PGA OF AMERICA/PGA EUROPEAN TOUR
Ryder Cup
Site: Louisville, Kentucky.
Schedule: Friday and Saturday, four morning foursomes (alternate-shot) matches and four afternoon fourball (better-ball) matches; Sunday, 12 singles matches.
Course: Valhalla Golf Club (7,496 yards, 6,854 meters, par 71).
United States (c-captain's pick): c-Chad Campbell, Stewart Cink, Ben Curtis, Jim Furyk, c-J.B. Holmes, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, c-Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry, c-Steve Stricker, Boo Weekley. Captain: Paul Azinger.
Europe: c-Paul Casey, England; Sergio Garcia, Spain; Soren Hansen, Denmark; Padraig Harrington, Ireland; Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spain; Robert Karlsson, Sweden; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland; c-Ian Poulter, England; Justin Rose, England; Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Lee Westwood, England; Oliver Wilson, England. Captain: Nick Faldo, England.
Series: United States leads 24-2-10.
Last matches: Europe routed the United States 18 1/2-9 1/2 in 2006 at The K Club in Ireland, winning for a team-record third straight time and the fifth time in the last six matches. Europe took 8 1/2 of 12 points in singles to match its record victory margin set in 2004 at Oakland Hills. Garcia (4-0-1) and Westwood (3-2-0) topped Europe and Darren Clarke, Luke Donald and Jose Maria Olazabal were 3-0-0.
Notes: Europe is 7-1-3 in the last nine matches after going 0-1-12 from 1959-83. The team from Britain and Ireland was expanded in 1979 to include all of Europe. ... Valhalla, designed by Jack Nicklaus and owned by the PGA of America, was the site of the 1996 and 2000 US PGA Championships. Perry lost a playoff to Mark Brooks in 1996. Tiger Woods, out for the rest of the year after reconstructive knee surgery, beat Bob May in a playoff in 2000. ... Perry and Holmes are from Kentucky. ... Scotland's Colin Montgomerie failed to qualify. He last missed the event in 1989. ... The United States hasn't had the lead after any session since winning at Brookline in 1999. Leonard is in the U.S. lineup for the first time the Americans completed the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history in '99. ... For the first time since the event began in 1927, the U.S. team doesn't have a current major champion. Harrington won the last two majors, the British Open and US PGA. ... Karlsson won the Mercedes-Benz Championship on Sunday in Germany. ... Mickelson is 9-4-12 in six Ryder Cup appearances. Garcia is 14-2-4 in four Ryder Cups, and Westwood is 14-3-8 in five. ... Ten players - Kim, Curtis, Weekley, Stricker, Holmes and Mahan and Europe's McDowell, Rose, Hansen and Wilson - are making their Ryder Cup debuts. ... The 2010 matches will be played at Celtic Manor in Wales, and the 2012 event is set for Medinah near Chicago.
On the Net: http://www.rydercup.com
PGA European Tour site: http://www.europeantour.com
---
