THE RYDER CUP MATCHES

September 27, 2002

Curtis Strange

GORDON SIMPSON: A great comeback in the afternoon.

CURTIS STRANGE: We had to. It makes me doggone mad that once again we prove that we weren't up to the fourball matches, that I refused to agree that the European team is better. I'm sorry, I refuse to ever do that. But it is proven a fact that we have not done as well on the fourball as we have on the foursome. And it was accurate for today. We got down.

We had some good matches, though. I'll tell you, my guys, Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke were tough this morning. And I know Tiger and Paul played well. That's why we like this event. That's why we like to watch it. That's why we like to be a part of it. The finish was incredible. Azinger, that's why he was picked. That's why Paul Azinger was picked on this team, to suck it up and hit a shot like he did on the last hole. Absolutely just beautiful. And there's nothing you can do, there's no defense for it. Thomas Bjorn, great putt. He sucked it up, too. And we have phrases that we won't really use. But he has a lot of intestinal fortitude, I should say.

They were great. They were fantastic. It was a great match. I'm going down the list. I mean David Duval and Davis Love I guess played okay, but they got beat well, beat good. Sergio and Lee played well. David Duval and Love didn't play as well as you would expect.

Am I doing what I'm supposed to do, here?

Going down to the 8:30 match, Scott Hoch and Jim Furyk got pummeled by Monty and Bernhard. That surprised me that they got beat 5 and 3. If you're not sharp out here, as we know, you're going to get beat good. And I actually don't know a lot about that match to be quite honest, I can't tell you a whole lot. I see -- I found out today that I see fewer shots than anybody else out here, honestly, because I'm running back and forth, I'm doing things, I'm getting ready for the afternoon from the morning. The only time I get to see shots is when I'm on a group and see some shots. And I get the Jumbotron on 9 and maybe another hole out there.

And then Phil Mickelson and David Toms, they beat a wonderful player in Padraig Harrington and Niclas Fasth. It was a tough go there.

The guys were just reminded, we just -- not everybody was there, but most of them were there, we were just reminded if anybody ever thought this was going to be easy, anytime, ever, they're proving today it never is. That's why these matches are always close. That's why since '85 or '87, I told you the other day, both teams have 98 points. It's dead even. They know it's going to be tough. And you've got to dig down. This match play, 18 holes is tough. I've never been so helpless in my life out there today. But it was fun. I enjoyed it.

Then we got going. I mean thank goodness for history. Thank goodness that we proved that right in the afternoon. And I can't be more -- I've got to tell you, Hal Sutton and Scott Verplank really did well.

Tiger and Calc, once again they got beat, but I can't speak enough for Hal Sutton. And later in the week you'll know what I mean. But he's a team player. Now I know why exactly he's been so good on Ryder Cup teams in '99. He was fantastic today. He's not going to play in the morning, I will tell you that. The toughest thing that I have to do this week is sit somebody down who just won a match and Hal is okay. Verplank is playing tomorrow. We'll get the pairings here in a minute.

Stewart Cink and Jim Furyk played great. They gelled, they're good personalities, similar games, they played well. They're going out tomorrow morning, but I can't remember -- my head is scrambled. They're going out tomorrow. Mickelson and Toms, hell of a comeback. That's kind of what we come here to see. The last hole was very exciting. It's terrible to finish with bogey, but even that was exciting. I just told Phil -- did Phil come here a few minutes ago? I just told Phil in front of everybody, I said, you know, "some people might not agree with your choice selection on the last hole, third shot; some people might. But all I can tell you is you got big balls." I'm sorry if I offend anybody, I'm sorry, but to hit a shot like that -- everybody is writing -- everybody is writing -- but I'm sorry, I have to tell you that that was a lot of guts to try to hit a shot like that, and get it close for his partner, where most of the people would probably have putted it. But it was a wonderful display of confidence, and he's the best chipper in the world, he and Tiger are the best chippers in the world, that's my opinion.

I've run down. Any questions about today. I guess once again pairings are going to be here shortly.

Q. Could you talk about Tiger, and I know he played very well in the morning, nine birdies, that's tough to beat, but somebody beat him. And also talk about the importance of that half point and that comeback in terms of your own psyche and your team's psyche?

CURTIS STRANGE: Tiger did play well this morning, he let it get away this afternoon a bit. The match would have been close. Again, I didn't see, but I heard, and I hate to repeat, there were two 3-footers, I don't know how far they were. I heard he missed two short putts in a row. And that hurts. You cannot allow yourself -- you cannot slip at all in these matches. Once again, you're playing world-class players. These are 24 of the top players in the world. But in 18 holes of match play you cannot afford a slip. And he doesn't feel real good right now, and that's good. He's disappointed, which is good. He probably feels as though he let the team down a bit, which is good. And it makes you come back hungrier the next day. So hopefully tomorrow.

The half point was huge. Huge. Not only as we know these things are going to be close Sunday afternoon, huge from the numbers part of it, but huge from our psyche. Came back, got a half win, when it didn't look good at all, and we might, if we do well Sunday afternoon, if we do well Sunday afternoon, we might look at that match and say that might have been the one that turned it around.

Q. A highly reliable source says that President Bush, Senior is on the property or due on the property, if that's true would you be asking him to give a little pep-talk?

CURTIS STRANGE: The president, Mr. Bush, Senior, has said he would like to be here sometime. He's not on the property now, I can say that. But maybe sometime during the week, and that's all I know, is that I think he's in the country, and I think he would like to show. That's really all I know. If he shows, that would be great. Now, if he's around that afternoon, he's certainly more than welcome to visit the room because he's a wonderful man.

GORDON SIMPSON: I think I'll share this information with everybody here.

CURTIS STRANGE: Okay. First out, 8:00, Phil Mickelson, David Toms versus Pierre Fulke and Phillip Price.

8:15, are Stewart Cink and Furyk versus Westwood and Garcia.

They threw me a curve, didn't they? 8:30 Scott Verplank and Scott Hoch against Monty and Langer.

8:45, Tiger Woods and Davis Love. Versus Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn.

Q. Could you talk about the performance of the Ryder Cup rookies today and how proud you are of them and also can you remember a group of American rookies ever performing the way those guys did on the first day?

CURTIS STRANGE: I don't know the history of rookies like that, probably so. As we always say, and you know as well as I do, we call them rookies, but they're not. They're world-class players. But Scott Verplank is tough. That's why he was picked. He's tough. He's very accurate. He was tough -- he was picked for, and I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow afternoon, but he was picked primarily for alternate-shot format. And he proved that this afternoon. Cink, accurate player. And David Toms is David Toms, fourth, fifth or sixth in the world, he's certainly no rookie. I'm proud of them. I can't care how established you are, this, the first tee this morning, it was a different atmosphere, it was fantastic. And it's one of the reasons that Cink and Verplank didn't go out this afternoon, kind of get them into the flow, and see what's going on, plus the first tee won't be the same in the afternoon. It's all part of knowing what's going on out there. And I think this afternoon was probably more comfortable than this morning would have been.

Q. I'll ask the question, given Azinger came in here and said that Tiger proved this golf course, given the record, given the strength of your bench guys this afternoon, is it engraved in stone that Tiger has to play all five matches?

CURTIS STRANGE: No, it's not engraved in stone he's going to play all five matches. But when you have a player on your team that is the caliber of Tiger Woods, when you have on your team the player the caliber of a Phil Mickelson, whatever the record, I'm not sitting them down. I'm not sitting them down. You go with your horses. If you get beat, you get beat. But you go with your horses and that's what I intend to do.

Q. Why are you sitting Hal, and why did you get quasi-emotional talking about him a moment ago?

CURTIS STRANGE: Because he's a very, very good friend. And he went out this morning and did exactly what he was supposed to do. He didn't play great, I don't think -- again, I didn't see a lot of the shots, but I saw a lot of his shots -- and he played solid. But he just -- he gutted it out like Hal Sutton does. And we all know he's been struggling a bit. We all know he's on the climb back. But to come out here and win a point in a tough format, in an alternate-shot format is a lift for the team. You talk about the half point earlier, for him to come out and do that, you can't believe what it does for his and the team's psyche of confidence. And to sit him out when he won today, to sit somebody out to go back right in the same format they won earlier is difficult to do. It's the toughest thing I have to do. And these guys have become very, very close friends of mine. And he has been. And I guess the reason being, too, is that he takes it so well. It's team first. I will never forget it. But it's just tough to do. You put your best players out there. I've got my best players out there tomorrow morning. I have what I think is the best foursomes playing in the morning and I will say a bit of a hunch with Tiger and Davis, I'll be honest with you. A bit of a hunch. And I'll tell you why: If this was a normal golf course, and what I mean by that, a tight golf course with a lot of rough, one you can hit a lot of drivers, but you can't do that. This is a golf course where they're hitting so many irons off the tee, so everybody is hitting a lot of fairways, and with that they're wonderful second-shot players. The golf ball means a great deal to me. Davis can launch Tiger's golf ball. A Scott Verplank or Scott Hoch would have difficulty with the Nike golf ball. So that played a big part in that decision. And I actually think Scott Verplank and Scott Hoch are a hell of a team. I like doing it. But it's a hunch. And plus they can get on in par-5s in two, if they drive it in the fairway.

Q. Can you just get back to Phil's chip on 18. As you stand there watching that and you see him pull the club, can you say now that you wondered why he was doing that, did you second guess why he was doing that and would you have putted it yourself?

CURTIS STRANGE: No, I'm not going to second guess Phil Mickelson. I never wondered why he was doing it. Honestly, I'm not blowing smoke at you right now, whoever was standing around me, and I think it was Tiger and a few others, when that ball landed on the green, first of all I was tickled to death it got over the water. I said, "He's liable to chip this thing." And sure enough, you know -- we all say that in hindsight -- but honest I said that, and he did. He's a wonderful chipper. And he's going to do -- he's going to hit the shot that he thinks he can get closest to the hole. And I say it takes a lot of guts. If that atmosphere, it means so much, they look like they're going to make four, he has to get close, he's up three tiers, it's a hard shot. There's a lot of people around. It's getting dark. I'm not going to say what I would do, but I'd be dammed nervous, you know. So for me to say what I would do would be unfair, but I'm not on the team, he is.

Q. What do you think about the crowds today?

CURTIS STRANGE: Fantastic. They were. From the first -- have you ever heard -- I was out there at 8:00 this morning, when the first ball went to the right. Have you ever heard 15,000 people yell "fore" at the same time? I wish it wasn't my player, but it was different. I had to smile, I really did. I had to laugh. It was something I've never heard before. They were great, rooted for their team, fair to us, it was very, very nice.

Q. I remember years ago you used to say that if you ever got to be captain of the Ryder Cup team you would just outfit your players with khaki pants and white shirts and say "go out there and play" with the idea that you'd like to try to keep things simple. Now that you've had one day under your belt of competition, is it more complex being Ryder Cup captain than you might have guessed?

CURTIS STRANGE: Yeah, because the shorts and slacks -- the shirts and slacks are tough to match. Sorry, I couldn't help it.

Yes and no. I had pretty much the pairings in my mind this afternoon, and I had them on a card late this afternoon. And I talked to everybody that I wanted to talk to and they got scrambled. And they got scrambled. And more people got involved and got scrambled. You know what we did? Everybody finally decided on what I had two hours ago. Everybody is just throwing out opinions and ideas, and you siphon through all that stuff. And it comes back to your instinct from what you had originally. So, yes, it's simple and, yes, it gets complicated and hopefully it comes back to what you originally thought. Which makes me feel good that my instincts were right that -- I don't know, it eventually came back. So, yes is what I'm trying to say. But the alternate shot is certainly more complicated than the best ball to me. It's an entirely different animal. And if anybody can figure out why we do better there and not the other, please let me know, tonight.

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