus will be on Mickelson, too. He relishes his assignment ("I love that we are able to get off in the first group," said the lefthander), but there's this bit of history that goes with him to the 448-yard opening hole at 8:05 this morning: Mickelson is 0-3 in the first match of the Ryder Cup, including the last two.

Tossing that into the recipe, Azinger shrugs. He also knows the Americans have been outscored, 13 1/2-6 1/2, in the first session since 1997 and haven't had a lead after the first day since 1995.

"Those teams are from the past," he said.

True, but it's a past that is an integral part of this celebration - at least until US players change it.

Which today they will have a chance to do, now that the officials have had the opening ceremonies to end the celebration and return golf to its rightful place.

As the show.

Jim McCabe can be reached at jmmcabe@globe.com.