THE U.S. RYDERS ARE UNKNOWN.Byline: JILL PAINTER GOLF SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. - The Ryder Cup Ryder Cup Biennial team golf event first held in 1927. It was originally played between teams of golfers from the U.S. and Britain; since 1979 players opposing the U.S. have been chosen from all of Europe. The trophy was donated by the British seed merchant Samuel Ryder. tees off in 16 days. Tiger Woods  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled. and
Co. will try to disarm the Europeans, who have won four of the last five
matches.
That got me thinking, does anyone care about the Ryder Cup? Can the average player name all of the golfers who will play for the U.S.? I went to Wood Ranch Golf Club to find out. After all, this is where Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. Lehman was born in Austin, Minnesota but Alexandria, Minnesota is credited as his official Minnesota hometown. worked as a teaching pro for about six months in the late 1980s. ``It's good for the sport,'' said member Steve Manios, who was born in Greece. ``It's not like baseball's World Series, where they call it a World Series but only Americans can play.'' Manios named three of the team's members before drawing a blank. He had a tee time, anyway. A doctor, who didn't want his name in the paper -- presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. because he shouldn't have been on a golf course during a weekday -- said he'll watch the Ryder Cup. He rattled off five names, including two Ryder Cup rookies. He knew there was a player that went to Oklahoma, too, but couldn't remember his name. It was Scott Verplank Scott Rachal Verplank (born July 9 1964) is an American professional golfer. Verplank was born in Dallas, Texas. He was a leading member of the W.T. White High School Golf Team and a regular at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas. , but he actually went to Oklahoma State. ``I just enjoy watching the game and watching golf,'' the doctor said. ``I like to see them make bad shots like I do. It's hard not to think about the Ryder Cup.'' Member Paul Stewart Paul Stewart is the name of many notable people:
Johnson was born in Iowa City, Iowa. and Vaughn Taylor
Vaughn Joseph Taylor (born March 9, 1976) is an American golfer who turned professional in 1999. . Most everyone was stumped on the four rookies. ``It's the best competition in the world,'' Stewart said. Stewart then asked me if I could name the European team members. When I gave myself a pop quiz Noun 1. pop quiz - a quiz given without prior warning quiz - an examination consisting of a few short questions in the morning, I could only name nine of the 12 American players and I'd seen the list many times before. Between the two of us, we could only come up with four Europeans. Then Stewart asked assistant pro Mark Singer: ``Who's going to win? We are!'' Singer will watch the Ryder Cup and he's interested in it, but not with the same fervor as the World Cup. Americans have long been accused of not caring about the Ryder Cup as much of the Europeans. ``I think the Americans have more desire to win than they have in a while,'' Singer said. ``They may not care as much as the Europeans. Maybe they're not as gung-ho. The Ryder Cup bug hasn't bitten me, but I'll watch it.'' Tim Manning plays golf with his son at Wood Ranch. He won't be one of the members glued to the TV set during the tournament. ``I'm really more of a casual golfer,'' Manning said. ``I'm trying to get into the sport. I'll catch parts of it. It's a great sport and it translates into life issues.'' Lehman took all 12 players and his assistant captains to the KClub in Ireland last week for some golf and team bonding. Many of the rookies had never even met Tiger Woods. And Woods took the four Ryder rookies to dinner recently. That's a good thing. The Europeans should be nervous around Woods, not the Americans. As member Jerry Label was about to tee off, he remembered fondly when Lehman was at the club. He watches Lehman on television all the time and plans to watch the Ryder Cup, too. ``I'll root for them,'' Label said. ``But if they lose, they lose. It's no problem.'' Majbritt Gardner would rather watch the Solheim Cup, but she'll still watch the Ryder Cup with her husband. ``We always watch it,'' Gardner said. ``I love the Solheim Cup. I'm Swedish and most of the girls are Swedish. I love it. The Ryder Cup, of course, is just as exciting.'' Then Gardner went to prepare for a lesson with assistant pro Adam Fox Canon Adam Fox (1883 – 1977) was the Dean of Divinity at C.S. Lewis's Magdalen College, Oxford. He was one of the first members of the Inklings literary group headed by Lewis. Between 1938 and 1942 he was Professor of Poetry. . On this particular day, he was the lone person to pronounce rookie Brett Wetterich's name correctly. That's because he knew someone who knew Wetterich. Maybe Wetterich will play so well that people will know how to say his name. Of course, the other rookies are lucky they have names like J.J. Henry, Vaughn Taylor and Zach Johnson. Easy to pronounce, but hardly anyone knew who they were, much less that they were on the Ryder Cup team. If you're keeping score at home, the Ryder Cup veterans on the team are Woods, Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) (nicknamed "Lefty" for his left-handed swing, even though he is otherwise right-handed), is an American professional golfer. He is one of the leading players of his generation, having won three major championships and a total of 32 , David Toms David Wayne Toms (born January 4, 1967) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He has spent a considerable amount of time in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings and ranked as high as 5th in 2002 and 2003. , Scott Verplank, Stewart Cink Stewart Ernest Cink (born May 21, 1973) is an American golfer who has featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings. Cink was born in Huntsville, Alabama. He attended Georgia Tech, where he played golf for the Yellow Jackets, and turned professional in 1995. , Chris DiMarco Christian Dean DiMarco (born August 23, 1968) is an American golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, and has been in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings. DiMarco was born in Huntington, New York. He attended University of Florida and turned professional in 1990. , Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer, known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing. In September 2006 he reached a career high of second in the Official World Golf Rankings. and Chad Campbell David Chad Campbell (born May 31 1974) is an American professional golfer. Campbell was born in Andrews, Texas. He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and turned professional in 1996. . ``If you look at the top 10 players on the money list, most of them are from the U.S., so it's hard to believe that we don't win more,'' Fox said. Assistant pro Gary Abraham, who's also the women's golf coach at Moorpark College Moorpark College is a California-state funded community college located on a 134 acre (542,000 m²) property reclining on a hill in Moorpark, a town in Ventura County, California. , rattled off the names of eight players. Singer started to give him tips on the four he was missing, from their swing to body build. Member Hailing Heidel can't play golf now because of an injury, but she enjoys watching it. The Ryder Cup is no exception. ``I like the team play but it's probably harder for some golfers,'' Heidel said. ``The Europeans are a strong team. It's a different format.'' Most people thought Fred Couples was playing. Couples played on five Ryder Cup teams, but the last was in 1997 -- nearly 10 years ago. No one was able to name the entire American team. Tiger Woods was the first player everyone mentioned. An American victory would likely go a long way toward securing a more passionate response. Gore's game gets its groove back There's something about this time of year that suits Jason Gore. Gore always seems to play well in August and September. If he could just get into this kind of groove at the start of the season, Gore might be among the tour's money leaders. After playing in the 28-person Mercedes Championships at the start of the season, he then missed five of the first six cuts. Now, Gore, a Hart High and Pepperdine graduate, has made five of the past six cuts. When he was playing on the Nationwide Tour in 2004, he missed six of the first eight cuts and finished the season by making four of the last six. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. (what it is), I guess I'm just a slow starter,'' Gore said at a recent news conference. ``You know, I think this is about the time of the year when I just kind of flush the old mental toilet and just go out and continue to play golf. ``Coming off of my last year, that was pretty much of a banner year for me, and what I think I should be playing at. We all think that way, and I think I came out this year wanting to be something I wasn't.'' Things soured for Gore in last year's U.S. Open, when he shot an 84 on the final day of the U.S. Open last year. Gore made his way through local and regional qualifying to get into the U.S. Open. He was the story of the tournament as he was tied for the lead after 54 holes. He recovered on the last day and finished in a tie for 49th. After his whirlwind U.S. Open, he went back to the Nationwide Tour. He didn't accept sponsor exemptions to play on the PGA Tour, preferring to earn his way back on the tour. He won three consecutive Nationwide Tour events last year to earn the instant promotion. ``I think it was the good old fashioned double cross,'' Gore said. ``You try to hit a cross and hooked it. I don't know, I think nobody, including myself, expected to be there and in that kind of situation. ... I think winning is the result of the process, and that's kind of what I went on after that I gained a lot of confidence knowing that I could play at this level against the best players in the world.'' CAPTION(S): photo, 2 boxes Photo: Jason Gore has made five of the past six Mercedes Championships cuts. Charles Krupa/Associated Press Box: (1) THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE (2) Etc. |
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