LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Thirty years I've followed golf. That's a long time, 30 years. And in all that time, the only golf shots I've seen that were worse than my own -- and I suck -- have been struck during the 2008 Ryder Cup.
The pressure must be awful, because some of the shots sure are. These guys are duffing chips into bunkers, and then unable to get out. They're leaving their drivers in the bag and still missing huge fairways. They're talking openly and honestly about the effect the Ryder Cup seems to be having on their collective larynx.
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| Europe's Justin Rose has been told to breathe, and 'the advice has helped.' (AP) |
Faldo knows about choking. British tabloids called him Nick "Foldo" earlier in his career when he squandered chances to win the 1983 British Open and the 1984 Masters, and apparently one of the things he learned from those experiences was the need to breathe. Literally. When European players have been asked this week to name the biggest impact Faldo has had on the team, many have mentioned his reminder to breathe.
"I must say," said Justin Rose, "that advice has helped me."
Not everyone is breathing so easily. Americans Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim used their Saturday morning foursome match to hit some of the most extraordinary shots you'll ever see from such highly ranked players, and please keep in mind that "extraordinary" isn't always a compliment.
In a span of six holes, Mickelson and Kim surrendered every bit of their four-hole advantage over Henrik Stenson and Oliver Wilson. They did it by hitting every poor shot imaginable -- sprayed tee shots, errant approaches, missed putts -- and some you couldn't have imagined them hitting.
That six-hole nightmare began with Kim chunking a short pitch into the water hazard on No. 7, a shot your buddy might hit after four beers, and ended with Kim and Mickelson rattling balls around the woods until they conceded the hole to the Europeans. The collapse was complete on No. 15, when Mickelson drove deep into the woods and Kim followed by pushing a shot over the fairway, short of the green, off the only human being within 50 yards and into the water. One hole later it was over, a 2-and-1 defeat for a U.S. team that had led by four holes on the front nine.
That's the thing about choking. You have to first play well to be in position to choke, and Mickelson and Kim had underscored that dichotomy by reeling off three straight birdies to take what seemed to be a commanding lead.
Europe's players haven't been immune to the pressure, either. Nobody has. I could reel off at least one horrific shot struck by every single player at Valhalla Golf Club, but these have been some of my favorites:
- Stenson was next to the green on No. 2 on Saturday when he hit a pitch shot you've hit a million times: a 6-foot chunk that didn't reach the putting surface. Only you're not the fourth-ranked player in all of Europe. Said Stenson of the feeling he had standing over one of his shots: "I felt kind of tingly."
- Kentucky's Kenny Perry turned a nice little 60-yard pitch onto the 10th green into a 30-yard oops that had the home crowd lowering its eyes in embarrassment. Minutes later, though, Perry drilled the 10-foot putt to halve the hole.
